Chapter 93: "Go ahead, how much do you need to borrow?"

"So, Julian, are you saying that you're not sure about Volcker's attitude now? What about New York, or Wall Street? How do they view Volcker's actions at the moment?"

Carter felt a bit excited, inwardly shouting:

Gold! Gold! Here I come!

If Wall Street remains skeptical about Volcker's implementation of a monetary tightening policy and continues to believe that inflation will persist, then gold is bound to rise! Another money-making opportunity seems to have emerged!

"Well, I'll be straightforward. Julian, I want to invest in gold!"

"Gold?! But now isn't a good time to enter the market. Today it's already at $534 per ounce."

Understanding Carter's context, Julian quickly grasped Carter's intentions. He also guessed Carter's logic for wanting to invest in gold: simply put, based on the market rule that "high inflation leads to high gold prices," combined with the current market's belief that inflation will continue to rise, predicting that gold prices will continue to rise.

The logic was simple, and Julian admitted it made sense. But, gold prices have already risen too much. Even if they continue to rise, how much more can they rise? Gold doesn't have backers like the Hunts or "Big Grudge" behind it, picking up the tab for you.

Entering at over five hundred dollars, if you can't sell it and no one takes over, what if the price drops? Are you not afraid of losing everything?

"Carter, your thoughts and judgments are good and correct. In the past ten years, long-term Treasury bond rates have risen to 13.86%, an increase of 2.25% from before. The market indeed firmly believes that the current high inflation will continue. Gold prices are unlikely to drop in the short term, but as for rising, I think the upside is limited."

"You see, two years ago, gold was barely below $200 per ounce. From the end of last year to now, gold has more than doubled. While further increases are probable, the margin, the profit space compared to the risk of price drops, I believe it's not a suitable time for gold speculation."

"If you want, how about silver! I still have some positions that I can share with you. At least with silver, you have the Hunt brothers to back you up. Gold doesn't offer that!"

"Haha, forget it, Julian, are you trying to placate a child? Do you think I'm now complaining to you because I see I've sold my silver too early?"

Hearing Julian's tone, which was like placating a child, Carter couldn't help but find it amusing. It was like taking a child to the park, buying a snack for one, and then the child finishing theirs and eyeing yours, and then you smiling and saying, "Good kid, here, I'll share some with you, don't cry~"

"Haha, you're just a big kid. Oh, by the way, you'll be seventeen next month, what gift do you want?"

"Let's talk about gifts later. There's a saying in China, 'a goose feather sent from afar carries weight in sentiment.' I don't really care about that. Let's talk business, Julian, I want to invest in gold, but not just for speculation, or not entirely."

Carter's birthday was on December 25th, Christmas Day. It was quite a memorable day. When they opened an account and signed the contract before, Julian had joked about his birthday being convenient. Given Julian's social skills, Carter wasn't surprised that he remembered his birthday.

After a chuckle and skirting around small talk, Carter continued:

"Lately, it's because of the fuss I caused in the Douglas highway commercial area, and I'm out of cash again. So, I want to invest in gold just to make some pocket money while ensuring capital preservation. I'm quite confident that Volcker will stick to monetary tightening. After all, I'm a compatriot of that Carter guy, and I have some inside information."

"Yeah, about half a month ago, I heard from our mayor that Carter went to see Volcker, and they parted on bad terms. From this perspective, Volcker shouldn't be catering to the White House. Maybe his actions now are just... boiling the frog in warm water? Intentionally numbing the outside world."

"Furthermore, we all know that this kind of inflation is unhealthy. If Volcker doesn't take action, there's Paulke, Relke, and others who will step in. Regardless of who it is, as long as the inflation rate doesn't come down, I won't lose money by investing in gold. It's just that I trust Volcker more. I believe he's the one behind this. So, I chose to enter the market at this time. This investment cycle isn't like my previous speculation in silver. I don't chase high profits this time. It's more about making steady earnings. Once it's stable, it inevitably means the profit margin won't be high. So, to increase profits, I'll have to figure out how to expand the scale, like a financial version of small profits but quick turnover."

"I'll gather some personal funds. I should be able to lend you $800,000. My recent positions are quite full, and I don't have much cash on hand. As for the company, with your $400,000-worth stocks as collateral and your VIP client status, borrowing $400,000 shouldn't be difficult. That's a total of $1.2 million. Do you need more?"

After calculating mentally, Julian wasn't being overly formal. Knowing Carter was short on cash, he straightforwardly mentioned a figure:

"If necessary, fax me the subscription certificates for your two funds. With those in hand, plus my influence, I should be able to help you borrow another $2 million. Going beyond that might be a bit difficult, and the fundraising process would also take longer."

"$3.2 million USD, after deducting management fees, transaction costs, interest, and the like, let's say you end up with a net profit of 5%, that's still $160,000. Should be enough for you for a while, right? You know, sometimes I wonder about you. It's like you're a black hole for dollars. As soon as you get your hands on money, it disappears. Did you forget my earlier reminder about keeping some cash reserves?"