Barron's first child, Jennifer, is already four years old. She's been attending the best "kindergarten" in the neighborhood for two years now and has made many close friends, all of whose parents are either wealthy or prominent.
"Kindergartens" in the United States can be divided into daycare and preschool. Preschool is more similar to the concept of "kindergarten" in China, while daycare primarily provides care for children up to three years old—even as young as six weeks old, often when parents need to work and have no one to look after them.
However, wealthy families naturally avoid sending their children to daycare so early, instead hiring a nanny.
Jennifer's decision to attend kindergarten stems from Rebecca's desire to cultivate her social skills with her peers.
Jennifer has Barron's signature light blonde hair, and at just four years old, with a chubby face, she looks like a sweet little angel.
During his visit to America, Barron will spend a few days with her, much to Jennifer's delight.
...
In fact, this time, both the crisis at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as the near-collapse of IndyMac, occurred earlier than in Barron's previous life.
Barron had already noticed this phenomenon during the earlier Bear Stearns incident.
After all, the subprime mortgage crisis was truly renowned, and its subsequent impact on global finance was profound. Understanding this crisis was essential for anyone working in the financial industry.
In his previous life, Barron had thoroughly studied the subprime mortgage crisis, reading extensive literature and reciting the dates of some of its defining events by heart. The Bear
Stearns incident had only occurred about ten days earlier than in Barron's original timeline...
But the events at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and IndyMac had already occurred over a month earlier than Barron's original timeline!
After analyzing the situation, Baron formed a rough guess. This was likely the result of the massive involvement of the funds he controlled during the subprime mortgage crisis...
For example, in the initial subprime mortgage-backed debt obligations (CDOs) and CDSs, Black Swan Fund held a significant short position and also had bet-against-the-grain agreements with major banks.
Combined with short selling in other markets, Baron's involvement could be said to have fueled the subprime mortgage crisis. The
subprime mortgage bond market was close to the root of the crisis, and the subsequent impact on finance, the stock market, and ultimately the real economy escalated the destructive force.
Everyone knows the so-called "butterfly effect." When Baron was reborn and participated in global capital investment, his actions would inevitably have some impact.
Of course, the dynamics of the world, coupled with his limited individual power, meant that this impact could initially be ignored.
But as Baron's funds and resources snowballed, the momentum generated by the flapping of his "butterfly" wings grew stronger and stronger.
While it wouldn't significantly deflect the course of history, many details had already shifted.
Just like during the current subprime mortgage crisis, his aggressive involvement accelerated the crisis.
Baron understood that, eventually, the securities investment data he memorized would be distorted beyond recognition, but the general trends would still be valuable.
Meanwhile, he was preparing for that day, cultivating networks of relationships and intelligence, as well as establishing strategic positions in certain industries. "
Rather than acquiring IndyMac Bank entirely right now, we'd prefer to acquire a portion of its operations..."
Davis, president of Standard Chartered Bank, who had arrived in Los Angeles to oversee the subsequent acquisition of IndyMac, told Barron after studying the bank's detailed profile.
Prior to this, Barron had instructed his advisory team to conduct a detailed investigation of several American banks, gathering extensive data, including IndyMac.
Before the crisis, IndyMac Bank had approximately $32 billion in assets, but its primary business was securitizing mortgages—no wonder it fell into such a predicament during the subprime mortgage crisis.
Based on their analysis and discussions with IndyMac and relevant regulators, Standard Chartered would need to invest at least $5 billion in capital to acquire IndyMac at this time.
A significant portion of this would be used to help IndyMac repay some of its outstanding debts and provide liquidity.
However, Standard Chartered didn't need the entire IndyMac Bank, but rather its branches and depositors to complete its American banking network.
Their previous acquisition of American Express Bank was limited in scale and didn't include American Express's core credit card business. It merely supplemented Standard Chartered's foreign exchange settlement business.
Acquiring IndyMac's branches and depositors would further strengthen Standard Chartered's presence in the US and establish a strong presence within the American banking system.
Ultimately, under the current circumstances, a $5 billion acquisition of IndyMac is not impossible, but the cost-effectiveness is not high.
Furthermore, with the full onset of the subprime mortgage crisis, more attractive acquisition targets are likely to emerge. In such circumstances, careful planning is crucial.
Baron generally respects the opinions of professionals in such specific matters. Therefore, given Davis's opinion, he handed the IndyMac acquisition over to him.
As Baron had told Schwarzenegger, he was willing to take on the trouble, but only if it would bring him benefits.
He wasn't here to do charity...
If they couldn't find a buyer quickly, IndyMac's collapse would be irreversible. Standard Chartered was the only buyer currently available...
Standard Chartered was in a favorable position, so it wasn't in a hurry.
But IndyMac couldn't take it anymore. After their proposed sale price was rejected by Standard Chartered,
IndyMac declared bankruptcy three days later. They would then be taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Later, if Standard Chartered wanted to acquire some of IndyMac's assets, it would have to deal with the FDIC.