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2016-26/3555/en_head.json.gz/9517 | Retailers report modest sales gains for February
NEW YORK (AP) — Americans cut back on spending in February as cold weather and economic challenges chilled their appetite for spring merchandise.
The nation’s retailers on Thursday posted moderate sales growth for February, a time when most stores get rid of winter merchandise and bring in swimsuits, ankle length pants and other spring fashions.
But Americans spent more judiciously during the month as they contended with an increase in the payroll tax of 2 percentage points, income tax refunds that came later than usual and rising gas prices. Winter storms throughout much of the country in February also likely made spring merchandise less appealing to them.
“February was a difficult month,” said Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics LLC., a research firm. “Retailers faced significant headwinds.”
February’s tally reflects a sharp drop in sales growth from January. Overall, 15 retailers reported on Thursday that revenue at stores open at least a year — an indicator of retail health — rose an average of 1.7 percent, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers, an industry trade group. That compares with a 4.5 percent increase in January.
But February’s results also mark a reduction in the number of stores reporting monthly revenue, including big names like Target, Macy’s and Nordstrom. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, hasn’t reported on a monthly basis in years. And with the shrinking list, Costco now accounts for about two-thirds of the tally. In total, the retailers that report monthly data represent about 6 percent of the $2.4 trillion in U.S. retail industry sales.
Among the companies that reported monthly results, the ones that cater to poor and middle-class shoppers said that Americans are still grappling with economic challenges. Many of them had to do heavy discounting to get shoppers to spend.
Bruce Efird, CEO of the discount chain Fred’s, said delayed tax returns and the increase in payroll tax weighed on customer’s spending patterns. Fred’s reported that revenue fell 1.5 percent in February, more than the 1.3 percent drop Wall Street had expected. Fred’s also lowered its fourth-quarter outlook due to markdowns and higher-than-expected costs.
Cato, a woman’s clothing chain, also reported that February revenue dropped, by 3 percent compared with the 4 percent analysts had expected. The company said the figure reflects Americans’ hesitance to spend right now.
“February sales reflect the continuing difficult economic environment. We did see some beneficial impact from the delay in tax refunds from January,” said John Cato, CEO of Cato, a women’s clothing chain.
Limited Brands Inc., which operates Victoria’s Secret and has been on a strong winning streak, said economic challenges also hurt its business. The company said that it had to discount more heavily to bring in shoppers in February. The company said that profit margins also were squeezed.
Still, Limited turned in a 3 percent increase in revenue for February, above the 2.6 percent rise analysts expected.
Not every company posted disappointing results, though. Costco Wholesale Corp., which caters to affluent shoppers, was among the big exceptions.
Costco’s revenue rose 6 percent in February, beating Wall Street’s expectations. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a 5.1 percent increase. | 金融 |
2016-26/3555/en_head.json.gz/9551 | From Tradearabia.com: Dubai-based Mashreq, one the UAE's largest banks by market value, said it has taken legal action to protect its interests because of problems with Saudi clients, but that amounts involved were 'not significant.'
'We appreciate that all defaults are of concern. However, the amounts involved are not significant as evidenced by the strength and trading position of the bank as reported in our Q1 results,' John Iossifidis, Mashreq's head of international banking, said in a statement. He did not name the clients.........Full Article: Source | 金融 |
2016-26/3555/en_head.json.gz/9697 | Local Student Wins 2013 Roger Buchholz Accounting Scholarship
Robert Bellile, a student at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and native of New London, Wis., has received the 2013 Roger Buchholz Memorial CPA Candidate Scholarship, awarded by the Milwaukee Chapter of Financial Executives International (FEI) and the Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public Accountants (WICPA).
Brookfield, Wisconsin (PRWEB)
Bellile receives $4,000 in recognition of his leadership abilities, grade point average, work experience and desire to become a CPA. The annual scholarship is given in tribute to Roger Buchholz for his work with FEI and the WICPA. Buchholz was killed in 1993 during a robbery attempt in Milwaukee, on his way home from an FEI dinner meeting.
Formerly vice president and CEO of Success Business Industries in Glendale, Buchholz was active at both the local and national levels of FEI, serving as Milwaukee Chapter president, national director, area vice president and national executive committee member. While a member of the WICPA, he was a strong advocate for passage of the 150 credit-hour requirement for aspiring CPAs.
FEI is a professional association of senior financial executives with more than 14,000 members in 91 chapters throughout the U.S. and Canada. The Milwaukee Chapter of FEI includes more than 200 members from 131 area companies. The WICPA is the premier professional organization for Wisconsin CPAs, with nearly 8,000 members working in public accounting, industry, government and education.
Mary Murray
Wisconsin Institute of CPAs 262-785-0045 3005 | 金融 |
2016-26/3555/en_head.json.gz/9733 | Search this site: ESSAYS House shopping? Better polish your résumé
By evan pondel
Published online Thursday Jun 2nd, 2005 and in print issue #0422 dated Thursday Jun 2nd, 2005 A headshot and bio are standard protocol to get an audition for a TV show or a play. But are they really necessary to buy a house?
They are in some neighborhoods of Los Angeles. There, in addition to offering as much as $75,000 over the asking price, buyers are sending flowery bios, pictures, and letters to sellers.
"I just oohed and ahhed my way from room to room," read one letter to Jane Centofante, who was selling her 2,000 square-foot home in Westwood, a tony L.A. suburb, for a cool $1.49 million. "I gather from your [house] that you are warm and smart and bring incredibly beautiful detail to your world," read another. Centofante was stuck– deciding between the family who included a photo with their dog and the young screenwriter who wrote a flattering two-page letter– when other events put the sale on hold.
Welcome to America's frothy real estate market, where in some places enthusiasm and excess have reached a point that, to many, seems eerily similar to the dot-com craze of the late 1990s.
Of course, housing prices don't rise and fall like stock prices. They move more slowly and because of different dynamics. Still, it's hard to imagine the intensity of today's market continuing indefinitely, experts say.
"There is a conceptual limit that we have gone beyond," says Susan Wachter, professor of real estate and finance at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. "And we are more vulnerable to price volatility. But complicating the issue is that there is no simple measure of a bubble."
Instead, there are anecdotes that would have seemed unbelievable 10 years ago. For example:
* Bidding wars in California are forcing real estate agents to write recommendations on behalf of their clients who are attempting to buy a new home.
* Real estate trade groups in Massachusetts are calling on state officials to approve more housing construction to improve prospects for buyers.
* Retirees moving to Florida are living in hotels for weeks and even months at a time as they scour the state in search of affordable places to live.
Most baffling to economists, and even those who reject the notion of a bubble, is that the supply of homes for sale continues to dwindle in places like Florida, southern California, and Massachusetts. Thus, there's no clear sign that the real estate market has peaked. All of these places experienced double-digit increases in home prices throughout 2004, some repeating their cloud-piercing performance for the third consecutive year.
Big gain in one year
In February, the median price of a home in Florida rose 25 percent to $201,400 when compared with the same month a year ago. The West Palm Beach-Boca Raton area of the state continues to register the biggest leaps in home prices, climbing as high as 34 percent in the fourth quarter of 2004.
Multiple bids keep coming through, says Marilyn Jacobs, who sells homes in Boca. And more often than not, her sellers are rejecting a lot of people.
"They've had to kiss a lot of frogs before they find their prince," says Jacobson, a native New Yorker. "But those other frogs will find their palaces, too. There are still plenty of opportunities."
Not so in Massachusetts. The state has seen a precipitous drop in housing construction, keeping demand taut and prices aloft. The conditions have worsened in three years, evoking a theme akin to the late 1980s.
At that time, housing prices throughout Massachusetts were appreciating rapidly and they didn't correlate with the annual rent a house could command– a relationship economists scrutinize to detect a bubble. The result: a real estate recession that knocked prices down and drove investors away from the housing market.
Despite the evidence, "I don't believe there is a bubble right now,'' says Maggie Tomkiewicz, president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors, who argues that today's supply-and-demand conditions don't contribute to a real estate bubble. Interest rates were also trending downward in the late 1980s.
Effect of interest rates
But economists today are forecasting that interest rates will rise, a notable characteristic of a cooling trend for the real estate market. The danger is that until that happens, home buyers will continue to snap up real estate they can't afford. Zero percent down and 100 percent financing are influencing many homeowners to live beyond their means.
"It's like you have all of these people driving around in fancy cars and drinking expensive wine because they feel rich,'' says Christopher Thornberg, a senior economist with the University of California at Los Angeles Anderson Forecast. "The problem is there is all of this money floating around, and something has to break.''
Thornberg's prognosis: "The whole US is in a bubble right now. And it could go on for another year.''
Or burst in the next six months, according to Harvey Dent Jr., author of The Next Great Bubble Boom. He bases his prediction on a recent estimate from the National Association of Realtors that 23 percent of last year's home sales were second homes purchased by investors.
That made sense when real estate proved a better investment than poor performing stocks. But as interest rates rise, Dent says, they will push investors out of real estate and back into stocks or bonds. "That's why I'm renting an apartment in Miami Beach," Dent says. "I don't want to get stuck owning some overvalued piece of property."
Delay in the deal
Unfortunately, Jane Centofante has yet to sell her home in Los Angeles. An inspector found traces of creosote– a mixture of potentially toxic chemicals– throughout her home. Since the finding, she has lost four potential buyers during escrow, that critical period of time when a buyer and seller work out the money and other requests when transferring ownership of a home.
"I'm ready to sell. And I want to sell. But now I can't," says Centofante, who hopes to have the creosote problem remedied before the market sours.
The author is a contributor to The Christian Science Monitor, where this story originally appeared. # | 金融 |
2016-26/3555/en_head.json.gz/9921 | Search Site Web Archives - back to 1987 Google Newspaper Archive - back to 1901 Business
Long a Pillar, Now Top Leader
Grocer's investors fight for crumbs
Kimberly Jowell
Era of Greenspan comes to close at Federal Reserve
Talk of the bay
Money | Business
By Times Staff Writer
Tuesday is Alan Greenspan's swan song as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board. One of his last duties will be presiding over what's expected to be yet another quarter-point increase in short-term interest rates.
From here on out, all eyes will be on the new chairman, Ben Bernanke. On Wall Street the expectation is that Bernanke will be an inflation fighter who will want to raise rates at least a time or two more this year.
However, he may not do that at his first opportunity, which will be March 28. A pause in the rate hikes would give Bernanke and the Fed governors more time to evaluate how much additional tightening is needed. The red-hot housing sector already shows signs of cooling, so the economy could be slowing on its own.
More clues about Bernanke's intentions may come Feb. 15, when he is scheduled to present an economic report card to Congress.
Greenspan's final meeting marks the end of a remarkable era. He took office in 1987, the year the nation faced the largest one-day stock market drop in its history. Since then he has been the steadying hand at the helm of the nation's economy.
[Last modified January 26, 2006, 18:41:01] | 金融 |
2016-26/3555/en_head.json.gz/10035 | Bank makes only bid at auction of Norwich building
Auction attorney Scott Camassar stands in the doorway of the Fairhaven Apartments building Saturday, March 9, 2013, after opening the building for people to look through the ground level of the building before being sold at auction later in the day. Access to the upper floors was not available on Saturday.
Published March 09. 2013 1:00PM | Updated March 09. 2013 11:56PM
By Claire Bessette, Day Staff Writer
Norwich — The historic Fairhaven building on lower Broadway will remain vacant with an uncertain future after the bank holding the $1.3 million mortgage on the property placed the only bid Saturday at a foreclosure auction sale.Banco Popular North America foreclosed on the 21-unit apartment building at 26-28 Broadway after the Boston-area partnership Fairhaven Apartments LLC defaulted on a $1.3 million mortgage. After court fees were applied, the total debt amounted to nearly $1.4 million.In addition, the city filed tax foreclosure in December for the approximately $26,000 owed in back property taxes. That bill rose to $28,000 with interest and court fees, said city Corporation Counsel Michael Driscoll, who attended the auction.Attorney Keith Sturges of the Bridgeport firm Goldstein & Peck bid $39,999 to protect the bank's interest in the property.The court-appointed committee of sale, attorney Scott D. Camassar, said he would file the bank's bid in New London Superior Court, which could lead to the bank taking the property through a strict foreclosure.Sturges said he could not comment on the bank's plans for the building.Lack of interest by developers did not surprise Camassar. He said only two parties inquired about the building in advance of Saturday's auction, and one backed out after learning of the $30,000 minimum bid price — 10 percent of the appraised value of $300,000. The second person asked if the bank was planning to post a bid.Only City Historian Dale Plummer attended the open house prior to the auction. Plummer said he was curious about the fate of the historic building.The building was constructed in 1891 as the Buckingham Hotel, "the last hotel to be built in downtown Norwich," according to Plummer's research in 1981 that placed the building in the downtown National Historic District.Plummer said the 1890s were a boom decade for Norwich, with the new trolley system being installed helping to make Norwich a commercial and financial destination. The hotel was renovated and reopened as the Dell Hoff Hotel in 1897, when a restaurant was added to the first floor and a dining hall for guests to the second floor.But its recent history has been checkered. The brick building has been vacant since July of 2009, when city officials condemned it for numerous building and safety violations, displacing about two dozen residents. Since then, city officials have responded to reports of vagrants in the building, and vandals and metal thieves have caused serious damage to the building, which had undergone a major renovation several years earlier.Fairhaven Apartments LLC had purchased the previously condemned building in 2003 and undertook a $100,000 renovation. The building reopened with fanfare in 2006, but quickly fell into disrepair over the next three years, leading to the condemnation.Camassar apologized that he could not truly show the building's condition during the open house Saturday. Only the two vacant street-level storefronts and a heavily vandalized rear boiler room were accessible. The interior staircase leading up to the 21 apartments on the four upper stories was blocked off and hidden. An elevator was not functioning. An outdoor concrete staircase at the side of the building led to a boarded up door.Plummer held out hope Saturday that a developer could be found to tackle the expensive renovation project. The Fairhaven would qualify for federal historic restoration tax credits that could cover 20 percent of the renovation cost.Once back property taxes are paid, it also would qualify for three downtown revitalization programs overseen by the Norwich Community Development Corp. that offer matching grants, loans and a lease rebate program to attract tenants.City Director of Inspections James Troeger said Saturday that city inspectors will continue to check on the building to make sure no one has entered it and to make sure it remains secured.c.bessette@theday.com | 金融 |
2016-26/3555/en_head.json.gz/10434 | NEW YORK – April 24, 2012 – Military Times EDGE recently announced that JPMorgan Chase & Co. is ranked #6 on their 2012 "Best for Vets: Employer" list.
Military Times surveyed more than a thousand companies and rated them based on their veteran recruiting and hiring policies, corporate culture and reserve policies. Only the top 40 companies were actually ranked. According to the published results Opens third party site disclosure in a new window and accompanying news story, the staff at Military Times EDGE "looked for companies that didn't just talk about how much they support the military but had in place tangible policies and programs to help veterans get in the door and feel welcome once inside." JPMorgan Chase's standing on the list improved significantly over last year's rank. While companies weren't ranked individually in the 2011 survey, they were grouped alphabetically within tiers. JPMorgan Chase fell into the "Silver" tier falling somewhere between 12 and 27. "It's clear that the firm's hard work on veteran recruiting, hiring, assimilating and retaining veterans is paying off, and it's an honor to be recognized as a top employer for veterans by Military Times," said Maureen Casey, JPMorgan Chase Military and Veterans Affairs executive director. "Our company's leaders and employees of all levels across the globe recognize the tremendous contributions veterans make to our business, and we remain committed to helping them succeed as they transition from the military and assimilate into our organization." JPMorgan Chase was highlighted in the publication Opens third party site disclosure in a new window for helping launch the 100,000 Jobs Mission Opens third party site disclosure in a new window last year. As a founding member, the firm has helped expand the coalition from 11 initial to 43 current members, all dedicated to collectively hiring 100,000 military veterans by 2020. The coalition has hired more than 12,000 transitioning servicemembers and veterans since last year. Other coalition members highlighted as "Best for Vets" employers are Verizon, Merck and Total System Services (TSYS). Military Times EDGE is a publication that provides information and tips for military members to enhance their military careers as well as prepare for their next careers after military service. It is a monthly supplement to Army Times, Navy Times, Air Force Times, Marine Corps Times and Coast Guard Times. | 金融 |
2016-26/3555/en_head.json.gz/10762 | Stimulus spending and transparency: A false sense of security?
Many companies may underestimate the government’s intent to show accountability to the electorate and to weed out fraud. Whether by miscalculation or simple misunderstanding of how far government mandates extend, failure to comply could leave unsuspecting companies vulnerable.
Many companies may be underestimating the government’s intent to show accountability to the American people and to weed out fraud. Whether by miscalculation or simple misunderstanding of how far the government mandates extend, failure to comply could put unsuspecting companies in jeopardy.
The flow of government funds to revive the U.S. economy becomes a rolling river in 2010. Federal officials expect annual outlays under the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 to crest at nearly $220 billion dollars in the government’s 2010 fiscal year. Total outlays of $236 billion will follow over the 2011-2019 timeframe.1
With hundreds of billions of dollars of the stimulus package potentially presenting opportunities for businesses, how effective are the government mandates related to the ARRA in terms of transparency and fraud prevention? Many companies may be underestimating the government’s intent to show accountability to the American people and to weed out fraud. Whether by miscalculation or simple misunderstanding of how far the government mandates extend, failure to comply could put unsuspecting companies in jeopardy.
We explored these and other stimulus spending-related questions by surveying the business community across a spectrum of industries, with a focus on sectors likely to be recipients of stimulus spending, either directly or indirectly.2 We also analyzed stimulus spending data and antifraud enforcement information from government and other sources to assess how general opinion corresponded with program developments.3
The participants in the survey revealed traits often associated with conversations about public issues: contradiction and misperception. For example, most respondents believe the ARRA should have been smaller, yet half believe that additional stimulus may be needed. Half the respondents think funds should be spent faster despite data indicating that spending actually is on pace with the government’s aggressive timetable for putting funds to use. Such misconceptions may fuel miscalculation of, or at least indifference toward, government antifraud efforts (see sidebar, “Stimulus spending is speeding along – isn’t it?”).
Encouragingly, most respondents claim some familiarity with the stimulus program’s antifraud provisions. But are they concerned enough to fully understand these measures and make sure their companies comply with them?
Based on other survey responses described in this article, companies may find themselves lulled into underestimating how serious the government is about pursuing fraud and using the regulatory tools at its disposal. In fact, it’s not just those companies receiving stimulus funds directly from federal, state and local government agencies that are at risk – any organization receiving ARRA funds indirectly, such as through a prime contractor or intermediate grantee, can also be held accountable.
Companies already receiving stimulus funds, those considering participation in the program, and those that may become associated with stimulus spending projects, intentionally or otherwise, should pay particular attention to understanding the depth and details of the government’s antifraud offensive and take steps to anticipate and comply with the rigorous requirements.
Figure 1. Impact of economic stimulus program on economic conditions
Stimulus spending is speeding along – isn’t it?
Misperceptions among businesses about stimulus spending in general may lead to complacency in their antifraud efforts – a potentially serious mistake.
While ARRA allocations in 2009 focused on family financial relief, human services and unemployment benefits, a large share of the spending this year and beyond could present significant opportunities for businesses in an array of industries. Nearly $300 billion was earmarked at the outset for contract projects under the act. These projects would be allocated through federal, state and local programs that include major investments in infrastructure, education, healthcare, information technology, energy, conservation programs and other initiatives.
Participants of Deloitte’s stimulus spending survey indicated modest near-term expectations for the stimulus program. About one-third believe the program has had a positive impact on economic conditions so far, with the number expecting a positive impact by year-end 2010 growing to almost one-half (see Figure 1).
Puzzlingly, a majority of respondents (71%) believe the ARRA should have been smaller, yet half believe additional stimulus may be needed.
Moreover, half of respondents think funds should be spent faster, while publicly available data indicate that spending is generally on pace with the government’s aggressive timetable for putting funds to use. In February 2009 the Congressional Budget Office estimated expenditures of $120 billion for the federal fiscal year ending September 30, 2009.4 Spending is scheduled to ramp up to $219 billion in fiscal 2010, reach $126 billion in 2011, and total $110 billion over the remainder of the decade.5
The government signals it means business
Enhanced financial accountability, transparency and reporting requirements embedded in the ARRA are a clear sign of the government’s intent to keep a tight rein on stimulus-related fraud (See Key Stimulus Antifraud Provisions). Even before the ARRA became law, the Obama administration served notice that federal agencies and funding recipients would be held to higher standards in distribution and use of stimulus funds.
White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag established this “tone at the top” in a memorandum to the heads of federal departments and agencies. Their memorandum drove home the administration’s message, saying “… the president and Congress are committed to spending recovery dollars with an unprecedented level of transparency and accountability so Americans know where their tax dollars are going and how they are being spent.”6
Key stimulus antifraud provisions
The ARRA includes funding to strengthen antifraud oversight and investigations through several avenues. The act requires that inspectors general review as appropriate any concerns raised by the public about specific investments using funds made available.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is receiving ARRA funds to hire accountants, lawyers, economists and policy analysts to look for fraud and abuse at every level of government.
The Recovery Act Accountability and Transparency (RAAT) Board has oversight over whether funds are being awarded and distributed promptly, fairly and reasonably and is charged with establishing and maintaining transparency of fund recipients and uses.
The ARRA also extends whistle-blower protection to contractors carrying out stimulus-funded projects for federal, state and local government entities. And, it expresses the government’s preference for fixed-price contracts.
Predictably, considering the publicity about the transparency and antifraud measures, a majority of Deloitte* survey respondents indicate they are familiar with those ARRA provisions (see Figure 2).
Figure 2. Familiarity with requirements of economic stimulus program designed to increase transparency and prevent fraud
However, two-thirds of respondents believe the transparency and fraud prevention requirements will not be very effective or will not be effective at all
(see Figure 3).
Figure 3. Effectiveness of economic stimulus program in increasing transparency and preventing fraud
On the surface, this view might seem justified. An online search of information available from the Recovery.gov website, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, other agencies and news reports found no indication of an uptick in investigations being launched specifically relating to stimulus spending fraud. However, it’s still early in the game, and the depth and breadth of stimulus fraud may not yet have manifested. Another possibility, contradicting the opinion of most people surveyed, is that the government’s transparency and fraud prevention initiatives are, in fact, working.
Either way, we believe companies should be careful not to ignore or downplay the government’s clear signals about its seriousness in promoting transparency and preventing fraud. In addition to the executive branch memo establishing a strong tone at the top, Congress has equipped government agencies with the tools they need to detect and enforce the provisions of the ARRA. Executives of companies receiving stimulus funding or contemplating opportunities to participate in stimulus projects can benefit from a closer look at the government’s arsenal – and willingness to use it.
Antifraud provisions flash sharper teeth
Concurrent with passage of the ARRA and reflecting the government’s transparency commitment, Congress strengthened federal law in 2009 to help root out fraud and abuse by government contractors. The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 (FERA), enacted last May, significantly expands the government’s fraud-fighting efforts in several ways.
The FERA extends federal fraud laws that previously only addressed government procurement to now cover mortgage lenders, recipients of funds under the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and ARRA fund recipients. The act also more precisely defines what constitutes money laundering in the government’s eyes.
The FERA’s most significant impact on ARRA projects is in expanding the scope of the False Claims Act (FCA), the statute that imposes liability on businesses for making false statements or claims for government reimbursement.
These changes make it more important for companies receiving federal funds to have effective compliance programs and processes in place. FERA violations can result in fines of $1 million (and up to $10 million for multiple counts) and 10 years in prison.
The FCA, a statute dating back to the Civil War, is widely used to root out fraud and abuse in government contracting. The act empowers the U.S. Department of Justice to pursue violations for a variety of alleged actions including fraud or misrepresentation in accepting government money, presenting an inflated claim for payments, or using a false record or statement to get a claim paid.
It is also an FCA violation to deliver less property or service than the amount indicated on a customer receipt or to deliver a product or service that is different from what was promised. Greater enforcement of the FCA is likely as the economic stimulus program progresses.
The ARRA includes funding for inspectors general who serve as watchdogs over federal departments and agencies. The FERA authorizes $500 million for additional antifraud investigations and prosecutions.7
The FERA amends the FCA in three noteworthy ways. First, it expands the universe of companies potentially liable for FCA violations. Second, it dramatically increases the consequences of failing to return overpayments to the government. Finally, it extends whistle-blower protection to government contractors and subcontractors.
It is important to note that more than half of all states also have their own false claims statutes.8 Thus, stimulus fund recipients can be subject to a pincer of false claims litigation from two government instrumentalities.
Separately, but leveraging antifraud provisions of the FERA, President Obama created the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force in November 2009. The task force, formed under executive order, was prompted by a growing public outcry over fraud perpetrated on Wall Street through market manipulation, insider trading and Ponzi schemes. It brings together the U.S. Departments of Justice, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, along with the SEC and state and local authorities to fight fraud. The White House has authorized $245 million annually in 2010 and 2011 for the hiring of hundreds of new prosecutors, agents and other officials at the federal level to pursue financial fraud.9
The Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009 amends the False Claims Act in three noteworthy ways by:
Expanding the universe of companies potentially liable for FCA violations
Dramatically increasing the consequences of failing to return overpayments to the government
Extending whistle-blower protection to government contractors and subcontractors
Each of these areas represents a potential landmine for unwary companies.
Expansion of liability
Prior to passage of the FERA, several court rulings culminating in the Supreme Court’s decision in Allison Engine Co. v. United States ex rel. Sanders had narrowed the circumstances in which a company would face FCA liability. A false claim had to be directly presented to the federal government, or a false statement had to be presented to an intermediary, such as a prime contractor or state or local government, with the intent of using the false statement to get the federal government to pay a false claim.
In the wake of the Supreme Court decision, the U.S. Congress was concerned that the “presentment” requirement and the “intent” standard would mean the FCA was not broad enough to cover false claims submitted to intermediate entities receiving ARRA and TARP funds. As a result, the FERA includes several changes that have the effect of extending FCA liability not only to claims presented directly to the United States, but also to claims presented to entities administering government funds.
This expansion of liability is likely to have limited effect on federal government contractors and subcontractors, who are already subject to false claims sanctions. However, the FERA amendments now extend liability to companies and entities that do business with federal funds grantees such as state governments, local governments and universities. As long as the grantees are dispensing federal money on the government’s behalf, false claims seeking such funds are now clearly actionable under the FCA.
Overpayment sanctions
A controversial provision of the FERA with potentially dramatic implications relates to government overpayments that occur routinely. Retention of an overpayment can now serve as the basis for “reverse false claims” liability under the FCA if it is done knowingly and improperly or if an overpayment is knowingly concealed. The FCA requires proof of a knowing false record or statement, knowing concealment, or knowing and improper acts to avoid or decrease an obligation to pay back money to the government.
Guidance provided by lawmakers at the time of FERA passage directs that liability should not be imposed for retaining overpayments pending their return through normal processes, including contract, grant and other reconciliation processes. However, someone would be liable who falsified information during a reconciliation period or otherwise acted knowingly and improperly to avoid repayment. Also, it is unclear whether failure to return an overpayment during an administrative or judicial appeal might be actionable under the FCA.
The impact of the new overpayment provisions will become clearer as cases wend through the courts. It is likely that attorneys for people initiating whistle-blower cases will seek to expand overpayment reverse false claims liability in the years ahead.
Expanded whistle-blower protection
Historically whistle-blower laws have focused on protecting employees from retaliation by their employer for reporting fraud, as well as other issues such as unsafe work conditions and environmental violations. The FERA amends the FCA to expand whistle-blower protection to anyone who brings a potential FCA violation to the attention of authorities.
The implications of this change are potentially far-reaching. Now, not only employees, but government contractors and subcontractors, and anyone else for that matter, can file suit alleging discrimination for bringing an FCA violation to the attention of authorities. Such protection could encourage more qui tam lawsuits, in which a plaintiff referred to as a “relator” files suit alleging fraud against the government and, if successful, can receive typically 15 to 25 percent of any money recovered.
With the law change, a subcontractor could file a qui tam action against his or her prime contractor and, if subsequently terminated, have a cause of action. In addition, companies can now file qui tam actions against a competitor with the knowledge that they have protection as a whistle-blower should the competitor retaliate in some fashion.
A troubling aspect of the FERA-amended FCA is the lack of a definition of overpayment. The statute is enforced not only by the Department of Justice but by attorneys representing whistle-blowers, who are likely to argue for expansive interpretations of what an overpayment means. These could include, for example, poor estimates of future costs.
Whistle-blower provisions and fixed-price contracts: Disliked but not disrespected
As mentioned previously, two-thirds of the respondents surveyed by Deloitte doubted that the stimulus program’s transparency and antifraud provisions overall would be effective. However given the opportunity to think about it in narrower terms, many took a different view.
Survey respondents were asked whether they thought specific requirements would be effective in stemming fraud:
Certification by a governor, mayor or other chief executive that a project is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars.
Authorization for federal department inspectors general to examine contractor and subcontractor records and interview contractor officers and employees.
Whistle-blower protections.
Awarding of fixed-price contracts.
Quarterly contractor reports on funded projects disclosing the amount of funds expended or obligated, completion status, job impact and information on major subcontracts.
In contrast to their overall opinions of antifraud efficacy, the majority of respondents indicated that, with the exception of governor, mayor or other chief executive certifications, these provisions would be somewhat or very effective in increasing transparency and preventing fraud (see Figure 4).
Figure 4. Effectiveness of economic stimulus program in increasing transparency and preventing fraud: overall and specific requirements
Notably, the two provisions regarded as potentially most effective, least costly, and delivering the most favorable cost-benefit return are historically unpopular among many business executives – fixed price contracts and whistle-blower
provisions.
Executives often fear that fixed-price contracts will lead to losses should cost overruns occur that cannot be recouped. Despite studies showing that tips are the number one way in which fraud is discovered,executives may also express concerns that whistle-blowing is plagued with a large number of false alarms and encourages allegations from people with axes to grind or seeking to make money.10 The latter concern is generally contradicted by analyses of whistle-blower hotline call data published in recent years.11
Despite these general views, many survey respondents believe the whistle-blower protections and fixed-price contracts:
Will be most effective in increasing transparency and preventing fraud; 58 percent and 63 percent respectively see the provisions as extremely to somewhat effective (see Figure 5).
Are least likely to increase project costs; 61 percent and 48 percent respectively see little cost increase (see Figure 6).
Offer the most favorable cost-benefit tradeoff; 77 percent and 69 percent respectively see benefits greater than or equal to costs (see Figure 7).
Figure 6. Increase in project costs due to effort in economic stimulus program to increase transparency and prevent fraud
Figure 7. Benefits vs. costs of requirements in economic stimulus program designed to increase transparency and prevent fraud
How companies can prepare
The Obama administration, supported by Congress, has significantly expanded the U.S. government’s fraud-fighting authority and capabilities. From the top down, the government is serious about wielding them.
Companies receiving stimulus dollars can benefit from responding to this new emphasis with a serious commitment to governance and fraud prevention. Such measures certainly make sense if a company intends to pursue stimulus projects and avoid noncompliance with ARRA transparency provisions. But strong corporate governance and fraud prevention, supported from the highest levels of the organization, can help companies avoid other potential regulatory problems, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and industry-specific mandates. Over time, too, such governance is simply proving to be good business.
Steps companies can take to help bolster their fraud prevention programs include:
Strengthening the tone at the top – Just as the government is emphasizing accountability and transparency, so should companies participating in the stimulus program or doing business with those companies. It is important that executives seriously commit to compliance and antifraud efforts and imbue the corporate culture with their importance.
Understanding exposure – Identify the circumstances in which your company is receiving federal money, some of which may not be apparent. Liability under the FCA is obvious when a company is serving as a prime contractor or subcontractor on a government project. Less obvious is a situation in which a company is doing work for a university laboratory that is receiving federal funds. A careful, companywide evaluation will help determine which lines of business and which projects are subject to the FCA.
Evaluating the compliance profile – Once FCA exposures have been identified, it is important to evaluate how well you are meeting the compliance requirements related to government work. Projects should likely be viewed and monitored both in terms of performance and risk management.
Establishing a governance framework – Compliance programs need to address all regulatory, statutory and contractual requirements. Creating a program management office may help address oversight and reporting requirements. Effective and well-documented fraud prevention policies and procedures may also help both agencies and vendors meet new requirements. Such policies and procedures can reflect the organization’s intention to meet the spirit and letter of the law in terms of transparency.
Assessing project management systems – Consider the cost, performance and scheduling requirements imposed on systems by stimulus projects. Determine whether the systems can handle the demand in addition to the existing workload.
Addressing overpayments – The costs of knowingly accepting overpayments can be steep. The FCA mandates the awarding of treble damages and penalties of up to $11,000 per violation, costs that can add up quickly. A $100 overcharge spread over 1,000 invoices—10 cents per invoice—could result in $300 in damages and $11 million in penalties. “Detect, report and return” overpayments should become watchwords for companies receiving federal funds.
A new level of scrutiny
Stimulus spending will surge to nearly $250 billion dollars in 2010 as the federal government ramps up economic recovery efforts. The stimulus program should provide considerable opportunities for businesses across an array of industries. However, those opportunities will be accompanied by unprecedented scrutiny of how funds are being disbursed, spent and accounted for. Companies participating in the program will do well to take the government’s accountability pronouncements to heart and make a serious commitment to transparency and fraud prevention.
View all endnotes Table 1. Summary of Estimated Cost of the Conference Agreement for H.R. 1, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, as posted on the website of the House Committee on Rules; Letter from Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director, Congressional Budget Office, to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives, February 13, 2009.
Deloitte conducted an online survey to assess views of the economic stimulus program. A total of 343 respondents from a variety of management and executive positions and across industries participated in the survey in September-October 2009.
Deloitte conducted secondary research of government sources and media reports regarding ARRA spending, related transparency requirements, and reports of fraud related to stimulus spending.
Table 1. Summary of Estimated Cost of the Conference Agreement for H.R. 1, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, as posted on the website of the House Committee on Rules; Letter from Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director, Congressional Budget Office, to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives, February 13, 2009.
http://www.acec.org/advocacy/pdf/Memo_from_White_House_Chief_of_Staff.pdf
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Reforms-for-American-Homeowners-and-Consumers-President-Obama-Signs-the-Helping-Families-Save-their-Homes-Act-and-the-Fraud-Enforcement-and-Recovery-Act/
“State False Claims and Qui Tam Legislation,” American Tort Reform Association, http://www.defendtortreform.com/docs/2009_state_FCA_analysis.pdf
“Obama creates panel to investigate financial crimes,” by Jim Puzzanghera, latimes.com, November 17, 2009, latimes.com/business/la-fi-financial-fraud18-2009nov18,0,211692.story.
2008 Report to the Nation on Occupational Fraud and Abuse (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, 2008)
2009 Corporate Governance and Compliance Hotline Benchmarking Report (The Network, 2009)
David Williams David Williams is CEO and a principal of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP.
Published January 1, 2010
Cover Image by Ian Dingman
Risk & Security
compliance, Deloitte Review, fraud, government, transparency
The View from the Glass House
Written by Ajit Kambil & Patrick Conroy
A world in which customers—and suppliers—know seemingly everything sounds scary. Life must have been simpler when the customer was in the dark. But in fact this unprecedented access to information creates unparalleled opportunities for business… | 金融 |
2016-26/3555/en_head.json.gz/12894 | About Us > News > Press Releases.
