Chapter 15: 015 This kid, so talented
“`
Gu Wanzhou, though a businesswoman,
found herself frequently ensnared in an echo chamber of information.
At this moment, after hearing what Li Zhiyan had to say, she couldn’t help but feel ignorant.
She was also somewhat shaken by it.
It seemed that this child knew a great deal.
As Li Zhiyan helped Gu Wanzhou with picking vegetables,
he spoke, “The Big Five investment banks in America refer to private investment banks, namely Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns.”
“If Aunt Gu finds investment banking a bit unfamiliar,”
“you might be aware of HSBC on Hong Kong Island, where they offer domestic deposit interest rates at ten percent.”
“These banks were once at the height of their glory in America.”
“Their economic domains had extended into every aspect of the lives of ordinary Americans.”
“However, under the global financial tsunami triggered by the subprime mortgage crisis,”
“within less than a year, most financial institutions couldn’t hold out.”
“Among them, Merrill Lynch was acquired by Bank of America in 2008.”
“Lehman Brothers has already collapsed.”
“The fate of Bear Stearns was not much better, disappearing into history that same year, 2008.”
“Now, the only super investment banks left are essentially Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.”
Li Zhiyan was somewhat impressed with himself for remembering these things so clearly; he thought that it might be related to his enhanced memory after coming back to life.
“Auntie understands now…”
“These super investment banks are private banks, and they use the bank’s money to make various investments to make money.”
“But they collapsed under the subprime crisis.”
“However, does this have anything to do with the rise in house prices?”
Gu Wanzhou found herself growing fonder of Li Zhiyan by the moment and inwardly regretted that he wasn’t her own son.
What a talented and outstanding young man.
“Subprime denotes loans that are of inferior credit quality,”
“meaning ‘subprime’ relates to low credit and weak ability to repay debts.”
“This is similar to the credit scoring system in our country where people without stable jobs are tagged with a low credit rating.”
“Those people are basically impossible to lend to by banks.”
Seeing the awe in Gu Wanzhou’s eyes,
Li Zhiyan continued, “In America, loans are a very common occurrence because everyone likes to consume beyond their means.”
“For something as expensive as a house,”
“it is normally bought through long-term loans.”
Gu Wanzhou nodded lightly, looking at the child before her; she felt as if Li Zhiyan was a teacher imparting knowledge to her.
“However, with a high unemployment rate in America, these unstable earners are defined as subprime borrowers,”
“also known as subprime loan recipients.”
“Regular banks are reluctant to extend credit to these people,”
“fearing they won’t be able to pay back, thus giving rise to subprime mortgage lending.”
“Since banks are unwilling to loan to these individuals, private banks offer loans by charging high interest rates.”
“The returns from the subprime mortgage market are several times higher than the bank’s loan interest rates.”
“In this respect, it’s somewhat similar to HSBC.”
Gu Wanzhou recalled that she too had sought loans from HSBC in the past.
The interest was as much as thirty percent a year, essentially usury.
“Due to the quick rise in house prices,”
“many American stimulus loan recipients just follow the trend,”
“borrowing money to buy houses.”
“`
“Before 2006, America’s real estate was in a state of continuous boom,”
“and at that time, interest rates were particularly low.”
“As a result, the subprime mortgage market was rapidly developing.”
“However, America’s stimulus for the mortgage market used a combination of fixed and adjustable rates.”
“The interest rates for the initial years of repayment were fixed at a low rate.”
“Years later, the loan interest was repaid based on changes in the interest rate.”
“After 2006, as America’s real estate market cooled and adjustable rates increased,”
“the repayment rates for subprime loans also rose significantly.”
“Many of these subprime borrowers were economically weak to begin with, and under these circumstances, hordes of homebuyers couldn’t afford their loans.”
“So they had no choice but to default.”
“After the banks took back the houses, they found no buyers, leading to a vicious cycle.”
“A financial crisis began in 2007 and totally exploded in 2008.”
“The American government had no choice but to print money without limit to save the market.”
“And due to the Bretton Woods system established after World War II, America pushed all this newly printed money to the entire world.”
“Making people all over the world pay for America’s actions.”
Actually, Li Zhiyan didn’t understand either.
But, knowing future trends, he could be considered a prophet, so whatever he said was right.”
Li Zhiyan discussed the financial crisis with an air of nonchalance.
My heartbeat inexplicably quickened. How does this kid know everything? When he talks about these things, he inexplicably looks a bit handsome.
Talented men are indeed attractive.
“So, under America’s unrestrained money printing in 2008,”
“we also experienced a significant flood of liquidity.”
“After this money entered the market,”
“it didn’t flow into other industries but was locked into real estate instead.”
“Only in this way could they ensure that prices wouldn’t skyrocket.”
“Real estate is our reservoir.”
“It ensures that the newly issued currency doesn’t circulate in the market.”
Li Zhiyan didn’t quite understand these things, so he went on to talk nonsense.
As long as the outcome was right, that was all that mattered.
Gu Wanzhou listened from the side, somewhat confused, but she was completely convinced by Li Zhiyan.
This kid could self-learn computer programming at 18.
He really was different from ordinary people!
“So, for many years to come, I predict that housing prices will continue to rise.”
“If you buy a house now, with a down payment, you can make a lot of money in the future.”
Looking at Li Zhiyan in front of me, still helping with the vegetables,
I felt my heartbeat quicken even more.
My hormones seemed to start flowing.
Is this the feeling of being smitten?
Thinking back to Li Zhiyan’s long speech, my heart just couldn’t settle down.
“Little Darling, Auntie really didn’t expect you to know so much.”
“What you said earlier makes a lot of sense; I’ve decided to buy another house.”
After patting Li Zhiyan’s head,
Gu Wanzhou continued, “Auntie wanted to ask you, would you be willing to be my godson?”
“In the future, Auntie will cherish you just like a mother would.”
Li Zhiyan felt somewhat helpless. How come after being reborn, both Yu Sisi’s real mom and Liu Zifeng’s real mom wanted to be his mother; it was absurd.
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