Chapter 353: Two Means in One

As the message was sent to the group via the paging station, everyone in the Taylor district almost received it. As these people received it, some hurriedly went to the several branches of the Bigwood Bank in the Taylor district to withdraw money.

Passers-by were curious and asked what they were doing there. The people responded as they should have: 'Of course we're waiting in line to get our money. Didn't you get the pager message yesterday? They said that the Greatwood Bank was on the verge of bankruptcy, and if we didn't get our money out as soon as possible, when the Greatwood Bank went bankrupt, we wouldn't get a single penny back!

'Do you really believe that news from nowhere? The Greatwood Bank is our largest bank in the state of Michigan and a major enterprise controlled by the Greatwood family. How could it go bankrupt? I'm afraid even if the company you work for goes bankrupt, it won't go bankrupt!' The passer-by obviously didn't believe it.

'That's because you don't know much. My friend works inside the Bigwood Bank, but he quit just yesterday. Do you know why? Because he found out that Bigwood Bank lost more than 100 billion dollars in a failed investment in California. 100 billion! That's more money than the three major car companies could ever make! said the man waiting at the door.

Then he added, 'Believe it or not, I'm definitely going to withdraw my money. Every day this money stays in the Daewood Bank, it's in danger. I don't want my hard-earned money to go to those capitalists.'

In the end, the person passing by left with doubts because he had to go to work, but this scene was watched by Zhou Ming and Martin, who were waiting by the roadside.

Martin said happily to Ming Zhou, 'It seems that we are in luck. This guy has insider information, so he believes in our mass messages.'

However, Zhou Ming shook his head: 'I don't think so. Even if this guy really has a friend who works at Daewood Bank and told him about Daewood Bank's losses, we can't rely on such a person to start a run on Daewood Bank.'

Martin felt very confused when he heard Zhou Ming's words: 'My friend, I don't understand what you mean. Are you saying that he is lying, or that he is unable to help me?'

'What I actually wanted to say was that the poor often have a higher self-esteem than the rich. Hangzhou 19th Floor Romance' Zhou Ming said, 'We can first assume that he actually does not have a friend who works at Greater Wood Bank, and he would also say, because he would never admit to having been tricked into withdrawing money by a pager message. That would be humiliating and his pride would not allow him to accept it.'

Zhou Ming continued, 'So he will pretend to have such a friend to show that he has insider information and is superior, and also to make the best explanation for his actions.'

'Only people like this will believe in the news we send out, and they will even make up a lot of other reasons in order to convince others, so that more people can join the rush,' said Zhou Ming.

Martin looked at Zhou Ming in surprise: 'My goodness, Mr Zhou Ming, are you a psychology professor? You're so clear about what these people are thinking.'

Zhou Ming just smiled and shook his head, without saying anything in reply, because the answer to this question is that Zhou Ming was once one of these people, which is why he understands their thoughts so well.

In a previous life, various rumours and anecdotes were flying all over the internet.

(This chapter is incomplete, please turn the page) In the unprecedentedly free and irresponsible place of the Internet, many people will add a sentence like 'my friend or my classmate' in order to prove what they are saying, as if this can make the facts convincing. Zhou Ming himself had also used this method to cite examples when arguing with people online.

However, with his own rebirth and the subsequent increase in his wealth and status, Zhou Ming realised how ridiculous this approach was, and also understood a saying he had read somewhere: from poverty to wealth is not as simple as increasing wealth, but rather a change in mindset. It's like a factory worker: no matter how skilled you are, you can never become a real leader until you learn to take responsibility and manage. Hangzhou 19th Floor Romance Novel

Zhou Ming looked up at the people waiting at the bank's entrance and said to Martin, 'They did believe the rumours, but this time they made the right choice.'

It was only 9am, but there were already many customers withdrawing money from the several branches of the Greatwood Bank in the Taylor district. These customers included not only ordinary people, but also the financial personnel of several companies.

The arrival of these people obviously increased the credibility of the news. Other people passing by also wanted to withdraw money when they saw that the branches of Daewood Bank were already crowded with so many people. After all, it is better to believe it than not. It is better to withdraw your money yourself than to leave it in there. What if Daewood Bank really goes bankrupt? If the Daewood Bank doesn't go bankrupt, you can just deposit the money back in again later, so there's no loss.

In fact, this way of thinking is very normal for ordinary people. Depositing and withdrawing money is originally one of the important functions of a bank, but now hundreds and thousands of people are doing it at the same time, which puts the bank in a very difficult situation . After all, the bank's money has been invested and basically cannot be recovered within a short period of time. Once such a run on the bank exceeds the limit that the bank can bear, it will explode.