Northern Trust Press Release
Andrew Tan Joins Northern Trust as Head of Investment Risk and Analytical Services for Asia-Pacific Region
Northern Trust has named Andrew Tan as the Head of Investment Risk & Analytical Services (IRAS) in Asia-Pacific, leading the delivery of technology, reporting and consulting services for institutional investors and asset managers in the region.
Singapore, August 6, 2013 —
Mr. Tan brings 25 years of industry experience to Northern Trust, most recently as the head of the risk and performance consulting practice at a leading Canadian global bank. As an IRAS leader for the region, he will continue Northern Trust's development of performance, risk and compliance solutions for asset servicing clients in the region and represent Northern Trust as a thought leader at industry conferences.
"Institutional investors in the Asia-Pacific region face greater demands for transparency and risk management amid volatile markets, and Northern Trust is committed to providing the highest level of service to help clients meet these challenges," said Teresa A. Parker, Head of the Asia-Pacific region for Northern Trust. "Andrew Tan's talent and experience in risk and consulting will be valuable to clients as he leverages Northern Trust's global resources to create monitoring, reporting and analytics solutions tailored to their specific needs."
Based in Singapore, Mr. Tan will work with IRAS consultants in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia to design and implement programs for institutional clients in the region. He comes to Northern Trust from Royal Bank of Canada, where he served most recently as global head of Risk & Investment Analytic services. Prior to RBC, Andrew was the head of client services at Toronto Dominion Bank's Corporate and Institutional Services. A Singapore native, he is a graduate of Washington State University and has lived in North America for more than two decades. He is a CFA charterholder and is a Fellow of the Canadian Securities Institute.
Northern Trust has provided risk and performance services to institutional asset servicing clients for more than 30 years. Capabilities delivered through the IRAS group include risk monitoring, performance evaluation and compliance services. Northern Trust provides custody, fund administration, and investment operations outsourcing solutions to investment managers and institutional clients, including insurance companies, worldwide and across the spectrum of asset classes.
About Northern TrustNorthern Trust Corporation (Nasdaq: NTRS) is a leading provider of investment management, asset and fund administration, banking solutions and fiduciary services for corporations, institutions and affluent individuals worldwide. Northern Trust, a financial holding company based in Chicago, has offices in 18 U.S. states and 17 international locations in North America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region. As of June 30, 2013, Northern Trust had assets under custody of US$5 trillion, and assets under investment management of US$803 billion. For more than 120 years, Northern Trust has earned distinction as an industry leader in combining exceptional service and expertise with innovative products and technology. For more information, visit www.northerntrust.com or follow us on Twitter @NorthernTrust.
Northern Trust Corporation, Head Office: 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603 U.S.A., incorporated with limited liability in the U.S. Global legal and regulatory information can be found at http://www.northerntrust.com/disclosures Contact Media Relations | 金融 |
2016-26/3555/en_head.json.gz/13010 | County audit: ‘... much better’
Auditors from Wall, Smith, Bateman and Associates, Inc. presented the 2010 Archuleta County audit Monday morning, with internal controls continuing to be an area of concern in terms of the county’s financial health.
The 2010 audit is the fourth consecutive audit with a finding that internal control over the county’s financial reporting is considered a material weakness.
Although a finding for four years, Karla Wilshau of WSBA said the claim is “nothing significant” and that the finding is “changing” over time.
“I know that it’s a work in progress,” Wilshau said.
According to the audit, four areas of Archuleta County’s finances were affected, including one area that is in violation of Colorado Revised Statutes.
In 2010, five funds had expenditures (including transfers) that exceeded the adopted budget for the year — the General Fund (by $929,614), Human Services Fund ($1,620,379), Conservation Trust Fund ($50,000), Fairfield Settlement Fund ($8,612) and the Self-Insurance Fund ($339,166) — potentially putting the county in violation of C.R.S. 29-1-110.
Also according to the audit, “The Finance Department did not reconcile the general ledger cash to the treasurer ledger cash during 2010, in a timely manner.”
A third component of the finding is capital lease transactions that were not correctly recorded in the General Fund according to national standards.
The fourth component of the finding is, as the audit states, “Audit adjustments were proposed to properly state the General Fund and the Solid Waste Fund in the County financial statements as of December 31, 2010, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.”
“They are all way, way less in severity and scope,” Wilshau said, adding, “It’s so much better than it has been in the past.”
Wilshau noted another sign of the county’s work to alleviate the issues in the finding — “Just the fact that you’re going to meet that July 31 deadline with no problems.”
Counties are expected to recceive their audit by June 30 and are required to turn in their audit to the state by July 31 — the deadline Wilshau referred to.
Last year, the county’s audit was not completed until late July.
No matter the progress, the finding continues to affect the scope of the yearly audit because the finding means that Archuleta County is not a “low-risk auditee,” and demands auditors must look at more information.
Despite the progress toward alleviating the audit finding, Archuelta County Board of County Commissioners Chair Clifford Lucero called the finding four years in a row “unacceptable,” asking how to fix it and who would be responsible.
Kim Temple of WSBA pointed Lucero to Finance Director Diane Sorensen’s corrective action plan included in the audit document, adding that it would have to be a countywide effort to increase awareness and internal controls.
In a step toward bolstering internal controls, much of the county staff recently attended internal control training sessions with an outside consultant.
Wilshau added that the overspending at the root of the problem, “wasn’t just willy-nilly spending” and said that some of the problem would be automatically alleviated by the next audit due to changes in county structures (for example, completing the process from being partially self-insured to joining an insurance pool, and reporting Housing Authority funds differently than was done in 2010).
Lucero then asked how Archuleta County compared to other counties audited by WSBA, to which Wilshau and Temple responded that the structures and assets in each county made comparisons difficult, adding that comparisons would have to be calculated based on specific criteria, for example, comparing the number of Road and Bridge employees to the number of lane miles.
Continuing his questioning, Lucero asked what Wilshau and Temple considered to be the county’s strengths and weaknesses.
“Upper management staying consistent,” Wilshau responded, referring to the county’s high turnover rate in recent years, adding, “If you can keep your upper management layer consistent and strong, I think that’s your strength.”
Later in questioning Wilshau and Temple on the audit, County Attorney Todd Starr asked the auditors to identify two or three priorities for the county’s financial health.
Wilshau responded that her first priority was the cash reconciliation, adding, “The cash here has been such a challenge.”
Further discussion included the county’s improvement in correcting last year’s findings dealing with the Human Services Fund, and the auditing future with WSBA in terms of contemplating of the benefits of remaining with WSBA due to familiarity or contracting another firm with “a fresh set of eyes.”
“Certainly, the times have been interesting, to say the least,” County Adminstrator Greg Schulte said near the end of the meeting.
Other audit facts presented at the meeting focused on the county’s change in assets and liabilities, as well as the 2010 budget actual data.
According to the audit, the county’s assets exceeded liabilities by roughly $36.6 million in 2010 for governmental activities, with $52.3 million in total assets and nearly $16.3 million in total liabilities.
The county also increased its net assets by $612,454, Temple said.
For Solid Waste, the county’s only business-type activity, assets exceeded liabilities by roughly $590,000, with over $1 million is assets and $454,000 in total liabilities.
The net assets of Solid Waste decreased by $96,254, partially because of equipment that was accounted for in both Solid Waste and Road and Bridge, Temple said.
The BoCC closed the meeting with unanimous acceptance of the audit. | 金融 |
2016-26/3555/en_head.json.gz/13388 | Explore Sun Life Financial worldwide
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PVI Holdings (PVI) and Sun Life Financial sign an agreement to form a life insurance joint venturePVI Sun Life will deliver world-class life insurance products to customers across Vietnam
Toronto, Ontario, and Hanoi, Vietnam (May 31, 2012) – PVI Holdings (HNX: PVI) and Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX: SLF) (NYSE: SLF), signed an agreement today to form a joint venture life insurance company, PVI Sun Life Insurance Company Limited (PVI Sun Life). The new company is in line with PVI’s development strategy, and further expands Sun Life Financial’s footprint in Asia.
PVI Sun Life will deliver a suite of innovative life insurance products to customers in Vietnam through multiple sales channels. The company aims to become a market leader in the sector.
The joint venture agreement was signed by Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Chairman of PVI Holdings and Mr. Bui Van Thuan, Member of the Board of Directors and CEO of PVI Holdings, and on behalf of Sun Life Financial, Mr. Dean Connor, President and CEO and Mr. Kevin Strain, President of SLF Asia, in Hanoi, Vietnam. The event was attended by Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc, member of the Politburo and Deputy Prime Minister, representatives of Ministries, Agencies and Offices of the Government of Vietnam, Petrovietnam, and by Deborah Chatsis, the Canadian Ambassador to Vietnam.
“PVI Sun Life completes PVI Holdings’ insurance business network, and delivers on our long term strategy. We are very excited about partnering with Sun Life, an internationally renowned life insurer, to deliver greater choice in life insurance to the people of Vietnam,” said Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, Chairman of PVI Holdings. “Vietnam’s life insurance market has great potential and through PVI Sun Life we will be able to provide new products that are unique in the Vietnamese marketplace,” he added.
PVI will own 51% of PVI Sun Life, and Sun Life Financial the remaining 49%. PVI brings to the partnership its excellent reputation and brand in Vietnam as well as a strong customer base, extensive infrastructure and quality people. Sun Life Financial brings with it 150 years of experience and know-how in the life insurance space, including experience in the Asian market that dates back to 1892. Sun Life Financial will contribute its global life insurance expertise, particularly in the areas of actuarial, risk management and distribution management to the joint venture.
“When we look at Vietnam and our partnership with PVI Holdings, we see a great opportunity to offer our nearly 150 years of expertise to provide valued peace of mind to the people of Vietnam,” said Dean Connor, President and CEO, Sun Life Financial. “We are also delighted to add Vietnam to our growing footprint in Asia, which we see as a meaningful contributor to Sun Life’s future growth and success. With PVI, we feel confident that we have the right partner to become a market leader in Vietnam.”
“We are thrilled about our new partnership with PVI in Vietnam,” said Kevin Strain, President, Sun Life Financial Asia. “We are pleased to be partnering with such a well-respected organization as PVI. We believe this partnership will be of tremendous mutual benefit to our companies and, more importantly, will broaden the availability of much-needed financial products and services to the people of Vietnam.”
Vietnam’s life insurance market is poised for growth, providing an excellent opportunity for PVI Sun Life. While the country has been one of the fastest growing economies in Asia in recent years, only five per cent of the population currently has life insurance coverage.
The joint venture is subject to regulatory approval in both Canada and Vietnam and is expected to commence operations before the end of 2012.
About PVI Holdings (PVI)
PVI is one of the major Vietnamese Investments-Insurance groups, with subsidiaries focused on various business lines including general insurance, reinsurance, life insurance and other financial services. In 2011, PVI generated gross premium of US$202 million; total revenue growth was 25% year-on-year, equivalent to 116% of target. PVI currently enjoys a 21.3% market share of the non-life insurance market, making it the leading non-life insurer in Vietnam. For details please visit www.pvi.com.vn.
About Sun Life Financial
Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Life Financial Inc. and is a member of the Sun Life Financial group of companies.
Sun Life Financial is a leading international financial services organization providing a diverse range of protection and wealth accumulation products and services to individual and corporate customers. Chartered in 1865, Sun Life Financial and its partners today have operations in key markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China and Bermuda. As of March 31, 2012, the Sun Life Financial group of companies had total assets under management of C$494 billion. Sun Life Financial Inc. trades on the Toronto (TSX), New York (NYSE) and Philippine (PSE) stock exchanges under the ticker symbol SLF. For more information please visit www.sunlife.com.
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2016-26/3556/en_head.json.gz/45 | 4:00 pm ×
we're heading towards these five and a half-year highs on a dow on a closing basis intraday, but i'm splitting hairs, and i'm in no position to split hairs, as you know. 20 points away from that intraday high of five and a half years ago, but we're on a closing high right now. ben willis, loved this market. going to ride it even higher? >> i still love it but we're bumping into resistance at the 1480 level on the s&p and the vix being given away i may want to buy protection there for a little bit of a downdraft i can expect before we go higher. >> 49% bulls and 55% bulls on the institutional poll. way too much bullishness. i agree. you'll see a little pull back and then you want to accumulate. >> there's complacency in this market. >> this is last year in europe, bill, where you basically had a good feeling and then a bad feeling, and the good feeling is political. we'll get through the inauguration. wish the president well. martin luther king 84 years old, he would have been on wednesday this past week. we wish everybody well, but you've got to basically let the market come into you and then 4:01 pm ×
buy. >> very good. thank you both. have a lovely long weekend. yes, the markets are closed on monday. we'll see you again on tuesday. stay tuned now for the second hour of the "closing bell" with maria bartiromo. have a good weekend. and it is 4:00 p.m. on wall street. do you know where your money is? hi, everybody, welcome back to the "closing bell." i'm maria bartiromo. the dow and s&p 500 closing at yet another five-year high today. take a look at how we're settling on the street. money coming into this market pushing the industrial average up about 48 points, one-third of 1% at 13,645. blue chip average, volume picked up as well as you can see there. nasdaq, close but no cigar. in the red, down a point and a third and the s&p 500 picking up about five points. the dow, the best performer of the week, no doubt about it. blue chips up better than 1% and the s&p 500 up 1% on the big. 4:02 pm ×
nasdaq the big laggard mostly due to apple. the stock had a bad week, barely positive since monday on the nasdaq. what a week it was? can the rally continue with a whole host of earnings coming out? stephanie link is with me as well as samir samana and dean kernik and also with us is gordon charlot. good to see everybody. stephanie, got such a great finger on this market. what do you think? do you think this market goes higher this next week? >> next week will be interesting. a lot of people are focused on apple and google, and if you look at other companies that are reporting, dupont, freeport -- mcmoran, union pacific and dover international. these are real industrial companies that are going to give us a good read on the global picture which i think is going to be a little bit better than what people are thinking, and it really supports what we've been saying for a while now that the global economies are recovering. 4:03 pm ×
if you heard schlumberger and ge today, both companies on their conference calls, talked about china being probably the best area for activity 2013. and i think that's very exciting, and that's the reason -- one of the main reasons why you want to be buying this market if you do get a little bit more volatility over the next week. in addition, i think the u.s. continues to do pretty well, too. so i like the market, and on volatility we're buying it. >> so, we've got an economic story that seems to be better from the macro point of view, dean. and by the way, i should point out this market rocketed at the end of the day, settled up 53 points on the dow jones industrial average. what does the macro story look like you to right now? >> the macro story is considerably better than it's been over the past couple of years, pes legs with the european contagion story. not done but off the table for now. obviously things like the debt ceiling and the dysfunction in washington are reasons for concern, but i think one of the factors that's underpinning the equity market is the fact that bonds rates, u.s. interest rates, it's a tired story and 4:04 pm ×
folks are getting very frustrated fighting bernanke. >> gordon, let me ask you what you're seeing in terms of flow. first of all, what happened at the end of the day here? i turn my eyes away from the ticker for a moment, and the market is up 53 points. what was the flow at the end of the day, and would you go into next week holding technology? is that another weak spot, do you think, next week as stephanie just pointed out that a lot of industrial names, the real economy stories, are going to start driving things? >> well, maybe. they were buying beamary little bit and beamer reports next week, too. you can't turn your head for a minute in this market. washington puts out a little blush they will start cooperating with each other, that seems to be a little bit of a catalyst. kind of gave us anni impetus foa bust. if you go back two years, 2011, bump early in the year and the markets sold of held and then sold off. last year it looked like it might follow that same pattern, and then it didn't. it continued to rally into the close. so you almost have a january effect, a bit of a performance. 4:05 pm ×
starting early and people getting involved right away. involve picked up today. an expiration that accounted for some of it. money flow looks like it's coming in. seeing on the institutional side and no reason why you wouldn't be involved. if you try to buy the dips, you may miss them. >> samir, from your standpoint, want to buy tech or avoid tech going into next week knowing that we've already had some disappointment with apple, apple reporting on wednesday. what do you want to do? >> seen a nice pullback, could it be a further disappointment? it's possible but at this point you have to start building exposure back up. also in industrials, stephanie mentioned the earnings there, also like materials and then telecom has had a nice little pullback and got some pretty nice dividends there and a couple other areas that would catch up which would be commodities and starting to look at emerging market debt as an area that can be interesting and a little bit of a yield play. >> certainly has been a hot 4:06 pm ×
performer actually. in 2012 we saw money moving in. everybody was looking for yield. everybody looking for yield. >> absolutely. >> that's the bottom line. >> exactly. >> ultimately bernanke is forcing folks out into the risk spectrum. that's been the strategy and absolutely the case that money is flowing into stocks coming out of the bond market, for sure. >> do you think that continues, stephanie? what about you on apple going into the earnings wednesday after what we've seen on the stocks? >> it's hard because i don't think anyone really has an edge. everyone is talking about the demand being worse than expected. numbers coming down and target prices coming down and we have to hear what the company says, particularly about gross margins, and i think the quarter might be better thanexpected, but the guidance is going to be soft but we have to see how soft. you want to get through that, but in terms of technology that's the sleeper sector. i don't think a lot of people are talking about it. fourth quarter will be crummy and the fourth-quarter guidance will be lower, but people might start to look through that as i.t. spending improves in the back half of the year. 4:07 pm ×
as businesses get more confident because we get through the fiscal cliff and the debt ceiling issue. >> we'll see how we get through it and where the cuts come from. >> go ahead, samir. >> i was going to say it's been really interesting how much of a rotation you've seen in tech especially on the sentiment side. all about the death of the pc and the likes of intel and dell and hp selling off and now it's completely the opposite where a lot of the stocks have had pretty nice runs, whether it's because, you know, they have announced restructurings or buybacks, and now it's kind of the -- maybe not the death of it or whatever, but you've had a very nice pullback. very interesting how quickly you've seen that rotation in technology, and i kind of point people back to the fall as to how quickly things change in a hurry. >> thanks very much. have a great weekend, and we will talk soon. >> thanks. >> appreciate your time tonight. major averages hitting three-week winning streaks with the dow and the s&p 500 touching five-year highs. bob pisani has all the action today. >> the important thing is let's take a look back and see where 4:08 pm ×
we're at. put up the screen. dow industrials joining the s&p 500 at a five-year high, historic highs on the transports. on the russell 2000, the small-cap index. in the heart of earnings season, and i see signs that stock-picking is mattering again. look at multi-industry companies that report. love that we're in the industrials right now, part of the earnings season. ge, great numbers. parker hannaford, good numbers. that's a new high. johnson controls and guidance for the current quarter is down 3%, but can you see the other technology stocks really didn't lose that much. the industrials didn't lose that much. in other words, very specific movements on the company's own reports or guidance. how about rotating? lots of talk about rotating into industrials and out of banks. it's true the banks are looking a little tired. a lot of disappointed on capital one's earnings today, but you can see most of the banks didn't do much on either side, a positive or negative, but they have been looking signs of topping recently. how about semiconductors? if intel issued disappointing guidance a while ago, a couple 4:09 pm ×
quarters back, a lot of other big names would have been down today but it didn't happen. taiwan semi, texas instruments, micron didn't do well. talking about raising the debt ceiling. look what it did to the vix, to the downside and for the week, maria, the important things is all the moves into cyclical names. energy and industrial stocks all moving. back to you. >> thanks, bob. a lot more coming up on this jam-packed edition of the "closing bell." 80 companies will post earnings next week. despite the shorter week, a lot of them big-name technology companies. a panel of market pros will tell us how they expect this to drive the market and later, asleep at the wheel. the fed releasing transcripts from emergency meetings in 2007 as the crisis was just beginning, and, boy, did they miss the big picture. the story coming up. also ahead. holy car auction! the batmobile from the popular 1960s tv series hits the black 4:10 pm ×
this weekend. our robert frank on the lowdown with how high the bidding could go. which batmobile would you buy right now? we'll reveal the most popular coming up. i'd say you've got to go with adam west or michael keaton, my two favorites. what is your favorite? back in a moment. 4:11 pm ×
e welcome back. another blockbuster week of earnings ahead. kayla tausche running through the roster to determine if the rally could continue. over to you, kayla. >> reporter: 62% of the companies have beat profit estimates, though blended earnings growth just 2.5% per thompson reuters. more data points next week, even though it's a short one. got a busy calendar. tuesday, kicking off with five dow components. chemical giant dupont, johnson & johnson representing big pharma, verizon, ibm and travelers, google's first earnings since last quarter's press release misfire showed falling ad revenues there. on wednesday, mcdonald's expected to post flat profit from a year ago during a quarter where same-store sales hit a roque patch. after the market closed, netflix reports. a key number there is subscriber growth. investors watching nothing more closely than apple. hit with a spate of recent downgrades and potential profit warnings. moving on a thursday, maria, 4:14 pm ×
starbucks, xerzier objection an three dow components and microsoft and how its surface tablet fared during the holidays and honeywell and procter & gamble. wall street is expecting 111 per share from pmd's bob mcdonald in the face of activist pressure on him and the company's board, maria. that's what's on tap for next week. >> great week, big week. kayla, thanks so much. financials were certainly stars this week when it comes to earnings, but technology will take center stage next week. where will the drivers be of this market, and will they hurt or help stock? we have david perl and rob lutz of capital money management. good to see you, gentlemen. thanks so much for joining us. >> great to be with you. david, you say apple and google will be the key ones next week. break it down for us. why those two and what are you expecting? >> well, the markets discounted apple over the last three months as if their revenue growth is going to the single digits. it's not. clearly the rate of growth is 4:15 pm ×
slowed but they are going to sell a record number of iphones, and their growth rate, while seasonably will be low in the first quarter, will start picking up with new products in mid-year. the new iphone traditionally comes in around summer. probably a new ipad and maybe that apple tv. so at a 20% discount to the market, it is extremely cheap. everyone who loved it seemed to sell it last week, and now we're waiting for perhaps value buyers to perhaps pick it up. >> rob, do you agree with that? do you see sizable growth activities in technology? i certainly do, and although the company is reporting next week. many of them are very large, and would i suggest that you might want to look to smaller companies to gain, because a lot of disruption in technology today, but we think on apple we have a big position in that. i think it has 5%, 10% upside in the stock when they report the earnings. i think the street has been all over this and everyone is way 4:16 pm ×
too worried. i think apple will be a big catalyst for the whole market next week. >> so even though it's been declining and people are worried about apple? >> right. now, everyone but apple has spoken. >> right. >> next week we'll be able to hear from apple. you know, apple will tell us what's going on. that's more important. this company is a phenomenal company, and i don't think it's over yet. one key concern is profitability, and i think one thing about steve jobs, we always saw him put out products and he had a minimum 10% margin on it. we'll see if this new apple without steve jobs has that same discipline. i hope it does, and if it does it will be a great stock for a long time. >> so, in other words, i think i hear you both saying put money to work in tech next week. >> tech has been one of the worst performing groups over the last year actually because of multiple compression. not so much that the earnings were bad. in fact, you know the s&p earnings were only up 2.6% for the year, and yet the market was up 16. it's really due to valuations 4:17 pm ×
increasing. technology had the opposite happen, so the bigger companies are extremely cheap. actually historically cheap, and as long as they have growth, and they do, greater than the average growth of the s&p, they are all buys. >> yeah. >> but, dave -- >> robert? >> yeah. i would say there's some tech companies that are really destroying value. hewlett-packard, dell, microsoft, not creating value anymore. in fact, it's a utility company. the last 10 or 12 years microsoft produced its dividend, and that's it. nothing over that. >> that's a great point to make actually. do you want to sell those stocks? would you sell those stocks here, or do you think -- because huelet was the worst performer in 2012 in the dow? >> the expectations may be so low today that they will rally, but they are not long-term companies you don't want to own in your portfolio for a long time, so i'm not interested in those companies. i'm interested in companies that are innovating and have great growth, a company like tesla 4:18 pm ×
motors which is using great technology, or a company like splunk, splk, $300 bimillion market cap companies. that's where i would put my money. >> i disagree on apple you're getting a 3.5% dividend. ex-windows, the company is doing incredibly well and for windows, frankly, just got out the right products which are these convertible ultra books, so you're going to have a best of a tablet and notebook in one, running all the programs you would in business, so a tablet is great for watching things or reading, but if you've got to do work, you really need something with an integrated keyboard and microsoft office. >> but they are just getting that out. >> david, you've got the -- you've got the major problem with microsoft. they are under the desk. they are in the computer that is dying, and -- and this is a major problem for them. there's not a lot of growth in microsoft's products. it will probably be a moderate 4:19 pm ×
performer after these earnings come out. i think you'll get a good boost short term. longer term microsoft has serious growth issues, so i think it's a company to be avoided. >> all right. we'll leave it there. gentlemen, thanks very much for joining us. so appreciate it. we'll watch all of those names next week in a busy earnings week. over to bertha coombs with a quick market flash. over to you, bertha. >> reporter: the s&p and dow both up 1% this year ending at five-year highs, and when you take a look at the dow jones industrial average, five stocks are closing at new highs for travelers, j&j and also 3m, they closed at historic highs. 3m, the best performers, up 2.5 this week. >> thanks so much. the fed knows everything. transcripts from our 2007, pour cold water on that. shocking details of what was said and what wasn't said as the financial crisis was unfolding, and later, which batmobile would you buy in the one from the 1960s tv series. goes up for auction this weekend. tweet us @cnbcclosingbell. 4:20 pm ×
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at getwellduck.com. let's say you pay your guy around 2% to manage your money. that's not much you think. except it's 2% every year. does that make a difference? search "cost of financial advisors" ouch. over time it really adds up. then go to e-trade and find out how much our advice costs. spoiler alert: it's low. really? yes, really. e-trade offers investment advice and guidance from dedicated, professional financial consultants. it's guidance on your terms, not ours. that's how our system works. e-trade. less for us. more for you. welcome back. shocking revelations from fed policy meeting transcripts dating back to 2007 when the financial crisis was just taking shape. our steve liesman with the story. steve, this took you by surprise, huh? >> reporter: there were some really interesting comments on there, the release of the fed transcript five years afterwards, and what's clear from the monumental meetings of the fed in 2007 is we know now if we didn't already that jim 4:23 pm ×
cramer was right. the fed really did have no idea how bad it was out there. listen to this. >> bernanke is being an academic. he has no idea. >> cramer. >> i've talked to the heads of almost every single one of these firms in the last 72 hours and he has no idea what it's like out there, none! sunshine credibly four days after it was apparent to cramer what was going on, bill dudley, the head of the new york's operations desk said at a meeting, quote, we've done quite a bit of work trying to identify some of the funding questions surrounding bear stearns, countrywide and there's been some strain but looks like there's nothing imminent in those areas. to be fair, dudley would eventually become a leading advocate of extraordinary fed policies. both of those institutions we mentioned there would ultimately fail. what the transcripts showed was a minimizing of the fallout to one that eventually embraces the gravity of the situation and pulls out all the stops. 4:24 pm ×
why is it important now? because the market is asked the question will the market see the next threat to stave it off? at an august meeting ben bernanke says he doesn't really want to cut rates to give the impression of a bailout. by december he says, quote in, proposing liquidity measures there are the usual moral hazard issues, in my view, at this point, the imperative trying to help markets function and normalize is the stronger. to be fair, the fed's ultimate response to the crisis reversed decades of doing policy one specific way. they really had to throw out the rule book, and the minutes showed them the process of them throwing that out. once they made the change, they generally don't look back, but it does raise the question, maria, will they be able to see the next change when it's coming? >> amazing stuff, steve. stay right there, because mark colabia is going to join the conversation of the kato institute and says those transcripts are more evidence 4:25 pm ×
that the fed should get out of bank regulation business immediately. in fact, he says the fed should get out of monetary system all together and joins us now, along with steve in the conversation. mark, you say that the fed needs to get out of the bank regulation business immediately. well, there was a need for capital. doesn't there need to be a path to get out? to get out of the way but also have the guideposts in place for the banking sector? and to get out of the monetary system all together? explain what you mean. >> i think the transcripts really reveal to me, i think the mistake of relying on the health of your economy and the health of your financial system on a very small number of people who you hope get it right. you know, there's a reason that central planning failed in the soviet union. can you not have a couple of people in one room who are going to get your economy right. you need to get the incentives right and need to have the information disbursed. let's talk about the bank regulation part first. i think a lot of what we saw was one a factor of who was on the 4:26 pm ×
fed. you had a bunch of academics as cramer mentioned earlier, didn't have that many people who knew about banking, a lot of information coming from wall street. investment banks look a lot different than commercial banks, a lot of different things going on in the sectors so you didn't even have people at the table who really had a sense of what was going on at the economy so i would feel much more comfortable if we take banking regulation and give it to the bank regulators because ultimately i think a lot of the bailouts were about the mistakes made the new york fed, mistakes made at the fed board and they were using bailouts to cover up their own mistakes. aig, all of these cdss were done because the bank approved of cds to create bank capital. they create that had mistake. we can argue whether or not they would have foreseen it or not. i think when you have these things tied together you end up having the fed try to cover up its own mistakes. >> interesting. steve, what's your take on mark's concerns, and we should point out that a handful of leaders at the new york fed 4:27 pm ×
later became goldman sachs leaders, right? >> well, what mark is saying, maria, is accurate in the sense that it does show failings at the fed. the trouble is it also shows the opposite, mark, and i'd be interested. as you read these transcripts, the integration of banking regulation and monetary policy eventually becomes made and the necessity of it becomes obvious, that the guys who are getting firsthand information on the banking system, once they are able to see it, it's not immediate that they can see it. once they see it, the need to respond and the ability to respond using monetary policy is quite manifest, mark. >> what do you think, mark? >> i certainly would be fairer to say it's not like the fed has learned nothing from the crisis. >> right. >> this is one of the things that they have learned from the crisis. they are also including economists and the examination teams so that when you go into a bank you try to take the macro economic risk at play. again, i mean, to me you look at the size of the housing bubble we were looking at in 2005 and 4:28 pm ×
2006. at that time it certainly seemed to me there was no way this was going to end but badly >> the focus on inflation, maria, while -- you know, it's a bit like what thel dramatic irony. >> yeah. >> the audience is watching a play, and the main protagonist is setting on stage with a guy behind him with a cleaver. >> right. >> and the audience sees it, but the protagonist doesn't see it, so they are sitting there talking about the housing, i think it's okay. it's worrisome but not terrible, but inflation, that's the real problem. meanwhile the guy with the cleaver is about to come down on their head. >> yeah, yeah, yeah, a great analogy, yeah. >> i don't always think the fed errs in one direction. you know, i think we saw in 2007-2008 that they were too tight and allocating credit in the wrong direction, but right now they are too loose and causing distortions. too loose in 2003 so sometimes they really do get it wrong. there's a real irony in that we've all heard bernanke's speech to milton friedman, you know, we learned from the '30s. we're not going to get it wrong 4:29 pm ×
again, but there's a grain of truth to where they got it wrong and almost very much the same way that when you needed to provide broad liquidity to the banking system, they did not. >> all right. we will leave it there. great analysis and great points you both make. thanks, steve. >> see new davos, maria. >> and i will see you, steve liesman, in davos in the snow. >> and i will see you in davos. >> thanks very much to you both. see you soon, guys. thank you. appreciate it. by the way, don't miss jim cramer's "mad money" tonight. he got it right with the federal reserve. you saw how emotional and upset he was about the fed. as we look back, we all know cramer was right. he'll be on tonight 6:00 p.m. eastern with a lot more on that. stay with us. will we avoid the debt ceiling cliff? house republicans will consider a plan to extend the debt limit deadline. why that may set up an entirely different kind of cliff. we'll take you live to washington and john haar woovmtd flagged this in my observation yesterday. should the eligibility age to social security be increased to 70 years old since americans are living a lot longer than they 4:30 pm ×
did when the social security program was first set up? stick around for a heated debate and the body of a million dollar lottery winner murdered by cyanide poisoning right after he won has been exhumed. the medical examiner is talking, and we'll have the very latest developments of what went on. stay with us. ♪ 4:31 pm ×
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welcome back. maybe we won't hit the debt ceiling next month after all it. appears house republicans are considering a plan next week to extend the deadline, at least until the spring. our chief white house washington correspondent john harwood now with the story. john? >> reporter: maria, an interesting development that reflects republicans' awareness that they have the short end of the stick in terms of bargaining power with the president who has just been re-elected and with congress as our new nbc/"wall street journal" poll showed is only at a 14% approval. he's at 52%. here's what the house republicans are going to put on the floor next week and try to pass. it would be an extension of the debt limit, a rise in the debt loimt that would take us through april the 15th. it would be on condition that the house and senate both passion a budget which they are supposed to do under law by that point anyway, and finally it would take an approach of no budget, no pay if the congress refused to do that. here's the response from senate democrats. they said, no, we will consider 4:34 pm ×
a clean debt limit extension without any conditions if the house sends us one, so they are trying to keep the pressure on. the white house says we're encouraged that republicans appear to be backing off their determination to hold the u.s. economy hostage to its budget plans. now, democrats are feeling like they are making progress now. the question is going to be can republicans push this through the house in order to put pressure on democrats to compromise on terms? one republican member told me this afternoon that this is -- this might fly, but it's something that was put together haphazardly. we've not done a whip count. this could turn into plan "b" for speaker boehner. that's what we're watching next week. the good news is for markets though. it does appear we're moving, if not steadily, maybe two steps forward, one step back towards some sort of a resolution of the debt limit that will at least put it off until the spring. >> this is good news. john, thank you so much. john harwood with the latest. a lot of buzz about the business 4:35 pm ×
roundtable's proposal to raise the eligibility age to age 70. i wrote about the issue in "the observation" yesterday but one of my next guests could not disagree more. max wrightman is president and ceo of the national committee to preserve social security and medicare and a supporter of raising the edge. bill george, the former ceo of medtronic and a harvard business school professor. good to see you both. max, let's go to you first. the business roundtable argues that the demographics have completely changed. we now live much longer. why shouldn't we raise the age for eligibility? >> well, you know, this plan is called a plan to reform social security and modernize medicare. i always get nervous when i hear those terms because it's really a plan to cut benefits and raise the costs for health care for seniors. it really doesn't -- doesn't make sense to have seniors pay more and get less. the plan talks about how people are living longer. that's not true for all 4:36 pm ×
populations. and we need to improve these benefits. we need to add benefits to medicare, not cut the medicare program. >> no, but can you actually say that it's not true though, because when you look at the actual -- the actual ages, when social security first came out, there was a -- a living standard expectation between 60 and 70, and now women are living to 81, and i believe the life expectancy for a man is 78. so the -- the life expectancy numbers have in fact gone up. >> but the cost of living for senior citizens has also gone up. and it is very important to remember that in many communities in this country, these life expectancies, have not gone up, and we have to be -- you know, the ceos that are a part of the business roundtable, they can easily work until they are 70 or longer. if they want to retire, they can float their retirement on their golden parachutes. 4:37 pm ×
that is not true for the vast majority of americans. this plan, the business roundtable plan, is really -- i call it -- it's like a shotgun wedding of the bowles/simpson plan and the ryan budget plan, and the product, the product is really a monstrosity of a policy document that ignores the real fiscal realities and challenges of americans who are not multi-millionaire ceos. >> bill, what about that? i mean, opponents say that hundreds of thousands of seniors could find themselves without medical insurance. the costs of their care landing in the government's lap. what about that? >> maria, i couldn't disagree more with max. i believe that this is a very courageous proposal from the business roundtable put together by gary loufman of cesare's who used to be a colleague of mine at harvard business school. if you hit 65, the expectsy is 20 years. medical technology is learning how to keep people alive longer and longer, but we still have 4:38 pm ×
our disease-prone years hitting about the same time, in the late 50s, so i think people are going to have to work longer. we'll need these workers, and i think this is a very sound way to get medicare solvent. it won't be solvent today. unbounded costs in medicare. lifestyles are pushing it up and end-of-life issues, and there's just tremendous upward pressure on medicare costs, and i'm extremely concerned we won't be able to fund it, or else it will squeeze everything out of the budget. first of all this, proposal is going to be phased in. doesn't affect anyone at all who is over the age of 55, so they are all excluded, and, frankly, it won't phase in until people today are under 35, so you've got a long period of phase-in, a very sound proposal that puts both medicare and social security on the right track, and i think 70 is the new 50. turned 70 last fall, and can i tell you like many of my colleagues, we are continuing to work, and we're enjoying life, and i think this can work and 4:39 pm ×
