Once Upon a Time In Hollywood

Chapter 337 Stock Crash

【"The richest cartoonist in history", "the creator of "Peanuts"" and "the father of Snoopy" Charles Schulz died of colon cancer on February 12, 2000, at the age of 77! 】

【The Tenth Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development opened at the National Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand on February 12, 2000. The theme of this session is "Globalization and Development Strategy in the New Century"]

[On February 17, 2000, Microsoft held a press conference for the first time after the statement of "willing to reach a settlement agreement with the Ministry of Justice on the operating system anti-monopoly case" and announced the new generation product of the Windows system—Windows2000]

【The merger between Viacom and CBS is complete! 】

[Following AOL’s acquisition of Time Warner, Comcast also announced that it will discuss acquisition or merger with ATandT Broadband, the largest cable operator in the United States. The largest pay TV company, the largest cable company and the largest home Internet service provider, the third largest home phone service provider in the United States, and the second largest broadcast and cable company in the world! 】

【The world's most popular home game console PlayStation officially launched its second generation in Tokyo on March 4! The sales volume of the day reached a record-breaking 980,000! But there is no matching game, which has become the most regrettable thing for players. 】

【On the 10th, the Game Developers Conference in San Jose, California was successfully held. Bill Gates, co-founder and chairman of Microsoft, announced at the meeting that Microsoft will enter the home console market, and announced the console that has long been secretly developed—Xbox】

【The Nasdaq Composite Index climbed to 5048.62! Twice as much as the highest amount in 1999! The biggest bull market in history is coming! 】

【On March 13, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell by four percentage points to 4879! 】

【On March 15, the Nasdaq Composite Index fell below 4600 to 4580! Within 6 days, the index fell by more than 500 points! 】

【The stock price of Internet companies has been cut in half! The worst bear market in history suddenly struck! 】

When the earth leaves, everyone will continue to turn. When Roland and Kate were preparing for their wedding, America on the other side of the ocean was like a frontline war zone, with frequent thunderstorms. First, a series of acquisitions driven by economic globalization made Time Warner, Via Telecom giants such as Comcast and Comcast have invested more than 500 billion U.S. dollars.

Then Sony delivered a perfect answer. On the day PlayStation 2 was released, sales in Japan soared to 250 million U.S. dollars. In the month of release, the total sales exceeded 1 billion. 100 million market, and Microsoft, which announced its entry into the home console industry immediately afterwards, added fuel to the fire.

If it's just these, then forget it.

Because of these good news, the Nasdaq Composite Index climbed to a record high.

But the problem is that when people are full of fantasies about the bull market and spent the rest days of March 11 and 12 beautifully, when the new week comes, people are forcibly woken up by the slap of the big bear.

At the beginning, the stock prices of major companies began to fall slightly. Market analysts at the time said that this was a self-correction of the stock market, and the big bulls would continue. Leakage time...

The stock market has plummeted for two consecutive days, making everyone stunned!

If a drop of 4% in one day is a small adjustment, what is a drop of more than 4% for three consecutive days?

Don't be afraid, is it a technical adjustment?

Grab the grass! Isn't this the arrival of the Ding Crab?

If you don’t run quickly, you’re courting death!

At this time, the stupid people also understood that the big cow who had been away for several years was about to collapse.

Not only that, but they also discovered that the once-explosive Internet became unpopular in an instant.

Actually, Roland knew about the Internet bubble in his previous life.

According to the explanation of experts, this is because the capital seriously overestimates a certain industry when pursuing extreme profits, and thus enters the market frantically. However, in a short period of time, the emerging industry cannot find a profit method that matches the investment amount, so it is Countless bubbles have accumulated.

Due to the short-sightedness of capital, such extreme events can never be avoided.

Because there is no way in this world to control the mad pursuit of profit in capital.

Because of this, Roland never thought that his frivolous behavior could affect such a big event that was bound to happen.

Not only that, but he was still curious about how Wolf King and Microsoft would face all this when the Internet bubble burst.

But when this day came, he discovered that capital will always be capital...

Because the Internet bubble was not caused by the coincidence of all major Internet companies burning out their money, as some experts said, but was pierced by various capitals.

