The U.S. stock market is booming!

If you are a Chinese stock investor, you will definitely jump for joy when you see this color.

American stock investors are just the opposite. When they see the screen full of red, their hearts bleed.

For the U.S. stock index, red represents a decline, while green represents an increase. A flash of red means that the stock market continues to fall, and investors suffer heavy losses.

The Federal Reserve has already taken action and injected capital into financial institutions for many days in a row. However, the Federal Reserve's capital injection of 18 billion is just a drop in the bucket in the face of financial risks of tens of trillions.

The financial crisis caused by the subprime mortgage crisis quickly spread to the real economy. This is best reflected in the stock market.

The so-called prophet of spring water, the U.S. stock market can most directly reflect investors' confidence in the market and also project the prosperity of the U.S. economy.

As statistics were released one after another, bad news followed one after another.

House prices across the United States began to fall, recording the largest single-quarter decline in 21 years, and the number of bankruptcies began to increase by 20% per month.

The Federal Reserve chose to cut interest rates in an emergency, but it is still difficult to reverse the decline in non-agricultural employment.

For ordinary consumer credit, default rates have also begun to intensify, with overdue repayment rates quickly reaching the levels seen when the Internet bubble burst in 2000.

A large part of the U.S. economy is driven by consumption. If there is a problem with consumption, it means that the U.S. economy will inevitably fall into recession.

…

In the evening, Thomas, an autoworker, parked his pickup truck in the garage and returned home humming a tune.

As an American autoworker, Thomas's salary is still very good. He lives in a large house in the suburbs, has a wife, two children, bought two cars, and has a dog. This is the American middle class.

standard equipment.

Entering the entrance hall, Thomas saw a pile of letters in the storage box next to him at first sight. Thomas picked them up casually. There were promotion advertisements from supermarkets, insurance company promotion advertisements, mortgage repayment bills, and credit cards sent by banks.

bill.

"It's time to pay off the credit card again." Thomas opened the bill and saw the numbers on it. He suddenly had a headache. He took his children to a ball game last month and really overspent.

The next second, Thomas suddenly remembered that he was still participating in the strike, which meant that this month's salary had not yet been received!

The key is that the factory is still laying off employees, and the intensity of the layoffs is getting bigger and bigger. I wonder if Thomas's name will be on the layoff list tomorrow.

Thinking of this, Thomas couldn't help but panic. Various loans were like sharp knives hanging over Thomas' head. If Thomas really lost his job, how would he repay the car loan, house loan, credit card, etc.!

Ordinary Americans don't save money. After paying off various loans after their monthly salary arrives, there will be little money left. Once they lose their jobs, they really have no money to repay the loans.

"The union people said that if we persist a little longer, the management will definitely compromise!" Thomas comforted himself.

But thinking about those colleagues who had returned to the workshop and clocked in and out normally, Thomas increasingly felt that the union's words were unreliable.

Soon, Thomas's wife prepared dinner, and the family of four gathered around the dining table. The dog ran to the bottom of the dining table, saying in his heart: Drop it, drop it, drop it quickly, whatever falls on the floor is mine.

!

Thomas was still thinking about repaying the loan, while his wife began to nag about the family's problems.

"Did you know? Mr. and Mrs. Heywood next door are getting a divorce!" the wife said.

"Aren't they very loving? Why are they getting divorced? I remember that in the summer, they held a barbecue queue and invited us to participate. Could it be that Mr. Heywood was cheating?" Thomas asked.

"No, it is said that Mr. Thomas was laid off two months ago and has been unable to find a job. They have no longer been able to pay the mortgage and he is likely to file for bankruptcy. So Mrs. Thomas simply divorced him.

I saw today that Mrs. Thomas was packing her luggage, maybe planning to move from here." The wife replied.

Hearing words such as "layoffs" and "bankruptcy", Thomas's heart trembled violently, and he felt as if a rabbit was dead or a fox was dead.

The wife continued: "I heard that many companies have been laying off employees recently, and it is getting harder and harder to find a job. When I went to the supermarket today, I heard the salesperson discussing that it was due to the recent recession and the number of people buying groceries.

It is decreasing, the turnover of supermarkets is also declining, and supermarket management has planned to cut salaries to save jobs."

This news shocked Thomas again, and the dinner in front of him no longer tasted good.

After dinner, Thomas sat alone on the sofa in a daze.

"Now that the unemployment rate is so high and it is so difficult to find a job, if I am really laid off, I may not be able to find a new job! How will I pay off my mortgage, car loan and credit card by then? Do I have to be like this?

Is Mr. Heywood divorced and bankrupt like that?

All in all, my current salary is still very considerable. Although I am not making a fortune, my quality of life is pretty good. Of course, it would be a good thing to have more benefits, but if I lose my job just to increase my benefits,

Then the gain outweighs the loss!

Tomorrow the trade union will hold a campaign, otherwise I won't go and go back to the workshop to clock in as normal, so at least I won't be on the layoff list. After all, this family still has to rely on me to support them.