work very well, and under the affordable health care act people will be protected in this period, so i think it will work very well. >> let me just comment. >> sure. >> under the affordable care act there's some real cost savings in the medicare program. many of these provisions of the affordable care act have not even been implemented. some of them will be implemented next year. wouldn't it make sense to see how this program evolves? and it is very short-sighted. i couldn't disagree more with -- with your other guest on the program. i could not disagree more that we need to clamp down on the medicare program, charge seniors more. this plan of the business roundtable does nothing, absolutely nothing, to control health care costs. we need to control health care costs, not just ask seniors to pay more. the kaiser foundation, the center for budget and policy priorities, have issued a number of reports. whatever we save by raising the 4:40 pm ×
age for medicare eligibility, twice that will be spent by state governments, by employers, by medicaid programs, by estate health care programs, so if we save $5 billion out of the federal treasury, we're going to spend twice that. >> but something's got to give, right, max? something's got to give. >> something's got to give. >> according to the budget office. let me just get one thing. the congressional budget office, max, says raising the age gradually between 2012 and 2021 would save $113 billion. $113 billion. >> right. >> just by moving the eligibility age so do we really have a choice here? mean, something's got to give. >> maria, we have a choice. >> maria, let me jump in. >> who is going to pay for that? it's going to be all the entities that i just outlined, and, yes, we need to do some things, but why don't we look at having the federal government mandating the federal government to negotiate for the best price 4:41 pm ×
for the prescription drug part "d" plan under medicare. there are now specifically prohibited from doing that. why don't we allow the reimportation of cheaper drugs into this country, safe drugs, from canada? and finally, the affordable care act, we have no idea and the cbo i think incorrectly doesn't score savings that we know, common sense tells you. >> yeah. >> seniors under medicare do not have to pay out of pocket for all these preventive care procedures. diabetes testing, mammograms, colonoscopies. they are going to avail themselves of these medical procedures. that is going to save money. >> real quick. bill joyce. we've got to go. >> we're in agreement that we need to cut medicare costs, and i can tell you the way they are planning to do it right now, they just -- the 27% across the board reimbursement. i'll tell you what's going to happen. that really threatens medicare because a lot of private physicians and private hospitals 4:42 pm ×
are not going to take medicare patients at all and that's a much greater threat, and so i think to get this solvent, i agree with max. we need to get costs under control. that's a big change, and there's very little in the bill to do that. mostly it just involves cutting reimbursement. we need to do that. >> we've got to run, you guys. >> we do not support cutting reimbursements to providers to the point where it will impact adversely access to good health care. we oppose that. >> nobody wants to cut anything. we get that, but we're also talking about $16 trillion in debt. see you soon. boeing under pressure. safety officials wrapping up their initial investigation of the 787 dreamliner. the latest developments. when can we expect to see the 787 in the air again? phil caught up with the transportation second ray lahood. hear what he had to say. from planes to cars, superhero cars. asking for your tweets on which batmobile you would buy. 4:43 pm ×
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welcome back. boeing 787 dreamliner assembly lines continue to run even though there's a problem with damaged batteries from a grounded plane. >> reporter: a lot of speculation that boeing could get the dreamliner back in the air. today, secretary of transportation ray lahood was asked about that, and it's 4:46 pm ×
pretty clear he's not in any rush to lift the grounding. >> this is complicated because we want to make sure we get it right, and the flying public expects us to get it right. and so it's -- it's going to take a little bit of time. >> can you get it done by early next week? >> oh, you know what? i just -- i don't know the answer to that. i'm not the one doing the -- the examination and the work and so we'll just -- we'll see where it takes us. >> right now the investigation is focused in japan. today investigators of the faa and the ntsb were on the ground there looking at the ama dreamliner that had the emergency landing. meanwhile, japanese investigators, they believe they will have their initial report on the incident next week. they have found similarities between the battery with that dreamliner and the dreamliner that caught on fire in boston. there's the battery. they are taking it from the plane in japan, and as for boeing, and you look at the assembly going on in seattle, as well as down in charleston, 4:47 pm ×
south carolina for the dreamliner, boeing says it's not slowing down production at all, but it is also meeting with the faa to start resuming production flight. as they build these, maria, they have to do a flight when they are done building them, before they can deliver them. they can't do that with this grounding, so that's the first step that boeing wants to clear with the faa. this is a story we'll be following all next week. maria? >> amazing. phil, thanks so much. catch phil's unprecedented access to the plane that was supposed to change the way you fly. "dreamliner, inside the boeing 787" airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on cnbc. well, the batmobile from the popular 1960s tv series goes up for auction this weekend, and it's expected to bring in a huge chunk of change. our wealth editor robert frank with the lowdown. robert? >> reporter: may, maria, a lot of imitators and updates, but there's only one original batmobile, and it's going to be sold on saturday. the price, at least $2 million and maybe up to $5 million. 4:48 pm ×
now, the batman -- the batmobile started out as a concept car in 1955 called the lincoln futura, cost $250,000 to build and originally painted white. the car had a role in the 1959 film "it started with a kiss" with debbie reynolds and then the famous car customizer was commissioned to build the batmobi batmobile, paint it had black and orange and added the fire-breathing exhaust and a star is born. batmobiles that look like the original but all copies made from fiberglass. the original is steel, and the others were not used in the show. you can see it here in action. barrett jackson, the company auctioning the car said the most likely buyer is an institution, maybe an entertainment or museum. i can see it ending up in a theme park or hollywood studio. either way this is a car that became a character spawning at least five future versions. the latest one from "the dark 4:49 pm ×
knight rises" and in my mind though, the greatest batmobile is the first. we'll see what it sells for on saturday. >> that's what i think. adam west's car is the best one. >> yeah. it's hard. i spent a lot of time as a kid, probably too much time, watching that show and watching that car, and the others are very cool, but, you know, this is really part of americana, part of history, and that's why it's got that huge price tag, and nobody knows what this car is going to sell for. even the auctioneers, 1 million, 2 million, maybe 5 million so we'll see what it sells for on saturday. >> i'm naive on this, so you'll correct me, robert, but, i mean, when a car like that sells, i mean, people are not buying it to drive, it so it's -- it's part of a collection. >> that's right. it's going to go in somebody's garage. there's a lot of big hollywood moguls that have, younknow, costumes from previous movies, a lot of hollywood memorabilia. this will end up in a mooum museum, universal theme park, 4:50 pm ×
connected with the batman ride so that is probably going to be an institution. >> thanks. robert frank with the latest there. we asked you which batmobile you would buy. most of our followers were torn between adam west's and michael keaton. so was i. here are some of your responses. edward tweeted in. are you kidding? adam west is the only batman, 1966. joe writes agree with maria bartiromo. west's or keatons. others look more like transformers. expect them to turn into robots. and sean says old school all the way. if you're over 40, the real batman is adam west. bam, pow. kerplat. thanks, everybody, for tweeting n.continue to send us comments @cnbcclosingbell. maria bartiromo works as well. the lottery winner who died after claiming a $1 million ticket had his body exhumed this morning. more information. the medical examiner with the information. we'll have a live report. and then research in motion 4:51 pm ×
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welcome back. the body of the million dollar lottery winner who may have died of cyanide poisoning was exhumed by cook county medical examiners in illinois. kevin tibbles with the story. >> 45-year-old kahn may have been the luckiest and unluckiest of lottery winners, within a month he essentially dropped dead. the authorities are now suspecting that cyanide was involved and there's a criminal investigation going on. for that reason today, his body was indeed exhumed in the chicago area and taken out for an autopsy. the good news was that the ground was not too frozen and that they were able to get their tests done. they took blood and urine samples from the body trying to determine whether or not mr. khan did fall under foul play. 4:55 pm ×
he chose the cash payout, just under $400,000. it will take a couple of weeks now before they get back with the results of this. but a very high wire story here in chicago over the lottery. >> it sure is. kevin tibbles with the latest there. we'll keep following that. today research in motion closed at an 11-month high ahead of the blackberry 10 and mobile payment endeavors continues. managing member of the sutland volatility group and options action contributor. how much upside in rim? >> this stock has been on a huge run. 350 million shares traded this week. the stock ripped higher an we saw jeffries upgrade the stock. and we're seeing last week we saw bullish activity. here we seeing traders take profits or make short bets. 4:56 pm ×
looking all the way to the downside now and getting bearish on the stock. listen, people are throwing up their hands, the stock is broken out from a bottoming process and could have room to go higher. one thing to be prudent about, maybe trim the position and take profits. we saw microsoft after their release, we saw the stock down since the surface release and iphone 5 is done. whether coincidence or not. i would be careful about owning the stock all the way to the upside the next couple of weeks. >> this is a real trade? >> definitely a trader's market, around 5 to 6% a day. you have to trade in and out and now you sell and maybe look for a better entry level. >> for more options, be sure to stay tuned for "options action" right after "closing bell." [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ 4:57 pm ×
[ indistinct shouting ] [ male announcer ] time and sales data. split-second stats. [ indistinct shouting ] ♪ it's so close to the options floor... [ indistinct shouting, bell dinging ] ...you'll bust your brain box. ♪ all on thinkorswim from td ameritrade. ♪ nothing. are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. that's a great idea. i'm going to go... we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office. 4:58 pm ×
[ male announcer ] save on ground shipping i have obligations. cute tobligations, but obligations.g. i need to rethink the core of my portfolio. what i really need is sleep. introducing the ishares core, building blocks for the heart of your portfolio. find out why 9 out of 10 large professional investors choose ishares for their etfs. ishares by blackrock. call 1-800-ishares for a prospectus which includes investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses. read and consider it carefully before investing. risk includes possible loss of principal. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] you don't have to be a golf pro to walk like one. ♪ 4:59 pm ×
when you walk 10,000 steps a day, it's the same as walking a professional golf course. humana. health and well-being partner of the pga tour. ♪ [ male announcer ] some day, your life will flash before your eyes. make it worth watching. introducing the 2013 lexus ls. an entirely new pursuit. welcome back, final today in place of my observation, a word about next week when we will be bringing you lots of first on cnbc, in addition to the very latest out of the left right TV News Archive
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2016-26/3556/en_head.json.gz/105 | Job fair turnout illustrates part of Birmingham's economic fragility
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The large turnout at a BJCC hiring event shows that the Birmingham metro area has a ways to go before it's back to full employment, but labor exports say the area's economic outlook doesn't boil down to just unemployment. Eric Phillips (left) with Alabama Power looks over Mike Hinds' paperwork at the Alabama Power booth as others wait for their chance at a job fair on Wednesday at the BJCC. Thousands of Alabama residents seeking jobs attended the event sponsored by U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell. (The Birmingham News/Joe Songer).
More than 5,000 job seekers attended the Wednesday event sponsored by U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, in hopes of meeting with companies such as Mercedes-Benz International, Regions Bank, UAB Hospital, State Farm Insurance and Drummond Co. Some went dressed in their best, hoping to score face time with potential employers. Others left upset with no leads. The fact that so many people turned up for a job fair that wasn't broadly advertised shows that a lot of people are eager to get back to work, labor experts say. The trick is matching them to the right roles. John Petrusnek, an account manager at staffing agency WorkTrain, said his company received around 500 applications during the course of the job fair. If even just five or 10 percent of those can be placed in jobs, that still helps, he said. Samford University's Brock School of Business professor Larry Harper said even adding a few hundred jobs at a time through events such as job fairs and career placement programs will add up. "I think it's a very positive thing that 5,000 people turned up looking for jobs," he said. "That indicates that if you're an employer and you're not finding the right people, there are a lot out there looking and it's a great opportunity to find somebody that might match up." Harper said there are economic indicators to track other than unemployment data, which often only give a partial view of the labor market. The Birmingham area's unemployment rate in May was 6.8 percent, but in June it jumped up to 7.9 percent. "The unemployment picture overall is not good news and it will unlikely improve until we have more clarity in which ways the country's regulations and other things related to the economy and political economy are going to hit," Harper said. John Norris, economist and managing director at Birmingham-based Oakworth Capital Bank, said that in a normal economy, creating 164,000 new jobs like the U.S. did in July would be seen as depressing. But coming off an even worse month in June -- when employers added just 80,000 jobs -- it looked great even though it wasn't. "With the economy growing very slowly, companies can be a little patient to get the people they need with the skills they need," he said. "That's bad for people looking to find work." Comments | 金融 |
2016-26/3556/en_head.json.gz/109 | Biggest U.S. companies break profit records; typical CEO makes $9.6 million
View full sizeIn this June 12, 2011 file photo, Robert Iger srrives at The 22nd Annual A Time for Heroes Celebrity Carnival Sponsored by Disney at Wadsworth Theater in Los Angeles. Iger is one of the top 10 highest paid CEOs at publicly held companies in America last year, according to calculations by Equilar, an executive compensation data firm, and The Associated Press. (AP Photo/Katy Winn, File)NEW YORK — Profits at big U.S. companies broke records last year, and so did pay for CEOs.The head of a typical public company made $9.6 million in 2011, according to an analysis by The Associated Press using data from Equilar, an executive pay research firm.That was up more than 6 percent from the previous year, and is the second year in a row of increases. The figure is also the highest since the AP began tracking executive compensation in 2006.Companies trimmed cash bonuses but handed out more in stock awards. For shareholder activists who have long decried CEO pay as exorbitant, that was a victory of sorts.That's because the stock awards are being tied more often to company performance. In those instances, CEOs can't cash in the shares right away: They have to meet goals first, like boosting profit to a certain level.The idea is to motivate CEOs to make sure a company does well and to tie their fortunes to the company's for the long term. For too long, activists say, CEOs have been richly rewarded no matter how a company has fared — "pay for pulse," as some critics call it.To be sure, the companies' motives are pragmatic. The corporate world is under a brighter, more uncomfortable spotlight than it was a few years ago, before the financial crisis struck in the fall of 2008.Last year, a law gave shareholders the right to vote on whether they approve of the CEO's pay. The vote is nonbinding, but companies are keen to avoid an embarrassing "no.""I think the boards were more easily shamed than we thought they were," says Stephen Davis, a shareholder expert at Yale University, referring to boards of directors, which set executive pay.In the past year, he says, "Shareholders found their voice."The typical CEO got stock awards worth $3.6 million in 2011, up 11 percent from the year before. Cash bonuses fell about 7 percent, to $2 million.The value of stock options, as determined by the company, climbed 6 percent to a median $1.7 million. Options usually give the CEO the right to buy shares in the future at the price they're trading at when the options are granted, so they're worth something only if the shares go up.Profit at companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index rose 16 percent last year, remarkable in an economy that grew more slowly than expected.CEOs managed to sell more, and squeeze more profit from each sale, despite problems ranging from a downgrade of the U.S. credit rating to an economic slowdown in China and Europe's neverending debt crisis.Still, there wasn't much immediate benefit for the shareholders. The S&P 500 ended the year unchanged from where it started. Including dividends, the index returned a slender 2 percent.Shareholder activists, while glad that companies are moving a bigger portion of CEO pay into stock awards, caution that the rearranging isn't a cure-all.For one thing, companies don't have to tie stock awards to performance. Instead, they can make the awards automatically payable on a certain date — meaning all the CEO has to do is stick around.Other companies do tie stock awards to performance but set easy goals. Sometimes, "they set the bar so low, it would be difficult for an executive not to trip over it," says Patrick McGurn, special counsel at Institutional Shareholder Services, which advises pension funds and other big investors on how to vote.And for many shareholders, their main concern — that pay is just too much, no matter what the form — has yet to be addressed."It's just that total (compensation) is going up, and that's where the problem lies," says Charles Elson, director of the Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware.The typical American worker would have to labor for 244 years to make what the typical boss of a big public company makes in one. The median pay for U.S. workers was about $39,300 last year. That was up 1 percent from the year before, not enough to keep pace with inflation.Since the AP began tracking CEO pay five years ago, the numbers have seesawed. Pay climbed in 2007, fell during the recession in 2008 and 2009 and then jumped again in 2010.To determine 2011 pay packages, the AP used Equilar data to look at the 322 companies in the S&P 500 that had filed statements with federal regulators through April 30. To make comparisons fair, the sample includes only CEOs in place for at least two years.Among the AP's other findings:— David Simon, CEO of Simon Property, which operates malls around the country, is on track to be the highest-paid in the AP survey, at $137 million. That was almost entirely in stock awards that could eventually be worth $132 million. The company said it wanted to make sure Simon wasn't lured to another company. He has been CEO since 1995; his father and uncle are Simon Property's co-founders.This month, Simon Property's shareholders rejected Simon's pay package by a large margin: 73 percent of the votes cast for or against were against.But the company doesn't appear likely to change the 2011 package. After the shareholder vote, it released a statement saying that "we value our stockholders' input" and would "take their views into consideration as (the board) reviews compensation plans for our management team." But it also said that Simon's performance had been stellar and it needed to pay him enough to keep him in the job.Simon's paycheck looks paltry compared with that of Apple CEO Tim Cook, whose pay package was valued at $378 million when he became CEO in August. That was almost entirely in stock awards, some of which won't be redeemable until 2021, so the value could change dramatically. Cook wasn't included in the AP study because he is new to the job.— Of the five highest-paid CEOs, three were also in the top five the year before. All three are in the TV business: Leslie Moonves of CBS ($68 million); David Zaslav of Discovery Communications, parent of Animal Planet, TLC and other channels ($52 million); and Philippe Dauman of Viacom, which owns MTV and other channels ($43 million).— About two in three CEOs got raises. For 16 CEOs in the sample, pay more than doubled from a year earlier, including Bank of America's Brian Moynihan (from $1.3 million to $7.5 million), Marathon Oil's Clarence Cazalot Jr. (from $8.8 million to $29.9 million) and Motorola Mobility's Sanjay Jha (from $13 million to $47.2 million).— CEOs running health-care companies made the most ($10.8 million). Those running utilities made the least ($7 million).— Perks and other personal benefits, such as hired drivers or personal use of company airplanes, rose only slightly, and some companies cut back, saying they wanted to align their pay structure with "best practices."Military contractor General Dynamics stopped paying for country club memberships for top executives, though it gave them payments equivalent to three years of club fees to ease "transition issues" caused by the change.The typical pay of $9.6 million that Equilar calculated is the median value, or the midpoint, of the companies used in the AP analysis. In other words, half the CEOs made more and half less.To value stock awards and stock options, the AP used numbers supplied by the companies. Those figures are based on formulas the companies use to estimate what the stock and options will eventually be worth when a CEO receives the stock or cashes in the options.Stock awards are generally valued based on the stock's current price. Stock options are valued using company estimates that take into account the stock's current price, how long until the CEO can cash the options in, how the stock price is expected to move before then, and expected dividends. Estimates don't generally take inflation into account.The shift to stock awards is at least partly rooted in what is known as the Dodd-Frank law, passed in the wake of the financial crisis, which overhauled how banks and other public companies are regulated.Beginning last year, Dodd-Frank required public companies to let shareholders vote on whether they approve of the top executives' pay packages. The votes are advisory, so companies don't have to take back even a penny if shareholders give them the thumbs-down. But shame has proved a powerful motivator.It got Hewlett-Packard to change its ways. After an embarrassing "no" vote last year on the 2010 pay packages, including nearly $24 million for ousted CEO Mark Hurd, the company huddled with more than 200 investment firms and major shareholders, then threw out its old pay formula. New CEO Meg Whitman is getting $1 a year in salary and no guaranteed bonus for 2011. Nearly all her pay is in stock options that could be worth $16 million, but only if the share price goes up.Other companies took notice, too. Last year, shareholders rejected the CEO pay packages at Janus Capital, homebuilder Beazer Homes and construction company Jacobs Engineering Group. All won approval this year after the companies made the packages more palatable to shareholders.To be sure, shareholders aren't voting en masse against executive pay. Instead, they seem to be saving "no" votes for the executives they deem most egregious.Of more than 3,000 U.S. companies that held votes in 2011, only 43 got rejections, according to ISS. But the mere presence of the "say on pay" vote is triggering change, shareholder activists say."Companies that have gone through that trial by fire don't want to go through it again," says McGurn, the ISS special counsel.Even Chesapeake Energy, a company perennially in the cross-hairs of corporate-governance activists, is bowing to pressure. The company has drawn fire for showering CEO Aubrey McClendon with assorted goodies. In addition to handing him big pay packages — $17.9 million for 2011 — Chesapeake in recent years has spent millions sponsoring the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder, which he partially owns, paying him for his collection of antique maps and letting him buy stakes in company wells.Last year, shareholders of the natural gas producer passed the proposed 2010 pay package but by a low margin, 58 percent. This year, with shareholder pressure mounting, the board has ended some of McClendon's perks and stripped him of his title as chairman. A lawsuit settlement is forcing him to buy back his $12 million worth of maps.After losing the chairman job, McClendon issued a statement saying the demotion "reflects our determination to uphold strong corporate governance standards." Chesapeake will seek shareholder approval for McClendon's 2011 pay at its annual meeting in June.So far, Citigroup is the highest-profile company to have its pay package rejected this year. The bank planned to pay CEO Vikram Pandit about $15 million for his work last year, noting that he had returned the company to profitability in 2010 and worked for $1 that year. Shareholders, who watched the stock price plunge 44 percent in 2011 (after adjusting for a reverse stock split) weren't so forgiving.It's usually around January that boards decide how much to pay a CEO for the previous year. Then they inform shareholders and ask for their vote in the spring — usually after the cash portion has already been handed out. For Pandit, that meant he had already received $7 million in salary and cash bonus by the time shareholders voted against his pay.In a statement, Citi said it took the vote seriously and planned to "carefully consider" the input of major shareholders. It hasn't given more specifics. Richard Parsons, who retired as Citi's chairman after the April annual meeting, as previously planned, said after the vote that the board should have done a better job explaining to shareholders how it determined CEO pay.Another big change is that more companies are giving themselves the right to take back a top executive's pay from previous years if they determine that the executive acted inappropriately to inflate the company's financial results.The Dodd-Frank overhaul will eventually require public companies to include such broad "claw back" provisions, which will expand on narrowly written rules from a decade ago. But companies aren't waiting. In a separate study, Equilar found that 84 percent of Fortune 100 companies now include claw backs in their executive pay packages, up from 18 percent in 2006.Last year, the former CEO of Beazer Homes agreed with regulators, who cited the older claw back rules, to turn over $6.5 million he had earned when profits were inflated. In February, UBS took back half of the previous year's bonuses awarded to many investment bankers because of subsequent losses in the unit.Picking the right mix of incentives is partly just guesswork, and sometimes the results are simply a force of serendipity. Stocks can get swept up in rising or falling markets, so the fortunes of CEOs with well-designed pay packages can reflect luck — good or bad — not just managerial skills.In February 2009, James Rohr, the head of PNC Financial Services, was granted options that allowed him to buy shares in the future at the then-current price, which had fallen 62 percent in five months on its way to a 17-year low the next month.The stock has since doubled, and the options, mostly based on hitting certain profit and cost-cutting goals, are worth more than $20 million in paper profit, according to research by GMI Rating, a corporate governance watchdog. If investors had bought PNC stock just before the financial crisis in 2008, they would still be down more than a fifth.Luck, of course, can cut both ways. Rohr is still waiting to cash in options granted in 2007, valued then at $2.5 million, when the stock was 18 percent higher than it is today.Some shareholder groups doubt that ever-higher CEO pay, ingrained as it is in the corporate psyche, will ever be refashioned dramatically enough to satisfy shareholders and consumer groups who see the paychecks as too big, too disconnected from performance, and set by wealthy directors who are oblivious to the way that most of their shareholders live."I hope we have seen the last of this," says Rosanna Weaver of the CtW Investment Group, which works on shareholder issues with union-sponsored pension funds and has lobbied against CEO pay packages at a number of companies. "But I would be very surprised, just given what I know of human nature, let alone what I know of the financial markets."Still, she's encouraged by the change that has already been stirred."It's a very big task," Weaver says. "I still believe it is worth trying." Comments | 金融 |
2016-26/3556/en_head.json.gz/155 | Tiptoeing toward economic recovery after Lehman
By David Andrews September 10, 2009
Tags: bank | bank bailout | bankruptcy | collapse | david andrews | economy | lehman | recession – David Andrews is director of David Andrews Media, a financial public relations consultancy with high profile fund management and financial services clients based in the UK, Ireland, Cayman Islands, Cape Verde, Beijing, Europe and the U.S. The opinions expressed are his own. –
David is a former financial journalist best known for his weekly Daily Express and Conde Nast ‘Money Matters’ columns.
Few will be lifting a glass to toast the first anniversary of the collapse of investment bank Lehman Brothers a year ago this week. With billions of dollars under management and thought to be invincible, the private bank was generally regarded as a potential gateway to the riches of Croessus for the ordained Masters of the Universe who prowled its Jackson Pollock-lined corridors.
But when the bank started to drown in the treacherous quagmire of its collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) – a type of structured asset-backed security whose value and payments are derived from a portfolio of fixed-income underlying assets – America’s Federal Reserve elected not to send in the cavalry.
The virtual overnight collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 was the catalyst which brought the world economy to its knees with breathtaking rapidity. The bank was so huge, a massive juggernaut reversing and elbowing its way in so many different markets that when the U.S. government allowed it to go to the wall, it caused a convulsion among its many counter-parties, which in turn caused global credit markets to seize up. “Normal” banking activity virtually ground to a halt.
We were all in dreadful trouble.
Some commentators, notably Warren Buffett and the International Monetary Fund’s former chief economist Raghuram Rajan, sounded many alarms bells about the runaway train that was the growing appetite for CDOs and other highly complex, derivatives-based tools which delivered fabulous wealth to a few but subliminally spread a cancerous, critical risk throughout the global credit system and effectively precipitated the crunch that led to a near collapse in the UK and U.S. banking systems and onto worldwide recession.
The chill winds of destabilisation were already whipping through the U.S. economy however well in advance of the Lehman collapse, as pigeons came home to roost in the wake of the extraordinary saga of so-called sub-prime mortgage misselling in the States.
As more and more people defaulted on their home loans – typically because their interest rate shot up after an initial honeymoon period, securities backed with subprime mortgages, widely held by financial firms, lost most of their value. The result was a precipitous collapse in the capital of many banks and the tightening credit around the world which signalled the beginning of the recession which has plagued us for the best part of the last 12 months.
Back in early 2007, as the rumblings of problems in the U.S. property market were beginning to be felt, I wrote (for a financial publication) “let’s just hope that the credit squeeze in the States which has caused so many problems for world markets is not contagious. Banks over here need to take note. Lending lots of money to poor people who have no hope of being able to repay at inflated rates further down the line is not good economic sense. It is sheer, short term greed, short sighted and likely to sink the lot of us if it continues.”
Looking back at that sentiment now, it is clear that the “banks over here” did not take note. They very nearly took us all down with them.
It has been a long, long year….but we do, finally, appear to be emerging – albeit tentatively – blinking into a new post recessionary dawn.
While unemployment is still a major concern, both domestically and in the U.S., where it has climbed to around 9 per cent, markets are starting to recover and as I write the FTSE 100 index of blue-chip companies has rallied more than 40 percent since slumping to its low for the year in early March.
The move to 5,000 – a level last touched on October 3 – comes as a new survey from Nationwide Building Society showed that British consumers are feeling more confident than at any point in the past 12 months.
So, consumer confidence up, spending up, export sales up, property sales rising, more mortgage business being written….things are looking promising.
In an upbeat speech the other week, the cautious, invariably dour U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s reckoned that economic activity in the U.S. and around the world appeared to be “leveling out” and that “the prospects for a return to growth in the near term appear good”.
Let’s hope he is right.
But – and as a natural pessimist I would say this – who knows what is around the corner? Didn’t that wily old sage Mr Greenspan say just the other day that we will reel once again from a global downturn at some point in the future, as it is part of the cyclical nature of advanced capitalism?
As another American who once ducked and dived on the world stage, Donald Rumsfield, might have put it, “as we know, there are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns. That is to say, we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know…”
You get my drift.
Collaboration is the key to economic growth Next Post »
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2016-26/3556/en_head.json.gz/187 | Avoiding the relisting prohibition
By: Francis Lim
Philippine Daily Inquirer 05:57 AM March 14th, 2013
By: Francis Lim, March 14th, 2013 05:57 AM
In a recent column, I discussed the tax and non-tax consequences arising from delisting publicly listed companies for non-compliance with the 10 percent minimum public ownership (MPO) rules of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE).
As you may remember, a striking non-tax consequence is the five-year prohibition on the company from relisting in the PSE.
To recap, the MPO rules provide that a publicly listed company whose shares are now under trading suspension for non-compliance with the MPO requirement by Dec. 31, 2012, have six months, or until June 30, 2013, to comply with the 10 percent requirement. If the company does not comply by that time, it will be automatically delisted from the PSE.
While this “automatic delisting” is akin to involuntary delisting under the PSE rules, the MPO rules explicitly provide that for purposes of the automatic delisting of shares of the noncompliant company, the Involuntary Delisting rules of the PSE shall not apply. However, the MPO rules expressly state that the five-year Relisting Prohibition under the Involuntary Delisting rules shall apply.
The Relisting Prohibition under the PSE rules has two parts. The first part provides that a company that is involuntarily delisted from the PSE cannot apply for relisting within a period of five years from the time it was delisted. This consequence is pretty straightforward and does not need further discussion.
What I previously said may be problematic is the second sentence of the Relisting Prohibition, which states that the directors and executive officers of the company are “disqualified from becoming directors or executive officers of any company applying for listing” within the same five-year period. Note that the rule uses the term “any listing” without making any distinction; listing, however, can be of many types, such as IPO listing, secondary listing, follow-on listing, top-up listing, etc.
Moreover, the definition of “listing” in the PSE listing rules is broadly stated and refers to “the admission of securities for trading and the inclusion in the official registry in the Exchange.”
Most importantly, the rationale for the disqualification of the directors and executive officers is that they are (and should be) responsible for their company’s failure to comply with a basic requirement of the PSE to remain as a listed company. This, in turn, would cause damage and prejudice to the shareholders who are deprived of the benefits of listing, which include a transparent structure and governance for their company and the tax perks for selling and buying shares of the company.
Considering the rationale for the disqualification and the broad wording of the rule, one can justifiably argue that the directors and executive officers of the delisted cannot sit as such in any other publicly listed company. Verba legis and anima legis, so to speak.
Now, the question is: What can be done?
Delisting, under the PSE rules, is of two types: voluntary and involuntary.
The MPO rules appear to recognize voluntary delisting as an option for companies that fail to comply with the 10 percent MPO requirement rather than be automatically delisted.
In fact, a number of companies availed themselves of this remedy before the automatic trading suspension took effect after Dec. 31, 2012, deadline.
The inclusion of this option appears to be the light at the end of the tunnel for companies that are in danger of being automatically delisted. Of course, this has to be done before the June 30, 2013, deadline. While voluntary delisting may entail time and cost for the subject company as the PSE requires the conduct of a tender offer, it will help ensure that the Relisting Prohibition shall not apply and the subject company may thereafter apply for a new listing even before the lapse of five years from the time it was delisted. More importantly, the directors and executive officers of such company may be able to sit as such in other companies applying for any listing (whether in the broad sense or not) within the five-year period.
This is how the PSE currently interprets its rules. Hopefully, the SEC and minority shareholders who feel aggrieved by the delisting of their companies will not question such interpretation.
(The author, former PSE president and CEO, is now the co-managing partner and head of the Corporate and Special Projects Department of Accralaw and a law professor at the Ateneo Law School. He may be contacted at [email protected])
TAGS: delisting, Markets and Exchanges, Philippine Stock Exchange, Philippines | 金融 |
2016-26/3556/en_head.json.gz/478 | Deutsche Bank and NASDAQ OMX Introduce the DB NASDAQ OMX Clean Tech Index
NEW YORK, Feb 10, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX News Network) -- DB Climate Change Advisors (DBCCA), the climate change investment and research business of Deutsche Bank's Asset Management business, and The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced the introduction of the DB NASDAQ OMX(R) Clean Tech Index (DBCC). The index is an accurate, real-time representation of the global clean technology sector with exposure to clean energy, energy efficiency, transport, waste management and water companies. This is the first clean technology index co-branded by a global exchange company and a global bank. The index is comprised of 119 companies identified by DBCCA from a global universe of ~4,000, each with at least a third of revenues derived from clean technology within investable geographies and exchanges identified by NASDAQ OMX. Of these, 106 companies have over 50% in clean tech revenues, using only demonstrated revenue from filed financial statements. Constituent companies must have market capitalization of $250 million and over $1 million average daily dollar trading volume. The index is equal-weighted to offer greater exposure to smaller-cap companies. "Climate change has already, and we believe will continue to deliver as an attractive source of alpha - which is one of the reasons why we saw the need to provide investors with a comprehensive, global and accurate benchmark for the sector," said Kevin Parker, Global Head of Deutsche Bank's Asset Management division (DeAM) and a member of Deutsche Bank's Group Executive Committee. "Through this collaboration, we are able to offer investors an index that combines the best of DBCCA's clean tech investment expertise and thought leadership with NASDAQ OMX's globally trusted index design and calculation services." "This index demonstrates the commitment of two global innovators to provide investors greater insight into companies that are driving the clean technology industry," said NASDAQ OMX Executive Vice President John Jacobs. NASDAQ OMX looks forward to continuing to work with Deutsche Bank. Together, we offer investors a unique combination of trusted leadership, expertise and services." In addition to a price return index, a total return version is also calculated (DBCT). The DB NASDAQ OMX Clean Tech Index is calculated in real-time and commenced calculation today with a value of 1,000.00. The index provides complete transparency about screening methods, selection criteria, securities, and sector mapping. For more information including a list of component companies, visit http://www.dbcca.com. NASDAQ OMX is a global leader in creating and licensing strategy indexes and is home to the most widely watched indexes in the world. As a premier, full-service provider, the NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group is dedicated to designing powerful indexes that are in sync with a continually changing market environment. Utilizing its expanded coverage as a global company, NASDAQ OMX has approximately 1,400 diverse equity, commodity and fixed-income indexes in the U.S., Europe, and throughout the world. NASDAQ OMX's calculation, design, licensing and marketing support provide the tools to measure and replicate global markets. The NASDAQ OMX Global Index Group's range of services covers the entire business process from index design to calculation and dissemination. For more information about NASDAQ OMX indexes, visit https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/. Access to essential historical index data for NASDAQ OMX indexes can be accessed from a single source, NASDAQ OMX Global Index Watch. For additional information, please visit https://indexes.nasdaqomx.com/indexwatch.aspx. 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A leader in Germany and Europe, the bank is continuously growing in North America, Asia and key emerging markets. With 77,053 employees in 72 countries, Deutsche Bank offers unparalleled financial services throughout the world. The bank competes to be the leading global provider of financial solutions for demanding clients creating exceptional value for its shareholders and people. About NASDAQ OMX The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc. is the world's largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with approximately 3,700 listed companies. NASDAQ OMX offers multiple capital raising solutions to companies around the globe, including its U.S. listings market, NASDAQ OMX Nordic, NASDAQ OMX Baltic, NASDAQ OMX First North, and the U.S. 144A sector. The company offers trading across multiple asset classes including equities, derivatives, debt, commodities, structured products and exchange-traded funds. NASDAQ OMX technology supports the operations of over 70 exchanges, clearing organizations and central securities depositories in more than 50 countries. NASDAQ OMX Nordic and NASDAQ OMX Baltic are not legal entities but describe the common offering from NASDAQ OMX exchanges in Helsinki, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Iceland, Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius. For more information about NASDAQ OMX, visit http://www.nasdaqomx.com. Please follow NASDAQ OMX on Facebook (
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2016-26/3556/en_head.json.gz/653 | After Bonusgate, what next?The AIG bloodletting let everyone vent. But there's still a financial system to fix. Why Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's job just got harder. EMAIL | PRINT | SHARE | RSS
By Jennifer Liberto, CNNMoney.com senior writerLast Updated: March 22, 2009: 2:38 PM ET ROAD TO RESCUE
Home prices up for 1st time in 3 years
New home sales: 'Really good news'
Wall Street: Here comes the hard part
7 regional banks fail
Banker: "TARP helped avert a global calamity"
President Obama says Geithner (above) is 'taking the right steps.'
