Chapter 345 Repercussions of $45.8 Billion Profits

On the morning of the 16th.

The largest daily-selling newspaper in the United States.

The Wall Street Journal, which just changed from monotonous black and white to a color newspaper last year, is out today.

If any readers buy it, they will find today’s front page headline of the Wall Street Journal. The title is——

"Who is the most profitable company in America?"

[As we all know, General Electric has been the company with the highest market value in the U.S. stock market for seven consecutive years. In 2000, General Electric’s sales revenue was US$129.9 billion and net profit was US$12.7 billion (US$1.27 per share)]

[Ranking second is Wal-Mart. The total retail sales of Wal-Mart Supermarket Group in 2000 were US$135.013 billion, earnings per share were US$1.45, and adjusted earnings per share were US$1.38. Net profit was US$4.141 billion]

[These are the top two. We can look at the data of Ford Motor Group last year. Last year, Ford Motor Group’s global sales were US$170 billion, with a total of 7.4 million cars sold. Net profit attributable to the parent company was US$5.4 billion.]

[Then there is Microsoft, the dominant Internet high-tech enterprise. Microsoft’s total operating income last year was US$22.96 billion, and its net profit attributable to its parent company was US$9.42 billion.]

[Finally, let’s take a look at one of the giants in the financial industry, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire Hathaway increased by 0.5% per share last year. By calculation, it

The net profit is approximately US$7 billion]

[These five companies are all number one in different fields in the U.S. stock market. Except for Ford Motor Group, each of these five giant companies has a stock market value of more than 100 billion U.S. dollars.]

[Among them, Wal-Mart and General Electric have market values ​​of more than 300 billion U.S. dollars. Microsoft's market value even surpassed General Electric's in early 2000, exceeding 400 billion U.S. dollars. Later, the Internet bubble burst, and Microsoft was implicated. Its current market value is about 267.9 billion U.S. dollars.

Dollar.】

[Berkshire Hathaway has a market value of US$165 billion and Ford Motor Group has a market value of US$65 billion]

[Readers who see this can do a simple addition, that is, these five industry-leading giants in the U.S. stock market, what was their total profit last year? 】

[The answer is US$38.95 billion. The profits of leading companies in the five major industries in the United States last year were this number.]

[Then let’s look at another company’s net profit for the fiscal year from November 2000 to November 2001]

[The name of this company is Smith Capital, which must be familiar to many readers.]

[And Smith Capital’s total profit for this fiscal year was US$45.869 billion. Net profit attributable to the parent company was US$42.8 billion.]

[Seeing this, the author wants to ask readers a question. That is, how much larger is 428 than 389.5? 】

【The answer is 35.5.】

[In other words, Smith’s company’s profits for the entire year this year are US$3.55 billion more than the combined annual net profits of the top five U.S. industry leaders last year. 】

[Last year, General Motors Group’s annual net profit was approximately US$3.785 billion.]

[In other words, we need to add General Motors Group to the five companies: General Electric, Microsoft, Wal-Mart Supermarket, Ford Motor Group, and Berkshire Hathaway.]

[The total net profits of these six companies in 2000 can exceed the profits of Smith Capital for the entire year this year]

[For another algorithm, the author inquired about the financial reports of 5,000+ listed companies in the U.S. stock market last year. 】

[After summarizing the data and excluding those listed companies with poor management and negative profits and losses, the author found that Smith Capital’s net profit this year is approximately equivalent to the total profit of the 300 or so U.S. listed companies at the bottom last year!]

[Readers who see this must already understand the question in the title and what the answer is. 】

[Yes, apart from the Federal Reserve and the IRS! The most profitable company in the United States last year was Smith Capital. 】

[And the founder and operator of this company must be familiar to everyone. 】

[He is Mr. Abel Smith, the richest man in the world on this year’s Forbes list, a young man who will not turn twenty-two until April next year.]

【.】

The Wall Street Journal's reports and articles, as always, pay attention to data and rigor.

It will put all the usable data it has searched into newspapers for readers to watch.

This approach makes the reading experience not very good. At least you need to have a certain academic degree and a certain mathematical foundation to be able to read the entire article.

But even so, its sales volume is stable and exaggerated, and it is the largest-selling broadsheet in the United States.

It can be seen from this that basically the most educated daily newspaper readers in the United States have the habit of reading the Wall Street Journal.

Otherwise, why don’t everyone read newspapers like the American Sun Daily and the New York Post, which are more relaxed, have more explosive headlines, and have more entertaining content?

