Chapter 337: Chapter 293: Bottom Fishing for Rubber Company

The good news is that the Rubber Crisis does not involve many other industries, and the crisis is almost limited to the rubber industry.

In addition, the strict supervision of the stock market by other European countries led to the implementation of corresponding policies after the collapse of the rubber stock market, which in turn caused the stock markets and economies in most regions, including Australasia, to not suffer too much fluctuation and avoid a large-scale global economic crisis.

In order to minimize the impact on the Sydney Stock Exchange, Arthur instructed the Royal Financial Group to announce the acquisition of all rubber company stocks on the market when the rubber stock prices plunged to less than half of their issue price.

This move saved the economies of some Australasian rubber companies and allowed some investors to sell their stocks.

For Arthur, this action would not cause too much loss, since the shares of rubber companies have already fallen to their lowest price, and they can’t fall much lower.

After all, Arthur’s Royal Financial Group made quite a fortune in this rubber boom, so it was only right to spend some of that money to save the rubber market in Australasia.

As for the rubber markets and rubber companies in other parts of the world, Arthur could only say that he was helpless.

After all, the current crisis facing the rubber industry is largely caused by the greed of these small-scale capitalists.

In this Rubber Crisis, Arthur did not actually make much money. Although he knew that shorting rubber stocks could bring in huge profits for the Royal Financial Group, Arthur was not interested in such ill-gotten gains, as reputation is more important than capital for a monarch.

However, one ethnic group profited greatly from this crisis by shorting stocks and amassing large amounts of capital.

That group was the historically famous Jewish ethnicity, but this also led to increased hatred toward Jews among many Europeans.

Some areas even saw anti-Semitic actions, making life difficult for some lower-class Jews.

This could be considered as the Jews bringing misfortune onto themselves, as one can be greedy, but not too greedy.

Facing such an extremely greedy nation, who would have a good impression of them?

After World War I, defeated Germans had to deal with the phenomenon of 500,000 marks bread, and Jews played a significant role in contributing to this misery.

This indirectly led to the Holocaust of Jews under the Third Reich, as the hatred for Jews was deeply ingrained in the hearts of all Germans at that time.

In early May 1911, Butler Kent happily reported to Arthur on the spoils the Royal Financial Group had reaped in the Rubber Crisis.

Since its establishment, the Royal Financial Group had invested nearly 2 million Australian dollars, creating and investing in more than 40 rubber companies and over 200 rubber production gardens.

At that time, the Sydney Stock Exchange had not yet been listed, and knowing the damages the rubber crisis would bring to the stock market and national economy, Arthur made sure that these rubber companies were listed in other regions overseas, such as New York, London, etc.

“Your Majesty, our income from selling shares exceeded 13 million Australian dollars, and the proceeds from liquidating stocks at high prices reached 31 million Australian dollars. After deducting various expenses during this period, our total profit should be over 35 million Australian dollars.” said Butler Kent with a smile.

The Royal Financial Group’s annual profit was already more than 35 million Australian dollars, which was why Butler Kent did not show too much emotion while reporting.

Nevertheless, this money was earned effortlessly, which was enough to make people happy.

“How much did we spend on repurchasing stocks after the stock market disaster?” Arthur asked with interest.

The Royal Financial Group’s high-profile acquisition of all rubber stocks on the market had been greatly appreciated by many Australasian investors.

After all, if it were not for the acquisition by the Royal Financial Group, the stock price would have fallen further, making it less valuable than waste paper.

“There were not many rubber companies listed in Sydney in the first place. Up to now, we have purchased almost all the shares of the majority of the listed rubber companies in Sydney, spending a total of 590,000 Australian dollars.” continued Butler Kent.

Although there were only about ten rubber companies listed in Sydney, purchasing these companies before the outbreak of the Rubber Crisis would have required at least 10 million Australian dollars.

Now, with a mere 590,000 Australian dollars, perhaps only a fraction of the previous amount, all the shares of these listed companies could be bought.

Moreover, the rubber companies listed in Sydney were generally in good standing and could continue production after the Rubber Crisis.

Because in Arthur’s knowledge, even in later generations, synthetic rubber could not entirely replace natural rubber.

This means that the value and role of these natural rubber plantations and rubber companies were still significant, despite the current crisis they faced.