The Fixers
7 people are in charge of rescuing the economy. Here's who they are and how they plan to do it.
What should the government do about AIG bonuses?
Tax them
Make AIG pay them back
Nothing, a contract's a contract
Tracking the bailout
Economy rescue: Adding up the dollars
The government is engaged in an unprecedented - and expensive - effort to rescue the economy. Here are all the elements of the bailouts.
WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner sat alone at the witness table answering questions and getting an earful from a panel of senators.Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, cautioned Geithner that Americans were crazy angry about corporate bailouts."I have never -- in the 22 years I've been here, I've never seen such anger, with the sense of betrayal, that people in positions of responsibility took advantage of them," said Conrad. "The outrage of people cannot be dismissed."That was on March 12. It turns out, the next day was when American International Group would award $165 million in bonuses to some 400 employees. Over the past week, Congress turned the anger over AIG into legislation. The House rushed through a bill to tax bonuses, and the Senate made a similar proposal. Now, with the Obama administration set on Monday to announce its most significant step yet in trying to rescue the banks, the blowback over the AIG bonuses threatens to sour its relations with Congress, some experts say."The notion you're going to get more money out of Congress to stabilize the financial system is a pipe-dream at this point," said Jaret Seiberg, policy analyst at Concept Capital's Washington Research Group. "Politically, it's not possible to approve more cash and get re-elected."Geithner, who marks his 8th week on the job on Monday, is on the spot. He is already facing what President Obama called the toughest challenges of any Treasury secretary since Alexander Hamilton. A few Republicans have even called for his resignation. House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said Geithner was on "thin ice," claiming he didn't do enough early on to stop the bonuses. Democrats have been more measured in their criticism, saying last week that they wished Treasury did a better job of communicating with Capitol Hill.A Treasury spokesman declined to comment on relations with Congress, but pointed out Obama's defense of Geithner and his economic team several times this week -- even on Jay Leno's "The Tonight Show."0:00
/24:35Geithner opens up"He understands that he's on the hot seat, but I actually think that he is taking the right steps, and we're going to have our economy back on the move," Obama said.Critical timeThe flare-up over AIG bonuses comes at a critical time in Treasury's handling of the financial rescue. Within the next few days, the department is expected to reveal details of its program to help wipe out toxic assets from the balance sheets of the nation's struggling banks and investment firms. Such a program is key to clearing bad debt and getting the financial markets rolling again.Geithner has suggested the plan could cost close to $1 trillion. And the Obama administration has placed hundreds of billions in its budget outline as a placeholder for future bailouts.Most experts believe the administration will likely have to ask Congress for more money again. Right now, Congress will be hard-pressed to cough up more dough for taxpayer financed recovery efforts."As of today, it's not possible to ask for more money," said Brian Gardner, an analyst for investment firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, who added it could be several months before more bailout money could be made available.Moreover, Congress is now intensely focused on targeting bonuses at companies that received bailout dollars.On Friday, new anti-bonus legislation circulated among key House members. And the Senate was also expected to start discussing similar legislation next week. "The atmosphere is very poisonous right now," said Bert Ely, a financial policy consultant. "I wouldn't want to put something forward, simply because all the flap on the AIG bonuses."Big agendaIt had already been a rough couple weeks for Geithner and his team.After surviving an onslaught of criticism during his confirmation hearings for failing to pay some taxes, Geithner has yet to put top deputies in place. Several applicants dropped out while facing heightened scrutiny in the screening process."Because they're not there, the Treasury ends up making sloppy mistakes, and that hurts them," Gardner said.Geithner is also attempting to negotiate a coordinated global effort to recovery. On March 10, the day he said he first "fully learned" about the AIG bonuses, Geithner was preparing for a tough meeting in London with other finance ministers whose recovery priorities differed from the Obama administration's.In the midst of all this, Geithner has been trying to nail down specifics of his plan to woo the private sector to buy bad assets from troubled banks and investment firms. The administration has high hopes that it will get a better reception than the last time Geithner broached the subject -- and caused the stock markets to tank.Now the AIG flap threatens to derail those efforts, even before it's fully understood. It's clear that the Treasury wants to draw on the private sector to work with the government to figure out how much these assets are worth and clear them out.But private investors, saying that episodes like the legislation attacking the AIG bonuses show that the rules of the game can change at any time, are becoming increasingly skittish of taking taxpayer dollars."Everyone is going to think twice about wanting government assistance," said Charles Calomiris, a finance professor at Columbia University's business school. "You know you're going to have to deal with the fact that compensation to your middle managers is going to be micromanaged by [Rep.] Barney Frank, leading a mob with pitchforks." Geithner's next public date with Congress was supposed to be on Thursday and give him a platform to highlight his ideas for rescuing the system and strengthening regulations.Instead, Geithner first on Tuesday has to face lawmakers to answer questions about AIG bonuses. This time he won't be alone. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who knew about the AIG bonuses for months, will answer tough questions beside him. First Published: March 21, 2009: 9:37 AM ET House passes Wall Street bonus tax AIG dominates Obama's 9th week Bonus rage closes in on AIG Features | 金融 |
2016-26/3556/en_head.json.gz/686 | Partnering Locally
Home / Newsroom NewsroomSign Up For Email AlertsRSS Feeds Enter your keywords: Advanced Search Facts & ResourcesCompany Overview Facts about Bank of AmericaJournalist Resources Resources for journalists seeking information about Bank of AmericaPress Kits Press kits and prime rate informationPress Releases Bank of America’s press release archivesExecutive Biographies Biographies and photos of senior Bank of America executives New Study Reveals Economic Impact of Bank of America Chicago Marathon Delivered More Than $243 Million in Business Activity 2012 Bank of America Chicago Marathon Grew More Than 11 Percent, Providing the Equivalent of 1,685 Jobs Category: Chicago Marathon and Shamrock Shuffle, In the Community, Marketing and Sponsorships Wednesday, September 4, 2013 10:00 am EDT Dateline: CHICAGO PDFPrintRSS Public Company Information: NYSE:BAC "As one of the city’s premier events, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon really brings the city together" The Bank of America Chicago Marathon contributes an estimated $243.46 million in total business activity to the Chicago economy, according to a new economic impact report. The independent study was conducted by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Regional Economics Applications Laboratory and announced today by Bank of America. Figures indicate an 11 percent growth over the 2011 Bank of America Chicago Marathon’s economic impact of $219.7 million.
The new study, which analyzed the 2012 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, found that the event directly contributed an estimated $98 million distributed among the main sectors of the tourism industry, plus another $145.46 million in indirect activity, accounting for more than $243.46 million worth of total business activity and an equivalent of 1,685 full-time jobs and $82.66 million worth of wages and salary income. This means that each dollar spent by a race participant generated an additional $1.29 worth of activity distributed through the Chicago economy. Study authors applied the use of the Chicago Region Econometric Input-Output Model to assemble the findings.
“As one of the city’s premier events, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon really brings the city together,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “It gives us an opportunity to proudly showcase our world-class hotels, restaurants and entertainment opportunities. I am appreciative of Bank of America’s efforts to support the Marathon, as evidenced by the growing interest and economic impact of the event.”
“The Bank of America Chicago Marathon continues giving people a reason to visit our city, year after year, from around the country as well as around the world,” said Don Welsh, president and CEO of Choose Chicago, the city’s official tourism organization. “Its growing impact on hotel, dining, mass transportation and entertainment venues is a testament to the Chicago residents who positively represent our city in everything they do. The Marathon is much more than a sporting event; it’s a celebration that is truly global in scale.”
“Many people come to Chicago for the first time because of the Marathon, and they come from all 50 states and more than 100 countries,” said Tim Maloney, president, Bank of America Illinois. “Tens of thousands of people look forward to it every year, whether they’re running in the race, cheering on family and friends, or running a business that caters to these groups. We are proud to work hand-in-hand with Chicago officials and residents to ensure that every Marathon participant has a positive experience and wants to return next year.”
The Bank of America Chicago Marathon not only draws 45,000 race participants but also attracts new visitors to Chicago and contributes to improving the image of the city as a tourist destination. In addition, the event takes place during a low tourism period, helping to reduce the negative effect of seasonality in Chicago tourism.
Bank of America Chicago MarathonIn its 36th year and a member of the World Marathon Majors, the Bank of America Chicago Marathon annually attracts 45,000 participants, including a world-class elite runner and wheelchair athlete field, and an estimated 1.7 million spectators. As a result of its national and international draw, the iconic race assists in raising millions of dollars for a variety of charitable causes while generating $243 million in annual economic impact to its host city, according to a report by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Regional Economics Applications Laboratory (R.E.A.L.). The 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon will start and finish in Grant Park beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 13. In advance of the race, a two-day Health & Fitness Expo will be held at McCormick Place Convention Center on Friday, October 11, and Saturday, October 12. For more information about the event and how to get involved, go to www.chicagomarathon.com.
Bank of AmericaBank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. We serve approximately 51 million consumer and small business relationships with approximately 5,300 retail banking offices and approximately 16,350 ATMs and award-winning online banking with 30 million active users and more than 13 million mobile users. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations in more than 40 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Visit the Bank of America newsroom for more Bank of America news.
www.bankofamerica.com
Contact: Reporters May Contact:Diane Wagner, Bank of America, 1.312.992.2370diane.wagner@bankofamerica.com | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/9347 | Speakout Progressive Picks About Us Submission Guidelines Contact Newsletter Sign-Up Job Openings Donate How to Give Why Donate? FAQ Testimonials Planned Giving More Ways to Give Convenient Arguments
Thursday, 31 March 2011 15:43 By James Kwak, The Baseline Scenario | Op-Ed font size
Here’s my solution to our national debt. We have a one-time, 100 percent tax on all wealth (net worth) of all United States residents, with a $10 million per-person exemption. With household wealth at around $60 trillion, that should be plenty to pay off the accumulated debt and shore up Social Security and Medicare for the next century.* The government promises never to do it again. Since we only care about future behavior, a one-time wealth tax should have no impact on people’s incentives to work, and hence no distorting effect on the economy.
Don’t like that idea? How about this one. The Federal Reserve creates $20 trillion in money but, instead of crediting it to large banks’ accounts at the Fed, it credits it to Treasury’s account. Again, no more debt. Again, the Fed promises never to do it again.
Yes, those are stupid ideas. They are stupid because no one would believe that the Treasury or the Fed would never do it again. If the Treasury were to go and confiscate wealth from billionaires and double-digit millionaires, they would leave the country (along with many other people who wanted to be double-digit millionaires).** If the Fed were to hand $20 trillion to the Treasury, everyone would start dumping dollars and it would become impossible for the government to borrow money at low interest rates the next time it needed it. People’s actions (working, buying bonds) depend on their expectations of future government actions. The fact that the government has never done something doesn’t prove that it never will, and if it did it once that wouldn’t prove that it would do it again, but in either case it’s persuasive evidence.
So if no one could propose a one-time wealth tax with a straight face, how come people can propose a “one-time” corporate tax amnesty with a straight face? Yet that’s just what multinational corporations are pushing for; see this article by Peter Coy and Jesse Drucker or Drucker’s Fresh Air interview. The U.S. has a top average tax rate of 35 percent, but multinational corporations have gotten very good at shifting their income to overseas subsidiaries in places like Ireland and Bermuda that have much lower corporate tax rates, often avoiding U.S. corporate tax entirely. According toDavid Kocieniewski of the Times, for example, G.E.’s U.S. tax rate is 7.4 percent, and that’s including taxes it will not pay until it repatriates profits to the U.S. For 2010, it’s claiming a refund of $3.2 billion.
The “solution,” according to those same companies, is for the U.S. to offer a tax amnesty that will allow them to repatriate profits (which they have to do in order to, for example, pay dividends or buy back stock in the U.S.) at much lower tax rates — like zero. The lobbyists’ talking point is that if the companies have more cash in the U.S., they will invest it in ways that will create jobs. This doesn’t even pass the laugh test: as Coy and Drucker report, U.S. nonfinancial companies are already sitting on over $1 trillion in liquid assets within the U.S.
We’ve tried this before. In 2004, Congress passed a similar tax amnesty (companies were allowed to repatriate profits at a tax rate of 5.25 percent). Companies brought back lots of profits, the Treasury got a small bump in tax revenues, and companies learned that they should stash even more profits overseas and wait for the next amnesty. According to research by Thomas J. Brennan, the amount of profit stored overseas reached its 2004 peak as early as 2006 and has only grown since.
Tax amnesties may look good because they increase tax revenue in the very short term. But this is just an example of why, as Daniel Shaviro argues, it’s stupid to look just at the annual deficit, or even the next five or ten years. A tax amnesty unambiguously reduces the present value of future tax revenue, even leaving aside the incentive effects.
And how about those incentive effects? If we’re going to pretend that a tax amnesty for corporations won’t have any impact on their future behavior, then why don’t we pretend that a one-time wealth tax won’t have any impact on future behavior, either? In either case, there’s a short-term effect and a long-term effect. The same people who argue for the tax amnesty by pointing to its short-term effect would be horrified by a one-time $20 trillion Fed bailout — because of its long-term effect on the Fed’s credibility and the ability of the government to borrow money.
In other words, there are plausible arguments that can be made on either side of most issues, and people pick and choose the arguments they like to suit their political objectives.
By the way, there is a real substantive question as to whether we should even have a corporate tax. Much as we may like the idea of taxing corporations, the corporate tax flows through to real people, and no one is quite sure how it flows through. It also includes some obvious distortions, like the double taxation of dividends as opposed to interest on debt, which encourages higher leverage. I would be open to eliminating the corporate tax altogether and replacing it with more progressive income tax rates or a wealth tax. But as long as we have a corporate tax, it’s crazy to have it in a form that favors multinational corporations with expensive lawyers and shell subsidiaries all around the world and that penalizes domestic businesses without expensive lawyers. If nothing else, paying lawyers and setting up shell subsidiaries cost money and provide no economic value.
But instead of dealing with serious issues, it seems like the IRS is going after individuals for — get this — falsifying their income on stated-income loans. Yes, they’re going after borrowers. Joe Nocera tells the story of Charlie Engle, who is going to jail because an IRS agent saw him in a movie about ultra-marathoning and wondered how he found time to train for it; because the IRS sent an “attractive female undercover agent” after Engle on suspicion of money laundering; because Engle or his broker falsified his income on a mortgage application; and because the broker testified against him and got a shorter sentence, despite pleading guilty to falsifying multiple mortgage applications (since when do you give the more senior person a plea to testify against the more junior person in the conspiracy?). The kicker is that Engle is going to have to pay $262,500 in restitution to Countrywide, the “victim” in this affair.
I like taxes more than the next guy. As Oliver Wendell Holmes is reputed to have said, “I like paying taxes. With them I buy civilization.”*** I’m generally not sympathetic to complaints about overreaching government bureaucrats. But this is ridiculous.
* I haven’t actually done the calculations; if it’s not enough, just lower the exemption.
** They would also sue, but if the wealth tax were an act of Congress, I don’t think they’d have much of a case. Since we’re in fantasy land, we could pass the tax by an amendment to the Constitution. As law professors say, don’t fight the hypothetical.
*** And according to Ed Darrell, he probably did say something like that.
Update: And here’s Daniel Shaviro himself on the topic.
Related Stories"US Uncut" Calls Out Corporate Tax DeadbeatsBy Veronica Morris Moore and Victoria Crider, Truthout | ReportCorporations to Government: Give Us More, Tax Us LessBy Richard D. Wolff, The Guardian | Op-Ed Show Comments
George Lakoff: Understanding Trump - BuzzFlash Virginia Supreme Court Strikes Down Restored Voting Rights for People Convicted of Crimes - The Hill NASA: Watch One Year on Earth From 1 Million Miles Away - EcoWatch Convenient Arguments | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/9634 | Home > Newsroom > News Releases
Deputy Director and Chief Trial Counsel Jarett Decker to Leave PCAOB
Washington, DC, April 9, 2014
Page ContentThe Public Company Accounting Oversight Board announced today that Jarett Decker, Deputy Director and Chief Trial Counsel in the Division of Enforcement and Investigations, will leave the PCAOB in May to take a position with the Centre for Financial Reporting Reform of the World Bank in Vienna, Austria.
"Jerry has been a key member of the PCAOB team. His work in overseeing disciplinary litigation has been instrumental in helping build a robust and effective enforcement program," said PCAOB Chairman James Doty.
Since joining the PCAOB in 2006, Mr. Decker has been responsible for establishing and overseeing the PCAOB's litigation program. He is the first person to serve in the role of Deputy Director and Chief Trial Counsel at the Board.
"Jerry has provided critical leadership and advice as we established and developed the enforcement program, and he is an exceptional colleague," said Claudius Modesti, Director of the Division of Enforcement and Investigations. "I and the rest of the enforcement team will miss his insight, creativity, and compelling advocacy for investor protection."
The PCAOB uses its investigative and disciplinary authority to address serious audit deficiencies that pose significant risks to investors and to hold accountable auditors who run afoul of their professional obligations. To date, the PCAOB has imposed sanctions on 58 registered accounting firms and 74 persons associated with registered firms.
Mr. Decker said that he feels privileged to have had a chance to work with the talented and dedicated staff of the PCAOB. "This has been an exciting place to work as we built a top-notch team of lawyers, accountants, and other professionals in the enforcement program. I'm grateful for all I've learned from my colleagues, which I now hope to put to use helping to reform financial reporting in emerging and transitional markets," said Mr. Decker.
About the PCAOB | 金融 |
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Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. | November 3, 2005 Globalization and Monetary Policy Warren and Anita Manshel Lecture in American Foreign Policy
I am honored to give this lecture, named for a man who was an intellectual and entrepreneur, a diplomat, and founder and editor of two hallmark publications—The Public Interest and Foreign Policy—and for his wife, Anita, who was a full partner with him in all that he undertook. The Manshels embodied the spirit of the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, and I am especially pleased to have members of the family here tonight.
I am also extremely honored to be introduced by you, Jorge [Professor Jorge Domínguez]. You have been an unwavering friend for many years, always a thoughtful scholar and dedicated teacher. You have been a gifted leader of the center for a decade. And you have a special quality that inspires people to want to give back to this institution. Later tonight, we will have an inaugural dinner in the Fisher Family Commons in the new Center for Government and International Studies. I waited until this moment to tell you that Nancy and I gave that gift in very large part because of you, Jorge. At the Naval Academy, we had drilled into us what is known as John Paul Jones’ creed, named after the ideal attributes that inspired the Father of the Navy. A leader, the creed posits, is “a gentleman of liberal education, refined manners, punctilious courtesy and the nicest sense of personal honor.” I think that creed describes Jorge Domínguez as well as anything I could say. Thank you, Jorge, for all you have done for me and for Harvard.
As I listened to Jorge’s kind but hyperbolic introduction, it struck me that I must sound like a very odd duck: a midshipman who became a near academic who became a hedge fund manager who became a candidate for the U.S. Senate who became an ambassador and trade negotiator who became a central banker. It all sounds rather serendipitous, if not disjointed or a little nuts. Our daughter Alison once summed me up as the career equivalent of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse because, as she put it, “Dad, you have no plot and you never end.” Well, I do have a recurring theme, one that keeps returning me to Harvard. I remember every sight, smell and feeling from when I first stepped off the Red Line coming in from Logan Airport, a transfer student from Annapolis. Beginning with that trek from Harvard Square to Eliot House, Harvard has transformed and enabled me. And it has repeatedly done so at various intervals in my life—by giving me entrée to Oxford, where I met my lifetime partner, all-time best friend and wife, Nancy; by launching me on to Stanford Business School, where I first learned the language and culture of money; by providing me refuge at the Kennedy School while I licked my wounds from a hapless attempt to become a senator; by giving me a contemplative space as a Weatherhead Fellow while recharging my batteries after a stint as deputy U.S. trade representative; by allowing me to hole up in Cambridge, preparing to be a Federal Reserve Bank president; by providing me spiritual succor whenever I come to morning prayers in Appleton Chapel; and, last but certainly not least, by educating all four of my children. You may have noted that I used the phrase “the language and culture of money.” It was at Harvard that I learned from reading Herodotus (the CliffsNotes version, perhaps) that the kings of Lydia invented money as we now know it, sometime around 700 B.C. The Lydians enumerated value not in heads of cattle but in coins they called “electrum,” an amazingly far-sighted nomenclature when you consider that money today zips around the planet via electronic impulses. And it was as an undergraduate here, in classes taught by such greats as Professors Alfred, Kaiser and Finley, that I first read Sophocles and Aristotle, Horace and Virgil, Chaucer and Dante, and Shakespeare, and their musings about the power—both inspiring and corrupting—of money. The theme of money is not just the stuff of business school curricula. It courses through great literature, from such incredibly ponderous works as Ezra Pound’s The Cantos to Molière’s hilarious quote, “Of all the noises made by man, opera is the most expensive,” a line I once invoked to persuade Nancy to decamp from the board of the Washington Opera. (Were Molière a Harvard grad approaching his 35th reunion, he doubtlessly would have rephrased that to read: “Of all the noises made by man, a call from the Harvard Development Office is the most expensive.”)
William Gladstone, the four-time prime minister of Britain, probably summed up the gist of all the literature on money when he observed that “not even love had made so many fools of men as pondering over the nature of money.”
Yet that is what I am now paid to do as a Federal Reserve Bank president and member of the Federal Open Market Committee—contemplate the nature of money. Central bankers ponder money so as to protect its value, promote the maximum sustainable non-inflationary economic growth, manage the payments system, and keep the financial and economic infrastructure humming along at peak efficiency.
Money is the economy’s lifeblood. The Federal Reserve’s great responsibility is to maintain the cardiovascular system of American capitalism. The Fed’s operations—from processing payments to regulating banks to trading foreign exchange to setting the federal funds rate—keep open the arteries, veins and capillaries of capitalism. We labor constantly to get it right, so as to avoid Gladstone’s condemnation. This is no easy task in a constantly changing environment in which the economy is constantly evolving.
So, tonight, I want to talk about what I consider one of the biggest challenges my colleagues and I face: globalization’s impact on the gearing of the economy and the making of monetary policy. Before I do, let me issue the standard disclaimer that I speak only for myself and no one else on the Federal Open Market Committee. These thoughts are my own.
I should also state that nothing I am going to say tonight deals with interest rates or current deliberations at the Fed. The FOMC met on Tuesday. My vote to raise the fed funds rate another quarter point is a matter of public record. Those who do not follow the machinations of the Fed should be forewarned that those of us on the FOMC are subject to the equivalent of the ancients’ practice of slicing open birds and other animals to study their entrails and divine the future. I spot some entrails studiers in the audience. Slice as you may, nothing I say tonight will provide any guidance to the future course of interest rates. At least I hope not.
So now to the topic: globalization and monetary policy.
The literature on globalization is large. The literature on monetary policy is vast. But literature examining the combination of the two is surprisingly small.
If you Google “globalization” and “monetary” and “policy,” you will turn up more than 2 million references. However, a search of scholarly articles with the same word combination turns up only 30,700. If you narrow your quest to the exact word combination “globalization and monetary policy,” you get a mere 39 citations. Limiting the word combination to the title of an article, you will find a mere two articles.
So, at a minimum, this is going to be a rare speech! I hope it will prove insightful.
Tom Friedman’s popular book The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century doesn’t have a single entry on “money,” “monetary policy” or “central banking.” And in Michael Woodford’s influential book Interest and Prices: Foundations of a Theory of Monetary Policy, the word “globalization” does not appear in the index. Nor do the words “international trade” or “international finance.”
What gives? Is the process of globalization disconnected from monetary policy? Is the business of the central bank totally divorced from globalization?
I think not. I believe globalization and monetary policy are intertwined in a complex narrative that is only beginning to unfold. This isn’t To the Lighthouse. It may be that the process of globalization might never end. But I believe it does have a plot, which I will turn to momentarily.
First, a definition, so that we can contemplate this matter together from common ground. There are many convoluted definitions of globalization. Mine is simple: Globalization is an ecosystem in which economic potential is no longer defined or contained by political and geographic boundaries. Economic activity knows no bounds in a globalized economy. A globalized world is one where goods, services, financial capital, machinery, money, workers and ideas migrate to wherever they are most valued and can work together most efficiently, flexibly and securely.
Where does monetary policy come into play in this world? Well, consider the task of the central banker, seeking to conduct a monetary policy that will achieve maximum sustainable non-inflationary growth.
Consider, for example, the experience of former Federal Reserve Governor Larry Meyer, articulated in his excellent little book A Term at the Fed. It was one of the first books I read this winter in Cambridge as I prepared for my new job. In it, you get a good sense of the lexicon of monetary policy deliberations. The language of Fedspeak is full of sacrosanct terms such as “output gap” and “capacity constraints” and “the natural rate of unemployment,” known by its successor acronym, “NAIRU,” the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment. Central bankers want GDP to run at no more than its theoretical limit, for exceeding that limit for long might stoke the fires of inflation. They do not wish to strain the economy’s capacity to produce. One key capacity factor is the labor pool. There is a shibboleth known as the Phillips curve, which posits that beyond a certain point too much employment ignites demand for greater pay, with eventual inflationary consequences for the entire economy. Until only recently, the econometric calculations of the various capacity constraints and gaps of the U.S. economy were based on assumptions of a world that exists no more. Meyer’s book is a real eye-opener because it describes in great detail the learning process of the FOMC members as the U.S. economy morphed into the new economic environment of the second half of the 1990s. At the time, economic growth was strong and accelerating. The unemployment rate was low, approaching levels unseen since the 1960s. In these circumstances, if you believed in the Phillips curve and the prevailing views of potential output growth, capacity constraints and the NAIRU, inflation was supposed to rise. That is precisely what the models used by the Federal Reserve staff were saying, as was Meyer himself, joined by nearly all the other Fed governors and presidents gathered around the FOMC table. Under the circumstances, they concluded that monetary policy needed to be tightened to head off the inevitable. They were frustrated by Chairman Greenspan’s insistence that they postpone the rate hikes they were proposing, yet perplexed that inflation wasn’t rising. Indeed, inflation just kept on falling.
If the advice of Meyer and other devotees of the Phillips curve, capacity constraints, output gaps and NAIRU had prevailed, the Fed would have caused the economy to seriously underperform. According to some back-of-the-envelope calculations by economists I respect, real GDP would have been lower by several hundred billion dollars. Employment gains would have been reduced by perhaps a million jobs. The costs of not getting these critical calibrations right would have been huge.
Now, how was Greenspan able to get it right when other very smart men and women did not? Well, we now recognize with 20/20 hindsight that Greenspan was the first to grasp the fact that an acceleration in productivity had begun to alter the traditional relationships among economic variables. I want to depart briefly from this story line to tell you what I have learned by watching this remarkable man work for the short time I have had that privilege. One of the attributes that makes Greenspan unique is something my wife wishes I would do better: He is a superb listener. He understood the data and the modeling techniques of the Fed’s research staff. But he was also constantly talking—and listening—to business leaders. And they were telling him what he knew from years of consulting and sitting on various boards: They were simply doing their job of seeking any and all means of earning a return for their shareholders. At the time, they were being enabled by new technologies that enhanced productivity. The Information Age had begun rewriting their operations manuals. Earnings were being leveraged by technological advances. Productivity was surging.
It is important to listen to the operators of our business economy. We have millions of experienced managers and decision makers in the private sector. This may be our greatest competitive advantage, for no other population has the length and depth of experience that U.S. business operators do. They are the source of the mighty economic machine that we call America, in which we produce some $12 trillion in economic output. And just as they did by inventing new technology—and, then, using that technology—America’s business managers have taken advantage of the phenomenon of globalization. Our business managers are the nerve endings in Adam Smith’s invisible hand, stretching the fingers of capitalism into every corner of comparative advantage worldwide.
Just consider what the fall of the Soviet Union, the implementation of Deng Xiaoping’s “capitalist road” in China, and India’s embrace of market reforms mean to a business operator. Consider labor alone. In the early ’90s, the former Soviet Union released millions of hungry workers into the system. China joined the World Trade Organization at the turn of the century and injected 750 million workers into play. And now India, with over 100 million English-speaking workers among its 1 billion people, has joined the game. What does an American manager—paid to enhance returns to shareholders by growing revenues at the lowest possible costs—do? Because labor accounts for, on average, about two-thirds of the cost of producing most goods and services, a business manager will go where labor is cheapest. She will have a widget made in China or Vietnam, or a software program written in Russia or Estonia, or a center for processing calls or managing a back office set up in India.
Let me tell you of one eye-opening experience. About two years ago, I was in London on business for Kissinger McLarty. I received a call from the head of Japan’s equivalent of the Business Roundtable, the Keidanren, asking me to “pop over tomorrow to give a luncheon and dinner speech.” They made an offer I couldn’t refuse, and I said I would be glad to do it if they could arrange the flights. They booked me on Virgin Air and arranged for a car to take me to Heathrow. At the appointed time, the car didn’t show up. So I called the number I had been given. The call was answered by a woman with a frightfully British accent. When I asked, “Could you kindly tell me where my car is, ma’am?” she deftly shifted to a Southwestern American accent and said, “Now don’t you worry. It is five minutes away. Ah apologize for the delay. Have a nice flight.”
I said, “Well, hold on a minute. You answered this call in a British accent but once I spoke, you shifted to a Texas accent. Who are you? Where are you?”
“Well,” she answered, “I am a call center operator in Bangalore.”
“Have you ever been to the United States?” I asked.
“Oh, no, sir. But I can tell that you are from Arkansas, Texas or New Mexico.”
“And how do you learn to speak like me?”
“Well, sir, for people like you, we watch a tele show called Walker, Texas Ranger.”
“And what if I were from Boston?”
“Ah, for those people we watch Cheers.”
It may seem like a small matter that a Japanese firm employed a worker in India to track a car by GPS in London and mimic a voice from Texas. But globalization impacts the conduct of business—and therefore the expansion of our productive capacity and the pricing mechanism of labor and other inputs—so much more profoundly.
Let me return home to Harvard once more and read you three quotes from Joseph Schumpeter, who taught here from 1932 until 1949, and I think you will get the picture.
First, from Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy: “The fundamental impulse that sets and keeps the capitalist engine in motion comes from the new consumers’ goods, the new methods of production or transportation, the new markets, the new forms of industrial organization that capitalist enterprise creates.”
From that same page: “The opening up of new markets, foreign or domestic, and the organizational development from the craft shop and factory…illustrate the same process of industrial mutation…that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one. This process of Creative Destruction is the essential fact about capitalism. It is…what every capitalist concern has got to live in.”
And from volume 1 of Schumpeter’s Business Cycles: “A railroad through new country, i.e., country not yet served by railroads, as soon as it gets into working order upsets all conditions of location, all cost calculations, all production functions within its radius of influence; and hardly any ‘ways of doing things’ which have been optimal before remain so afterward.”
String the key operative phrases of those three citations together and you get the plot of this story, the plot of globalization: “The opening up of new markets, foreign or domestic. . . revolutionizes the economic structure, . . . destroying the old one, . . . creating a new one. . . . [It] upsets all conditions of location, all cost calculations, all production functions, . . . and hardly any ways of doing things which have been optimal before remain so afterward.”
The master of creative destruction of syntax, Yogi Berra, put it more eloquently: Once you open new markets, “History just ain’t what it used to be.”
The destruction of communism and the creation of vast new sources of inputs and production have upset all the calculations and equations that the very best economics minds, including those of the Federal Reserve staff—and I consider them the best of all—have used as their guideposts. The old models simply do not apply to the new, real world. This is why I think so many economists have been so baffled by the length of the current business cycle and the non-inflationary prosperity we have enjoyed over the past almost two decades. You could sense something was wrong with the econometric equations if you listened to the troops on the ground, fighting in the trenches of the marketplace. This is what Chairman Greenspan does so well. And, though I am no Greenspan and never will be, this is what my colleagues and I at the U.S. Trade Representative’s office did negotiating market-opening trade rounds with China, Vietnam, Mexico, Brazil and others. It is what my colleagues and I at Kissinger McLarty did while advising dozens of U.S. companies seeking entry into China and the former Soviet satellites and India and Latin America. It is what my colleagues and I on the FOMC do by making dozens upon dozens of calls to CEOs, COOs and CFOs of businesses, large and small, every month to prepare for FOMC meetings. We are simply observing managers at work expanding the capacity of our economy, expanding the gap between what their previously limited resources would allow them to produce and what their newly expanded globalized, technologically enhanced reach now allows them to produce. From this, I personally conclude that we need to redraw the Phillips curve and rejig the equations that inform our understanding of the maximum sustainable levels of U.S. production and growth.
Let me illustrate the point by citing another fine writer, Greg Ip. In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal, he noted that the “U.S. economy grew at a 3.8% annual rate in the third quarter [of this year], its eighth consecutive quarter at about that pace. That’s above what most economists consider the economy’s potential growth rate—that is, what it can produce with existing capital and labor.”
How can economists quantify with such precision what the U.S. can produce with existing labor and capital when we don’t know the full extent of the global labor pool we can access? Or the totality of the financial and intellectual capital that can be drawn on to produce what we produce?
As long as we are able to hold back the devil of protectionism and keep open international capital markets and remain an open economy, how can we calculate an “output gap” without knowing the present capacity of, say, the Chinese and Indian economies? How can we fashion a Phillips curve without imputing the behavioral patterns of foreign labor pools? How can we formulate a regression analysis to capture what competition from all these new sources does to incentivize American management?
Until we are able to do so, we can only surmise what globalization does to the gearing of the U.S. economy, and we must continue driving monetary policy by qualitative assessment as we work to perfect our quantitative tool kit. At least that is my view.
Now that you have some insight into the frustrations central bankers have with how globalization impacts their deliberations, let me turn to how their actions impact globalization.
