Chapter 429: Turning Point! iPod!
Xu Cang did not stay in Canada for long, and ICAO did not make it difficult for him to obtain the special medical examination. To be precise, the ICAO Air Navigation Commission relaxed the requirements for exercising the captain's authority.
This is exactly what Xu Cang was aiming for, because only by obtaining the qualification of a solo captain can he go to the test pilot school for the first and second level test pilot training, and only after that can he grow into a test flight engineer who leads the test flight work.
Normally, there are not two but three people in the cockpit of a test aircraft.
The person who exercises the captain's authority is not the left seat or the right seat, but the test flight engineer sitting in the observer seat. He is the person in charge of deciding the test flight project, and is also responsible for supervising the work of the two test pilots sitting in front of him and providing some help when necessary.
Xu Cang's future goal is to become a test flight engineer. Although Xu Cang has not even been hired as a captain yet, and is still a long way from being a test flight engineer, given the delayed progress of domestically produced large aircraft, Xu Cang feels that he can still catch up.
After successfully resolving the issue of the medical examination and appraisal, Xu Cang followed Qin Xin to the United States.
Previously, the original trip to the Victorville aircraft graveyard was completely disrupted by the Bombardier incident, so it was necessary to reapply to the FAA for a temporary route time.
However, the good news is that after inspection, seven aircraft had no problems, and two needed to replace some parts to meet airworthiness conditions.
Victorville's service is very considerate, and there is a complete supply of aviation materials there. Except for some special aircraft, other mainstream civil aircraft parts are available. It just so happens that Xu Cang also wants to meet Xiao Lingyun in the United States. This time is free for the maintenance staff to replace the aviation materials, and there will be test runs later, plus the time for the second application for temporary routes, it is just right.
After meeting Xiao Lingyun, I will go to Pratt & Whitney again and explain the situation to him. Basically, my trip to the United States will be over. Then I will return to China with the plane I bought from Victorville. The plan is well planned.
The most troublesome issue during the trip to the United States was with Pratt & Whitney. After all, Xu Cang had signed a test flight agreement with Pratt & Whitney. Now Xu Cang wanted to back out, and it would be difficult for Pratt & Whitney to pursue the matter.
Of course, if Puhui is unwilling to abolish the agreement, then Xu Cang will fulfill their wish. Although it requires taking certain risks, it is still within an acceptable range. Of course, everything is based on the premise that Xu Cang will fully recover from his injuries.
There is a clause in the agreement that the postponement of the test flight due to unexpected circumstances does not constitute a violation of the agreement. This clause happens to be applicable to Xu Cang's current situation.
Pratt & Whitney began researching variable speed engines in the 1990s, and variable speed gearboxes were definitely an important part of the process. Since Pratt & Whitney did not conduct relevant research itself, it must have been handed over to other companies. Perhaps the gear company that cooperated with Pratt & Whitney finally completed the research and development of aircraft engine variable speed gearboxes.
When I meet the people from Puhui later, maybe I can ask them some questions.
Xu Cang and Qin Xin did not go directly to Victorville, but flew to New York. This time they not only wanted to meet Xiao Lingyun, but also a package of acquisition contracts. The 9/11 incident hit the US stock market hard, and the US capital market was also quite depressed, not to mention that the US stock market had just experienced the bursting of the Internet bubble, and it was already in a weak period. Now it was directly buried.
Xu Cang and his companion went to the short-term apartment that Xiao Lingyun rented in New York. As soon as they entered, they found the room in a mess, with all kinds of documents scattered on the floor and the table. The apartment was not big to begin with, and now there was almost no place to stay.
Xiao Lingyun may have realized that his house was too messy, so he shuffled some documents together, made a small path through, and then tidied up the sofa to at least make it look less messy.
Xu Cang, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, followed the "narrow path" into the center of the living room, and then sat down with Qin Xin.
Seeing Xiao Lingyun was about to make tea, he smiled and said, "You are not a stranger. Please sit down. I am done. I am going to the hotel to rest. I have been flying too much recently."
Xiao Lingyun had just taken out the tea set. He was not particular about it. When Xu Cang said that he could not make tea anymore, he really put the tea set back and pulled a small chair to sit opposite Xu Cang.
"You went to Canada and came here right after that. Can your body handle it?"
Xu Cang leaned back on the cushion and adjusted his sitting position slightly: "The Bombardier incident was an accident. I originally thought they could hold on for a while longer. Since we are in Canada, why not come to the United States? Otherwise, we will have to come here separately later."