In the United States, to put it bluntly, the Wall Street Journal is the largest financial and current affairs news daily.

The New York Times needs to add the Los Angeles Times. The two major newspapers on the east and west coasts combined will be able to compare with the Wall Street Journal in terms of sales.

Such a huge daily sales volume means that its readers are spread over an extremely wide territory.

Basically in the entire United States, as long as you are an elite, you can see it.

This also means that the issue of "who is the most profitable company in the United States" has been promoted to the whole country within one day.

More importantly, the Wall Street Journal is not alone in making similar reports.

After all, the total profit for the year was US$45.8 billion and the net profit was US$42.5 billion.

It was too exaggerated for the time of 2001.

The quantitative easing policy of the White House has just begun, and dollar inflation has not yet been as exaggerated as in later generations.

In this era with a market capitalization of US$400 billion, it is the most valuable company in the world.

A company's profits are more than 40 billion US dollars a year.

Such news is roughly equivalent to the exaggeration that in 2021, a company's profits for that year will be 300 billion US dollars.

Because the other five companies with the highest net profits in 2021 will only have a combined net profit of about US$240 billion.

The names of these five companies are Apple, Tesla Aramco, Neon SoftBank, China Commercial and Industrial Corporation, and Microsoft USA.

Such a big news was immediately reported by more than just the Wall Street Journal.

"The New York Times", "Los Angeles Times", "USA Today", "Washington Post", "New York Post", "Chicago Daily News", etc., etc., all national daily newspapers in the United States have also published similar news reports.

.

The New York Post, which always likes to use shocking headlines to attract readers’ attention, directly used the title of this report today - "Who can buy the United States?"

So many newspapers published it, plus the staggering numbers.

Even ordinary people who originally didn't care about these things couldn't help but read these reports.

One of the results is that at the noon break today, American Express's stock price exceeded $45 for the first time, a surge of 11.1%.

The reasons supporting this crazy stock rally are simple.

That was Abe Smith, who was "definitely determined" to win the American Express Company, and he was so rich.

Then if he really wants to buy American Express, wouldn't it just be a matter of one year's profit for him?

He can earn one American Express this year. So if he really wants to buy American Express, wouldn't it just be a matter of signing a check?

If we don't buy more stocks now, then when Abel comes to take over, won't we lose a lot of money?

Experts on stock forums and traders at stock companies analyze their customers in this way.

The market situation is hot, and a large number of institutions have begun to scramble for funds.

After Smith Capital's astonishing profits this year were announced, it aroused envy, jealousy, and admiration throughout the United States and even the world.

The leeks who bought shares of American Express all hoped to share some benefits with Abel.

But just when everyone was waiting for Abel Smith to come over and take over.

Noon on the 16th.

The latest issue, the biweekly "New York Observer" released on November 16, published a small exclusive interview with Abel Smith.

This exclusive interview contains authorized pictures of Abe Smith, which were published by the New York Observer, Smith’s most important magazine.

This means that it is likely to reveal Abel Smith's attitude towards American Express.

After learning the news, everyone who had invested in American Express stocks bought a copy of the magazine.

Let the sales volume of this magazine in this issue increase by at least 100% compared to the previous issue.

In fact, the exclusive interview did reveal Abel Smith's attitude towards American Express.

In the exclusive interview, the reporter asked "Why do you want to buy American Express?"

Abel Smith said: "When I first came to New York and made money, I didn't even know how to stay in luxury hotels. American Express helped me, and its excellent advanced customer service allowed me to avoid a lot of trouble in this regard.

It saves a lot of trouble and saves a lot of time. I want to better enjoy American Express’s services in this area, so I think becoming its boss would be a good choice.”

The reporter asked again - "Isn't it because American Express was acquired because of its great role in Pacific Bank?"

"If you think about it purely from this aspect, I think BOK Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal, Imperial Bank of Canada, etc., they have greater value for money."

"Especially the Canadian Imperial Bank. It has 900 branches in Canada and more than 100 branches in the United States. The key is that it is cheap, and its market value is only 20 billion US dollars. If it is for business complementarity, I think it is the only way to acquire it.

This is what Pacific Commercial Bank should do. Because that will allow us to open up the Canadian market and become a major regional bank in North America."

"Then you acquired Express Company mainly for its high-end travel services?" the reporter asked.

"That's pretty much what it means. Of course, it is an old brand. Owning such an old brand is also a good choice in some aspects."

The reporter from the "New York Observer" asked the last question in the small interview, "Do you have anything to say to the investors who invest in American Express shares?"
To be continued...