Remember my description of the job of the Fed, or any other central bank, as maintaining the cardiovascular system of the economy? A healthy cardiovascular system enables the brain and propels the muscles of production. The quantity of the money supply is critical to economic success, as is the quality. If the productive forces and employers of the world are threatened by, say, the virus of inflation due to ill-implemented monetary policy, they will be disabled from achieving maximum efficiency. The cost of capital is a critical variable in any business operation. The lower the cost in real terms—net of inflation—the better. Get to a Bloomberg terminal and look across the world. Interest rates have been trending downward to post–World War II lows as inflation has trended downward. Over the past few years there has been a noticeable convergence of rates all along the yield curve—from the shortest term you can borrow money to the longest. (Indeed, due to increasing confidence in the determination and ability of central banks to hold inflation at bay, the term “long” has now been stretched out to 50 years.) This is true not just for the major economies. As a proxy for what this means to business borrowers worldwide, consider some sovereign credits. Greece, backed by the euro, borrows funds of 10-year maturity at 3.7 percent. Poland can borrow 10-year money at 5.2 percent. And here is my poster child for what I consider the miracle of globalized money markets. Let me read to you from the Financial Times of Oct. 28: “ Vietnam yesterday raised $750 million with…a dollar denominated … 10 year bond. Investors put in orders totaling $4.5 billion, six times the amount on offer. During trading in New York… the bond…was priced to yield 7.125%.” When I was at Harvard, we were killing the Vietnamese. Now we are financing them, and at low rates. I seriously doubt that had central bankers here or elsewhere in the world not managed their affairs in a manner that discourages inflationary expectations, this would be anywhere near possible. You cannot have the frenetic progress Tom Friedman describes in his book without the well-functioning, reliable monetary regimes central banks have been sustaining. This is the great responsibility of the strange species known as central bankers. It is an especially intense responsibility for the Federal Reserve, as the central bank of the largest economy in the world, which prints the world’s most utilized currency. One cannot make monetary policy without being aware of the forces of globalization acting upon our economy. Nor can one be oblivious to the need for us to conduct our policy without an awareness of how what we do impacts markets, and therefore, economic potential, worldwide.
A few weekends ago, I went to College Station, Texas, to watch Texas A&M play Baylor. One of the A&M regents tried to explain a coach’s decision that I had questioned. I couldn’t understand the logic after several tries. So my friend said, “Look, Harvard boy, let me lay it on you in Aggie Latin: Bubbus, sed possum explicare. Non sed possum comprehendere. Bubba, I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you.” This evening, I have done my best to explain that there is a connection between globalization and monetary policy. I hope you take what I have said and come to understand what it means.
The night is long. So, for the sake of ideological balance, in closing let me evoke Keynes and his observation that in the long run, we are all dead—a proposition that still holds in a globalized world. Bibamus, moriendum est. Death is unavoidable; let's call it quits and have a drink.
Richard W. Fisher is president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect official positions of the Federal Reserve System.
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2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/9746 | Home > About FDIC > Financial Reports > 2012 Annual Report
International Outreach Resolutions and Receiverships Throughout 2012, the FDIC played a leading role among international standard-setting, regulatory, supervisory, and multi-lateral organizations by supporting the global development of effective deposit insurance and bank supervision systems, maintaining public confidence and financial stability, and promoting effective resolution regimes as integral components of the financial safety net. Among the key institutions the FDIC collaborated with were the Association of Supervisors of Banks of the Americas (ASBA), the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the European Forum of Deposit Insurers, the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the Financial Stability Institute (FSI), the International Association of Deposit Insurers (IADI), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the International Information Technology Supervisors Group, and the World Bank. Key to the international collaboration was the ongoing dialogue among then-Acting FDIC Chairman Martin J. Gruenberg, other senior FDIC leaders, and a number of senior financial regulators from the United Kingdom (U.K.) about the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, Basel III, and how changes in U.S., U.K., and European Union financial regulations affect global information sharing, crisis management, and recovery and resolution activities. In light of the large number of cross-border operations of large, complex financial institutions, the primary areas of discussion and collaboration were the FDIC’s Orderly Liquidation Authority under Title II of the Dodd-Frank Act, and the importance of cross-border coordination in the event a SIFI begins to experience financial distress. During 2012, the FDIC participated in both Governors and Heads of Supervision and BCBS meetings. The FDIC supported work streams, task forces, and policy development group meetings to address BCBS work on the implementation of Basel III. The FDIC also helped monitor new leverage ratio and liquidity standards, and determine surcharges on global systemically important banks. Additionally, the FDIC participated in BCBS initiatives related to standards implementation, operational risk, accounting, review of the trading book, and credit ratings and securitization. The major issues addressed by these work streams included the recalibration of risk weights for securitization exposures, the comprehensive review of capital charges for trading positions, and the review of BCBS members’ domestic rule-making processes surrounding Basel II, Basel II.5, and Basel III.
International Association of Deposit Insurers
Under the leadership of then-Acting FDIC Chairman Gruenberg, IADI celebrated its tenth anniversary in October 2012. Chairman Gruenberg served as the President of IADI and the Chair of its Executive Council from November 2007 to October 2012. Worth noting is the remarkable impact IADI has made during its relatively short history, contributing not only to the security of individual depositors but also to global financial stability. Since its founding in 2002, IADI has grown from 26 founding members to 84 participants, including 64 members, 8 associates and 12 partners, and is strongly represented on every continent. IADI is now recognized as the standard-setting body for deposit insurance by all the major public international financial institutions, including the FSB, the Group of 20 (G-20), the BCBS, the IMF, and the World Bank.
Under the FDIC’s leadership, IADI has made significant progress in advancing the 2009 IADI and BCBS Core Principles for Effective Deposit Insurance Systems (Core Principles). In February 2011, the FSB approved the Core Principles and the Core Principles Assessment Methodology for inclusion in its Compendium of Key Standards for Sound Financial Systems. The Core Principles are officially recognized by both the IMF and World Bank and are now accepted for use in their Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP). This represents an important milestone in the acceptance of the role of effective systems of deposit insurance in maintaining financial stability. The FDIC has also worked with senior officials at the World Bank and IMF, and formalized IADI collaboration and support of the deposit insurance review portion of the FSAP reviews. Core Principles working group meetings, regional workshops, and training sessions were held in Washington, DC; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Bogota, Colombia; and Nairobi, Kenya, during 2012. Financial Stability Board
In February 2012, the FSB issued its Thematic Review on Deposit Insurance Systems Peer Review Report. The recommendations included a request for IADI to update its guidance that pre-dated the financial crisis and to develop additional guidance to address areas where the Core Principles may need more precision to achieve effective compliance, or to better reflect leading practices. The FDIC, in partnership with the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation, has taken a leadership role in responding to these recommendations with a set of six focused papers. Prepared under the auspices of the IADI Research and Guidance Committee Guidance Group, two of these papers were presented during the October 2012 IADI Executive Council meeting in London, England; the remaining four papers will be presented to the Executive Council in 2013. IADI and the BCBS will use the papers to enhance the guidance supporting the Core Principles and the accompanying Core Principles Assessment Methodology.
In November 2011, the G-20 endorsed the FSB’s Key Attributes of Effective Resolution Regimes for Financial Institutions (Key Attributes). The Key Attributes set out the core elements that the FSB considers necessary for an effective resolution regime and includes the ability to manage the failure of large, complex, and internationally active financial institutions in a way that minimizes systemic disruption and avoids the exposure of taxpayers to the risk of loss. During 2012, a number of initiatives were launched by the FSB related to operationalizing the Key Attributes. In January 2012, a special working group under the auspices of the Resolutions Steering Group was formed to draft an assessment methodology for the Key Attributes. The FDIC is actively participating in this effort alongside IADI, a number of FSB member jurisdictions, and international organizations such as the World Bank and the European Commission, and has participated extensively in drafting team meetings in Basel, Switzerland. In the second half of 2012, the FDIC participated in the drafting of a consultative document, entitled “Recovery and Resolution Planning: Making the Key Attributes Requirements Operational.” The document was released for public comment. The FDIC also hosted meetings for the Legal Entity Identifier Working Group, and co-hosted a series of Crisis Management Group meetings for the five U.S.-based G-SIFIs at the Seidman Center in Arlington, Virginia, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. FDIC representatives also participated in Crisis Management Group meetings hosted by foreign regulatory authorities in a number of jurisdictions.
In mid-2012, then-acting Chairman Gruenberg was appointed to chair a Thematic Peer Review on Resolution Regimes under the auspices of the FSB’s Standing Committee on Standards Implementation (SCSI). This Peer Review was tasked with conducting a survey of the existing regulatory and legislative landscape; identifying gaps in implementation of the Key Attributes; and providing guidance to the Key Attributes assessment methodology drafting team. A questionnaire was developed and sent to FSB member jurisdictions over the summer, with jurisdictions providing responses to the Peer Review Team in the fall. The Peer Review Team, comprising 20 members from multiple G-20 jurisdictions and multinational bodies, will develop a report for the SCSI in early 2013 on its findings.
Association of Supervisors of Banks of the Americas
With the goal of contributing to sound banking supervision and resilient financial systems in the Americas, the FDIC has been a member of ASBA since its founding in 1999. In recognition of the FDIC’s leadership in ASBA, the General Assembly elected the FDIC’s Director of Risk Management Supervision, Sandra Thompson, to serve a two-year term as Vice Chairman. Director Thompson was named Acting Chairman of ASBA until November 2012, upon the resignation of ASBA’s Chairman. In these capacities, Director Thompson presided over meetings of the technical committee, the assembly, and the board. The FDIC led three ASBA technical assistance training missions in 2012, including a Financial Institution Analysis training program in Quito, Ecuador; a Credit Risk Management training program in Asuncion, Paraguay; and a Supervision of Operational Risk training program in Miami, Florida. The FDIC continued to provide subject-matter experts as instructors and speakers to support ASBA-sponsored training programs, seminars, and conferences. In addition, the FDIC participated in the ASBA working group on the Liquidity Coverage Ratio and Net Stable Funding Ratio Overview and established the FDIC-ASBA secondment program. Two ASBA members from the Central Bank of Barbados and the Superintendencia de Bancos de Guatemala were hosted by the FDIC under the inaugural program for eight weeks during the fall of 2012.
Supporting best practices through ASBA, the FDIC chaired the Basel III Liquidity Working Group and participated in several ASBA Working Groups concerning enterprise risk management, effective consumer protection frameworks, and corporate governance. The FDIC also led an internal review of ASBA’s Secretary General’s office in Mexico City Mexico, led the development of the 2013–2018 ASBA Strategic and Business Plans, developed the first handbook for the Board of Directors, and approved the external audit program. Foreign Visitors Program
The FDIC continued its global role in supporting the development of effective deposit insurance and banking supervision systems through the provision of training, consultations, and briefings to foreign bank supervisors, deposit insurance authorities, international financial institutions, partner U.S. agencies, and other governmental officials. In 2012, the FDIC hosted 80 visits with over 565 visitors from approximately 42 jurisdictions. Many of these visits were multi-day study tours, enabling delegations to receive in-depth consultations on a wide range of deposit insurance issues. Officials from the Polish Bank Working Group, the Deposit Insurance of Vietnam, the National Bank of Ethiopia, the Deposit Protection Agency of the Kyrgyz Republic, and the Central Bank of Kenya benefited from these extended visits.
During 2012, the FDIC provided subject-matter experts to participate in seven FSI seminars around the world. The topics included risk-focused supervision, financial stability and stress testing, liquidity risk, Basel III, risk management, and regulating and supervising systemic banks. Additionally, 199 students from 13 countries attended FDIC examiner training classes through the FDIC’s Corporate University. The FDIC continued its strong relationship with Chinese public institutions in 2012. The FDIC participated in the Fourth U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue on May 3, 2012, in Beijing, China, along with counterparts from all of the U.S. financial sector regulatory agencies, in a delegation led by the U.S. Treasury Secretary. The U.S. delegation met with counterparts from the Chinese regulatory agencies to discuss regulatory reforms and progress towards rebalancing their respective economies. The FDIC met separately with the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) concerning revisions to the current FDIC-PBoC Technical Assistance Memorandum of Understanding, and also about progress toward implementing a deposit insurance scheme in China. The FDIC held meetings with the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) to discuss further cooperation on SIFI-related matters. The U.S.-CBRC Bank Supervisors Bilateral Meeting, hosted by the FDIC, was held on October 15, 2012. This meeting involved the three U.S. banking agencies and the CBRC in discussions on a wide range of supervisory issues. In addition, the China delegation met with representatives from the FDIC’s Legal Division and Division of Resolutions and Receiverships to obtain guidance on drafting rules for bank resolution in China. The FDIC subsequently hosted a delegation from the CBRC, providing an overview of information technology (IT) examination, supervision and resolution processes, and the roles and responsibilities of the FDIC in the U.S. bank regulatory system. Financial Services Volunteer Corps
June 1, 2012, marked the five-year anniversary of the secondment program agreed upon by the Financial Services Volunteer Corps (FSVC) and the FDIC to place one or more FDIC employees full-time in the FSVC’s Washington, DC, office on an annual basis. The FDIC provided support to several FSVC projects including participation in the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Partners for Financial Stability project in the Balkan region. The purpose of this consultation was to develop strategies for resolving problem loans in response to the Eurozone crisis. FSVC support also included multiple FDIC-led training sessions with the Bank of Albania (the central bank). Follow-up consultations with the Albanian Deposit Insurance Agency, Bank of Albania, and the Ministry of Finance regarding bank liquidation processes, training sessions for examiners, an assessment of the legal framework, operational capabilities to manage a failure, and the implementation of an automated bank reporting and pay-out system were also completed. FDIC subject-matter experts also advised Albanian Financial Supervisory Authority leadership on the effective use of communications to foster relationships with foreign regulators and Albanian institutions, and public outreach and media relations strategies. FDIC secondees also provided a study tour in New York for members of the Egyptian Banking Institute; traveled to Cairo to support the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority’s Institute for Financial Services in its assessment and development of a strategic plan for financial inclusion; and conducted a one-week training program on IT risk supervision for the National Bank of Serbia in partnership with the World Bank. In Tunisia, FDIC secondees advised an association of banking and financial experts on techniques used by U.S. regulators for collecting data and best practices of financial institutions for improving the quality and timeliness of data. Finally, the FDIC continued to lead the research and development of a strategy for targeting technical assistance for low-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/9770 | Argentina and the IMF
Sign up to receive free e-mail notices when new series and/or country items are posted on the IMF website. Modify your profile Public Information Notice: IMF Executive Board Concludes 2006 Article IV Consultation with Argentina
August 9, 2006 On July 28, 2006, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with Argentina.1
Argentina's economy has continued to deliver very positive outturns in the period following the 2002 crisis. After three years of around 9 percent growth, real GDP has surpassed its 1998 peak by some 6 percent, led by strong investment and consumption. The economy has benefited from a favorable terms of trade, significant reduction in the debt burden following the 2005 debt restructuring, and a competitive currency. However, inflation has risen steadily ending 2005 at 12.3 percent.
The external accounts have undergone a remarkable transformation in a relatively short period of time, allowing for the early repurchase of the entire stock of Fund credit in January 2006. Favorable global commodity prices and the emergence of Asia as a key export destination have increased earnings from primary and agroindustrial exports. At the same time, net private capital flows turned positive in 2005 for the first time since 1999.
The post-crisis fiscal adjustment is historically unprecedented. In 2005 the overall cash surplus of the consolidated government was 2½ percent of GDP, underpinned by strong revenue performance. However, non-interest spending rose by 11 percent in real terms, leading to an erosion of the primary surplus (to 4½ percent of GDP in 2005, from 5 percent in 2004) despite the high rate of economic growth, providing further demand stimulus. Provincial primary spending has been rising even more rapidly (around 19 percent in real terms in 2005). While the provinces recorded a small overall surplus for the year, they moved into primary deficit in the second half of 2005.
The exchange rate has remained stable amid sustained intervention by the central bank. Interest rates have risen gradually as bank lending has recovered and liquidity conditions have normalized, but short-term interest rates remain negative in real terms. Aided by these negative real interest rates and a stable regulatory environment, the health of the banking system has improved, with gains in both asset quality and profitability.
There has been a demonstrable improvement in social conditions. By end-2005, the poverty rate had declined to 34 percent from the peak of 57 percent reached in 2002, and extreme poverty had more than halved to 12 percent. Other social indicators such as secondary school enrollment and completion rates, as well as formal health insurance coverage, and the infant mortality rate have also seen impressive improvements in the past few years. These results have been helped by direct public intervention through the Heads of Household Program which has provided cash transfers to the unemployed. Nevertheless, the labor market remains highly segmented with a widening gap between formal and informal sector wages.
Early indicators imply that current trends are set to continue this year. Economic indicators show little sign of a slowing of activity in the first quarter. Public sector capital spending continues to rise rapidly, growing at a real rate of over 70 percent in the 12 months to May. Substantial increases in subsidies and discretionary transfers to provinces continue. The strong balance of payments has allowed the central bank to accumulate around US$1 billion of international reserves per month so far this year, and reserves now stand at US$26 billion (having recouped most of January's early repurchase of amounts outstanding to the Fund).
Measured inflation fell to 11 percent at end-June, a result of the government's efforts to dampen price pressures through price agreements with industry and retail groups and a temporary ban on meat exports. Underlying inflation, however, remains high—core inflation is running at 12¼ percent—and end-2007 inflation expectations are around 12 percent. While real wages in the informal sector remain depressed, formal private sector real wages are rising rapidly, and labor markets are tightening.
The combined Ex Post Assessment for Longer Term Program Engagement and Ex Post Evaluation on Argentina's experience with exceptional access was reviewed by the Executive Board. The report found that macroeconomic performance under the two Stand-By Arrangements approved in 2003 was strong and that all procedural requirements of the Fund's policy on exceptional access were met. However, progress on structural reforms to address long-term vulnerabilities was limited, due largely to a lack of ownership and implementation capacity. The report finds that access under the 2003 Stand-By Arrangements was insufficiently linked to balance of payments need. In addition, the arrangements may have hampered the Fund's ability to clearly signal the circumstances under which it would be prepared to provide exceptional access to countries. The report also argues that the programs' lack of a medium-term fiscal and balance of payments framework complicated the application of the Fund's Lending Into Arrears policy.
They welcomed the strong performance of the Argentine economy and commended the authorities on policies that have contributed to declines in unemployment and poverty, a gradual recovery of the banking system, the strong performance of the external sector, and the recuperation of international reserves following the early repurchase of Fund resources. However, they cautioned that inflationary pressures have emerged.
Most Directors regarded current inflation as more a consequence of aggregate demand growth that was not being met by a sufficiently rapid supply response than as a temporary phenomenon arising from a delayed relative price adjustment after the 2002 crisis. Directors noted that achieving a soft landing for the economy requires a different macroeconomic policy mix as well as reforms to promote investment and supply, especially in areas where bottlenecks are of macroeconomic significance.
Most Directors found that there was an erosion of the fiscal position and noted that monetary policy, while being gradually tightened, remained accommodative. Directors underscored that all of the available policy instruments should be brought to bear to allow for a soft landing with sustainable growth and low inflation. In this respect, most Directors considered that the appropriate response to higher inflation was to reign in the rapid growth in primary expenditure to strengthen fiscal policy, bring the term structure of real interest rates into positive territory, and allow also for a greater upward flexibility in the exchange rate.
Directors cautioned that delaying the policy response could significantly increase the economic costs of reducing inflation and may risk leaving the economy vulnerable to shocks. They cautioned that overly relying on one instrument, while avoiding adjustment in others, could render the tightening of the policy mix unbalanced and ultimately infeasible.
Directors considered that the administrative measures adopted to dampen inflation provide only temporary benefits, although some Directors supported the short-term use of such measures to dampen inflationary expectations. Most Directors advised that such administrative measures should be dismantled as soon as possible, since repressing prices in regulated industries, selective price agreements, and export restraints would ultimately exacerbate capacity constraints in key sectors and undermine the business climate.
Directors noted that structural measures to increase competitiveness and encourage investment—notably in regulated industries—remained vital to ensure continued strong growth. They also encouraged the authorities to consider alternatives to financial transactions and export taxes, to review the functioning of the fiscal responsibility regime, and to allow relative prices in the utilities and energy sectors to adjust so as to unwind the implicit cross-subsidies that pervade the economy. Most Directors expressed concern over the impact that some of these policies were having on the business environment. Directors also encouraged the authorities to seek a consensual solution to the remaining government arrears to both official and private sector creditors, noting that this would be in Argentina's own interest.
Directors agreed that the central bank's approach towards maintaining a stable regulatory framework, while gradually phasing out regulatory forbearance, had delivered positive results, and recommended a continued adherence to this approach. Directors welcomed the authorities' intention to participate in the Financial Sector Assessment Program in 2007.
Directors welcomed the findings of, and the authorities' candid responses to, the ex post assessment of longer-term program engagement (EPA) and ex post evaluation of exceptional access (EPE) and broadly agreed with its conclusions. They noted that there was significant progress in stabilizing the economy and setting in train a rapid recovery, phasing out quasi-currencies, improving tax collection, and implementing a banking sector strategy. In looking at the broader lessons from the EPA/EPE, Directors stressed that full ownership of policies was key to the successful implementation and that the phasing of access should be consistent with balance of payments needs and the implementation of reasonable adjustment policies. Most Directors also noted that the articulation of a full medium-term macroeconomic framework would allow for a clearer application of the Fund's lending into arrears policy and looked forward to a comprehensive review of the policy.
Table 1. Argentina: Selected Economic and Financial Indicators, 2001-2005
(Annual percentage changes; unless otherwise indicated)
National income and prices
GDP at constant prices
Domestic demand (contribution to growth)
Net exports (contribution to growth)
Per capita GDP (U.S. dollars, thousands)
Consumer prices (end-of-period)
Social indicators
Population (millions)
Population below poverty line (in percent)
Population below extreme poverty line (in percent)
Trade balance (U.S. dollars, billions)
Exports, f.o.b. (U.S. dollars, billions)
Of which: net exports of hydrocarbons
Imports, c.i.f. (U.S. dollars, billions)
Export growth (in U.S. dollar terms)
Import growth (in U.S. dollar terms)
Import volume
Terms of trade (deterioration -)
Net domestic assets of the financial system
Credit to the private sector
Monetary base 1/
Broad money 1/
Interest rate (30-day deposit rate, in percent)
(In percent of GDP)
Consolidated public sector
Of which: Federal government
Expenditures 2/
Total debt (year-end)
Of which: External debt
Savings-investment balance
Gross domestic investment
Of which: Public sector
Gross national savings
Outstanding use of Fund resources
(In percent of quota at end-of-period)
Gross international reserves (U.S. dollars, billions)
In months of imports of goods and services
Nominal GDP (in billions of Arg $)
Sources: Ministry of Economy; Central Bank of the Republic of Argentina; and Fund staff estimates.
1/ Includes quasi-monies in circulation.
2/ Excludes interest due on nonperforming debt.
1 Under Article IV of the IMF's Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country's economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chairman of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country's authorities. | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/9815 | CLASS A DIRECTORS
James P. Gorman (2018)
Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerMorgan Stanley
Paul P. Mello (2017)
President and Chief Executive OfficerSolvay Bank
Gerald H. Lipkin (2016) Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Valley National Bank
Class A Director Facts
Elected by member banks;
Elected to represent stockholding banks;
May be an officer, director or employee of a member bank; and
May not play a role in appointment of presidents or regulatory decisions.
CLASS B DIRECTORS
Glenn H. Hutchins (2018)
Co-FounderSilver Lake
Terry J. Lundgren (2017)
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Macy's, Inc.
David M. Cote (2016) Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerHoneywell International Inc.
Class B Director Facts
Elected to represent the public;
Chosen with due but not exclusive consideration to the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor and consumers; and
Cannot be officers, directors or employees of any bank.
CLASS C DIRECTORS
Emily K. Rafferty Chair (2017)
President EmeritaThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sara Horowitz Deputy Chair (2018)
Founder and Executive DirectorFreelancers Union
Marc Tessier-Lavigne (2016)
PresidentThe Rockefeller University
Class C Director Facts
Appointed by the Federal Reserve Board;
Chosen to represent the public;
Chosen with due but not exclusive consideration to the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor and consumers;
Cannot be officers, directors, employees or stockholders of any bank, or bank, financial or thrift holding company, although a chair must be a person of tested banking experience; and
Must have been residents of the Second Reserve District for two years prior to appointment.
Audit and Risk Committee
Management and Budget Committee
Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee
Announcements of Directors
October 13, 2015: Election of Directors September 9, 2015: Nomination of Directors December 1, 2014: Election of Directors, October 30, 2014: Nomination of Directors
February 18, 2014: Election of Class B Director
January 17, 2014 : Nomination of Class B Director
Related New York Fed Content
Code of Conduct Bank Leadership
Related External Content
Federal Reserve Act Years in parentheses denote when a director's term expires. About the Board of Directors
Under Section 4 of the Federal Reserve Act, each Federal Reserve Bank, including the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, operates pursuant to the supervision of a Board of Directors, in addition to the general supervision of the Board of Governors in Washington, D.C. The Bank’s Board of Directors has nine members, all chosen from outside the Reserve Bank, who are divided into three equal classes—designated A, B and C.The Class A and Class B directors are elected by the member commercial banks of the Second District. The Class C directors are appointed by the Board of Governors. Each year, one Class C director at each Reserve Bank is designated by the Board of Governors as chair of the Bank’s Board of Directors, and a second Class C director is designated deputy chair. Class A directors are required to be representative of the member banks in the District and for the most part they have been officers or directors of member banks or their holding companies. Class B and Class C directors are required to represent the public “with due but not exclusive consideration to the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services, labor and consumers.” Neither Class B nor Class C directors may be officers, directors or employees of any private sector bank or bank holding company. In addition, Class C directors may not own shares in any bank or bank holding company. The purpose of these rules is to ensure that a diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds is represented on each Reserve Bank board. Typically, a Reserve Bank board will include representatives from local industry, the non-profit sector and the banking sector. The roles of Reserve Bank directors generally fall in three principal areas: overseeing the management of the Reserve Banks, participating in the formulation of national monetary and credit policies and acting as a “link” between the government and the private sector.In the exercise of its management oversight responsibilities, a Reserve Bank’s Board of Directors reviews and establishes with management the Bank’s annual goals and objectives, reviews and approves the budget, and conducts an independent appraisal of the performance of both the Bank (including its efficiency and productivity) and its president and first vice president. The Reserve Bank directors supervise, through a general auditor whom they appoint, and who reports directly to them, the maintenance of an effective system of internal auditing procedures.Directors have a special role with respect to monetary policy and credit policy. In this function, directors, with their diverse backgrounds, bring to the Federal Reserve System the greatest benefits of regional autonomy: a diversity of viewpoints on economic and credit conditions. This input helps the Federal Reserve anticipate changing trends in the economy. The Federal Reserve Act gives each Reserve Bank the power to establish discount rates, subject to review and determination by the Board of Governors.Another principal responsibility of each Reserve Bank board is to select a Bank president who, in its judgment, will be qualified to participate in the monetary policy deliberations and decisions of the Federal Open Market Committee. Effective July 21, 2010, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act allows only Class B and Class C directors to participate in the presidential appointment process. In addition to the Federal Reserve Act, the role of the New York Fed’s board is also addressed in the Bank’s bylaws and in the charters for the three board committees—the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, the Audit and Risk Committee and the Management and Budget Committee. These further define the Board’s role and responsibilities as well as the limitations on its role and responsibilities. The Bank’s bylaws make clear that particular bank supervisory and regulatory matters do not fall within the purview of the Bank’s Board of Directors. Further, Class A directors may not participate in personnel or budget decisions related to the Bank’s Financial Institution Supervision Group, nor may they comprise a majority of the membership of either the Audit and Risk Committee or the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Furthermore, all directors, like all Reserve Bank employees, are generally precluded from participating in any matter in which they have a financial interest. These constraints are designed to minimize the risk of an actual or perceived conflict of interest at the board level. | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/9861 | NII Holdings Names Juan R. Figuereo As Chief Financial Officer
RESTON, Va., Oct. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- NII Holdings, Inc. [NASDAQ: NIHD], a provider of differentiated mobile communications services under the Nextel brand in Latin America, today announced it has appointed Juan R. Figuereo as executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective October 17, 2012. Mr. Figuereo will replace Gokul Hemmady, who was recently named NII Holdings' chief operating officer. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110919/FL70458LOGO ) Mr. Figuereo will report to Steve Dussek, NII Holdings' chief executive officer, and will be responsible for leading the company's finance organization. "I am pleased to introduce Juan Figuereo as our new CFO," said Mr. Dussek. "With approximately 25 years of international experience in finance, strategy and senior leadership, he brings a wealth of knowledge to NII and will be a strong addition to our executive team. Given his successful track record serving as a financial executive, Juan further solidifies our strong management team and will play an integral role as we continue to transform our business. He also strengthens our efforts in executing our growth strategy and providing our customers with high quality, innovative and differentiated solutions as we launch services on our next generation networks." Mr. Figuereo was most recently executive vice president and chief financial officer at Newell Rubbermaid Inc., a global marketer of consumer and commercial products. During his tenure, he worked with the executive team to improve the company's profitability, expand its customer base globally and strengthen its balance sheet. Prior to joining Newell Rubbermaid, Mr. Figuereo served as chief financial officer of Cott Corporation, where he helped accomplish a successful turnaround of the business, which included gross margin expansion, operating costs reductions and a significant capital structure overhaul. Mr. Figuereo has also served as vice president of mergers and acquisitions for Wal-Mart International as well as in various international, finance and general management positions over 15 years at PepsiCo. He is a certified public accountant and holds a bachelor of business administration from Florida International University in Miami, Florida. "I am excited to be joining NII Holdings and to be working with its strong leadership team and dedicated employees," said Mr. Figuereo. "I look forward to working closely with the business's seasoned executives and employees across the company to continue achieving its financial, strategic and operational objectives." Prev
AT&T Picks off Nextel Mexico; Buy the Stock Ahead of 4Q Earnings
At about $33 a share for AT&T, there are plenty of reasons for investors to be patient, especially when the possible headwinds are already priced into the stock.
NII Holdings (NIHD) Highlighted As Weak On High Volume
Trade-Ideas LLC identified NII Holdings (NIHD) as a weak on high relative volume candidate
NII Holdings Sells Chilean Subsidiary
NII Holdings, which provides wireless services in Latin America under the Nextel brand, is in the midst of an ongoing restructuring effort.
Lisa Allen
NII Prepares For Likely Chapter 11 Filing
NII Holdings , which provides wireless services in Latin America under the Nextel brand, warned that it's likely to file for Chapter 11 protection in the "very near future." | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/9983 | Consumer Reports Reveals 7 Money Stumbles To Avoid And How To Change Course
Blunders include Not Updating Wills and Beneficiaries, Messing up 401(k)sYONKERS, N.Y. , Dec. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A widowed mother of two nearly lost out on $100,000 because her husband failed to update the beneficiary designations on his retirement plan after they married. Not updating wills and beneficiaries is one of the "7 money stumbles to avoid" featured in the February issue of Consumer Reports. "Nobody's perfect. Everyone makes money mistakes, and some might be unavoidable in times of financial distress," said Tobie Stanger, Consumer Reports senior editor. "But missteps or miscalculations can cost you a lot over the long term or inadvertently hurt your family when you're gone."Consumer Reports conducted a nationally representative survey about Americans' money habits and uncovered several common and insidious blunders that could cause significant financial, and sometimes emotional, pain. The mistakes include:
Not updating wills and beneficiaries. Eighty-six percent of Americans hadn't updated their wills or other estate-planning documents within the previous five years. But even if nothing has changed in your life, every year you should check your beneficiary designations in your will, insurance policies, investment accounts, and retirement plans to ensure your investment company, life insurer and employer still have the proper information. Not sharing information with family. In only 30 percent of households did both spouses know major details about the family's finances and where to find account information. Any easy solution is to designate a safe, file cabinet, or safe-deposit box to hold all important documents and account-access information. Messing up on 401(k)s. About two-fifths of respondents set aside 6 percent or less of pretax income in defined-contribution retirement accounts, most likely missing out on free employer matches. Ninety-one percent never reviewed fund expenses within their plans, though those expenses play a major role in investors' returns. Fortunately, it's easer than in the past to compare funds' expenses. As of last year, 401(k) plans are required to send statements to investors outlining marketing and fund management fees. The full article can be found in the February issue of Consumer Reports and online at ConsumerReports.org. Another Consumer Reports survey included several dozen subscribers who reported a net worth upwards of $1 million. When CR interviewed a handful of them, one common theme was discovered: frugal living. The article features profiles of three of these individuals and the financial strategies they employed. Methodology The Consumer Reports National Research Center designed a survey administered to a nationally representative sample of the adult U.S. population in late September of 2012. The sample for this survey was comprised of 1,004 randomly selected U.S. residents. GfK's nationally-representative online panel was sampled for this survey. Panel members are randomly recruited through probability-based sampling, and households are provided with access to the Internet and hardware if needed. For the full sample, sampling error was 4.0% at the 95% confidence level. The data were statistically weighted so that respondents in the survey are demographically and geographically representative of the U.S. population of adults.Consumer Reports is the world's largest independent product-testing organization. Using its more than 50 labs, auto test center, and survey research center, the nonprofit rates thousands of products and services annually. Founded in 1936, Consumer Reports has over 8 million subscribers to its magazine, website and other publications. Its advocacy division, Consumers Union, works for health reform, product safety, financial reform, and other consumer issues in Washington, D.C., the states, and in the marketplace.© 2012 Consumer Reports. The material above is intended for legitimate news entities only; it may not be used for advertising or promotional purposes. Consumer Reports® is an expert, independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers to protect themselves. We accept no advertising and pay for all the products we test. We are not beholden to any commercial interest. Our income is derived from the sale of Consumer Reports®, ConsumerReports.org® and our other publications and information products, services, fees, and noncommercial contributions and grants. Our Ratings and reports are intended solely for the use of our readers. Neither the Ratings nor the reports may be used in advertising or for any other commercial purpose without our permission. Consumer Reports will take all steps open to it to prevent commercial use of its materials, its name, or the name of Consumer Reports®.SOURCE Consumer Reports
Published Dec. 27, 2012— Reads 348 Copyright © 2012 SYS-CON Media, Inc. — All Rights Reserved. | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/10043 | http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/11/27/an-indian-banks-success-story/
An Indian Bank’s Success Story
Nupur Acharya
BiographyNupur Acharya
@nupuracharya
nupuracharya
Nov 27, 2012 10:00 am IST
Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint
Pictured, Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
It’s rare to come across books on Indian businesses that make a compelling read. Most are packed with jargon, making it difficult for normal readers to follow.
“A Bank for the Buck,” a story of India’s HDFC Bank by Tamal Bandyopadhyay, avoids all this. It wasn’t easy: As Mr. Bandyopadhyay puts it, HDFC is a “boring and monotonous bank.” But he focuses on HDFC as a way of telling India’s growth story, bringing the narrative alive through characters, dramatic twists and trivia, like a ban on biscuits during meetings.
Mr. Bandyopadhyay is the deputy managing editor of the Indian daily Mint, with which The Wall Street Journal has a content-sharing partnership.
One banker described Mr. Bandyopadhyay first book as “unputdownable,” while a former central bank governor, Y.V. Reddy, introduced it as “an engrossing and sweeping tale of 21st century India.”
HDFC Bank, a unit of Housing Development Finance Corp., was among the first private banks to come into existence when the Reserve Bank of India issued new licenses in 1994. It’s today India’s most valued bank. The book comes at a time when the central bank is looking to issue fresh bank licenses with the aim of reaching India’s millions of unbanked citizens.
Mr. Bandyopadhyay spoke to The Wall Street Journal about his new book, the spirit of modern India and whether he ever thought of quitting journalism for banking. Edited excerpts.
The Wall Street Journal: Why a book on HDFC Bank?
Mr. Bandyopadhyay: On one level, it is a book on a particular bank – the HDFC Bank. It is the most valued Indian bank and among the top four-five most valued banks across the world in terms of price to book. But it is beyond that. The book encompasses the past 18 years since the first set of new banks began operations in India around 1994. Some of those banks have failed, some have not done too well and are surviving. A few of them have done well and HDFC Bank is the best among them.