On March 10, after the Nasdaq Composite Index broke through 5,000 points, on March 13, the stocks of a bunch of high-tech companies such as Microsoft, Cisco, Dell, and Qualcomm all experienced crazy selling by institutions. At the same time as the institutions sold off, various funds were directly liquidated. In just one day, they made tens of billions of dollars from the leeks who received the order.

If it is said that these capitalists’ smashing behavior is destroying everyone’s interests, Chiguoguo’s robbery cannot be hidden from the eyes of the public at all. More or less will disclose their behavior, so...

What if the boss of these media is also selling stocks?

Philip Anschutz, the owner of the Staples Center, controls a company called Quest International Communications, which provides telecommunications services to 14 states in the Midwest of America. When the Internet bubble burst, , He frantically sold the stocks in the telecommunications industry in his hand, and directly took away 1.9 billion in cash.

Carl Icahn's teammate, Michael Milken's subordinate Gary Winnick controls the world's first private underwater optical cable across the Atlantic Ocean, providing information services for Microsoft, Softbank and other media companies.

And when the Internet bubble burst, he took away nearly 750 million in cash.

Mavericks owner Mark - Cuban, the perfect avoidance of the Internet bubble.

All the stocks that could be sold were sold by him, and the stocks that controlled the voting rights of the company were hedged by him to offset the losses caused by the catastrophe.

Not only that, even those financial institutions have made corresponding countermeasures. While selling stocks, the guys led by Merrill Lynch and Citibank are quietly tightening their own loan business. When those companies went bankrupt directly due to the dual pressure of stock prices and capital, these capitals walking in the dark used trumpets to collect them.

It is difficult for you to explain clearly how the Internet bubble was born.

But there is one point, which has actually been placed on the table that the public cannot see.

That means the sudden death of retail investors and the killing of dealers.

Many people may find it strange that the stock prices of those big companies have plummeted, and the capital behind them has been shrinking. Why, as market makers, can they still be regarded as victories, and can they be called killers?

This is actually a very simple question.

Because the stock price plummeted, for them, there was no loss.

The face value of the stock has fallen, but the number of shares is still there. The market value of the company has fallen, but the market for ownership is still there.

Before the stock market crash, I controlled 70% of the market share of the single market. After the stock market crash, will the market share of the single market I control drop from 70% to 65%?

Apple fell 8% that day, and its market value shrank by 179.92 billion U.S. dollars, the largest single-day loss ever recorded by an American listed company, but... so what?

For capitalists, it doesn't matter if their net worth shrinks.

As long as the stocks are converted into cash while seizing the production tools, it is a net profit.

What about retail investors?

As a tool of production, they have nothing but cash.

For them, losing money is called losing the world.

Therefore, when Roland learned that Carl Icahn and those guys only held 5% of the stocks in total, 6% of which had been sold in the past year, and the remaining 100% When Wu entered the market one after another after confirming the seat on the board of directors, he felt a sense of emotion, which made him really want to admire the wolf king.

Compared with this kind of showy operation that uses technical means to avoid risks, foresight is really not enough.

"The winner takes all, the winner takes all!"

...

It was precisely because of this major event of a diarrhea-like drop in the stock index that Roland promised Warner before Christmas last year that he would come back after the holiday to discuss the small matter of cooperation, but Warner forgot about it.

As a combination of the telecommunications industry, the Internet, and the entertainment industry, their current life is very difficult.

This kind of embarrassment does not mean that the shareholders have lost money and the management cannot explain it, but that the two bosses of Time Warner and AOL are about to fight for the right to operate!

In the previously negotiated merger case, the new company after the merger has 55% of the original AOL holdings and 45% of the original Time Warner holdings. The CEO of the new company is the former chief executive of Time Warner Executive Gerald - Levine served, while the chairman of the new company by the former chairman of America Online Steve - Case.

Not only that, they have also formulated a development path based on the Internet in the future. Steve Case said that after the merger, he will promote the integration of the Internet, TV, and telephone, allowing customers to use one account. You can enjoy the three services of calling, entertainment, and surfing the Internet...

Three months ago, this resolution was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both parties.

Everyone thinks there is nothing wrong with it.

Because America Online was worth more than Time Warner at that time, and the Internet at that time was a big hit.

And if it is pushed back ten years, this development path will be the benchmark of the telecom industry!

Can’t move, can’t communicate, and can’t trust these three companies, which one dare not follow the guiding ideology?

