I was at the Bloomberg Washington Summit on April 30th; I arrived late, despite leaving with a half hour to spare, and the Internet was down, so I puzzled over how to cover the event. What kicked me over the edge was that Bloomberg jams its programs together with no rest breaks except lunch. Thus I decided to cover the conference mostly via Twitter, and lob in questions to the Q&A. As it was, I...
Read More »
Stockman, former director of the Office of Management and Budget, told Tom Keene on “Bloomberg Surveillance” yesterday that the Federal Reserve is “off the deep end with this money printing, which is dramatically distorting and deforming the financial markets.” On Glenn Hubbard, Stockman said, “He is a brilliant guy who told Bush to cut taxes in 2001, cut taxes in 2003, oh, why you are at it, go have two unfinanced wars and don’t worry...
Read More »
Jack Lew, United States Treasury Secretary spoke with FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Peter Barnes about his new role and his plans for managing the government’s finances. Jack Lew spoke about the sequester, saying, “Nobody thinks the sequester was the right solution; it was designed to be something that everyone would hate. Give it some time.” Jack Lew also discussed why the path to a grand bargain budget deal has been so complicated, saying, “Everyone knows...
Read More »
FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Peter Barnes reports a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is demanding Ben Bernanke turn over documents and studies relating to the eventual sales of debt securities in its record $3 trillion portfolio. Barnes goes on to report that the subcommittee’s Republican chairman, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OD), is planning to release a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke later this afternoon stating his concerns over “significant problems” such...
Read More »
Renaissance Technologies Corp. has just reduced its stake in gun maker Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR) according to a 13G filed with the SEC. The famous quant hedge fund now owns 480,900 shares or 2.51% of Sturm, Ruger & Company (NYSE:RGR). A 13F filed at the end of the third quarter showed the hedge fund with a 4.44% stake (the sale is a decrease of approximately 43%). Some firms have been under pressure to sell...
Read More »
Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwarzman spoke with Bloomberg Television’s Erik Schatzker today from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland and said that Blackstone “did not look at Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL).” Schwarzman said the Dell Inc. (NASDAQ:DELL).” buyout doesn’t herald the return of mega-LBOs: “this isn’t your run-of-the-mill situation…This is a pretty unique set of circumstances with a fundamentally unleveraged company with an owner and founder that can put up a lot of the equity...
Read More »
President Utilizing Media to Pressure Republicans on Debt Ceiling Let me first state that I am not a Republican or a Democrat, or a Tea Party advocate; I just look at individual issues based upon their merit. The issues and the right solution is what is important to me, and not collective party ideology. But president Obama trying the same tactics of negotiation in the media to frame the debt ceiling debate as the...
Read More »
Yesterday on CNBC during the coverage of the monthly employment report, Rick Santelli pointed out that there is some absurdity in calling the Republicans “lunatics,” when they are the only responsible voice in Washington right now trying to call attention to the out of control government spending in the overall context of an unsustainable federal deficit, while the Democrats are running the country into the ground with even additional spending programs that the government...
Read More »
Game theory has always been relevant to American politics, and politics generally. The basic rule in a multiple player game is “create a coalition that has a majority of the voting interest,” and you win. Because of division of powers, in the US, this is more complex than in a parliamentary setting. But let’s take as an example the US House of Representatives. Imagine for a moment that the House has the following breakdown:...
Read More »
The discussions associated with the fiscal cliff have brought to light issues that individuals with like political, educational, and/or socio-economic backgrounds passionately disagree. When it comes to elected officials, the fiscal cliff decisions come down to vote maximization and/or personal beliefs about the benefits of reducing the costs associated with government (i.e. reducing government spending) and the risks associated with increasing the costs associated with government spending (i.e. increasing the tax burden). To economists, who supposedly...
Read More »
Spirit Airlines Incorporated (NASDAQ:SAVE) CEO Ben Baldanza spoke with FOX Business Network’s (FBN) Liz Claman about his concerns surrounding the fiscal cliff. Baldanza said that he hopes Speaker of the House “John Boehner wins the fight” regarding the fiscal cliff. Baldanza went on to say that we need a “balanced budget” and a sense of “certainty” which is “good for the economy.” On fiscal cliff talks: “I would say that my bet is hoping for that...
Read More »