Through this bank, I wanted to catch the spirit of modern India: the spirit of entrepreneurship, of professionalism and the spirit of corporate governance. Our heroes are actors, politicians or cricketers. But middle class professionals too are heroes in their own way and I wanted to discover that heroism.
WSJ: The world is still recovering from the economic crisis, which hurt the banking sector the most. What’s your assessment of the Indian banking sector in general, and HDFC in particular, at the moment?
Mr. Bandyopadhyay: In banking, very often, what you don’t do is more important than what you do. Why are the banks in the U.S. and Europe in trouble? They did things which they should not have done. HDFC Bank doesn’t do a lot of things: It is a very steady, boring and monotonous bank. From a writer’s perspective, it is a challenge to write the story of this bank. But it is hugely successful. There are two issues which differentiates HDFC. Firstly, there is a fine distinction between real risk and perceived risk. Broker financing is a very risky affair, apparently, but HDFC says: No it’s not. And they made huge money in broker financing. If there is a real risk, they stay away from it but wherever there is a perceived risk, they shattered the myth. Secondly, more than ideas or the passion to be a pioneer, execution is more important. HDFC Bank does very ordinary things but the execution is extraordinary.
Tamal Bandyopadhyay
The cover of the book “A Bank for the Buck.”
WSJ: Bankers are very reserved people. Was it easy to speak to them for your book’s research?
Mr. Bandyopadhyay: Yes and no. Because of whatever credibility I have, many doors opened. I met more than 100 people and conducted more than 100 hours of interviews both In India and overseas, like in London, the U.S., Hong Kong and Singapore. Not just commercial bankers: I also spoke to investment bankers, regulators, central bankers, economists, corporate borrowers, competition and investors in the bank. A few of them spoke off the record. I was glad many spoke on the record. I wanted to be as honest as possible.
WSJ: There are few books documenting the success or failure of Indian businesses. Fewer still have done well, in terms of sales. How do you think this book will fare?
Mr. Bandyopadhyay: This particular book is very different. It is not a mere chronicle. I wanted to tell a story where all the characters are real living characters. It is seeing the new India through the prism of business. In that sense, I wouldn’t group this book with other biographies.
I’m a student of English literature and this book also reads like a racy fiction novel. K.V. Kamath [Chairman of ICICI Bank] has said it is “unputdownable.” I stayed away from handling too much economic data and theory otherwise only bankers will read it. My entire objective was to focus on the narrative, tell a story and be a good storyteller.
WSJ: As journalists we are used to writing 800-1000 words-long reports? How difficult was it to write a book?
Mr. Bandyopadhyay: It was a challenge. It is a different discipline, it’s like asking a T-20 player to play a cricket test match. One has to change the style. I continued to research the book while working for six to eight months. I mentally divided the books into many parts. Then I took a two-month leave from work, left Mumbai and confined myself to a room. I got five weeks to myself and I worked 16 hours a day and finished it. I never saw it in the form of a book but treated it in the form of chapters and within chapters, sub-chapters.
WSJ: How did HDFC Group Chairman Deepak Parekh and the bank’s managing director, Aditya Puri, respond to the book?
Mr. Bandyopadhyay: The idea of the book [on HDFC Group] came from the publishers. I thought we should write a book focusing on the bank, as a new set of banks would soon come up and, in that context, it would become relevant.
Deepak Parekh strongly resisted the idea. He said the bank is too young, why do you want to write about it? Aditya had reservations as HDFC is a U.S.-listed bank and he wasn’t sure how the subject would be treated. Aditya was very emphatic from the beginning that he had nothing to do with it. After much persuasion, I convinced both of them to cooperate. Both had two sittings each with me but I made it very clear from the beginning that when it came to data, I would cross check it and that this was my book and that they had no authority to change it. Neither of them interfered in any way and they saw the book only after it was printed. Both of them are thrilled.
WSJ: The Reserve Bank of India is likely to issue new bank licenses for private players. What are your views on the matter?
Mr. Bandyopadhyay: The Reserve Bank of India is vary of corporate houses coming into banking because it feels they can outsmart the regulator. Then there is also the issue of corporate lending to its own group. At the same time, if you want to have serious financial inclusion you need more banks. You need serious players with deep pockets. Corporates should be welcomed and why just a few licenses, RBI can have banking licence on the tap. Let a few of them fail if they are not doing well. As long as you can ring fence the rouge banks and you can protect the interest of the depositors, you shouldn’t be overly worried.
WSJ: You have covered the banking sector for more than 15 years. Did you ever think of being a banker?
Mr. Bandyopadhyay: No, I don’t think so. It’s like being a cricket commentator. You can talk about whether Sachin Tendulkar has lost its reflexes, but it is very difficult to go and play yourself. I’m interested in overall finance, economy, business. When I began reporting on banks, not many people were doing it. They were scared of the subject. But, when I started speaking to people, I found it damn easy. The subject is very nuanced and once you start joining the dots, you see the pattern. The advantage of being a bank reporter is that you are at a vantage position from where you can see the economy, the corporate health through the lens of banking. Tomorrow, I wouldn’t mind leaving reporting and doing something else, like creative writing. But so far, I’m enjoying what I do.
Follow India Real Time on Twitter @indiarealtime.
The Mustache Fights Back Next
Pakistan's Media-Muzzling Judiciary | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/10244 | A royal(ty) scam: How oil and gas companies shortchange landowners
By Claire Thompson
Steven Jenkins
Discovering you live over an oil or gas deposit, in theory, presents you with a nice retirement plan. Lease the drilling rights to an energy company and you could be looking at thousands of dollars a month in royalties for as long as the fuel lasts. In fact, one of the arguments for expanded domestic drilling holds that those royalties will boost rural economies by putting extra cash in the pockets of local landowners, and funnel extra revenue to the federal government, as around 30 percent of drilling in the U.S. takes place on federal land.
It sounds like a sweet deal, so of course there must be a catch. Those royalties, it turns out, rarely end up being as high as expected, thanks to oil companies’ manipulation of the opaque formulas dictating how much drilling income the landowner ultimately sees. That’s according to an investigation by ProPublica:
In many cases, lawyers and auditors who specialize in production accounting tell ProPublica energy companies are using complex accounting and business arrangements to skim profits off the sale of resources and increase the expenses charged to landowners.
Deducting expenses is itself controversial and debated as unfair among landowners, but it is allowable under many leases, some of which were signed without landowners fully understanding their implications.
But some companies deduct expenses for transporting and processing natural gas, even when leases contain clauses explicitly prohibiting such deductions. In other cases, according to court files and documents obtained by ProPublica, they withhold money without explanation for other, unauthorized expenses, and without telling landowners that the money is being withheld.
Retired Pennsylvania dairy farmer Don Feusner, for example, saw his monthly gas-drilling royalty checks dwindle to a fraction of their original value — from $8,506 in December to $1,609 in April — even though wells on his property continued producing the same amount of natural gas. Chesapeake Energy was withholding almost 90 percent of his share of the drilling income for mysterious “gathering” expenses.
The government has been stiffed by energy companies, too, but the feds have their own auditing agency and army of lawyers; federal and state governments have successfully sued the likes of Chesapeake, Exxon, and Shell for billions of dollars of damages and back royalties. It’s much harder for individual citizens to fight back. They have to shell out their own cash to pay for legal services, and they’re often dealing with decades-old drilling leases inherited from relatives, making it even harder to parse the terms of the contract.
If a landowner does raise questions about how her royalties are calculated, tracing the source of the trouble is no simple task. After it’s extracted from the land, oil flows across the country through a network of pipelines in which different sections are owned by different companies, and the drilling rights themselves are split into shares and frequently traded. ProPublica writes:
The chain of custody and division of shares is so complex that even the country’s best forensic accountants struggle to make sense of energy companies’ books. …
“If you have a system that is not transparent from wellhead to burner tip and you hide behind confidentiality, then you have something to hide,” Jerry Simmons, executive director of the National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO), the premier organization representing private landowners in the U.S., told ProPublica in a 2009 interview. Simmons said recently that his views had not changed, but declined to be interviewed again. “The idea that regulatory agencies don’t know the volume of gas being produced in this country is absurd.”
In Pennsylvania, ProPublica found, landowners face an especially arduous road to justice. Little precedent exists for how such cases should be handled; many leases forbid landowners from auditing gas companies, and even if they don’t, the auditing process can cost tens of thousands of dollars. If it unearths discrepancies, then landowners can be required to submit to arbitration, also a costly process that can make it harder for them to join class-action lawsuits. And all of this has to be accomplished within the state’s four-year statute of limitations. As one Pennsylvania attorney representing landowners put it: “They basically are daring you to sue them.”
Chesapeake Energy racked up $12.3 billion in revenues in 2012. So why does it go to such lengths to lowball landowners, to whom a few thousand extra bucks a month make a much bigger difference than they do to Chesapeake? Does the company get off on being withholding? Well, probably — but its primary motivation, according to Owen Anderson, an expert in royalty disputes at the University of Oklahoma College of Law, is the same as every corporation’s:
“The duty of the corporation is to make money for shareholders,” Anderson said. “Every penny that a corporation can save on royalties is a penny of profit for shareholders, so why shouldn’t they try to save every penny that they can on payments to royalty owners?”
The duty of a corporation is to make money for shareholders. Period. How many of our current economic woes can be traced to that statement? | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/10382 | Best Buy to slim down stores, expand offeringsPosted: April 17, 2011 - 12:11am PhotosDAMIAN DOVARGANESCustomer Michael O’Neil, left, is assisted by Best Buy sales associate, Ara Gregorian, as he shops for a laptop computer at a Best Buy store in Glendale, Calif. Best Buy has announced plans to slim down its stores so it can expand its offerings to consumers. By DAVID PHELPS MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS MINNEAPOLIS — In an about-face from its big-box strategy of the past decade, Best Buy said Thursday it would cut 10 percent of its traditional store square footage in the United States and focus on growing its specialized, smaller Best Buy Mobile concept.
A contrite Brian Dunn, CEO for nearly two years, apologized for the chain’s weak performance last year and outlined a growth strategy that also includes increasing online sales, enhanced service options and more product choices.
“We’re not particularly pleased with the job we did last year,” Dunn told Wall Street analysts during investor day at the company’s Richfield, Minn., campus. “We missed a few things. We missed the impact of the iPad. We bet on 3D TV, the whole industry did, and it didn’t come in play. Those are mistakes for which I am responsible.”
But overall, Dunn was optimistic about righting the consumer electronic giant in the coming year.
“The industry is changing and Best Buy is changing,” Dunn said. “Best Buy remains relevant in today’s ecosystem. We are adaptive learners.”
The past two years have been hard on the consumer electronics industry in general, and Best Buy in particular, as fierce online competition and discounters such as Costco and Wal-Mart have eaten away some of its market share. Sales declined 1.8 percent for its most recent fiscal year and profits were down 3 percent.
Best Buy’s stock, which closed Thursday at $29.46, down nearly 3 percent, has languished in recent months. In November it was near $45 a share.
The retailer said it intends to shrink its traditional “big-box” square footage in the United States by 10 percent. The move should save the retailer $70 million to $80 million annually.
Executives said “a small number of stores” in underperforming markets would be closed.
Those that remain open will gradually be transformed into a more consumer-friendly showroom where shoppers would have ample opportunity to check out competing brands of tablets and computers. The retailer plans to sublease extra square footage when possible.
Many retailers, including Target and Wal-Mart, are focusing on smaller stores for future growth, particularly in urban areas. But walling off sections of existing stores goes a step further than many chains.
“There isn’t that continuing demand for the amount of space they (Best Buy) have,” said Dave Brennan, co-director of the Institute for Retailing Excellence at the University of St. Thomas. “If they can shrink their stores by 10 percent, you have to wonder if that is far enough.”
Part of the reason for less foot traffic is traffic on the Internet, where Best Buy competitors such as Amazon.com have a strong presence.
In response to that element of the marketplace, Best Buy said it plans to double its online sales in the United States from $2 billion in revenue to $4 billion in the next three to five years, in part by offering a greater assortment of products than it does in its stores.
But Dunn said physical retailing “still matters.”
On that note, the Richfield-based electronics giant said it intends to open 600 to 800 stand-alone Best Buy Mobile stores within five years. It now has 175 mobile stores.
Mobile stores carry mobile phones and service plans. Shari Ballard, co-president of Best Buy’s Americas division, said the company has been “very pleased” with consumer acceptance of the mobile brand.
Best Buy also said it expects to increase its Five Star store presence in China by 400 to 500 stores in five years, doubling its China revenue to $4 billion. Earlier this year the company retreated from the world’s most populous country by closing its trademark Best Buy stores there, which contributed to a $222 million restructuring charge in the most recent quarter.
Dunn said the decision to close those stores “was fiscally responsible.”
Best Buy also announced that it is broadening the scope of items in its “Buy Back” program that allows consumers, after paying an up-front fee, to return the item for a partial trade-in value on the next generation of that item. The newest items covered by the program include gaming, digital imaging, e-readers and other devices.
“They’re shoring things up,” said Edward Jones analyst Matt Arnold, who has a buy rating on the stock. “They’re going to be well positioned to be a player for a long time.”
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As family mourns three tragic losses, Mexico asks ... Spotted | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/10703 | March 1, 2011 > NYSE merger seen as necessity in a changing world
NYSE merger seen as necessity in a changing world
Submitted By The Associated PressThe parent company of the New York Stock Exchange says it has agreed to be acquired by the operator of the Frankfurt stock exchange, Deutsche Boerse.The deal announced Tuesday will create the world's largest financial markets company. Deutsche Boerse shareholders will own 60 percent of the new company, which is yet unnamed. Shareholders of NYSE Euronext Inc. will own the rest. The transaction is expected to close at the end of the year, but faces several layers of approval.Investment professionals reacted to the foreign buyout of a U.S. icon while facing the reality that the merger is strictly business in a global economy.____``It reminds me of the `80s when we were worried about Japan coming and buying everything we hold dear _ Pebble Beach golf course, the Washington Monument, the Statue of Liberty, everything. But I think it's short-lived and then it's back to business.''Scott MarcouillerChief technical market strategist, Wells Fargo AdvisorsSt. Louis, Mo._____``The deal reaffirms what Wall Street already knows: Open-outcry trading is dead. The exchanges are now electronic and size and scale matter.''Jack AblinChief investment officer, Harris Private BankChicago_____``Technology has been so strong that it's creating a one-world market. This is just one more step in that direction. Whether we like it or not, the world's moving forward on that technological platform and we don't have a choice if we want to be a leader. If we don't get on board this train we're going to be left behind.''Kimberly FossPresident, Empyrion Wealth ManagementRoseville, Calif._____``Clients aren't even asking about it. It's a natural event. In the end, if people can get a great execution (of their trades), they won't care if they're executing on the New York Stock Exchange or somewhere else.''Nathan WhiteChief investment officer, Paragon Wealth ManagementProvo, Utah_____``The NYSE is going to basically be blurred with dozens of on-market and off-market traders around the world and that the standards of listing that were once the envy of the world will be eroded and the accounting principles used to establish the listings will be diluted. The outcome is that investors will be more on their own rather than having a stock exchange play the role of maintaining high quality.''Steve RoblingManaging director, LIATI Group LLC, a boutique merchant banking firmNew York City_____``One concern I would have is how it would impact which stocks can trade on those exchanges and what oversight there is going to be to make sure their i's are dotted and their t's are crossed. Who's in charge of it? Is it going to be a joint task between countries? That's the only aspect that worries me.''Ethan AndersonSenior portfolio manager, Rehmann, an accounting, consulting, and financial advisory firmAnn Arbor, Mich._____``We may lose the cachet of having the once-powerful New York Stock Exchange, which was a powerful brand for many years. It won't be the same brand it was before but at least it will still be in existence and it will keep New York City and the United States as players in the financial services industry.''Ron RichardFounder and managing partner, Agon Capital, commodities trading firmNew York City_____``It won't make a lot of difference for the average investor. What it does is continue to make sure that markets have a lot of buyers and sellers coming together. That's usually good news for individual investors.''Kate WarneInvestment strategist, Edward JonesSt. Louis___``This merger isn't a quick turnaround. It's going to face regulatory scrutiny and potentially political scrutiny and maybe some political backlash because we're `losing one of our icons.' But I suspect that's going to be blustering and rhetoric and nothing's going to come of it.''Hank SmithPortfolio manager and chief investment officer, The Haverford Trust Co.Philadelphia___``I don't think that the management of the New York Stock Exchange would have entertained this overture unless they thought it was vital to, not just their profitability, but their survival. This is just another step on the way to global markets. It's tough on the ego, maybe, but a little humility once in a while doesn't hurt.''Robert StovallManaging director, Wood Asset ManagementSarasota, Fla. Home Protective Services | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/10892 | 7 Great Stocks That Are Perfect for Your IRA
Sean Williams, The Motley Fool
In the theme of Christmas and the spirit of giving, I plan to use the next week leading up to Christmas to continue counting down the 12 Days of Christmas in all its Foolish glory. In my rendition of this Christmas tale, you won't be hearing about turtledoves or French hens, but you'll probably hear about great ways to save money in 2013 or about CEOs who laid rotten eggs in 2012.
In the previous "Foolish Days of Christmas" we've looked at:
12 Companies Doubling Their Dividends in 2012 and 1 to Watch in 2013
11 Easy and Great Ways to Save Money in 2013
10 Drugs Approved by the FDA in 2012 to Be Thankful For
9 ETFs to Help Diversify Your Portfolio in 2013
8 Possible Reasons to Sell a Stock
As always, I ask you to sing along with me: "On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me..."
Seven great stocks that are perfect for your IRA!
It's never too early or too late to consider investing for your retirement by opening either a traditional IRA, which is tax-deductible, or a Roth IRA, which allows your investments to grow completely tax-free. Regardless of which type of IRA best fits your needs, these seven companies are bound to be great choices to consider adding to your retirement account.
1. Coca-Cola I thought it only befitting that I begin this list with my top IRA pick from last year, Coca-Cola. Operating in all but two countries worldwide, Coke's portfolio of beverages includes 15 of 33 nonalcoholic beverages that bring in $1 billion or more annually. According to Interbrand, Coke also boasts the No. 1 brand value in the world, which speaks to the company's ability to command premium prices for its products, and its ability to throw its advertising weight around. With 50 consecutive years of annual dividend increases under its belt and a 2.7% yield, Coca-Cola offers the perfect blend of portfolio diversity and income growth for retirement accounts. 2. Intel You may be thinking that being susceptible to cyclical moves would negate Intel's effectiveness in an IRA, but it actually has all the tools to be an effective investment in the present and the future. As the clear leader in microprocessors, Intel offers investors a dominant position in the PC market. Intel is also beginning to establish its presence in the popular and rapidly growing mobile device market. But supplying the hardware for the cloud-computing revolution is where Intel is going to make the majority of its profits over the next decade. Paying out a yield of 4.4% on a dividend that's grown by an average of 34% over the past eight years, Intel appears to be a company you can trust to deliver for you over the long run. 3. Duke Energy Duke Energy shareholders may have endured some hiccups in its purchase of Progress Energy, but with a combined 7.1 million customers, Duke is truly America's largest energy powerhouse. With its size comes strong (but not unlimited) pricing power, but also a rapidly growing portfolio of renewable energy products. With big investments in wind and solar energy generation, as well as a push toward natural-gas-powered facilities, Duke is finding new ways to reduce its carbon footprint and boost its margins, all at the same time. With the exception of its Spectra Energy spinoff in 2007, Duke's quarterly dividend has remained constant or headed higher since 1983. With a yield of 4.8%, Duke has the all the power your IRA will ever need.
4. Waste Management One of the most logical choices you can add to an IRA is companies that deal with life's necessities. Waste Management is a perfect example of this, as trash maintenance services are a natural part of life. In addition to profiting from waste collection and landfill services, Waste Management is also the nation's largest recycler and is utilizing methane gas produced from its landfills to power 440,000 homes. Being able to benefit from multiple sources of revenue places Waste Management in a favorable position over the long term. With a yield of 4.2% and a dividend that's grown from just $0.01 in 2003 to $1.42 annually in 2012, Waste Management could put food on your table as it's also taking away the scraps!
5. Johnson & Johnson J&J might be the turtle of this bunch when it comes to growth, but that also means it probably offers the most earnings and share price stability. J&J's stability is derived from its three diverse business segments: consumer products, medical devices/diagnostics, and pharmaceuticals. With J&J you get a portfolio of products that are often immune to economic downturns and allow for predictable cash flow, yet are still on the cutting edge of drug and medical device development. With immeasurable numbers of partnerships and worldwide influence, J&J's 50 consecutive years of annual dividend increases and 3.4% yield are simply unparalleled in the health care sector. 6. Wells Fargo Although "bank" might be a dirty word on Wall Street, Wells Fargo is simply the best-positioned money-center bank to succeed over the long term. Unlike many of its banking peers, it boasts a healthy capital cushion, has successfully and prudently managed its loan portfolio to reduce its exposure to poor-quality loans, and has announced an effort to return even more capital to shareholders. Not to mention that Wells Fargo is a personal favorite holding of stock-picker extraordinaire Warren Buffett. With a yield of 2.6% and the ability to boost its payout much higher, Wells Fargo has the right tools needed to deliver for your retirement account.
7. Annaly Capital Management Rounding out this list is a slightly riskier play in the mortgage-REIT sector. Annaly's double-digit yield is likely to fall as more mortgage-REIT competitors have bid up what few mortgage-backed securities are left on the marketplace. However, a very accommodative policy from the Federal Reserve that will target lending rates effectively near 0% until unemployment dips below 6.5% will give Annaly plenty of visibility and allow it to prudently maintain its portfolio leverage to maximize returns. Historically, Annaly's yield hasn't dipped below 4% in the past decade, so it makes for a very attractive investment for income seekers.
Annaly Capital Management has a history of paying huge dividends to shareholders. But there are some crucial issues investors have to understand about Annaly's business model before buying the stock. In this new premium research report on the company, our analyst runs through these absolute must-know topics, as well as the future opportunities and pitfalls of its strategy. Click here now to claim your copy.
The article 7 Great Stocks That Are Perfect for Your IRA originally appeared on Fool.com.
The Motley Fool owns shares of Intel, Spectra Energy, Waste Management, Johnson & Johnson, Wells Fargo, and Annaly Capital Management. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Coca-Cola, Intel, Spectra Energy, Waste Management, Johnson & Johnson, and Wells Fargo, as well as writing puts on Intel, creating a covered strangle position in Waste Management, and buying calls on Johnson & Johnson. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/10947 | PodcastEvents
Business News NEWSROOM
HSB > Business News > News
Huge Increase of Compulsive Buying in Generation Y
Jim Roberts, associate professor and W.A. Mays Professor of Entrepreneurship at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, has been researching the "affliction" known as compulsive buying for almost a decade. Lately, he has seen an alarming trend. "Only one to three percent of baby boomers and about five percent of Generation Xers can be classified clinically as compulsive buyers," the researcher says. "That compares to an alarming ten percent of Generation Yers. This is a significant increase."
Roberts speculates that the trend correlates to a shift in attitudes toward debt and credit cards. About 80 percent of college age men and women have credit cards, he says, and half of them got credit cards while still in high school.
"The credit card is the 'tool of power'," says Roberts, and is the strongest predictor of compulsive buying.
News By Program | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11014 | Bob Lamborn ranked in REAL TRENDS "Top 250 Sales Professionals by Transaction Volume" and in Sotheby's International Realty's "Top 35 Agents by Dollar Volume" for 2010.
click here for pdfs
Bob Lamborn Named in the Top 250 Sales Professionals nationally by transaction volume in 2010by The Wall Street Journal and Real Trends.
About Bob Lamborn
Bob Lamborn
In 1979, on his first day as a realtor, Bob Lamborn listed a house for $750,000. His course was charted, and it has allowed him to remain one of the premier agents in Santa Barbara and Montecito, with his total sales reaching hundreds of millions of dollars. Over the years, Bob has been the agent of choice in the purchase and sale of Montecito's most valuable properties - many of them several times.
Growing-up in Santa Barbara, Bob attended local schools, earned his B.A. degree in Sociology from the University of California at Santa Barbara, studied architecture and law - each for a year - and secured a Masters degree in Accounting from California State University at Sacramento.
Along the road from his Bachelor's degree to his most successful decade as a Realtor, Bob spent several years as a real estate loan executive in the banking industry. Loaning literally billions of dollars during his tenure as a senior loan officer, he developed valuable expertise funding everything from home loans, to joint ventures, to businesses and shopping centers.
While Bob is known for his impressive and highly-regarded intelligence, as well as his broad background in banking and law, his real estate colleagues and clients alike often refer to the importance of what they refer to as his "old soul" wisdom and understanding as keys to his success. "Although a house is just a house," he says, "I appreciate that it's most likely the center of my client's universe and something that can and should improve the quality of all facets of their life."
He combines that sensitivity with his fascination and aptitude for packaging transactions and making them work. "I love to put deals together," he says with a smile, "If faced with the 24 hours to live dilemma, I'd say 'I've got to go back to the office because I've got some huge deals that people are really relying on me to take care of.' It's helping people in a very concrete way."
Bob is a shining example of the immensely important fact that a real estate professional can be extremely successful while remaining fastidiously ethical. "I think a definition of success should be all-encompassing," he states, "Not just that he or she has been the number one salesman for ten years in a row. The important question is, 'How did he or she get there?'"
Bob's domestic team also takes priority in his life, however. He and his wife Carla, of fifty years, met and married as 19-year-old sophomores at UC Santa Barbara. Their Daughter Ciera has followed in her father’s footsteps and is a successful Real Estate Agent in San Luis Obispo. Additionally, along with her husband Mark and their daughter Elizabeth, they own Ledge Vineyards, producing award winning wines in their first vintages. Ciera, a promising opera singer is also active in the San Luis Obispo opera.
An avid surfer since 1957, Bob still rides the waves regularly. He also loves to ski and is an ambassador for Santa Barbara's world-famous outdoor lifestyle.
©2016 Bob Lamborn. Bob can be reached at You must have JavaScript enabled to see my email address!
or (805) 689-6800
This Web site is not the official Web site of Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. does not make any representation or warranty regarding any information, including without limitation its accuracy or completeness, contained on this Web site.
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2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11019 | US Listing
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GeoCapital Partners
Offices: Fort Lee, New Jersey; & Durham, North Carolina
Founded in 1984, Geocapital Partners has been a leading venture capital firm focused on investments in young businesses in information services and technology in both North America and Europe. They have successfully managed over $500 million in a series of partnerships that were primarily funded by large institutional investors.
Georgia Venture Partners
Offices: Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia Venture Partners was established in 2004 to make seed and early-stage investments in life sciences enterprises. The Fund’s purpose is twofold: 1) to achieve superior investment returns, primarily in the form of capital gains, by building and investing in debt and equity securities of a portfolio of companies, and 2) to increase economic development of life sciences by seed or early-stage investments in life science.
Georgieff Capital
Offices: Frankfurt, Germany
Georgieff Capital provides high end, synergistic financial advisory services to corporate and investor clients, both institutional and family investors, as well as entrepreneurs. The firm was founded in 2005. It operates as a partnership whose partners have gained broad experience as advisors and investors, in which capacity they have been involved in some of the highest profile corporate transactions.
GFI Energy Ventures
Offices: Los Angeles, California
Since its creation in June of 1995, GFI Energy Ventures and its predecessor entities have originated more than fifty transactions since combined to form the companies described here. Aggregate value of the companies in their portfolio exceeds $2.5 billion. GFI is always engaged in active discussions with additional potentially attractive target companies. -GE-
GF Private Equity
Offices: Ignacio, California
GF Private Equity, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, possesses assets in several industries and investment categories that are approaching $2 billion. The fund invests in a carefully-selected assortment of industries and technologies, selecting companies that are at various stages of their life cycle. Investment areas include technology and software, defense industries and telecommunications.
GGV Capital
Offices: Menlo Park, California
GGV Capital (formerly Granite Global Ventures) leads expansion-stage venture capital investments in the United States and Asia. Since its inception, GGV Capital has focused on expansion-stage innovation around the world with a dual focus on the U.S. and China. They are one of the first VC firms to fund start-ups in China and among the first to actively introduce U.S. companies to new markets in the region.
Offices: Singapore
GIC was established in 1982 as the private equity investment arm of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation , the global investment management company for the Singapore government’s foreign reserves. GIC is one of the largest private equity investors worldwide and manages a diversified global portfolio of investments in venture capital and private equity funds.
Gilbert Global Equity Partners
Offices: New York, New York
Gilbert Global Equity Partners is an institutional investment firm that makes private equity and equity-related investments in both public and private companies around the world. Today, Gilbert Global has a capital base of US $1.2 billion. Their principal investors are Fortune 500 corporations, State and corporate pension funds, university endowments, insurance companies and financial institutions.
Gilde
Offices: The Netherlands
Gilde is a leading European venture capital fund with a truly international reach. Known for its inspiring approach, Gilde’s team of managers has built a rock-solid, 20 year-long, track record of information & communication technology investments. It has earned a reputation for professionalism, involvement, decisiveness and above all integrity. Gilde utilizes its multi-disciplined global network and in-depth experience to support entrepreneurs.
Alpha (-GIM-) | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11097 | CBC News Home
Control credit card interest rates, N.B. senator says
Posted: Apr 02, 2009 12:22 PM ET
Last Updated: Apr 02, 2009 11:51 AM ET
INTERACTIVE: Your credit card bill Retailers welcome hearings on credit card and debit fees Regulators investigating credit card industry External Links
Senate committee on banking, trade and commerce
Canada needs controls on credit card interest rates, says Senator Pierrette Ringuette of New Brunswick. "I'm convinced there are abuses in the system and I'm convinced we need to legislate fairness for both the business community and consumers," she said Wednesday after hearing testimony from bank and business groups at Senate hearings on credit and debit cards. Ringuette, who has been pushing for a Senate inquiry into the cards, demanded that representatives from the Canadian Bankers Association explain why credit card rates are so high, compared with the Bank of Canada's rates. "When the (bank) interest rate in the '80s was in the vicinity of 16 per cent, the credit card interest rate was at 21 and 22. Now the bank rate is at 0.5 and they are 19.9. There is no rhyme or reason, except greed," she said. CBA president Nancy Hughes Anthony said she will give the committee a written explanation on why interest rates remain high. One reason is the delinquency rate, said CBA vice-president Terry Campbell. It has risen to about 4.5 per cent from about one per cent because of the recession. "This is unsecured credit the customer can choose to activate 24/7 anywhere in the world, where there is no interest on that for a time and there could be no interest forever," he said. Hughes Anthony said 70 per cent of Canadians pay no interest on their credit cards because they pay off the monthly balance before it's due. Debit card worries Catherine Swift, CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, warned the committee about what the small business group sees as a looming competitive problem. Credit card companies shouldn't be allowed into the debit card business, she said. The CFIB website said that would shift debit card transaction costs from a flat rate to a percentage of the sales value, and fees would go up "dramatically." Swift said small businesses in the U.S. have warned that allowing the change will increase user fees. "Their advice is, don't do it, don't let [credit card issuers] Visa and MasterCard into your debit business. And that, I thought, that was pretty stark," she said. Credit card companies have said allowing them into the debit card business will boost competition and give consumers more choice. Swift also told the senators that Canadian merchants faced increases last summer of up to 30 per cent in the fees they pay for accepting credit cards, and were given no explanation. The CFIB website calls this "a huge cash grab." MasterCard Canada, which has been the most vocal of the card companies in defending the business, released another report Wednesday saying that regulating fees that merchants pay would hurt small business. Raymond J. Keating, chief economist of the U.S. Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, said in the report that small business owners who use cards as a financing tool will "get squeezed on several ends — higher costs to use their card for business purchases, fewer services and less innovation from issuers, and lower sales due to a decreased number of cards in use by consumers." Rate controls panned The report said "the interests pressing for government price controls in interchange do not want a 'free-market solution' on interchange," the fees that card companies charge merchants. "They instead want government to overrule the market to impose their desires." However, Canadian card users have complained that the market is not free, and the federal Competition Bureau is looking into whether the card companies have breached the Competition Act and abused their dominant position in the industry. The CFIB's Swift wrote to the competition commissioner last fall, asking for such an investigation. "Effectively, Visa and MasterCard enjoy a duopoly for all practical purposes," she said. "There is still, obviously, inadequate competition between these two duopolists. This, then, reflects a weakness in the statutory framework itself." The MasterCard report also highlights the benefits that credit cards bring to small business. With files from the Canadian Press
The National for July 23, 2016
Welcome to The National, the flagship nightly newscast of CBC News, hosted by Peter Mansbridge.
Comparing Vancouver's sky with Wuhan, China
Daisy Xiong moved to Vancouver in 2013. One of the things that struck her about Vancouver is its clear, blue sky — something she never got to see in her hometown of Wuhan
Tragically Hip fan with brain cancer scores tickets
Jason DeRoche is battling the same type of cancer as band's front man Gord Downie | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11147 | Chinese Companies Retreat From US Listings as Scrutiny Mounts
Monday, 14 Jan 2013 | 6:21 PM ETReuters
Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images
Chinese companies are deserting U.S. stock markets in record numbers as regulatory scrutiny mounts and the advantages of a U.S. listing slip away. U.S. government investigations of suspect financial reports and battered share prices have for many Chinese companies wrecked the chances of raising new money in the United States and given them little reason so stay, China experts said. "There's very little in way of new capital flows to those companies, their valuations are low and they're encountering significant headwinds in terms of regulatory oversight," said James Feltman, a senior managing director at Mesirow Financial Consulting. (Watch Now: Why Chinese Firms Seek Hong Kong Listings) Twenty-seven China-based companies with U.S. listings announced plans to go private through buy-outs in 2012, up from 16 in 2011 and just six in 2010, according to investment bank Roth Capital Partners. Before 2010, only one to two privatizations a year were typically done by China-based companies, Roth said. In addition, about 50 mostly small Chinese companies "went dark," or deregistered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, ending their requirements for public disclosures. That was up from about 40 in 2011 and the most since at least 1994, when the SEC's records start. Companies with a limited number of shareholders can voluntarily go dark and rid themselves of the cost of public filings without buying out investors, but those investors often suffer as the value of their shares falls. Shares Take Double-Digit Dive "It's just another black eye for U.S.-listed companies," said James O'Neill, managing director of Jin Niu Investment Management Co, a Beijing-based firm. Meanwhile, just three Chinese companies successfully went public on U.S. exchanges in 2012, down from 12 in 2011 and 41 in 2010. About 300 China-based companies still have shares trading in the United States on exchanges or "over-the-counter" between individual dealers. Bankers are aggressively pitching the idea of companies pulling out of the United States and relisting elsewhere, saying they can get a better share price in Hong Kong or mainland China, according to lawyers who work on going-private deals. "The idea is that the markets here understand the China story better and will therefore hopefully assign a higher valuation to the stocks," said Mark Lehmkuhler, a partner at Davis Polk in Hong Kong. U.S.-listed Chinese companies in the consumer staples sector, for example, were trading recently at a 67 percent discount to comparable Chinese companies on the Hong Kong Exchange, according to investment bank Morgan Joseph. Regulators in High-Stakes Standoff A failure by U.S. regulators to reach an agreement soon with China on accounting oversight may push more Chinese companies to abandon their U.S. listings, bankers and lawyers said. The United States has been trying to get access to audit records and permission to inspect Chinese audit firms to combat a rash of accounting scandals. China has balked, leaving the future of U.S. listings for Chinese companies in doubt. "I expect everyone is making alternative arrangements" in case U.S. and Chinese regulators do not reach a deal, said Paul Gillis, an accounting professor at Peking University in Beijing. (Read More: Chinese Sue Obama Over Wind Farm Shutdown)
Stepping up pressure, the SEC has deregistered about 50 China-based companies over the past two years. Last month, it charged the Chinese arms of five top accounting firms with securities violations for failing to turn over documents, raising tensions in its standoff with China.. While most of the recent going-private transactions have been management-led buy-outs, cheap share prices have also led to several deals from large private equity firms. A Carlyle Group LP-led consortium last month agreed to buy display advertising company Focus Media Holding for about $3.7 billion in the largest-ever private equity deal in China. The success of that deal may prompt others, lawyers said. "As long as you've got financing available, you're likely to continue to see new deals being announced," said Jesse Sheley, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis who worked on the Focus Media deal. Despite the billions being poured into the private markets, it may take longer for U.S. stock investors to feel comfortable investing in Chinese public companies again. Investors are saying, "'What can I trust about these companies at all?"' said O'Neill at Jin Niu. "It's not a matter of good company versus bad company. The market has just turned against you." SHOW COMMENTS | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11186 | Steven Antonakes Named Deputy Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
WASHINGTON, D.C. —The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today announced Steve Antonakes has been officially named deputy director of the agency. Antonakes had been serving as the acting deputy director of the CFPB. Antonakes will continue to maintain responsibility for his duties as the associate director for supervision, enforcement, and fair lending at the CFPB.
