After breakfast, father and son traditionally gathered in the living room by the fireplace. They sat in armchairs. Gerald asked:
"So what's the problem, son?"
"The stock market has gone completely crazy! Prices for almost all stocks are falling rapidly. Gold, platinum, and silver are getting cheaper. Oil is becoming more expensive, but the shares of oil companies are all over the place. One moment they jump several points, the next they crash down again. In a situation like this, I don't even know where to invest. Frankly, this is going to be a very difficult year financially. It really looks like a crisis, but I don't recall…"
The transmigrator almost gave himself away. He did not remember any financial crisis in 1990 from history. He remembered the dates of the nearest crises: 1998, 2008, and 2027, the last one triggered by the market war between the United States and China along with Europe.
"The political situation in the world is unstable right now, Richie. The military conflict between Iran and Iraq is causing turbulence in the fuel market. In the USSR, the political situation is extremely unstable. Our intelligence analysts are predicting a revolution in the Soviet Union, which will inevitably affect the global market. Many investors are urgently selling securities and accumulating cash, waiting for stock prices to drop so they can buy at the bottom of the market. Others are afraid to leave money in bank accounts and are investing in precious metals. But enormous reserves of precious metals are being smuggled from the USSR into Europe. Because of that, instead of rising, the prices of gold, platinum, and silver are falling."
"I understand all that perfectly well, but it's still unclear what to invest in right now. Whatever stocks you buy, there's a serious risk of losing a considerable amount of capital."
"Richie, I can suggest you invest your funds in Grosvenor Group."
"No thanks! Real estate prices are falling too."
"Then let's reason this out. If real estate is falling in price, then logically that's exactly when you should invest in it. Buy up cheap land and old houses slated for demolition and build modern structures."
"That makes sense for a large corporation that can afford long-term investments on a massive scale. I'm only operating with a hundred million dollars."
Gerald grimaced disdainfully.
"Richie, you're counting in Yankee currency again! What's wrong with pounds?"
"For starters, they're losing value. But actually, Dad, you've given me a good idea. Right now is the perfect moment to buy the discounted shares of certain corporations."
Using levitation, Richard pulled a radiotelephone toward himself.
"Richie, what did I tell you about using magic in the house?!" Gerald asked in a displeased tone with threatening undertones.
"No one saw it anyway," the boy waved him off, pulling a small notebook from the pocket of his jacket and flipping through it. "Aha! Here they are!"
"What's that?"
Gerald rose slightly from his chair, craned his neck, and curiously peered into the small notebook. It was filled with dense handwriting—mini summaries about finances and lists of company names.
Richard dialed a number and said:
"Dan, call the broker. Have him monitor the following companies: Intel, Microsoft, Advanced Micro Devices, and Micron Technology."
"Sir, what exactly is required? Should we buy shares of these companies?"
"As usual, Mr. Silver. Catch the lowest possible price and buy the maximum number of available shares. Time frame: from August through the end of September. The budget is one hundred million dollars. In short, the entire account of my company is at your disposal."
"Understood, sir. Intel, AMD, Micron, and Microsoft. Anything else?"
"There's no money for anything else, so that will be enough."
After Richard finished the phone call, Gerald asked:
"Richie, why exactly these companies? There are other promising firms in the IT industry. For example, Apple."
"Apple will be suck…" Richard coughed. "Ahem… That company will lose the competitive struggle to Microsoft until the 2000s. Only at the beginning of the next century will it make sense to invest in them—if the company manages to stay afloat."
"Richie!" His father's stern look promised nothing good. "Has it been too long since you felt the belt? What are those vulgar, plebeian expressions slipping into your speech?"
"My apologies, Father, but it's actually true. Microsoft is about to release an operating system with a graphical interface. Of course, it will be terrible, like almost any raw product, but even that will drive up their stock prices. No matter what the system turns out like, the company's programmers will gain experience. Their next product will be far better, which will lead to explosive growth in the company's securities. By the way, what's the news about graphene research?"
"That incident at the university, Richie, caused quite a stir. Every major news outlet in the world wrote about you and the discovery of the new material. Right now governments and some corporations are allocating large sums of money to graphene research. Scientists are promising it a great future."
"Uh-huh, I see. For the next ten years there's no point investing in graphene—unless scientists miraculously create an industrial laser system capable of producing graphene sheets in a continuous process. Hmm… What if…"
"What?"
"Oh, nothing. Just an idea that came to me. I won't share it yet—I don't want to scare away my luck."
(End of Chapter)
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