In fact, the real cause of the Rubber Crisis, besides synthetic rubber and the saturation of rubber production, was the confusion in the rubber market. In Southeast Asia, a major rubber-producing region, there were numerous shell companies.

After eliminating the majority of rubber businesses and shell rubber companies in the rubber crisis, the rubber market would stabilize again in a few years.

After much discussion with Butler Kent, Arthur decided to begin a large-scale acquisition of Southeast Asian rubber company stocks and rubber plantations after they reached their lowest point.

The timing was almost perfect, as investing just a few million Australian dollars could buy hundreds of rubber companies.

More importantly, Southeast Asia is very close to Australasia, and Australasia’s influence is still significant in this region.

After acquiring these rubber companies and plantations, Arthur would have the power to fully control them and then influence the rubber prices in Southeast Asia and the entire world.

With Arthur’s approval, the Royal financial group plans to invest at least 8 million Australian dollars to acquire rubber companies and plantations in the Southeast Asian region.

As for rubber companies in other regions, they are not currently being considered for acquisition by the Royal financial group, because Australasia’s reach cannot extend that far, and the rubber market is not something Arthur can monopolize entirely.

Of course, after acquiring the stock of these rubber companies, the necessary delistings must still be carried out.

There’s no doubt that making money from these rubber stocks is impossible, and the rubber market will not recover to its pre-crisis state for at least a decade.

At this time, selling stocks was increasingly the goal of every stockholder in the stock market.

Therefore, when the Royal financial group began to acquire rubber stocks in large quantities, many stockholders started to sell their stocks, and the Royal financial group quickly acquired stocks for more than 100 rubber companies and 200 rubber plantations in Southeast Asia.

The acquisition lasted for more than half a month, with the Royal financial group acquiring more than 500 rubber companies and over 1,000 rubber plantations.

Meanwhile, the remaining rubber companies on the market were almost all acquired, and the tumultuous rubber crisis came to an end.

The Royal financial group now owns more than 500 rubber companies and over 1,000 rubber plantations. These combined rubber companies are no small enterprise.

After careful consideration, Arthur decided to merge the rubber companies in Southeast Asia into the Australian Rubber Company, run independently.

After all, the scale of the Royal financial group is already quite massive, and even if Arthur can control it now, it may not necessarily be controlled by the next monarch or subsequent monarchs.

It is better to prepare for the breakup of the Royal financial group early, splitting it into industry giants, with the royal family as the behind-the-scenes controller.

Without directly participating, the royal family could still receive substantial dividends every year – a better outcome than running a conglomerate and being targeted by others.

As time entered May, several major news events occurred worldwide.

The first was the formal implementation of the Cabinet System in the Qing Empire of the East. However, Arthur was not very optimistic about this change, as positions in the Cabinet were still reserved for royal family members and nobles, with ordinary people basically ineligible.

In addition to the establishment of the Cabinet System, the Qing Empire nationalized all railways, causing widespread outrage domestically.

In Europe, the intensity of the Italo-Turkish War continued to escalate.

On May 1st, more than 20,000 Italian troops landed in Tripoli, marking the first battle of the Italo-Turkish War.

Compared to the Turkish garrison, the Italian army had a clear advantage in equipment and numbers.

As one of the great powers, Italy used its fleet to blockade Tripoli’s coastline and even deployed military airships and aircraft to participate in the war.

As in history, this was the first time that aircraft had been used in warfare.

However, due to the influence of Australasia earlier, the progress of aircraft development among European nations was generally slow, and the military aircraft deployed by Italy were even more outdated than those in history.

That being said, the development of Italian airships did see some progress, and more airships than aircraft participated in the fighting.

The aerial advantage made it difficult for the Turkish army, and the British preventing Turkish reinforcements from entering Egypt resulted in the Turkish army in Tripoli being trapped without any help.

The actions of the British in aiding the Italians angered the Turkish government and people. However, at the same time, tensions between Turkey and Italy escalated rapidly, which is why the Turkish people did not choose to join the Allied nations even after becoming hostile towards the British.

Arthur shook his head as he looked at the war reports from Europe, wondering if the events that led Turkey to join the Central Powers in history would ever occur in this world?