However, this does not make sense to ordinary people, so with this kind of thinking, it took just an hour for all the branches of the Bigwood Bank in the Taylor District to be filled with people withdrawing their money. In the busiest places, people were queuing up on the street, and people who didn't know any better thought that the bank was giving away money.

Seeing this, Martin's heart finally eased, because once a run on the bank had formed, whether the initial rumours were true or not, they were now confirmed.

After all, regardless of the bank, most of his funds are invested, so the branch generally does not keep too much capital for one-day deposits and withdrawals. Generally, an appointment is required for large amounts exceeding 100,000 US dollars, and one week's preparation is required for cash exceeding 1 million US dollars. One can imagine the cash reserves of this branch.

Now, with hundreds of people looking to withdraw money, it would be easy for just one person to exceed the limit by withdrawing a few thousand dollars.

If these people see that the bank is out of money, their first reaction will definitely not be to think that the bank has reached its upper limit, but that the news they have received is true and that Daewood Bank is really going bankrupt. Otherwise, why would it be out of money? So they will be more determined to withdraw their money, trapping Daewood Bank in a vicious cycle.

This is what happened: when many people saw that the Woodwood Bank branch in Taylor County was so crowded, many people thought about going to other places to withdraw money. So they left Taylor County and went to the neighbouring counties, and some even went directly to downtown Itley to withdraw money.

When these stories reached Martin, they shocked him. He gave

(The end of this chapter is not yet reached, please turn the page) Zhou Ming gave him a thumbs-up and said, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, you are truly a figure like God. You were able to set off a run on the Daewood family with just a message. I think they must be very sorry now that they have angered you! This is the whip of God, the harshest punishment for them!'

However, Martin's words came to an abrupt end when he saw Zhou Ming still standing calmly. Zhou Ming looked at him meaningfully and asked, 'Mr. Mayor, you don't really think that just this run on the bank will bring down Daewood Bank, the largest bank in the state of Michigan, do you?'

This question made Martin freeze for a moment, because he then thought of the fact that since its establishment more than a hundred years ago, although not as famous as Citibank and Tongren Bank, Daewood Bank had also experienced many storms and upsets, and must have dealt with things like a run on the bank before.

And there is also the most important point, which is that although the Daewood Bank did indeed lose nearly 100 billion in San Francisco, it does not mean that the Daewood Bank is really at its wit's end. As the core of the Daewood family, it will still have a certain amount of liquidity, no matter what. It is hard to say how much, but at least tens of billions of funds can still be put aside.

As for the current run on the bank, it was caused by rumours alone. It may seem like a big deal, but when you really count it, it's rare to have a few billion in volume, and it's still a long way from the Greatwood family going bankrupt. Not to mention that if the Bigwood Bank survived this run on the bank, and everyone found out that it was a rumour and put their money back in, it would only bring more depositors to the Bigwood Bank.

Martin became a little panicked at this realisation: 'Mr Zhou Ming, what should we do now? Should we try to make the current run on the bank worse?'

Zhou Ming laughed and shook his head, saying, 'According to the current financial order, no matter how big the run on the bank is, it will be no big deal. Mr. Mayor, you must not really think that a run on the bank can bring down the Greatwood Bank, or that all runs on the bank that can put it in a desperate situation are just triggers, not the fundamental cause.'

'So what should we do now?' Martin asked anxiously.

Zhou Ming did not answer, but instead told the driver to drive to Etruscan Securities on George Square. Zhou Ming and Martin got out of the car and went to the securities the lobby of the securities company and sat down. Zhou Ming pointed at the LED display hanging directly in front of them and told Martin, 'Everything is there. Since this is finance, it would be a shame if we didn't use some financial means.'

Martin looked in the direction Zhou Ming was pointing, and when he saw the stock of Daewood Bank, he suddenly understood.

From today the stock price of Daewood Bank had plummeted. As of now, his stock had already dropped by more than 5%. For a major company like Daewood Bank, this was already a huge loss.

'Mr. Mr Zhou Ming, is this the financial instrument you were talking about?' Martin asked, unable to contain his excitement.

Zhou Ming nodded and said, 'Yes, from the opening of the stock market today, the Tang family's companies and investors have been frantically selling the shares of Daewood Bank to create panic in the stock market. This wasn't anything in the first place, but if a run on the bank was revealed when the stock price was falling, then the losses of Daewood Bank could be confirmed, and the situation of Daewood Bank would become even worse.'

Martin looked at Zhou Ming and involuntarily shuddered, because he could not imagine that just in the past few days, Zhou Ming had actually prepared such a plan, with each link tying into the next. It was terrifying!