“I am happy to announce that Steve will be the official deputy director of the Bureau,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “He has adeptly led—and will continue to lead— our supervision, enforcement, and fair lending teams. Steve’s experience, his knowledge, and his judgment are vital in helping us achieve our mission of fostering a thriving, sustainable marketplace for both consumers and responsible businesses.”
Steve Antonakes’ background includes more than two decades as a financial services regulator. He first joined the CFPB in November 2010 as the assistant director for large bank supervision and was named the associate director for supervision, enforcement, and fair lending in June 2012. Antonakes began his professional career as an entry-level bank examiner with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Division of Banks in 1990. He served in numerous managerial capacities, including serving as former Commissioner of Banks Thomas J. Curry’s deputy for nine years, before being appointed by successive governors to serve as the Commissioner of Banks from December 2003 until November 2010, becoming only the second career bank examiner to ever serve in that capacity. In addition, he served as the first state voting member of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), as the vice chairman of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS), and as a founding member of the governing board of the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS). Antonakes also received NeighborWorks America’s Government Service Award for his work in combatting foreclosures in March 2007.
Antonakes received his B.A. from Penn State University, his M.B.A. from Salem State University, and his Ph.D. in Law and Public Policy from Northeastern University.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a 21st century agency that helps consumer finance markets work by making rules more effective, by consistently and fairly enforcing those rules, and by empowering consumers to take more control over their economic lives. For more information, visit consumerfinance.gov.
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2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11230 | HarborOne Gets NCUA, State Approval for Bank Conversion
April 22, 2013 • Reprints The $1.8 billion HarborOne Credit Union said Monday it received the green light from NCUA and the Massachusetts Division of Banks, clearing two of the three regulatory agency hurdles that would allow the 96-year-old Brockton, Mass., credit union to convert into a mutual co-operative bank charter.
What’s more, the credit union said it received notification from the FDIC that its application was officially accepted for processing. HarborOne must wait for approval for FDIC insurance before completing its conversion in what would be perhaps the largest credit union-to-bank conversion to date.
“HarborOne Credit Union today announced that the NCUA Office of Consumer Protection has notified HarborOne that it complied with the procedural requirements of the NCUA’s conversion regulations,” reads a statement released by HarborOne CU.
“HarborOne also received notification from the Massachusetts Division of Banks that it finds no reason to disapprove of the methods by which the membership vote was taken and that the vote is approved,” the statement said.
Nearly 62% of HarborOne members voted in favor of the charter change proposal last month. The credit union said 22,433 of its 139,078 members cast ballots.
HarborOne has grown to become the largest state-chartered credit union in New England. The longstanding credit union has said its reasons to convert were the flexibility to expand HarborOne’s markets and customer base, increase its lending authority, including small business lending, and gain access to additional capital.
Soon after the conversion plan was announced Feb. 16, 2012, and approved by HarborOne’s board a month later, it sparked industry debate and criticism from some credit union leaders.
Longtime credit union attorney Steven R. Bisker of Alexandria, Va., told Credit Union Times last month that members who voted for the conversion were not voting for their own best interest. He argued that NCUA data has consistently shown that when a credit union converts to a bank, the rates charged for loans and the rates paid for savings are not as good as when they were operating as a credit union.
Another credit union attorney, Richard Garabedian in Washington, D.C., who specializes in conversions, said he doesn’t think the HarborOne move will trigger a wave of similar efforts. | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11262 | Financial penalties may quell senior citizens' desire to take a trip down the aisle
An increasing number of older Americans are cohabiting instead of marrying. Experts say a mosaic of financial-related rules may be largely responsible.
Comment By Lois M. Collins
By Lois M. Collins
An increasing number of older Americans are cohabiting instead of marrying. A mosaic of financial-related, not always marriage-friendly rules may be largely responsible for keeping older singles from tying the knot.
As New York Times writer Stanley Luxenberg puts it: "Americans have long been retreating from marriage. While more people of all ages are living together, the growth of unmarried couples is fastest among the older segment of the population. In 2010, 2.8 million people aged 50 and over cohabited, up from 1.2 million in 2000, according to the United States Census Bureau. For many, the decision to remain single is a matter of money. A partner who remarries stands to lose alimony, Social Security or a survivor's pension."
"Young people may be eager to marry for love, but older couples are more practical and worry about paying the bills," Pepper Schwartz, professor of sociology at the University of Washington, told Luxenburg.
Couples who are considering marrying when they're older can be concerned about a number of financial issues, inheritance rules or other things. Dating partners who were each widowed, for instance, may be interested in but unsure how to protect their individual assets for their own children, worried that if they marry, state community property and other inheritance laws will complicate things.
The financial reasons cited by Sheri and Bob Stritof, Ask.com's marriage experts, include tax disincentives, loss of military and pension benefits, fear of being stuck with a partner's medical expenses or credit rating or existing debt, ability to share expenses, health insurance, protecting assets, alimony and Social Security benefits. That last one, they note, causes a lot of confusion.
According to the Social Security Administration: "In general, you cannot receive survivors benefits if you remarry before the age of 60 unless the latter marriage ends, whether by death, divorce, or annulment. If you remarry after age 60 (50 if disabled), you can still collect benefits on your former spouse's record. When you reach age 62 or older, you may get retirement benefits on the record of your new spouse if they are higher."
Health concerns - and their costs - may also provide disincentives to marry or remarry at a certain age. In forums, seniors express worries about losing the resources they've accumulated over a lifetime because of a sweetheart's illness. One such forum, for example, provided by the Elder and Disability Law Center, notes that both spouses' assets are counted when someone applies for Medicaid. Limits apply to the assets one spouse is allowed to keep when the other spouse needs the government-funded program.
On the other hand, there are also worries that if a couple has not married and one of them dies or goes into long-term care, the other can lose the home they shared - either because the children of the person who "owned" the home come after it or because it could be claimed by the state to help cover the cost of care if the individual had to have help from Medicaid.
Notes the EDLC article, "Sometimes married couples have premarital or marital agreements by which each spouse waives his or her claims in the property of the other spouse. Medicaid does not recognize these agreements, and both spouses must list all of their individually and jointly owned assets."
The Times article concludes with an interview with Maryan K Jaross, a Denver-based financial adviser, who presents a bleak scenario. Writes Luxenberg: "She has counseled a close friend who obtained a pension after her husband died while serving in the military. The widow remarried. She lost the pension, gave up health insurance and the right to shop at a base commissary, where products sell at discounts. Her new husband died two years after the marriage, leaving her a widow with no support. The widow met another man, and this time she is cohabiting. "She is a staunch Catholic, but for now they are just living together," Jaross told him.
Others point out that marriage offers good news and benefits, too. Ask.com's Senior Living section offers "five good reasons to marry after 50," starting with love and moving through the cost benefits of not maintaining two separate households, some tax benefits, as well as Social Security and pension benefits that pass to a spouse if one dies. There are also some automatic spousal rights and privileges, including the ability to have a say in health care settings, for example.
"When it comes to other taxes, such as estate and inheritance taxes, being married is clearly a plus," the Ask.com article says. "You can leave an unlimited amount of money and property to your spouse with no estate tax. In most states, your spouse will inherit automatically, even if you die without a will."%3Cimg%20src%3D%22http%3A//beacon.deseretconnect.com/beacon.gif%3Fcid%3D166827%26pid%3D46%22%20/%3E | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11384 | MARKETS: The stakes of carbon trading are losing their sizzle Nathanial Gronewold, E&E reporter
ClimateWire: Friday, March 12, 2010
NEW YORK -- Global carbon dioxide emissions offsetting markets are fast losing their luster in the minds of investors, both in the United States and abroad.
As governments around the world delay climate change legislation, offset project developers and traders on Wall Street and beyond say that they are rethinking their earlier enthusiasm for carbon markets. Money on hand is now being diverted, instead, to traditional clean energy plays as market players are taking a pause, waiting for signs that greenhouse gas offset credit trading will either rebound or slowly fade into nothing.
The steep recession of 2009 started the trend. Data show that prices for nearly every variety of offsetting credit plummeted sharply in value last year, including those generated by California's Climate Action Reserve, a system that most analysts believe will be folded into any U.S. federal carbon control regime.
Failure by governments to achieve a new, solid agreement on climate change at negotiations in Copenhagen last year added to the downward spiral. But far more damaging to the long-term viability of the market is a growing perception by the investment community that the U.S., Japanese, Australian and other governments are pulling away from adopting European-style cap-and-trade markets entirely. They appear to be switching instead to carbon tax schemes or other methods to bring greenhouse gas emissions under control.
Kristel Dorion, a developer with 10 years of experience putting together offset projects under the United Nations' Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), confirms that many in her industry are quickly shifting focus elsewhere. The pullback is especially noticeable in the CDM, the world's largest offset credit generation scheme, which produces Certified Emission Reductions (CERs). The CDM was created by the Kyoto Protocol treaty and allows investors to sell CERs to companies or governments in Europe, Japan and elsewhere.
American companies are pulling out
"The ones that are pulling out are all the American-based companies," she said. "The difference is that the European Union companies still believe in the CDM. The U.S. companies still don't know what to believe in."
Dorion herself is still optimistic. Last year, she established her own CDM active consulting company, EnergetixClimate, and she has three of her own projects waiting for CERs to be issued. She believes international emissions offsets trading is here to stay, but admits that many in the industry don't share that view.
The market is especially weak in the United States, where offset credit trading first began under voluntary schemes. The nation's first carbon credit, the Chicago Climate Exchange's Carbon Financial Instrument (CFI), is trading at just 10 cents per ton of CO2 equivalent today. Prices of other popularly traded U.S.-based carbon offsets, including credits certified under the Voluntary Carbon Standard and American Carbon Registry, have slid by more than 60 percent overall.
Analysts at World Energy Solutions, the Massachusetts-based energy trading firm behind the auctions of allowances in the Northeast's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, confirm that activity is slowing. World Energy hosts auctions and over-the-counter trades in every popular offset credit instrument. Companies are still committed to lightening their environmental impact, they say, but seem to be pursuing other ways of doing it.
Overseas traders struggle with skepticism
Tuesday, for instance, World Energy announced that it had helped Adventist Health Care power seven of its facilities in Maryland and New Jersey with 10 percent renewable energy through an auction for power supply contracts. The company estimates that the procurement of this clean power equates to a carbon footprint reduction of 4,100 metric tons of emissions each year.
"For a lot of companies, this is really the easiest way to go green if you're looking to step into the market for the first time," said Kenneth Ivanic, vice president of environmental markets at World Energy.
Suppliers of offset credits are putting less up for sale as demand from corporate America has dwindled. "They don't really know what's happening," said Ivanic. "Whenever there is uncertainty, it tends to cause people to be slower to react or slower to do something while they're in that unknown part of the time period."
Overseas, experts say the European Union's Emission Trading System (ETS) will keep offsets trading from the CDM alive for some time. Even though skepticism is growing that international negotiators will ever come up with a replacement to the Kyoto Protocol to cover markets for 2013 and beyond, E.U. regulators have already written into law a place for CERs up to 2020, and no one expects Brussels to revise that legislation.
However, many agree that new CDM activity could effectively come to a halt in the coming months.
Wanted: traders with a long-term view
Analysts who have crunched the numbers say that there is currently enough supply in the CDM pipeline to meet demand for the next 10 years, given that the European Union is highly unlikely to boost its emissions reduction target of 20 percent below a 1990 baseline by 2020. To date, the CDM office in Bonn, Germany, says it has registered 2,080 separate projects, issuing more than 390 million CERs from about 700 of them. More than 2,000 projects sit in the pipeline awaiting approval.
As a result, new CDM projects that manage to earn CERs will find it very difficult to get their credits sold in the years ahead. The coming supply is more than enough to meet Europe's future needs, experts say.
"All the developers that are out there with their current portfolios in place, they're likely to be able to sell their credits because there's enough demand going forward," said Milo Sjardin, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. "But anyone making new investments would be relatively non-sensible, because demand isn't going to be there."
EnergetixClimate's Dorion agrees that the CDM offset market is in a precarious state, but she is still confident that offsetting in one form or another will exist after 2020. Whether the system in place will be the CDM or not is an open question.
"The way I see it is you have to take a long-term view," said Dorian. "If you are in the CDM for the next three to four years, this may not be the market for you." | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11433 | Ponds and Streams: Wealth and Income in the U.S., 1989 to 2007
Arthur B. Kennickell
Abstract: Much discussion treats the working definitions of wealth and income as if they were self-evident, but definitional choices can make substantial differences in the overall picture. To provide a clear basis on which to examine family wealth and income their interrelationship, this paper begins with a basic discussion of a range of possible measures of those concepts. Using the measures developed, the paper examines the distributions of wealth and income and their joint properties using data from the 1989�2007 waves of the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF). Among other things, the data show a complicated pattern of shifts in the wealth distribution, with clear gains across the broad middle and at the top. For income, there is a more straightforward picture of rising inequality. Over this period, wealth as a fraction of income moved up across both the distributions of wealth and income. Nonetheless, their joint copula distributions (a type of distribution with uniform margins) do not show noticeable changes over this time. The consistent pattern is that very high wealth and income and very low wealth and income go together, but in between these poles, the relationship is fairly diffuse. The paper also presents information on the composition of wealth and income over the 18-year period; the general patterns of holdings across the distributions did not change markedly, but there were some important shifts. For wealth, debt increased as a share of assets across the wealth distribution, the share of principal residences rose mainly below the median of net worth, the share of tax-deferred retirement accounts rose and the share of other financial assets declined. For income, the clearest change was a general decline in the relative importance of capital income other than that from businesses.
Keywords: Income distribution, wealth distribution, portfolio shares
Full paper (2334 KB PDF)
Last update: March 17, 2009 | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11445 | Should You Pick up This 11% Yielder Now?
Annaly Capital Management (NYSE: NLY) has carved a name out for itself as a high-yield income play in the mortgage REIT sector.
With a market capitalization of $10.50 billion and an operating history since 1997, Annaly Capital Management has become an institution that is known for delivering double-digit dividend yields to investors.
Though Annaly Capital Management has reduced its absolute dividend payout substantially since the first quarter of 2010, the mortgage REIT remains an attractive long-term income play on a relative valuation basis. Its current dividend yield stands at 11% and the stock trades at a 10% discount to book value.
In addition, there is a good chance that its dividends have now bottomed. A return to book value growth could spur an increase in quarterly dividends once again.
Background The low interest rate environment over the last couple of years has certainly added to the investor-appeal of mortgage REITs as high-yield income structures.
Persistently low interest rates caused traditional fixed income investments such as corporate or government bonds to be unappealing investment choices. Instead, investors who rely on regular cash to fund their living or retirement expenses gravitated toward the high-yield mortgage REIT sector.
Low valuation High-yield income structures, whether they are REITs or business development companies (BDCs), are required to pay out most of their earnings (at least 90%). In turn, this means that the majority of total returns from these investments will come in the form of dividends and not capital gains.
In other words, Annaly Capital Management is unlikely to trade at a serious premium to book value. The mortgage REIT currently trades at a 10% discount to its first quarter book value of $12.30 per share, and I expect a P/B valuation in the range of 0.9-1.1 times over the course of 2014 amid higher interest rates. Historically, Annaly has traded at a roughly 10% premium to book value.
Higher interest rates ultimately mean more competition from other, high-yielding asset classes such as corporate bonds. This could put more pressure on the values of mortgage-backed securities going forward.
True dividend champion There are a variety of ways to look at a company's attractiveness as a dividend play and its ability to pay shareholders a recurring stream of income: the payout ratio, dividends paid on an absolute basis, the dividend yield or -- better yet -- cumulative dividends paid out over a longer period of time.
In our particular case, Annaly Capital Management has churned out a massive amount of dividends over the last seventeen years. Since the mortgage REIT was founded in 1997, Annaly Capital Management has paid more than $11 billion in dividends to shareholders with large yearly increases during the Great Recession.
Source: Annaly Capital Management Investor Relations Website
However, Annaly Capital Management shareholders have seen a dramatic cut in distributions over the last couple of years as the mortgage REIT faced headwinds from the interest rate front which cut into the REIT's profitability.
Quarterly dividends reached a peak in the first quarter of 2010 when Annaly Capital Management paid $0.75 per share while dividends have subsequently corrected sharply. The mortgage REIT currently pays $0.30 per share, the lowest quarterly amount since October 2007 (which saw a payout of $0.26 per share.)
However, Annaly Capital Management has held its dividend payout steady at $0.30 for three consecutive quarters -- including the July 31, 2014 dividend payment. This could be a signal that dividends have bottomed out.
This really depends on the management team's desire to increase its leverage levels and add more securities to juice the amount of cash flow available to be paid out as dividends.
This would be the most credible signal yet that dividends have seen their lows.
Looking ahead Ultimately, Annaly Capital Management is an attractive long-term income vehicle that historically has paid an increasing amount of dividends, and currently continues to yield double digits at 11%.
Its history of above-average total returns, bottoming dividend payments, and a justifiable P/B valuation of 0.9 times continue to make Annaly Capital Management a top choice in the mortgage REIT sector for long-term income investors.
Annaly is a great income option. But these stocks may be better.James Early, the best dividend investor at the Fool, recently put together a report on a group of high-yielding stocks that should be in any income investor's portfolio. To see our free report on these stocks, just click here now.
Kingkarn Amjaroen has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11447 | Should Investors Be More Bearish on Juniper?
Richard Saintvilus |
It wasn't that long ago that the prevailing debate in the networking sector was, "Which is better: Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR ) or Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO ) ?" I continue to do my best to squash these arguments. But the optimism in Juniper remains overdone.
There's no way this stock should command a price-to-earnings ratio of 57, especially when Cisco wins in every meaningful category such as return on assets, return on equity, operating cash flow, margins -- you name it. This story is far different today than what was told at the height of the dot-com bubble. And management is looking for options.
Is the writing on the wall?There are now reports that Juniper attempted to sell off some of its assets to rivals last year. But it was unable to find a buyer. In a recent Reuters story, it was revealed that Juniper reached out to several competitors (presumably Cisco) to gauge interest in assets such as NetScreen Technologies, a security business that Juniper acquired in 2004.
However, there were no takers. It was determined that the company's assets lacked innovation and growth -- pretty much the same thing that I've been saying for years. But management denied the report. Kevin Johnson, Juniper's CEO was quoted as saying, "If you look at the acquisitions we have done, we're a buyer not a seller."
It's true, the company picked off software start-up Contrail Systems last year and then acquired enterprise security software company Mykonos. But that's just two acquisitions over the past three years. Meanwhile, Cisco had 11 acquisitions last year alone. Essentially, Cisco is ramping up to regain any market share that it has lost over the years to Juniper and others.
I think Juniper's management has begun to realize what's going on. And it's not by coincidence that NetScreen was the subject of the sale. Juniper's enterprise security prospects have been diminishing for some time and losing ground to (among others) Check Point Software and F5 Networks. And the company has found no solution to stop the bleeding, which culminated in a grim 2% revenue growth in the most recent quarter -- not exactly "tech company" performance.
Bad blood and elbow roomUnfortunately, the security space has begun to get more crowded. The arrival of ground-breaking technologies from Palo Alto Networks (NYSE: PANW ) have heightened the urgency while also raising some tension. Granted, they are not all competing for the same market. And it may be a stretch to say that Juniper is losing ground to an upstart like Palo Alto, it doesn't erase the threat of margin pressure that Juniper will likely face in the long term from Check Point and F5.
Conversely, Cisco, which has a much stronger enterprise presence, has been buying its way into higher-margin businesses such as Intucell, while leveraging its existing security offerings with Cognitive. For Juniper, however, while it's great that the company is now "reviewing" its enterprise focus, I stand by the overall point that the company does not have the technology to rebuild the market share that it has lost.
To the company's credit, Juniper is not going down without a fight. I just don't believe it's the right fight. The company has filed a law suit against Palo Alto, claiming that that Palo Alto infringed on six of its U.S. patents for firewall technology. There's bad blood between these two companies. Things got personal after former Juniper employees left the company and founded Palo Alto. It will take time to sort out who wins this court battle. But the enterprise it where it matters.
So what's the deal? It's going to require more than court battles/wins to get Juniper going in the right direction again. The good news, though, the company should benefit from a slight bump in carrier spending. But it's anyone's guess when that is going to return. Hopefully, it's sooner rather than later. Juniper's recent quarter, which included 9% increase in service provider revenue, may have revealed that an increase in carrier spending has begun.
In the meantime, if Juniper can synergize its recent acquisitions, coupled with effective cost management, it would be premature to write this company off. It remains to be seen what happens with its security business (and any other assets, for that matter).
If it's true that the company tried unsuccessfully to sell off portions of its business, chances are it might try again. It concerns me that this news got leaked. And it's even more disconcerting that it was unsuccessful.
Once a high-flying tech darling, Cisco is now on the radar of value-oriented dividend lovers. Get the low down on the routing juggernaut in The Motley Fool's premium report. Our report also has you covered with a full year of free analyst updates to keep you informed as its story changes, so click here now to read more. Fool contributor Richard Saintvilus has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Check Point Software Technologies, Cisco Systems, and F5 Networks. The Motley Fool owns shares of Check Point Software Technologies and F5 Networks. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
CAPS Rating: CHKP
Check Point Softwa…
CAPS Rating: CSCO
CAPS Rating: FFIV
CAPS Rating: PANW | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11449 | New Government in Italy: How Will It Affect These Italian ADRs?
What's the outlook for Natuzzi, STMicroelectronics, and Gentium?
Louie Grint
(LouieGrint)
Mar 4, 2014 at 2:36PM
As you probably heard, after the breakup of the government coalition that was ruling Italy, Matteo Renzi became the new prime minister in the country. Well, he just took office on Saturday and designated Pier Carlo Padoan, chief economist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, as Italy's finance minister.
Padoan will become Italy's fourth consecutive finance minister who comes from outside politics, and his task will be to get the country out of stagnation. Let's not forget that for the past three years, the finance ministers in Italy were mainly occupied with cutting expenses and protecting the country's bonds from speculation. Padoan, instead, might start trying to figure out how to make the country grow again. Many things could improve if he decides to start spending more, attract investments, and push demand.
Let's see what may lie ahead for three Italian ADRs in this context.
Comeback?First, let's take a look at Italy's largest furniture-maker, Natuzzi (NYSE:NTZ). Best known for its brand Divani & Divani, the company designs and manufactures a broad collection of residential upholstered furniture.
This company has not been doing well for a long time. In the first nine months of 2013, it lost $52.9 million, and net sales dropped 4% to $448.3 million compared to the same period a year ago. In fact, the company has not made a profit in six years, which is raising concerns.
Natuzzi claims that the main reason for the company's situation is the high cost of making many of its products at home. The central part of its production, along with half of its 6,500 worldwide employees, is in Italy, where high labor costs and strict employment laws reduce the company's competitiveness. Making a product in the country costs Natuzzi up to 10 times more than in its factory in China. The company has factories in China, Romania, and Brazil, but pressure from Italian unions keeps it from manufacturing more outside home.
You also need to know that restrictions in the Italian labor market are notorious, and when the recent economic downturn hit Natuzzi's key consumer markets of the U.S. and Europe, the company could not adjust its cost base to compensate for the fall in demand. This situation persists today, and if sales do not pick up, the stock price will continue to go down.
However, Natuzzi recently announced a turnaround plan, which includes halving its expensive Italian workforce, opening more stores in developing markets, and increasing marketing expenditure. Regarding local costs, the company signed an agreement in early October with the Italian unions to address the restructuring of its Italian operations, proceed gradual layoffs of redundant workers, close an industrial plant located in Ginosa, and streamline activities within the remaining Italian plants. Let's hope this works and the company returns to profitability.
Looking for marginsSecond, here's the Italian broad-based analog chipmaker and the largest chipmaker in Europe, STMicroelectronics (NYSE:STM).
For the full year 2013, net revenue for STMicroelectronics totaled $8.1 billion, down 4.8% compared to 2012, while gross margin dropped half a percent to 32.3%. The main contributors to these weak results were its microcontrollers and automotive products.
The company's results are not terrible, but they show some of the difficulties this chipmaker is facing. First, it has high European exposure, which means weak demand and high salaries. Second, margins in this industry (and many others) are key. STMicroelectronics' margins have averaged about 35% in the last few years while those of higher-volume peers reached 60%. Texas Instruments, for example, boasts corporate gross margins of more than 50%.
Still, STMicroelectronics has some fundamental strengths. The Italian company remains among the leaders in analog technologies, it has one of the broadest product portfolios in the industry, and it holds a strong position in the automotive market. In this category, the outlook for sales is positive, as demand for safer, greener, smarter cars is pushing government regulations that increase electronic content per vehicle.
As you see, the political transition in the country will not make significant changes in the company's future, which is driven by international factors.
Successful tender offerFinally, here's Gentium (UNKNOWN:GENTY.DL), the Italian biopharmaceutical company that researches and develops drugs derived from DNA and DNA molecules.
Something interesting about this company is that Jazz Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:JAZZ) recently made two subsequent tender offers to acquire shares of Gentium at $57 a share. Well, in the first offer, about 79% of outstanding Gentium common shares and American depositary shares were tendered; after the subsequent offer, this percentage went up to 98%.
Now Jazz Pharmaceuticals has become the indirect majority shareholder of Gentium. This is good news, as the businesses are highly synergistic. Gentium's product Defitelio (defibrotide), a treatment for severe hepatic veno-occlusive disease is complementary to Jazz Pharmaceuticals' experience in orphan diseases in the area of hematology and oncology. In addition, this drug was granted marketing authorization by the European Commission in October last year.
As you might have guessed, due to the circumstances, the new political scenario in Italy does not make an impact on Gentium.
Final thoughtsThe new government is facing a stagnant economy where there's room for action but not much cash. We'll have to wait and see whether this government decides to start new policies and builds enough political support to execute them. For now, it is hard to foresee major changes in the course of the Italian economy for 2014.
Natuzzi needs to improve its sales levels, and whether this comeback plan will work or not it is hard to predict. But hey -- profitability will improve a bit at least.
Gentium's new era with Jazz Pharmaceuticals is encouraging. The company will increase its penetration, especially in the European market.
As for STMicrolectronics, its price and problems are more correlated to the highly competitive global markets than to Italy. However, a better policy toward research and development would help the company gain some profitability.
Louie Grint has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
I am a curious economist who likes to investigate what is behind asset price movements across the globe. My articles range from industry analysis of various sectors to understanding global macro events that could trigger volatility in the markets. Article Info
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2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11518 | It’s Time Corporations Flew Old Glory Instead of the Jolly Roger
SCOTT KLINGER
Jun 12, 2013 | 1433 views | 0 | 18 | | It’s Time Corporations Flew Old Glory Instead of the Jolly Roger Instead of gaming the tax system to boost corporate profits, American business leaders need to start investing more in this nation. By Scott Klinger The swashbuckling pirates of olde amassed private fortunes by raiding ships and stealing them. Once they captured a ship, they would replace its flag — which represented one of the world’s sovereign nations — with the Jolly Roger. By flying the skull and crossbones, pirates proclaimed that they were out for their own benefit and theirs alone. Many American corporations are following this pirate tradition. Their crews aren’t sword-wielding ruffians, but high-priced lobbyists and accountants. They fight for, win, and then exploit loopholes in the tax code that allow multinational corporations to take profits earned in the United States and legally shift them to tax havens like the Cayman Islands, Ireland, and Luxembourg. This accounting hocus-pocus allows U.S. corporations to deny the Treasury about $100 billion a year. The money, which could go a long way toward plugging the holes in our federal budget, is tantamount to private booty stashed in a modern-day tax haven cove. Instead of the Jolly Roger, one of these contemporary pirate gangs flies the so-called Fix the Debt flag. This lobby group has more than 100 corporate ships in its flotilla. Together they’re fighting to cut Social Security and Medicare and to scrap U.S. taxes on their offshore booty, which collectively totals $544 billion. That’s according to “Corporate Pirates of the Caribbean,” a new Institute for Policy Studies report I co-authored. If Captain Dave Cote of the Honeywell ship, Jolly Jeff Immelt, who commands GE’s vessel, and their pals prevail, together they’ll split a $173 billion tax windfall. Pirates of the Cayman Islands, an OtherWords cartoon by Khalil Bendib For the first half of American history, taxes on business activity, like trading, paid most of the government’s bills. As recently as World War II, U.S. corporations stood by our country as corporate taxes accounted for nearly 40 percent of federal revenue. No corporate leaders back then called for tax cuts or complained that high taxes made them uncompetitive. They proudly flew Old Glory outside their businesses and paid to keep the nation strong. The picture is quite different today. Last year, more than $1.9 trillion of U.S. corporate profits were moored offshore — none of it taxed in the United States. “American companies are now reporting more business profits in Bermuda and Luxembourg than the reported value of all goods and services these two countries produce in a year,” according to a new report published by the government’s non-partisan Congressional Research Service. In the face of the growing budget deficit, corporate leaders like those in Fix the Debt are demanding federal spending cuts while also calling for even more corporate tax cuts. They’re arguing that they’re needed to make American businesses, already enjoying record levels of profits, stronger still. Really? Budget cuts advocated by gangs of corporate pirates have forced more than 300,000 laid-off teachers to walk the plank and robbed hungry older Americans of four million meals due to budget cuts in the Meals on Wheels program. The money lost when corporations avoid their taxes by burying their booty offshore hurts the country they all say they love. But it’s also bad for business. Technology leaders Google and Microsoft both claim they have to look abroad for workers with the skills they need. Perhaps if Google and Microsoft invested in America by paying their taxes, rather than by shifting vast amounts of U.S. profits offshore, our schools would have the money they need to develop the strong math and science programs necessary to compete in a 21st century world. “We’re an American company, and we’re proud to be an American company,” Apple CEO Tim Cook recently told the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. “We’re there because we love it there. It’s who we are as people.” U.S. business leaders need to back up Cook’s message by replacing the Jolly Roger flying from their corporate flagpole and running up Old Glory instead. Instead of gaming the tax system to boost corporate profits, American business leaders need to start investing more in this nation, which has done so much to make their companies great. Scott Klinger, an Institute for Policy Studies associate fellow, is the co-author of the new IPS report "Corporate Pirates of the Caribbean: Pro-Austerity CEOs Seek to Widen Tax Haven Loophole." IPS-dc.orgDistributed via OtherWords. OtherWords.org Copyright 2016 The Gilmer Mirror. All rights reserved.
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2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/11617 | Home » Blogs » REwired » Observations from ABS Vegas: The long-anticipated deal agent is nearly here...
REwired
Opinion, commentary and analysis on everything that makes the U.S. housing economy tick -- not to mention the ghosts in the machine, too. Written by HW's team of editors and reporters each business day.
Observations from ABS Vegas: The long-anticipated deal agent is nearly here...
But now where are all the deals?
KEYWORDS ABS Vegas Securitization TRID
One big story at ABS Vegas this week was that our industry is finally getting closer to agreeing on the long-awaited, much-discussed concept of a deal agent. The need for this new role is one of the reasons usually cited for the continued lack of investor interest in private label residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). On Monday, a Treasury-led group unveiled the overall framework of what the core principles and possible responsibilities of a deal agent could be. There are still some important details to be worked out regarding the scope and structure of the deal agent’s responsibilities: should the scope of duties be narrowly defined or open-ended? Is the deal agent a legal fiduciary? Despite these pending specifics, the broad strokes seem to be coming into focus.
What remains less clear, however, is when there will be a RMBS that will make sense for a deal agent (the lack of RMBS deals in the market was a frequent lament at the conference), how the deal agent will be paid (a real concern given the already high-cost of securitization), and whether/how the rating agencies will adjust credit enhancement levels.
Deal Drought?
In the first panel session on day three of the conference, Eric Kaplan, managing partner of structured finance at Ranieri Strategies, summed up the state of private label RMBS by saying: “There is virtually no product because of market dynamics.”
The main reason why we’re not seeing new private-label mortgage deals, at the moment, is that the economics of private-label securitization simply don’t work in the current low-rate environment. Prime jumbo securitizations, once the engine of post-crash RMBS issuance, have slowed significantly. In 2015, for example, Kroll said 38 prime jumbo deals came to market, but in 2016, year to date, that number (by my count) is two.
An even more disturbing development: some of the leading issuers, like Redwood Trust, have not been in the market with deals.
Most observers expect that non-QM deals will be prime candidates for deal agents, since they will have higher yields, higher risk borrowers and greater potential for defaults. While there is growing appetite for non-QM, and rumors that the first rated non-QM deal could debut later this year, no one is expecting a significant increase in new issuance in the near future.
TRID-Lock
The continuing lack of clarity over the new TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule (TRID) certainly isn’t helping the securitization situation, despite recent assurances from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) that it will be looking at the spirit of law and won’t be focusing on minor miscues, at least initially.
But this, of course, is not codified in the regulation. Adding to the challenge, the rating agencies have yet to provide clear, consistent criteria defining “materiality” as far as TRID defects are concerned. This has left issuers and their third-party reviewers in limbo — creating delays in purchase decisions and adding to the list of reasons not to securitize. “TRID-lock is what has happened to securitization,” according to Bob Magee, chief investment officer of Shellpoint Partners. He said that more than 95% of the loans that his group is looking at have TRID defects, often minor, and that there is “active debate among law firms” as to whether these defects can be corrected. As a result, he said between $400 million and $500 million in closed loans are “tainted” with some kind of defect.
On the “RMBS Due Diligence and Disclosure Standards” panel on which I participated, Diane Wold, managing director of Two Harbors Investment Corp., described the “headwinds” that TRID is creating. She said that, today, due diligence reviews are now coming back in upwards of five days, as the TRID review alone is taking six hours. It’s not unusual, she said, to see a review come back with 30 conditions with TRID or for different diligence firms to produce different results on the same TRID issues.
As a result, she suggested investors expect that the increased cost of performing these reviews will be reflected in the pricing going back to originators and this, most likely, will be passed on to borrowers.
SFR deals take a “pause”
For the past three years, the single-family rental (SFR) market has been a steady generator of new issuance, even as the mortgage market has struggled to re-start. More than 24 SFR deals, valued at $15 billion, have come to market in that period. But this year, there has been only one deal thus far.
On Tuesday, Mark Michael, managing director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said that SFR is being lumped in with all the other asset classes that are experiencing wider spreads. Chris Hoeffel, chief financial officer of Colony American Finance, added the “widening doesn’t have anything to do with performance,” though he acknowledged that there is some concern about liquidity among structured finance products in general.
