Chapter 82: The Soviets Made a Move

After the Christmas feast, the servants mostly dispersed. After all, it was Christmas Day. Time for an early holiday. William White was exercising in the gym. He'd eaten too much at dinner. If he didn't burn those calories, he'd definitely have a big belly. In his past life, he was a bit chubby. You could even call him fat; he was pretty meaty. With this in mind, he couldn't let himself get fat. If he couldn't control his eating, then working out was the only option. What does the life of a rich guy mean? It's about eating, drinking, and having fun. If you can't eat, half the fun's gone. While you can avoid high-calorie foods, you can't stop eating entirely. ... White Farm was near Houston. It's in a pretty good spot in Texas. This place was strange enough with tornadoes from April to June and hurricanes from June to November. Good weather was scarce throughout the year. William White had no plans to fight tornadoes. He needed to find another fine piece of land. "Money, money's never enough," William White moaned. His assets indeed had no spare cash. The goal of owning land worldwide was still far off. He didn't have that much money. "Seems I still need to make money. Why's it so hard to earn it?" William White grumbled as he sparred with the punching bag. Finally worn out, William White went back to his room to shower and sleep. Even with no one waiting on him, he didn't mind. College life hadn't taught much else, but cleaning himself up wasn't a problem. His hair was short now and didn't need a blow-dryer -- just a simple towel dry. Though it was indeed midwinter, Texas wasn't cold and wouldn't snow. Even Santa wouldn't come; his sleigh was useless here. ... Peace was clearly out of the question. Before the Christmas cheer had even faded, the Soviets made their move. They didn't call it a war, just a little military stroll. Predicting what might happen and the reality of it are two different things. Many thought it was just a deterrent, but the Soviets actually took action. In this era, engaging in military expansion seemed absurd. Although it was the Cold War mindset, people were basically just testing each other. No one had heard of really fighting. When the Soviets made their move, the world was shocked. Wiping out a country because of a disagreement? If this becomes the norm, World War III could be on the horizon. Afghanistan didn't put up much of a fight. It wasn't for lack of trying; they simply couldn't win. ... The most excited were the Hunter family. They had waited for this day. The price of gold was clearly out of control, and with the current trend, it could easily double. The Hunters were, of course, delighted, but the Fed didn't see it the same way. To them, the Hunters were just troublemakers. Suddenly, the mainstream media collectively attacked the silver speculators. The regulatory commission also stepped in, and the Hunter family became everyone's target. If things continued like this, there would not only be demands to increase the margin requirements but also trading limits on certain accounts. When no one was watching, you could play games with shorting and going long. Strictly speaking, these were fraudulent practices. There are many unreasonable institutions in America, and the Securities and Exchange Commission is one of them. They can make guilty assumptions unless you have sufficient evidence, so they can mess with you at will. It was a good thing this wasn't about stocks; otherwise, the situation would have been worse. The loopholes in American futures trading were systemic, and the Hunters just exploited them. If you didn't plan on reasoning with the powers that be, it was best to comply. Otherwise, you were in for trouble. Behind the scenes, there were apparently many power plays going on, and William White didn't have a high enough status to be involved in this chess game. The bottom line was that the Hunter family was in for bad luck, and those backing them were powerless. The silver group suffered a colossal defeat, and the current deadlock was just an illusion that wouldn't affect the bigger picture. The real problem now was how to wrap things up. If the Hunters decided to default, plenty of banks would go under if the silver slid into a nosedive. ... For the Hunter family, the disaster was just beginning. White Oil applied for a suspension of trading again because the White family was looking to sell it entirely. For a controlling shareholder who owned 50% of the shares, they could basically ignore the other shareholders. This decision couldn't have been more timely. The Hunters were raising funds for their final desperate struggle, but any hope in White Oil's shares was dashed. No bank wanted to take them on. With too many tricks in the securities market, the Hunters were certainly marginalized. Who knew how much value would be left in the end? "Fulton, has anyone offered a price?" William White asked, smiling, as he was in a good mood. "Many companies have shown interest. Shell and Texas Oil are sincere," Fulton replied. Although Fulton didn't know why the young master wanted to sell White Oil, he didn't ask too many questions. "Fulton, with oil prices high, it's better to sell sooner rather than later. I don't like this industry." Alright, his reason was quite strong. He just wasn't interested in this kind of industry. ... The decade of the 1980s was kicking off, and the most investable option was Japan. It offered gains whether you invested in securities or real estate; these were sure bets. The exchange rates hovered around 250 to the dollar, skyrocketing to below 100 after the Plaza Accord. Even without considering the stock and real estate appreciation, the currency's gain was more than double. The problem was that it wasn't just the exchange rate rising; real estate and stock prices were skyrocketing, practically doubling as if they were rolling down a hill. Failing to seize this opportunity would simply be a crime against finance. The year 1980 was also when Coca-Cola would take off. Slow acquisition must begin at the start of the year. Forget about high tech; nothing soared like Coca-Cola. The IT industry wouldn't take off until the dot-com bubble, and the Internet was still a lab experiment, far from public access. Investing in Coca-Cola didn't require much money. Its market cap wasn't high, but investing too much could cause trouble. Japan was different. It was a developed economy, so no amount of investment was frightening. But it had to be early; being late could cause trouble. William White wasn't planning on rocking the boat. He just wanted to earn a little quietly. There was no need to draw attention. Early positioning was the best strategy. With the Soviet conflict erupting, the capital markets were in uproar, with everything but precious metals futures seeing massive declines. The oil industry wasn't heavily impacted. Under tense conditions, oil saw some price increases, not as wild as gold, but enough to support current stock prices. Looking at it that way, White Oil could still fetch a good price. The international community was powerless against superpowers acting the rogue. America only gave a token protest and left it at that. ***** https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.