Xu Cang raised his chin: "How is the acquisition of the seven companies going?"
Speaking of business, Xiao Lingyun immediately became serious: "On the second day after that incident, three companies were willing to accept our conditions, including Google."
"Google is an Internet company, and was greatly affected by the bursting of the US Internet bubble. It is normal that they were the first to fail this time." Xu Cang smiled and said, "What about Apple?"
"Yesterday, Apple said it was willing to accept our terms." Xiao Lingyun said, "So far, six out of the seven companies are willing to accept the terms, and the remaining one is refusing to accept. What does the remaining one say? Will it change the terms?"
"The conditions cannot be changed. Once the other six companies that accept the conditions know that there is discrimination, they will inevitably complain. If they don't want to accept it, then withdraw the acquisition. Not getting one company is acceptable." Xu Cang did not force it: "When will the agreement be signed?"
Xiao Lingyun said: "The draft agreement has been prepared before, and the contents of the several parties are similar. Now we are waiting for each party to respond to the contents of the agreement, which will probably be in the next few days. Otherwise, you can stay for a few days and sign everything here?"
"Yes, sure." Xu Cang nodded. "I'm going to look for Puhui later. Please hurry up about the agreement. I still want to return to China as soon as possible. By the way, is the bank willing to lend money?"
"I checked the credit records of those six companies and found no bad records. The chances of banks lending to them are still very high, especially now that the U.S. capital market is sluggish, and banks are very willing to lend."
A large part of banks' income comes from loan interest. When the economy is good, banks are the bosses. Not only do they have various strict inspections, but they are also very cautious about the loan amounts.
But now the economy is not good, the capital market is sluggish and cautious about investment, so the attitude of banks is much lower. In the past, these enterprises were small in scale, and banks were not very enthusiastic about lending to small and medium-sized enterprises when the market was good. After all, some of them were big customers with deep pockets, and they would not look down on some petty profits.
However, now even a fly is meat, so it is good enough to have a couple of bites.
Xu Cang smiled and said, "So what? Apply now?"
Xiao Lingyun scratched his messy hair and said, "No, no, it's not the right time yet. The interest rate has been cut before, but I think the effect is still not good. The capital market is still dead. There is a high possibility that there will be a second interest rate cut. Wait, wait a little longer."
"Are you sure about this?" Qin Xin who was standing beside him asked.
This matter involves a lot of things, because we need to get a new sum of capital from here, otherwise the repayment pressure of the money borrowed from European banks will be relatively large. In fact, the interest rate has been lowered once in the United States. Qin Xin's idea is to wait until the acquisition agreement is signed, and then take out a loan to avoid more trouble.
Xiao Lingyun is bold and patient, and he has to lower the interest rate a little bit.
However, Xu Cang was the most courageous. He said slowly: "It depends on the situation. I don't think the second rate cut will necessarily stimulate the economy. Previously, the impact of the bursting of the Internet bubble was already huge. This time it is a superimposed impact. I'm afraid two rate cuts will not be enough. Let's wait and see the situation after the second rate cut policy comes out. We may be able to wait until the third rate cut."
In Xu Cang's memory, after the 9/11 incident, the US government launched four rounds of interest rate cuts to boost the economy. However, Xu Cang could not really wait for the fourth rate cut, mainly because the time was too long and Xu Cang could not wait any longer.
In addition, the fourth round of interest rate cuts is not large, so there is no need to borrow money at the threshold.
Finally, although it seems that the interest rate is the lowest after the fourth round of rate cuts, it is not necessarily the best to borrow money when the interest rate is the lowest.
Xu Cang is not the only one who is eyeing the interest rate cut. Some brave people also have similar ideas, but they cannot see the future clearly, and most of them rely on their courage. If the interest rate is low enough after the fourth round of reduction, then the pressure of borrowing money and repaying the loan will be small, so why not take a chance?
Therefore, as long as the interest rate is reduced to a low enough level, the risk will also be reduced a lot, and finally reach a point that can be tolerated by more and more people. In this way, more people will borrow money, and banks will become the active party again, and the review standards will be raised again.
Therefore, it is best to borrow money after the third round of interest rate cuts.
Interest rates are low enough, but not so low that many people can ignore the uncertainty about the future economy. This is an excellent time.
Of course, we also need to analyze it in conjunction with the situation of the U.S. economic market after the second round of interest rate cuts. There is no rush anyway. The first round of interest rate cuts has just started not long ago, so it’s okay to wait.
"The third rate cut?" Xiao Lingyun blinked his eyes: "It's so harsh, do you think there will be a third round of rate cuts?"
