The effect of accompanying Ida for a summer vacation was immediate, not only was Dai Vicki sent by Mussolini to Somalia to eat sand, but the Pope negotiated the first payment for the purchase of preferred shares, and the $10 million was also settled very simply. The Vatican is not stupid, they are also paying attention to the political winds in the city of Rome, in their eyes, Contini is currently in a stable position, whether he can be the prime minister's son-in-law and successor remains to be further clarified, but it is unlikely that he is the closest person to this position.

Invest with an eye on the future!

The money came in time, and in September, the $30 million quota of shares that Contini asked the American broker to buy was fully in place, and as he remembered, the US stock market slowly stopped its decline in the third quarter of 1923, and the Dow Jones Industrial Index began to turn upward, although the momentum was still very weak, and the vast majority of stock critics and veterans still believed that this was a rebound after a long period of decline, and it was uncertain whether it could be identified as a reversal. But Contini knows that there is a 95% probability that the US stock market has bottomed out and is about to start a reversal.

However, whether it is a rebound or a reversal, it is still impossible to judge clearly, and the only good thing is that the floating loss of the stock account has begun to decrease, and the current loss rate is less than 4%.

Under his persuasion, a group of people, including Potty, Vivian, Adriana and others, tried every means to open an account, Poti invested $50,000, Adriana invested $20,000, and the most surprising thing was Vivian, who actually took out $200,000 in one go!

Contini couldn't help but ask her, "Where did you get all this money?" ”

"$10,000 is my own pocket money that I have scraped together, and $190,000 is lent to me by my father at an interest rate of 5% per year!"

Contini slapped his head, and finally remembered that the other party had a father who was a banker, and said with a smile: "You are not small, you dare to borrow this kind of money, what will you pay back if you lose it?" ”

"What's not to dare?" Vivian smiled, "You can't be wrong about what you see, besides, if I lose, will you watch me lose in vain?" ”

Contini was speechless: "What if I lose more than you?" ”

"No, I know you just got $10 million from the Pope!"

Contini's eyes widened, he couldn't believe his ears, and asked in a low voice, "How do you know?" What did your father tell you? ”

Vivian nodded: "This money was taken from the bank that my father was in charge of, and then it went to the account of the United Group, do you think he knows it?" Because he knew about it, he was so relieved and bold to lend me $190,000! He is very appreciative of your ability to make loans, and in terms of the breadth and boldness of financing ability, he is now only serving the United Group! ”

"Okay." Contini felt that he had been completely defeated, "remember to keep it a secret for me. ”

"Of course! Now you can tell me about the stocks you like, right? ”

"General Motors and American Radio, and other blue chips that are pleasing to the eye can also be bought."

Although the last 100 million lira credit loan obtained by the Union Group has not been fully spent, Antonio reminded Contini that it is necessary to set aside the remaining funds for the liquidity of the spring of 1924, because in December and January, the Union Group will have to pay a lot of construction payments and preferred stock dividends, as well as bonuses to the workers, which is where the credit of the Union Group lies, and there must be no liquidity problems! Although the pope promised to continue to buy $30 million in preferred shares, the devil knows when those payments will come down, so flexibility must be maintained. In addition to this, he also suggested using the motorcycle order to obtain short-term credit support of 20 million lire, which should be in place by the end of November.

Leo, who is in charge of financial coordination and supervision, also issued an early warning: although it has not yet reached the deadline of September 30, the deadline for the third quarter, the loss of the United Group this year has officially exceeded 100 million lira, and it may reach 150 million or more by the deadline of the annual report. To date, the total loan amount of the United Group has reached 250 million lira, and if the Pope's $10 million is also considered a long-term loan, the total debt is 450 million lira. According to the cost of 6%, it will pay 27 million yuan of interest a year, which is more than 1 million yuan of the actual operating income of the United Group after deducting internal related party transactions.

Although Contini was very confident about the future, he accepted the advice of the professionals, leaving $5 million as a mobile fund and sending another 5 million to the United States, instructing the broker to complete another $15 million in stock purchases on Christmas Eve, and by that time, he would have invested $15 million in the stock market, with a position of $45 million and a leverage ratio of exactly 300%!

Debt aside, the performance of the Union Group was impressive: Mussolini triumphantly boasted that the Milan Line was a model for Italy's new industrialization and municipal development, and attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the Rome Line, which was about 7 kilometers longer than the Milan Line, and was scheduled to be completed in the spring of 1924.

The project of the Genoa special line has also been approved by the Ministry of Communications, the length of the special line will be more than 45 kilometers, built by the Ministry of Communications and the United Group, more importantly, according to the second phase of the plan, the Milan line and the Genoa line will eventually not only open up but also build a double line, because the distance between the two cities is only more than 120 kilometers, the entire industrial belt can be completely connected together, relying on the special line to achieve a 2-hour traffic circle, which is a grand idea that was unimaginable in the past, Contini set the final date for Christmas 1926!

Once the rapid connection between Milan and Genoa is opened, the industrial layout of the entire north will change significantly: resources and raw materials from the north will first reach Milan and then Genoa through the China-Europe railway, and materials from the Mediterranean and Africa will arrive in Genoa and then Milan by sea, which will be a vital lifeblood for Italy, which lacks local resources and is almost heavily dependent on imports for all materials, and on this lifeline there will be Italy's chemical, steel, petroleum, machinery and vehicle manufacturing bases.

What's more, the distance from Turin to Genoa and to Milan is only 120 kilometers respectively, which can also be adjusted by special line, and the three cities just form an equilateral triangle, and the reason why the Italian industrial belt first emerged in these three cities is not for nothing, Contini's dream is to build this triangle into the Ruhr region of Italy, and he is the king of the block!

However, this planning goal can only be stored in his mind for the time being, and he will say nothing but Antonio: the devil knows what the attitude of the Agnelli family, who controls the city of Turin, will be in the future, and the United Group is still very young, and Contini's political status is not high enough, so he must wait for the right time......