Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Five: Fifty-Six Thousand is Too High!

Fifty-six thousand dollars, and you can buy a bank?!

Carter rubbed his ears, wondering if he had missed a zero. But considering the English pronunciation, or even the phonetics in Chinese, there was a big difference between fifty-six and five hundred and sixty thousand. It was impossible to mishear such a number!

Perhaps fifty-six thousand was just the starting price?

Surveying the "elites" around him, Carter suppressed his excitement and impulsiveness, choosing to wait and see. Let's see how the situation unfolds...

Carter remembered seeing a ridiculous question on Zhihu once: How can you hide your depth when doing something for the first time? The most upvoted answer was just two words: Shut up!

With his mouth shut, Carter, dressed in a sharp suit and old-fashioned glasses, inexplicably appeared somewhat profound. Through his glasses, his deep blue eyes seemed to emit a wise light...

"Hey, Brooks! Is this your first time attending this kind of event? So far, what are your thoughts on the issues with Forest Bank?"

Like moths to a flame, those who shine in a group often become the center of attention. At this moment, Carter, with his bright eyes, followed this pattern and attracted a plump moth...

Carter turned his head, somewhat surprised that someone was asking for his opinion. Given his status as a banking rookie, his seat at the table was probably due to his boss's influence.

Can't you see that there are several young people, even older than me, who are standing quietly against the wall? Asking for my opinion, are you sure you didn't have a stroke ten years ago?

Or maybe it's just to tease the rookie, to play with him? Hmm...that's highly likely!

"Look with your eyes!"

Convinced that he was being teased, Carter responded with a joke from his past life. Well, who doesn't know that?

"Well..."

The chubby man looked at Carter's calm eyes and stern face, pondered over Carter's "look with your eyes," and seemed to have a sudden realization, flashing a meaningful smile on his face.

"That makes sense! Let's continue to watch..."

"Ha! Mr. Paterson... your offer is just too insincere! If that's the price, there's no need to continue this meeting! "

Amidst the strange feeling of where the chubby man found reason, a sudden burst of laughter from the audience caught Carter's attention.

"Randall! Please believe that the offer we've given after a professional evaluation is absolutely fair! It's also the most suitable offer!"

Facing the challenge, Paterson remained unruffled. He spread his arms naturally, continuing his introduction...or rather, his persuasion:

"Think about it, everyone! For just fifty-six thousand dollars, a bank with good revenue could be yours! You invest fifty-six...uh, let's add the additional capital injection, totaling less than one hundred thousand dollars. With Forest Bank's revenue-generating capacity, it will only take you less than two years to earn it back..."

"Shett! Pack up your hypocritical words, Paterson! We're all old acquaintances, who do you think you can fool with that? Oh, sorry, perhaps young Carter might be fooled by you..."

Suddenly targeted, Carter blinked innocently with his big eyes...

This...seems difficult to refute, huh?

Carter's first reaction to hearing the fifty-six thousand offer was indeed that it was profitable! Leaving aside other factors, just looking at Forest Bank's current asset situation. Firstly, it still had over one million six hundred thousand in cash deposits, not to mention...

Over two million seven hundred thousand in loans. Thinking about the limited scope of savings bank operations, it's not hard to guess that over ninety percent of these loans are residential mortgages, whose interest rates in the U.S. are generally not high.

If it's a mortgage, meaning a home loan. The usual mortgage rates in the U.S. range from 3.25% to 4.4%, rarely exceeding 5%. And for residential mortgages, the interest rates are slightly higher, around 4%-4.8%, but still rarely surpassing 5%.

Let's take an estimated rate of 4%. Even if they stop lending, just based on these over two million seven hundred thousand loans, the annual profit could exceed eighty thousand dollars! It could pay off in a year! Although the recovery of these loan principal amounts may not be achieved within a year, it still made Carter feel that the price was not expensive!

"You've been emphasizing Forest Bank's revenue, but why not talk about the risks? With only forty, no, a hundred thousand in capital, securing over two million seven hundred thousand in risk assets is too risky. And what if the loans don't profit? I believe the default rate in banks is on the rise nowadays?"

With a wave of his arm, the man who stood up to question the price didn't mince words and stabbed everyone's hearts mercilessly. If this were an anime, there would probably be a "spurting blood" sound effect...

Innocently enjoying the drama, Carter quietly pondered. It's unfortunate, but he was one of the very few who didn't worry about default rates.

Oh, right, default rates are the formal term for bad debts. And the reason why Carter wasn't worried about them was simple:

Just like dealing with moral coercion, if I don't have morals, you can't coerce me. Similarly, bad debts, bad debts...as long as I don't lend, I'll never have bad debts!

"In this environment, you're singing praises about Forest Bank's revenue, completely avoiding the elephant in the room! With such a high level of risky assets, and in such an economic downturn, if we take over Forest Bank, we'll need at least three hundred thousand in reserves!"

"At this point, you still want to sell it for fifty-six thousand? Hmph, has your FDIC recently used our insurance fees to speculate on silver? Have you gone blind now? Even basic reason is gone!"

Damn! That's bold!

Carter silently cheered for the man who stood up, and through many people's resistance, he gradually realized that the price seemed indeed high. It wasn't that Carter didn't realize the consumption of reserve funds, but...

Three hundred thousand? Even five hundred thousand would do! He's swimming in money right now!

Regardless, three hundred thousand in reserve funds transferred to Forest Bank would still be his money, right? One goes in, one comes out, it's like moving money from the left pocket to the right, and then the right pocket is temporarily sewn up and can't be used.

Money is still money! From the perspective of fifty-six thousand, Carter felt it was quite a bargain. But now that someone was charging ahead, Carter didn't need to rush out and shout, "I, Carter, will pay!" right?

"Cough, Mr. Alves, and everyone. Let me clarify that our Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's bank insurance fund cannot engage in high-risk futures trading. We're also under the supervision of the Treasury Department, so it's impossible for us to do such things. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't!"

"So, this groundless accusation, I hope not to hear it for the second time. However, Mr. Alves has a point. How about this, I'll step back, fifty-five thousand dollars!"