But now, three months later, because of the bursting of the Internet bubble, Yao Mozi appeared.

Time Warner, which is waiting for approval from the Ministry of Commerce, hopes that AOL can renegotiate its development path with itself. They hope that AOL can slow down a little bit, while AOL said that in the Internet age, speed is money!

Such words made Time Warner, a traditional media, very upset. They believed that the Internet was not a new world, but a new market. Their merger was just selling old things to the new market.

When AOL heard this, they were not happy. They felt that whether it is a new world or a new market, selling things on the Internet must not follow the traditional media.

So...

The conversation fell apart.

Yes, they fell apart before the merger.

In this case, Time Warner's Gerald Levine hopes to change the merger plan, with himself as the chairman of the new company, and AOL's Steve Case as the chief executive officer of the new company.

As soon as the idea of ​​grabbing the class and power appeared, it was strongly opposed by America Online.

Ke Ke’s reluctance to suspend action and disperse power has annoyed the old media empire Time Warner.

In this way, before the Ministry of Commerce made a ruling, the two parties had already rolled up their sleeves and were ready to fight each other.

Of course, although AOL and Time Warner dislike each other, it is impossible to separate them.

With the dissipation of the Internet bubble, the beauty that symbolizes rights continues to evaporate, but there are still countless users pouring into the new market, but it is an indisputable fact. With a bright future, the two parties only dare to quarrel and dare not break up.

Because after leaving AOL, Time Warner couldn't find a second good merger partner, and after leaving Time Warner, AOL couldn't find another traditional media with Time Warner's productivity.

Because of this, did Roland release his pigeons?

This is not important to Warner at all.

Roland wants to get married, so let him get married first!

Anyway, they want to get the merger done first!

...

When a series of major events that can attract the attention of the public appear one by one, the entertainment industry really has no bright spots.

Eat star's melon?

The melons of entertainment stars are not as delicious as the melons of the richest man in the world!

Watching movies released by major companies?

Sorry, the Internet bubble shattered countless people's dreams of making money. When many people's lifeblood evaporated with the decline of the stock index, they were not in the mood to watch all kinds of interesting movies.

Again, spiritual entertainment is always built on a material basis.

When your stock account keeps shrinking, it is already the best entertainment not to jump off the building and accept the pain quietly.

But when the annual Academy Awards kicked off on March 26, ABC's ratings rose slightly compared to previous years. The unexpected and reasonable results made everyone a little emotion.

This kind of free entertainment that does not need to pay attention to the process, but only cares about the result.

Perhaps it is the best spiritual comfort for people when they are in pain.

Lie down on the sofa with the TV on, eyes wide open and waiting for cheers.

Obtaining without thinking is the best way to paralyze the nerves.

Because you don't need to care about the passage of time, when you open your eyes again, it will be another new day.

After the Oscars are over, Warcraft Film and Television has also started to operate. As a money-making machine for capitalists, it is working hard to produce the movies that capitalist Roland cares most about—

The Princess Diaries.

Note: ①Institutions that crazily sold technology stocks on March 10, 2000 were liquidated in the end. The reason was that they misled investors. Compared, it is really not even comparable to pulling out the root hair. Just like Goldman Sachs was fined 5 billion after the financial crisis in 2008. Compared with the money it earned, it was nothing painful. ②The three guys mentioned in the article all had cash-out behaviors. This was actually hammered by the SEC, but in the end they all disappeared. ③ It is not nonsense that Carl Icahn reduced Yahoo’s stock holdings to 5% and controlled the board of directors. When he attacked Warner in 2006, he had 14 seats on the board of directors. After taking six of them, he immediately reduced his holdings. At the time of Warner, he only had 3% in his hands. He never cashed out when the final deal was concluded. Instead, he attacked his opponent while transferring the risk to the leeks who chased him into the market. ④The merger of AOL and Time Warner was indeed for triple play, but just like Microsoft launched Xbox for the Internet of Things, their ideas were too advanced, and then they died, and we only launched triple play in 2010 fusion. So many times it is not nonsense to talk about crossing the river by groping Yingjiang's head. ⑤Because there was no agreement before the merger, there was no business integration after the merger. This is also the reason why Shuangfa broke up happily in the end, because Time Warner was still that Time Warner, and AOL had already exploded.