"I have said that this time, coupled with the bursting of the Internet bubble, the negative impact on the economy is far more exaggerated than imagined. I even think there will be a fourth round of interest rate cuts."
Qin Xin glanced at Xu Cang: "Do we have to wait until the fourth round of interest rate cuts?"
In comparison, Qin Xin thinks like an ordinary person, while Xiao Lingyun reacts quickly and hums, "If there is a fourth round of interest rate cuts, then the timing of borrowing money will be more perfect after the third round of interest rate cuts. Of course, this depends on what the specific interest rate is after the third round of interest rate cuts."
Xu Cang nodded approvingly. Xiao Lingyun was indeed in the financial field, and his sense of smell in this area was much sharper than Qin Xin's.
"By the way, how much money do you think the bank can lend?" Xu Cang asked, "I mean the total amount."
This question really stumped Xiao Lingyun.
"Among the six companies to be acquired, except Apple, these five companies are classified as micro-enterprises under the definition of the US Small Business Act. In my experience, the loan limit for micro-enterprises by US banks is 20 million US dollars. In view of the recent and foreseeable economic trends in the future, I think it is no problem for the five companies to obtain a loan limit of 20 million US dollars. After all, such companies are supported by the US Small Business Administration." Xiao Lingyun said: "However, this is normal. I feel that in order to stimulate the economy, not only will interest rates be lowered, but taxes will also be reduced. In addition, there is a relatively large possibility that special appropriations will be made to specifically support small and medium-sized enterprises."
"In this round of market shocks, large companies have a stable foundation. Although they are suffering, they will not have much problem surviving. Smaller companies have poor risk resistance and are the main victims. Therefore, according to previous experience in allocating funds, once there is a grant plan, more than 70% of the funds will be used for small and medium-sized enterprises, and the amount will not be small. Influenced by this factor, there is a high probability that the upper limit of 20 million US dollars will be exceeded, but it is hard to say how much it will reach."
"The last one is Apple..." Xiao Lingyun was a little entangled: "Compared to the other companies, Apple's scale is relatively large, but it is currently in a trough period. The bank's positioning of its future prospects will directly affect the upper limit of the loan..."
Xu Cang smiled and said, "So what you mean is... the bank is not optimistic about Apple's development?"
"Apple was struggling in the 1990s. Ten years ago, Jobs returned, but I find it hard to imagine that one person can save a dying company." Xiao Lingyun said: "The drama of turning the tide is indeed very attractive, but reality is reality. Banks will not have a good estimate for Apple unless Apple can achieve something to be proud of in the near future."
"So, the total loan size may be capped at $300 million?" Qin Xin looked at Xu Cang: "Isn't this quite different from your expectations?"
Xu Cang smiled and said, "That's definitely a big difference. However, this round of policy cycle to stimulate the economy will continue for a while, and we don't have only one chance to get a loan. Lingyun, after the acquisition, you can start making small loans. These companies need emergency funds to get through this round of lows. I believe in my own vision. These companies will recover faster than other companies. As long as they have good enough performance, they should be able to get more loans after the third round of interest rate cuts. Of course, the premise is that there is a third round of interest rate cuts."
"If the recovery performance of these enterprises is surprising enough, after the group is established, Cangqing Group can provide guarantees for these enterprises. Under this premise, the upper limit of loans will be greatly increased."
Xu Cang meant to borrow a small sum of money now for emergency and recovery.
Before the third round of interest rate cuts, if nothing unexpected happens, the recovery performance of these companies will be much faster than the industry average. Just kidding, these companies are potential stocks that Xu Cang carefully selected with the information advantage of rebirth.
In this round of economic stimulus, on the one hand, interest rates were lowered, and on the other hand, taxes were reduced, which removed the shackles on enterprises and allowed them to move freely.
As long as we can get through this round, there will be infinite light in the future.
Moreover, after this period of time, Cangqing Group was established. With the huge amount of high-quality assets in Xu Cang's hands, it was enough to guarantee these subsidiaries. Combined with their strong recovery performance, the upper limit of bank loans would definitely increase exponentially.
There was another thing that Xu Cang did not say.
Apple is in a bad situation right now, but in a month, everything will change.
Perhaps even Apple itself did not have high expectations for this, otherwise, they would not have agreed to the acquisition plan a month before the product was launched.
The entire downturn of the 1990s will soon be swept away, and the drama of propping up the collapsing building will finally be staged.
One month from now, probably on October 23rd, Apple will release a new product, and from then on, everything will become clear.
That is iPod!
