[On October 5, the price of gold futures for December delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose by US$25 per ounce to close at US$310. It once rose to US$330 during the session, the highest in the past nine years]

Queens, New York,

Smith Building, in the office on the fourth floor.

Abel leaned on the boss's chair and looked at the gold futures prices on the screen monitor.

International gold spot prices once rose to US$850 per ounce on January 23, 1980.

Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. Since February 1, 1980, the price of gold has been falling.

With the new economic growth momentum brought by the information industry revolution, gold entered a long downward cycle until the eve of the millennium.

In September 1999, in order to prevent the price of gold from continuing to fall sharply, the European Central Bank and 14 European countries signed a central bank gold sales agreement.

The general idea is to stipulate that central banks of various countries will sell gold in batches and in limited quantities in the next five years.

A major factor in gold's decline has now disappeared.

In 2000, the US Internet bubble burst.

Risk aversion has emerged in the market, and gold, a hard currency that fights inflation, is becoming increasingly popular again.

Gold, which has been falling for two decades, has finally begun to strengthen.

Not long ago, major events occurred, risk aversion intensified, and gold once rose to US$330 per ounce at its highest point.

Faced with such a big market situation, financial giants from all over the world will certainly not let it go.

The same goes for Smith Capital, in fact as early as early August this year.

Abel has already asked Smith Capital to gradually build a position in London gold spot.

However, in order to avoid being too high-profile, the number of positions opened was not very large.

A total of approximately US$5 billion has been invested.

Wait until a big event occurs and the U.S. financial markets are closed.

Smith Capital (UK) immediately built long positions in London Gold, and the US immediately took the same action after the financial market opened up.

Nearly a month has passed, and Smith Capital has invested a total of about US$50 billion in international gold spot.

Here, half of the US$50 billion in Smith Capital’s seventh private placement was used.

The remaining US$25 billion was used as guarantee lines provided by Pacific Bank of Commerce, Wells Fargo, and Citibank.

After nearly a month of rising prices, London Gold has begun to show signs of decline.

After all, gold has been weak for 20 years, and it has only been in the past two years that it has broken through 200 US dollars again.

You must know that five or six years ago, when international spot gold was at its lowest, it was as low as $150 per ounce.

People's psychology has not yet changed, and they have not yet realized its anti-inflation value.

The so-called antiques in prosperous times are gold in troubled times.

The 21st century has just entered into a period of profound changes unseen in a century.

Everyone's minds haven't changed yet.

Therefore, international spot gold is now showing signs of falling.

Many retail investors and small investors want to withdraw one after another.

But they don't know that well-informed large institutions and Wall Street are still gradually building positions at this time.

Because in a few days, a new black swan will spread its wings and provide another boost to international spot gold.

After looking at the spot gold data, I made sure that it was not out of my control.

Abel pressed the phone next to the monitor, and soon one of the CEOs and presidents of Smith Capital.

David Mellon and Melio walked in.

Both of them are dressed very similar, with white shirts, ties and leather shoes, and meticulous hairstyles, typical of Wall Street elites.

"Boss——"

"BOSS——"

"Here you are, take a seat. Tomorrow the company will move to the Smith Building. Are the employees in a mood?"

Abel asked with a smile.

Will be the headquarters of Smith Capital and other companies.

All were moved to the Smith Building in the heart of Manhattan, the former Woolworth Building.

This matter was announced to the group as early as May this year, after Abel successfully acquired the Woolworth Building.

Whether it is Smith Capital or several other companies, they all know this.

At the beginning, except for Smith Capital, most employees of Abel's companies were very excited.

After all, you can work in Manhattan, which is for most white-collar workers in the United States.

It can be said to be a status symbol, just like the social workers who work in the CBD within the Second Ring Road of the Imperial City will feel superior to others.

But that was before an incident like September 11 happened.

After the big incident, Abel's decision to move in has not changed.

Many of his employees, mainly middle and lower-level employees, are a little hesitant and afraid.

They all feared Woolworth Towers would become the second Twin Towers

This is actually human nature, and it hasn’t even been a month since that incident.

Upon hearing the boss's question, David and Melio looked at each other.

Melio shrugged and motioned for the CEO to answer the question.

David then said: "I have some opinions. Too many people have died. Some of them were friends they knew."

Abel thought that would be great.

It's a good opportunity to fire some people, and then it will be in the newspapers and TV.

Others will know more clearly Abe Smith's support for Manhattan and his love for New York!

Abel said bluntly:

"As I said before, if there are people who don't want to work in "dangerous" Manhattan, that's fine, just ask them to hand in their resignation letters."

It sounds nice, but it actually means getting fired directly.

Here we are going to talk about American labor laws.

There is no such thing as "labor law" in the United States. Here it is generally called labor law.

It is not a law, but a legal system.

Because when it comes to the federal government, each state, county, city or even town may have its own labor laws that are generally the same but have different details.

Like in China, if things are done according to the rules, if the company takes the initiative to fire an employee, it usually has to pay 16 months' salary.

Layoffs are extremely costly.

The U.S. labor law system does not provide for layoff compensation.

Only the "Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act" provides a very vague provision: large-scale layoffs require consultation with employees 60 days in advance.

The "negotiation" here is used brilliantly by capitalists and companies.

Abel has already planned to fire some people this time.

According to this law, strictly speaking, 60 days of wages must be paid.

Abel gets a 50% raise and 90 days' salary. Is that interesting enough?

This explanation is not only legal, but also gives people the impression that he is a very generous and good boss.

However, this compensation for ninety days' salary will only provide a basic salary, and will not include dividends, bonuses, etc.

Income other than basic salary is actually the bulk of the income of most Wall Street workers.

Therefore, if Smith Capital fires a few more people, the labor costs are really not that exaggerated.

Since the company was founded, no one has been fired yet, which is too lacking in capital.

Other companies are the same, only giving three months' basic salary and no bonuses at all.

Taking advantage of this relocation of the headquarters, if someone is really unwilling, Abel will certainly not be polite.

Doing this can have the effect of establishing authority and intimidating internal employees.

You can use it to create the image that you are optimistic about Manhattan and love New York.

This will help him in his later plans.

Abel still wishes that more employees would stand up and not want to go to Manhattan to work.

That way, a few more people can be fired.
To be continued...