What's more, I'm not the first to go back to work. Many people have already gone ahead of me. If the union settles accounts in the future, it won't be my turn!"

Thinking of this, Thomas felt much more at ease. He decided to go to bed immediately, get up early tomorrow, and go to the workshop to clock in on time.

…

Early in the morning, while enjoying breakfast, Norwood-Jewell saw the news on the TV reporting that the stock market was booming, and he suddenly felt a little bad.

Norwood-Jewell also invested in financial products, but he did not buy stocks directly, but purchased fund products. If the stock market fell, Norwood-Jewell's fund would naturally suffer losses.

After breakfast, Norwood-Jewell went straight to the Bemhull factory to deal with another matter that made him feel bad.

In front of the Bemher factory, a sparse crowd was holding signs and looking listless.

"Aren't we going to hold a campaign today? Why are there so few people!" Norwood Jewell frowned slightly.

Seeing the arrival of Norwood-Jewell, the union cadre Hanks immediately greeted him.

"The time for the event has come, why haven't everyone arrived yet!" Norwood-Jewell glanced at the crowd and said, "Hanks, your performance was pretty good in the past few campaigns, why did you drop out today?"

Chain? I’m very disappointed with your performance!”

Hanks immediately explained: "Mr. Jewell, this is not our fault. We have notified everyone, but many workers are unwilling to continue to participate in the strike. They have returned to the workshop and started clocking out for normal production!"

"What? Go back to work?" Norwood-Jewell immediately heard a classic saying in his heart, we have found a group of traitors!

"What's going on? Our union is still helping them fight, but they compromise with the management? Did the management give any benefits privately, or make a promise?" Norwood-Jewell asked immediately.

Hanks replied: "Since all members of our union have been laid off, many workers are unwilling to continue the strike with us. They believe that if the strike continues, the employer will also lay off them. In order to keep their jobs,

They all returned to the workshop.

For today’s campaign, I also told the workers that there will be a barbecue party and beer drinking after the event. That’s why so many people participated. If there had been no barbecue and beer, there would have been even fewer people!

To be honest, many union members have begun to regret it. After all, the economic situation has not been good recently, and many industries are really laying off employees. They are worried that if they are laid off this time, they will really be laid off!

Mr. Jewell, more and more people are going back to work. If this continues, our strike will really fail. We laid-off workers will really lose our jobs!"

"Don't worry, since you have joined the union, the union will definitely protect your rights and interests!" Norwood-Jewell quickly promised.

At this time, if we don’t quickly stabilize people’s hearts, the strike will really fail!

Hanks showed a dubious expression.

Everyone can say nice things, but can they really do it?

The management has used actions to tell everyone that they will not compromise and will lay off those who strike without mercy.

In the current bad economic environment, some workers have begun to compromise, no longer continue the strike, but go back to work.

Also because of the bad economic environment, jobs have become difficult to find. Recruiting new workers has become much easier for factories, so employers can lay off employees without any scruples.

If it continues, the final result will be that all the strikers will be laid off, and the factory will recruit a new group of workers, without any loss.

The real hurt is laid-off workers like Hanks, who actually lost their jobs!

It is possible for laid-off union leaders to be packaged as heroes.

However, more than 900 union members were laid off this time. Can more than 900 worker heroes be created?

Obviously this is impossible. This group of workers who have been laid off will most likely become victims of the strike.

…

There were not enough participants, and campaign activities were not carried out.

A failed campaign will have the opposite effect on the strike movement.

The workers were not fools. When they saw that the campaign was deserted, they knew that the strike would not go on. Instead of wasting time here, they should go back to work quickly to avoid being laid off by the factory.

So on the next day, many workers stopped striking and returned to the workshop, making the strike even weaker.

The next day, the number of strikers dropped off a cliff. At this time, the number of people who had returned to the factory to work again exceeded the number of people who were still participating in the strike.

Humans are social animals and have a herd mentality. If you see most people going on strike, you will go on strike. If you see most people go back to work, you will follow the crowd and go back to work.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the strike is doomed to fail. Even those who have been on the layoff list are beginning to ask their connections to find out if there is any way to go back to work.

…

At Bemher Factory, Li Weidong stood at the door of the workshop, looking at the workers working inside.

The factory's management reported: "At present, more than 2,200 workers in the factory have returned to work, and the production line can be opened normally. However, due to the shortage of workers, production capacity is still limited and has only returned to 60% of the usual level."

"Sixty percent of production capacity is acceptable. Many economists predict that the U.S. economy will experience negative growth next year and the market's consumer demand will also decrease. As a luxury car brand, our sales will definitely be greatly affected. At this time, we will scale back

Production capacity is not necessarily a bad thing." Li Weidong said.

Several managers nodded reluctantly. As the management of a production factory, their year-end bonuses are directly linked to the factory's output. Now that the factory's output has been reduced to process, it is estimated that this year's year-end bonus will be suspended.

But everyone also knows that the current economic situation is not good, layoffs are happening everywhere, and it is understandable to reduce production capacity.
To be continued...