Several of the participants noted that credit quality remains high and that only three of the properties contained in last year’s multi-borrower deals have gone into default. According to Brian Grow, managing director of RMBS at Morningstar Credit Ratings, the asset class continues to be very attractive: rents keep rising and credit is not a concern. He said, “there are a lot of new people interested in the category… a lot of buzz. But not a lot of deal flow.”
Hoeffel said that he believed volume of issuance this year will now most likely be lower than last year’s forecasts.
NPL/RPL stays robust
The non-performing and re-performing market continued to be a bright spot in 2015 and are expected to stay strong throughout this year. Phillip Thigpen, director at PWC, said he expects the total market — banks and government mortgage agencies — to bring more than $35 billion in new deals to market this year.
Although the overall inventory of distressed assets continues to decline, there is still a significant number of legacy defaults in portfolios, particularly properties in judicial states. Panelists on Monday’s “NPL/RPL Investing” session said that they are starting to see pools with longer defaults and more challenging properties.
So, while in the meetings I attended there was some obvious frustration about TRID and the slow progress on the private label and non-QM markets, there was significant interest in exploring new asset classes and ways of operating that reflected optimism as well. There was a sense that key pieces, like the deal agent, are falling into place, and the industry will be ready when market conditions change.
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Mark Hughes is the Executive Vice President of Business Development at Clayton. He is formerly the president of Due Diligence with LenderLive. | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/12065 | The Most Memorable of Obama’s First 100 Days
When the history of Barack Obama’s Presidency gets written, it may very well be that the speech about the economy he gave at Georgetown University a couple of weeks ago will be a footnote at best. It was a slightly wonky, detail-oriented address, and it didn’t have much Churchillian rhetoric. But from my perspective, it was a genuinely memorable and, I think, important speech not so much for what it said as for what it revealed about the way Obama thinks. What made the speech so striking—particularly coming from a politician—was that Obama did not simply lay out his economic agenda and explain why it was the best strategy for the country. He also dealt, in a meaningful way, with opposing points of view, making a good case for them (instead of turning them into straw men) and then explaining why he thought they were wrong. This was especially notable when it came to the question of dealing with the banks: There are some who argue that the government should stand back and simply let these banks fail—especially since in many cases it was their bad decisions that helped create the crisis in the first place. But and aggressive action to get credit flowing again, they have crises that last years and years instead of months and months—years of low growth, low job creation, and low investment that cost those nations far more than a course of bold, upfront action. And although there are a lot of Americans who understandably think that government money would be better spent going directly to families and businesses instead of banks—“where’s our bailout?,” they ask—the truth is that a dollar of capital in a bank can actually result in eight or ten dollars of loans to families and businesses, a multiplier effect that can ultimately lead to a faster pace of economic growth. On the other hand, there have been some who don’t dispute that we need to shore up the banking system, but suggest that we have been too timid in how we go about it. They say that the federal government should have already preemptively stepped in and taken over major financial institutions the way that the FDIC currently intervenes in smaller banks, and that our failure to do so is yet another example of Washington coddling Wall Street. So let me be clear—the reason we have not taken this step has nothing to do with any ideological or political judgment we’ve made about government involvement in banks, and it’s certainly not because of any concern we have for the management and shareholders whose actions have helped cause this mess. Rather, it is because we believe that preemptive government takeovers are likely to end up costing taxpayers even more in the end, and because it is more likely to undermine than to create confidence. Governments should practice the same principle as doctors: first do no harm. So rest assured—we will do whatever is necessary to get credit flowing again, but we will do so in ways that minimize risks to taxpayers and to the broader economy. To that end, in addition to the program to provide capital to the banks, we have launched a plan that will pair government resources with private investment in order to clear away the old loans and securities—the so-called toxic assets—that are also preventing our banks from lending money. You may—in fact, if you support nationalization, you certainly will—think he’s wrong in his conclusion. And obviously since I agree with Obama on the merits of his argument, I’m also more likely to agree with him on the way he presented it. But regardless of his politics, what seemed clear from the speech was that Obama had looked seriously at the various options before making his decision, and also that he was open to being convinced to pursue another course of action if the facts changed. Needless to say, this seems notably different from the way his predecessor made policy. It also, at least to me, embodies the kind of pragmatic and rational approach that we want our policymakers to take, one that recognizes that in complicated situations it’s not always easy to figure what the right answer is, and that on difficult questions, smart people of good will can disagree. Analytical speeches like the April 14th address will never, I realize, move people the way “Yes, we can” does. But if future historians want to know why Obama makes people confident that he can help get us out of the mess we’re in, it’s the Georgetown speech they should cite. James Surowiecki is the author of “The Wisdom of Crowds” and writes about economics, business, and finance for the magazine. | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/12324 | State of The Transition: Oil Oversupply, Shale Bankruptcies, Gas Leaks, and a Whiff of Securities Fraud
by Jeremy Leggett, originally published by Jeremy Leggett blog
A Shell veteran of 35 years requests the company pension fund he depends on to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in clean energy. A geoscientist currently working for an oil and gas major quits to take qualifications in renewable energy. These are the stories the latest two commenters on my website tell. The great global energy transition will play out in countless small dramas like this. But reminders of the over-arching global narrative, that we are in a race against time, are remorseless. And setbacks in the post-Paris world can be expected in parallel with steps forward, as the last fortnight illustrates all too well.
The oil price has fallen below $30 now: lower than it has been since 2013. The International Energy Agency warns that the oil market may “drown in oversupply” in 2016. The Saudis keep pumping, the warm weather is depressing demand, Iran is re-entering the global market now that nuclear sanctions are over, and so on.
Carbon Tracker has exhorted fossil fuel companies to come clean on climate risks, whatever the oil price, in a short report to the World Economic Forum in Davos. We are far from alone in professing that the post-Paris world requires this. PWC leads the list of those also warning in January of stranded-asset risk in the oil and gas sector. The full disclosures that investors need in order to weight risk of stranded assets and other climate-related downsides should not be long coming. Michael Bloomberg has announced the membership of his elite Climate Risk Disclosure Task Force, which will include Unilever, Axa, Blackrock and JPMorgan. Anyone who reads the last few chapters of The Winning of The Carbon War can have little doubt about the likely tenor of their recommendations, due in March.
All of which should auger well for the progressive diversion of capital from fossil fuels to clean energy that is hard-wired into the Paris Agreement. Standard & Poor’s estimates that $16.5 trillion of new investment in renewables, clean technology and green finance will be triggered by the terms of the treaty. The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that global GDP will rise roughly 1.1% if renewables account for 36% of the world’s energy mix by 2030, as they should if we are to be on track for the Paris goal of well under 2˚C of global warming.
Progress reports in late January encourage faith in this trajectory. Solar power costs have dropped to a record low of 6 cents per kilowatt hour in Rajasthan, a price that matches electricity from coal and gas. Cost-down in storage is also looking encouraging, with the 3 gigawatts in operation or under development around the world prompting analysts IHS to predict a significant imminent rise in deployment. More than 50 major corporations have pledged 100% renewable energy use, and in Davos they announced they are half way to their collective target.
Meanwhile, however, threats to progress on the Paris agenda pile up. The low oil price has pushed many stock markets into bear market territory – a fall of 20% or more from their most recent peak. This, plus the stuttering global economy, and fears of a Chinese financial meltdown, caused a degree of pessimism in Davos. Some analysts voiced fears of a slide into global recession of the kind seen in 2008.
Fresh from their triumph in Paris, the French government is urging fellow governments to keep the momentum going on climate change, with the next target being signature of the treaty by world leaders in April. “Everything is done, yet nothing is done”, said Laurence Tubiana, France’s chief climate diplomat. She admits to being unsure what impact current fears about the global economy will have.
Some incumbency corporations and many investors barrel on as though nothing has changed. Shell’s takeover of BG has received a green light from investors, with 83% of Shell shareholders voting for the deal. In order to do this, they would have had to to persuade themselves that they can afford to ignore both climate risk and the risk of a prolonged low oil price. Mark Van Baal, who leads a group of 1,000 small shareholders who voted against the deal, said: “There are a lot of better ways to spend €50bn. We are afraid of Shell being the new Kodak.”
The Shell retiree who commented on my website appreciates both points. He was Shell’s first head of renewable energy.
There is bad news everywhere for the oil and gas industry. 42 American shale drillers have now gone bankrupt. Some can’t even give their assets away, Bloomberg reports. Harold Hamm, a pioneer of shale drilling, told the FT that companies are simply going to stop producing, so US oil production must fall steeply this year. People may be surprised by how fast, he says.
Shell and the other majors endlessly repeat their mantra that gas is much better than coal, in global warming terms. But who can easily believe this any more? A massive gas leak, cause unknown, was discovered in a Californian storage well on October 23rd. It is still leaking unchecked, having become California’s single biggest contributor to global warming. The Governor has declared a state of emergency over it. This is an extreme example, but the more scientists scrutinise gas leakage, right across the gas value-chain from wellhead to consumer end-use, the more worrying a picture they are finding, as my book chronicles. There is scant oversight of storage wells, and until recently very little monitoring of US fracking either. When the monitoring is finally done properly gas could yet end up worse than coal in greenhouse terms.
And even if it doesn’t, aiming to hit a 1.5˚C global warming ceiling with “highest possible ambition”, as the Paris Agreement requires, means large-scale bypassing of gas en route direct from coal to renewables. Climate scientists are very clear on this.
Consistent with his desire for climate change to be a meaningful legacy of his administration, President Obama is now launched a regulatory crackdown on methane emissions from oil and gas drilling on federal land. Energy industry groups have condemned the “avalanche” of regulations now descending on them, but the President seems to be on a roll with his climate mission. A US appeals court declined to block his carbon-constraint plan from power plants. States led by West Virginia “have not satisfied stringent requirements” to put a judicial stay on regulation, a judge has ruled. And in California, legislators have voted in a raft of measures expanding the solar market.
Clearly the number two greenhouse-gas emitter is making some progress post-Paris. So is the number one emitter. China’s carbon dioxide emissions likely fell 3% in 2015, a trend analysts say looks set to continue. Among other positive developments, the Chinese government has announced that it will allocate $4.6bn to shut 4,300 coal mines over the next three years.
Some countries are pursuing energy policies totally inconsistent with the commitments they made in adopting the Paris Agreement. The UK leads this list. Bloomberg reports that British renewable energy industries are set to “fall off a cliff” as a result of the Conservatives’ active effort to boost support for fracked shale gas and nuclear meanwhile withdrawing support from renewables and energy efficiency. Cuts to wind subsidies will mean the UK will lose at least one gigawatt of renewable energy generation over the next five years. To make the point, RWE has cancelled £1 billion of onshore wind investments, blaming policy setbacks.
David Cameron’s government is showering the energy incumbency with money. He announced a £250 million bailout to prop up the North Sea oil and gas industry, is intent on major giveaways to promote fracking, and has essentially written an open cheque in the multiple billions needed to force the Hinkley Point C reactor through.
Like Shell and its investors, the government seems incapable of reading some very clear writing on walls. A Conservative MP was forced by his constituents to resign from a Parliamentary shale gas group because it is funded by the oil and gas industry. This gives a clear feeling for the opposition shale drillers will encounter in the Tory shires, never mind the leakage rates of methane from their operations.
As for Hinkley Point C, the drama is akin to watching a train wreck in slow motion. EDF, the aspiring operator, was supposed to finalise funding this month at a board meeting. The decision was delayed, amid fears that the company cannot afford the billions required. EDF’s own workforce has begged it not to go ahead, openly voicing fears that this, the most expensive power plant in the world, will bankrupt the company notwithstanding the billions invested by the British and Chinese governments.
Meanwhile, as the UK government flogs the doomed horses of shale and nuclear, and sabotages clean energy in an effort to give investors no choice but to join them, the CBI warns that the threat of a national power crisis is growing.
All the while, the planetary thermostat reminds us of the clock ticking. 2015 shattered the global temperature record by a wide margin, the Met Office reported. The world’s oceans warmed at an increasingly fast rate, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned. Sea level rise from ocean warming has been underestimated, German scientists professed.
The science of climate change has become a matter of legal liability risk for oil and gas companies in recent months. Investigative journalists have uncovered evidence that they lied about the impacts of global warming in public whilst planning to adapt their infrastructure to its effects in private, as I describe in my book. In January, California’s Attorney General launched an investigation into whether Exxon Mobil repeatedly lied to the public and its shareholders about the risk to its business from climate change. At issue is whether such actions could amount to securities fraud. California joins New York, whose Attorney General began investigating Exxon Mobil last November with a view to to possible criminal charges.
Shell is under suspicion too. In 1989, the company redesigned a $3-billion North Sea natural gas platform, fearing sea levels would rise as a result of global warming. In the 1990s, it joined the Global Climate Coalition, an oil, gas and coal lobby group dedicated to defusing concern about climate change and stalling the climate negotiations.
Retirees in oil industry pension funds will be watching closely, no doubt, as their former employers wrestle with climate risk in 2016. Risk of all sorts. Even if Shell’s €50 billion acquisition of BG turns out to make shareholders money in the short term – an increasingly unlikely prospect in the post-Paris world – there is surely risk now that any profit will be wiped out by court fines and brand damage in a world looking back in anger.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons, On The Rig Deck Author Lindsey G
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About Jeremy Leggett: Jeremy Leggett is a social entrepreneur and author. He has been an Entrepreneur of the Year at the NewEnergy Awards, a CNN Principal Voice, and is founder and chairman of renewable energy company Solarcentury, and … | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/12392 | http://www.sfgate.com/realestate/article/Mortgage-interest-deduction-at-center-of-debate-3165595.php
Mortgage-interest deduction at center of debate
By Carolyn Said
Photo: Alex Brandon, AP
Erskine Bowles, left, follows former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, on Capitol Hill in Washington Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010, as the co-chairmen of President Barack Obama's bipartisan deficit commission arrived for a news conference. less
Erskine Bowles, left, follows former Wyoming Sen. Alan Simpson, on Capitol Hill in Washington Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2010, as the co-chairmen of President Barack Obama's bipartisan deficit commission arrived for a ... more
Is the mortgage-interest tax deduction a pillar of the economy or an unfair government subsidy? Debate about this popular tax break - long considered a political third rail - has been reignited since the federal deficit commission floated the idea of curtailing it. Right now, homeowners can deduct interest they pay on up to $1 million of mortgage debt. As part of their mandate to slash $4 trillion in federal deficits over the next decade, the co-chairmen of the bipartisan commission formed by President Obama took aim at the deduction, along with a herd of other sacred cows.
Commission heads Alan Simpson, a former Republican senator, and Erskine Bowles, former Clinton White House chief of staff, last week proposed capping the mortgage amount eligible for the deduction at $500,000, among other sweeping recommendations. Their draft plan could be drastically different when the final version is released on Dec. 1, however. Two arguments
Realtors and bankers abhor the idea of limiting the tax break and are campaigning fiercely against it, saying it would devastate the fragile housing market. But many economists say the deduction doesn't really help the housing market because it artificially inflates home prices. "I think it's a counterproductive tax deduction," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "It doesn't improve housing affordability because the value of the deduction is (built into) house prices. It's very regressive; it benefits higher-income, wealthier households."
But Beth Peerce, president of the California Association of Realtors, said: "The deduction isn't for rich people; it's for everybody. It's a great tax benefit for owning your own home."
The proposed lower limit, she said, "just doesn't make any sense because there are so many high-cost areas. To own a home that's worth (over) $500,000 in California does not make you a rich person, nor in Hawaii, Alaska, Connecticut, New York and other high-cost areas."
More than 35 million people claim the mortgage-interest deduction. Homeowners who don't itemize their taxes - as is common among lower-income earners - cannot claim it.
As it currently stands, the deduction would cut $131 billion from tax revenue in 2012, according to government estimates. Higher-cost areas
People on both sides of the debate agree that limiting the deduction would disproportionately affect higher-cost areas, including the Bay Area. In the nine-county Bay Area, one-third of all homes purchased in the past five years had a first mortgage of more than $500,000, according to MDA DataQuick, a San Diego real estate research firm. In California, 17.2 percent of homes purchased in the past five years had first mortgages of more than $500,000. DataQuick could not estimate how many of those mortgages might already have been paid down below the half-million dollar mark. DataQuick said that 3 percent of Bay Area homes and 1.8 percent of California homes purchased in the past five years started with original loan balances above $1 million. Reducing or removing the tax credit would cause home prices to fall, because the credit essentially is now factored into them. When people buy homes, they count on the mortgage-interest deduction to lower their effective payment, which means they end up paying more than they would have without the tax break.
"The price you pay depends on your effective after-tax monthly payments," said Stephen Levy, director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. "This could well reduce prices of very expensive homes because it would increase the after-tax cost of mortgages above half a million dollars."
Tom Tognoli, founder and partner in Cupertino's Intero Real Estate Services, said limiting the deduction would hurt the economy.
"The housing market is the linchpin to so much of the national economy," he said. "With everything we've had going on in the past five years, rolling something out like that would be devastating."
Even those who support curtailing the deduction think any change would need to be implemented gradually, especially because people counted on it when they bought their homes. Gradual phase-in
"I would phase it in over a decade so it doesn't materially affect house-price growth but just (makes it) slower than it would otherwise have been," Zandi said. John Quigley, professor of economics at UC Berkeley, said the proposal to halve the size of mortgages that qualify for the deduction "is probably the simplest and least painful way of beginning to dismantle it, by starting at the high end. You could imagine an orderly sequence of reducing that top limit over time."
The 18 commission members who will vote on the report, due Dec. 1, include a dozen sitting members of Congress. Many observers think that political considerations could prevent changes to the mortgage-interest deduction from making the final cut. But the very fact that the commission co-chairmen floated the idea as a trial balloon indicates that the housing deduction is no longer sacrosanct. Most Popular | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/12491 | Federal Reserve to shift $400 billion in holdings to boost economy
View full sizeFile photo / AP, 2010Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington in this photo from Sept. 30, 2010. The Federal Reserve is running out of options to try to boost a slumping economy and lower unemployment, so it reached 50 years back into its playbook for its next move. The Fed announced a plan Wednesday to shift part of its $1.7 trillion portfolio out of short-term securities and into longer-term holdings.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve will use more than $400 billion to try to drive down long-term interest rates, make home loans cheaper and invigorate the economy. The Fed announced Wednesday that it will do so by adjusting the makeup of its existing holdings. It will sell $400 billion of its shorter-term Treasurys to buy longer-term Treasurys. And it will reinvest principal payments from its mortgage-backed securities, to help keep mortgage rates at super-low levels. Fed policymakers announced the moves after a two-day meeting. Three members dissented from the decision. “The actions the Fed has taken are helpful,” says Josh Feinman, global chief economist at DB Advisors. “They will help hold down long-term rates, but they’re no panacea.” Stocks fell immediately after the announcement. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 125 points. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note tumbled, and its price rose. The Fed’s move to rebalance its $2.87 trillion portfolio could lower Treasury yields further. Ultimately, it might reduce rates on mortgages and other consumer and business loans. With its mortgage-backed securities, the Fed had previously reinvested principal payments into Treasury purchases. In its statement, the Fed noted that the economy is growing slowly, unemployment is high and housing remains in a prolonged slump. As a result, the Fed has directed the New York Fed to purchase Treasurys with remaining maturities of six to 30 years, and to sell an equal amount of securities with maturities of three years or less. Many analysts have said the shift in the Fed’s portfolio could provide modest help by reducing borrowing costs and perhaps raising stock prices. Others say it won’t help and warn that the move could escalate inflation. In June, the Fed completed a $600 billion bond-buying program that may have helped keep rates low. Expectations that the Fed would expand its holdings of long-term securities, along with fears of another recession, have led investors to buy up U.S. Treasurys. Treasury yields have dropped in response. Once the Fed announced last month that it would expand its September policy meeting from one to two days, economists have anticipated some new action from the Fed. Chairman Ben Bernanke had said the Fed was considering a range of options. The Fed’s move Wednesday came despite a rift within the central bank. The three members who dissented also did so at the Fed’s August meeting — the most negative votes in nearly two decades. The three, all regional Fed bank presidents, have said the Fed’s policies may be raising the risk of high inflation. Still, the central bank is under pressure to revive an economy that has limped along for more than two years since the recession officially ended. In the first six months of this year, the economy grew at an annual rate of just 0.7 percent. The housing market remains depressed. The unemployment rate is 9.1 percent. In August, the economy didn’t add any jobs, and consumers didn’t increase their spending on retail goods. Most economists foresee growth of less than 2 percent for the entire year. They say the odds of another recession are about one in three. The Fed has offered its own bleak outlook. At its August policy meeting, it said the economy would likely struggle for at least two more years. As a result, it said it planned to keep short-term rates near record lows until mid-2013, as long as the economy remained weak. Bernanke’s policymaking has also incited criticism from congressional Republicans and GOP presidential candidates. Some have argued that the Fed’s $600 billion bond-buying program, which ended in June, raised inflation pressures, weakened the dollar’s value against other currencies and contributed to a spike in oil prices. On Monday, the four highest-ranking Republicans in Congress sent Bernanke a letter cautioning the Fed against taking further steps to lower interest rates. Their letter suggested that lower rates could escalate the risk of high inflation. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who is seeking the GOP nomination for president, has gone so far as to say Bernanke would be “almost treasonous” to launch more bond buying. The Fed’s efforts to stimulate the economy through low rates are occurring at a time when Congress is focused more on shrinking spending. President Barack Obama has proposed a $447 billion job-creation program made up mainly of tax cuts and public works spending. Obama also wants the richest Americans to pay higher taxes to help cut federal budget deficits. Obama’s proposals face an uncertain fate in Congress. Republicans have dismissed his deficit-reduction plan and have focused on efforts to reduce spending and keep taxes low for everyone. Related stories:
» Fed will revive Operation Twist in hope of stimulating recovery [Los Angeles Times]
» Federal Reserve launches Operation Twist [CNN Money]
» Long-dated bonds soar on new Fed purchases [Financial Post]
» Fed's 'Operation Twist' and Stocks: A History Lesson [CBNC]
» GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, yields fall after Fed announcement; dollar gains [Reuters]
» Comparing the Fed's views on the economy [CNBC] | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/12593 | Housing collapse leaves boomers little or no equity in home If they were selling their home today, 30 percent of boomers would have to bring money to their closing to cover mortgage and transaction costs.
"As a result of the collapse of the housing bubble, millions of middle class homeowners still have little or no equity even after they have been homeowners for several decades. These households will be in the same situation as first-time homebuyers, forced to struggle to find the money needed to put up a down payment for a new home," says David Rosnick and Dean Baker of the Center for Economic Research in Washington, D.C. The two are co-authors of a new report, "The Wealth of the Baby Boom Cohorts after the Collapse of the Housing Bubble."
According to the report, the median household with a person between the ages of 45 to 54 saw its net worth fall by more than 45 percent between 2004 and 2009, from $172,400 in 2004 to just $94,200 in 2009 (all amounts are in 2009 dollars). If the median late baby boomer household took all of the wealth they had accumulated during their lifetime, they would still owe approximately 45 percent of the price of a typical house and have no other assets whatsoever.
"The collapse of the housing bubble, which led to the current recession, has already destroyed almost $6 trillion dollars in housing wealth for homeowners," says Baker, who testified before the Senate Special Committee on Aging this week. "This reality is compounded by the recent collapse of the stock market. The result is that many baby boomers will only have Social Security and Medicare to rely on in their retirement."
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2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/12595 | This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers, click the "Reprints" link at the bottom of any article. April 23, 2013
Consumers Looking Long Term but Not Taking Action More consumers are saving, but many still catching up
Consumers are prioritizing long-term planning over short-term financial concerns, a study released Tuesday by Northwestern Mutual found. However, while they say long-term planning is important, many aren’t taking steps to implement an actual plan.
“People’s priorities are in place, but are their good intentions backed by demonstrable action?” Greg Oberland, Northwestern Mutual executive vice president, asked in a statement. “On one hand, we’re seeing strong evidence that people are saving more. On the other, we know that half of all Americans have no long-term plan in place, and nearly a quarter are taking on more risk than they would prefer because they feel the need to play catch-up.”
The report asked respondents about the most important financial decisions they’ve made or will make in their lives, and found that despite age differences, consumers have similar priorities. For respondents over 55, 40% said saving early was one of the best decisions they made, and 27% said their best decision was investing heavily in their 401(k). Younger respondents agreed. Over half said starting to save early was the best decision they could make and 25% cited relying heavily on their 401(k). Nearly 30% of boomers and 20% of respondents between 25 and 54 said getting real estate at a good price was their best decision.
“Interestingly, there’s consistency across generations with Americans valuing the importance of saving, paying off debt and managing risk,” Oberland said. “We often say that people can’t expect to invest their way to prosperity, but rather see investing as one component of a larger holistic plan. This data indicates that’s a message that is resonating.”
The survey found 30% of respondents have started saving more over the past three years, but many may still be taking on more risk than they’re comfortable with. More than one in five said they would like to be more cautious with their money, but are still trying to catch up. Of those, 52% say it’s because of unexpected expenses and 37% say it’s because they don’t have a long-term plan in place.
Read Financial Industry, Advisors Fail Women: Allianz on AdvisorOne.
Greg Oberland | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/12596 | El-Erian, Fink, Advisors on What’s Next in Wake of Debt Deal No one is happy, but the impact on clients might not be as bad as you think
The costs and impact to the country and its citizens in the wake of Tuesday’s deal to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling began to be tallied Thursday, as federal employees returned to work after more than two weeks.
“[L]et’s be clear: There are no winners here,” President Barack Obama said from the White House Wednesday morning. “These last few weeks have inflicted completely unnecessary damage on our economy. We don’t know yet the full scope of the damage, but every analyst out there believes it slowed our growth.”
Indeed, Standard & Poor's said a day earlier that the shutdown “to date has taken $24 billion out of the economy” and "shaved at least 0.6% off annualized fourth-quarter 2013 GDP growth."
Well-known prognosticators also weighed in. Writing for Business Insider, PIMCO’s Mohamed El-Erian said investors “need only focus on three points: markets were delighted with the "what;" they are worried about the "how;" and the “how” matters going forward.”
“Instead of decisively emerging from a damaging phase of political dysfunction, Congress appears still stuck in what game theorists would call a repeated game with suboptimal outcomes,” El-Erian said.
BlackRock’s Larry Fink told Bloomberg Television that “We are going to see a lower equity market and a longer period of lower rates” if earnings start to deteriorate in the fourth quarter following the stalemate.
Advisors, for their part, were addressing concerns by telling clients to sit tight.
“For the last month, in every client meeting it has been the No. 1 issue,” said Jeffrey Heasley, executive vice president and financial consultant with Pittsburgh-based Private Wealth Advisors. “I tell them that had we actually gone over the cliff, it would have been a game changer, but this is really more about the panic surrounding a default than the effects of a default itself.”
Heasley did say the increased market volatility created by the shutdown could “present opportunities going forward, but we haven’t seen any yet.”
To Chuck Bean and his clients, “it was a lot of political noise.”
“We sent out a newsletter about a week ago and asked clients to hold tight because it’s a political conundrum and it shouldn’t have any impact on the portfolio other than some short term volatility,” the president and director of wealth management with Boston-based Heritage Financial Services explained. “Our clients are totally cool with it. A small handful asked to go to cash, but we talked them out of it. They stayed fully invested and benefited as a result.”
Paul Puckett, vice president and portfolio manager with 1st Quadrant Asset Management, a Virginia Beach, Va.-based RIA, said he hasn’t heard from his clients about the shutdown.
“It’s all about what you do before the crisis hits,” Puckett said, alluding to the need to set expectations up front. “Clients tell me I say the same thing to them every January, which is ‘How do you feel about losing 50% of the value of your portfolio by the end of the year?’ Because that can happen in any given year. When it does happen, and the portfolio loses 30%, I call them and they say, ‘cool, I actually thought I was down 50%.’ Once the boat is rocking, it’s too late to calm the passengers. If I do the extra work on the front end, I won’t have to do it when the surprises hit.”
Check out Bob Rodriguez Grades Obama, Calls Government ‘Chaos’ Top Threat on ThinkAdvisor.
Wells Fargo Plans Pilot Robo-Advisor for Early 2017 Launch
TD Ameritrade Earns $240M in Quarter; Says Retail Robo Is Coming | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/12965 | In A Future Age
A critique of our unsustainable present
Animal Spirits
Posted: 03/23/2011 | Author: Rob | Filed under: Financial Reform, Sustainability | Tags: American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, animal spirits, Animal Spirits: How Human Psychology Drives the Economy and Why It Matters for Global Capitalism, Barack Obama, Democratic Party, George Akerlof, Great Depression, John Maynard Keynes, Milton Friedman, neo-classical economics, Republican Party, Robert Schiller, stimulus, United States | Leave a comment
On the cover of the paperback version of George Akerlof and Robert Schiller’s Animal Spirits, the blurb, from Time’s Michael Grunwald, is “Animal Sprits [is]… the new must read in Obamaworld.” In March of 2011, two years after President Obama took office and Animal Spirits was first published, it is clear that the President and his economic team were reading from this playbook. However, it is also clear that the President missed an opportunity to communicate to the public why he took the actions that he did. As the United States moves forward in a so-called jobless recovery, and divisiveness and friction rule across D.C. and the country, our economic policy is hobbled and scattershot. Support for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has wavered in the last two years, and the public’s drop in support killed any political will for more stimulus spending. The public apprehension and political failures are ironic, actually, because in Animal Spirits, Akerlof and Schiller write about an earlier misinterpretation of Keynesian economics, during the Great Depression.
In 1936 John Maynard Keynes’ The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money was published. Keynes charted a course between classical economists that argued that less regulation would allow private markets and rational actors, via the famous ‘invisible hand,’ to create jobs, and socialists that argued for the state to direct the economy. Instead, Keynes took issue with the idea that only rational actors governed the economy; he believed that noneconomic, non-rational, animal spirits actually caused involuntary unemployment and economic fluctuation. The government should not be too authoritarian, like the socialists argued, but it should also not be too permissive, like the classical economists argued. Unfortunately, in an effort to create consensus with classical economists, supporters of Keynes removed most of the animal spirits, hoping that they could convince the broad public as quickly as possible to adopt Keynes’ fiscal policy prescriptions (just like President Obama allowed political expediency to rule his economic platform). Unfortunately, this watered down theory was vulnerable to critique by neo-classical economists like Milton Friedman. The central thesis of Akerlof and Schiller’s book is that these animal spirits, cast off in the midst of the Great Depression, remain a prime cause of our contemporary economic difficulties. In fact, these ideas have emerged once again in the field of behavioral economics.
There are five animal spirits that the authors resurrect from The General Theory:
1) Confidence, the trust and belief that leads rational actors to make some irrational decisions, which amplifies business cycles
2) Fairness, often pushed to the backburner in economic textbooks, often trumps economic concerns and impacts both wages and prices
3) Corrupt Behavior and Bad Faith, economic activity with sinister motivation, was clearly evident in the recent economic crisis and recession, but can be clearly traced back through all of the major economic bumps in our past
4) Money illusion, disavowed by neo-classical economists like Milton Friedman, remains a contemporary concern as people continue to be confused about the impact of inflation and deflation
5) Stories, the narratives we create to describe human experience, often seem true and nurture speculative bubbles (like the housing bubble) until the bubble pops and the story changes
In the aftermath of the global economic shock, when many of the great economies of the world continue to stumble towards recovery, Akerlof and Schiller’s analysis is perfectly timed. They clearly trace the impact of these animal spirits on the economy, from the Great Depression through the stagflation of the 1970s, through the recessions and the Savings & Loans crises of the 1980s, the recession and the tech bubble of the 1990s, and finally to the Enron debacle, the housing bubble, and the jobless recoveries of our recent past. Akerlof and Schiller are true Keynesians; they appreciate the power of the free market to create economic opportunity, but they also appreciate the damage that these animal spirits can make in the economy. The vast neo-classical deregulation that started in the 1970s and continued through the last decade did not take into account these Animal Spirits, and the vast economic turmoil was the result.
Confidence is one of the most important animal spirits – it leads ‘rational actors’ to what Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan described as “Irrational exuberance.” If one looks back to the stock market of the 1890s or the 1920s, or the tech and housing bubble of our recent past, confidence is clearly evident. Remember in 2004 when some of your friends said that housing prices could never fall? That is confidence gone astray, irrational exuberance. That is also a story that we all told each other, which seemed irrefutable logic, until it wasn’t.
Fairness has a big impact on unemployment. The neo-classical theories about how a labor market would clear itself revolve around wage efficiency, the idea that employers will pay the lowest wage and employ as many people as possible. Unfortunately, the labor contract is more complicated than that, and the transaction only starts when the wage is agreed upon. Schiller and Akerlof show that wages vary a great deal, and employers often pay more than they need to, to secure a motivated and skilled workforce. Fairness affects both the employer and the employee. The wage that workers deem fair is almost always above the market-clearing wage; this ensures that wages will remain sticky even during economic downturns, despite the fact that the ranks of the unemployed grow.
Money illusion also impacts wages; neo-classical economists argue that there is a Natural Rate of unemployment, but wage rigidity is partly due to the fact that people are largely unaware of the impact of inflation or deflation on their purchasing power. A survey they conducted with a group of economists and a second group representing the general public shows the money illusion clearly: reacting to the statement “I think if my pay went up I would feel more satisfaction… even if prices went up as much,” 90% of the economists disagreed, while 59% of the general public agreed. Fairness and money illusion clearly affect the setting of wages, behind the scenes of economic logic. Akerlof and Schiller argue that we should “fire the forecaster,” and forget, once and for all, the myth that capitalism is pure. They argue that safeguards must be built to protect the general public from the excesses of capitalism. They also make clear that the stories that we tell each other are often irrational and exaggerated, and we must be protected from these exaggerations.
Like I mentioned above, it is clear the Obama Administration used Animal Spirits as a playbook in their efforts to prevent the economy from falling into a Depression. Schiller and Akerlof advocated the use of the Discount window, as well as other provisions taken by both the Federal Reserve as well as the Treasury Department to prop up the banks. To their credit, they also predicted that “the injections may make the banks richer, and therefore less likely to become insolvent, but they will not necessarily lend more money.” As a result, the Government ended up taking extraordinary measures to ensure that money was available for mortgages and loans.
Ultimately, the actions taken by the Administration fell short of what Keynes, or Schiller and Akerlof would advocate. The stimulus was insufficient, and the government did not act aggressively enough to regulate the banks. But like the Gulf Oil spill last summer, I think the biggest loss was the failure to take advantage of the moment to educate the General Public of the external costs of our capitalist economy. If a better effort were made to explain to the general public the Animal Spirits, how they impact the economy, and the logic of the stimulus and TARP, our response could have been more sustained, more consistent, and less contentious. Keynesian economics could have stepped into the clear light of day, but instead the lessons of these animal spirits and their impact on the economy remain lost to much of the general public. Because the problem of Too Big To Fail was not confronted, we will undoubtedly once again be in a position to deal with the consequences of leverage and risk that these global institutions create.
Share this:TwitterFacebookRedditEmailLike this:Like Loading... And the Oscar goes to… a bank?
Posted: 03/01/2011 | Author: Rob | Filed under: Financial Reform | Tags: Academy Awards, AIG, Barack Obama, Ben Bernanke, Bush tax cuts, Charles Ferguson, EXCRESNS, Federal Reserve, Gasland, Goldman Sachs, Hank Paulson, Inside Job, John Maynard Keynes, Josh Fox, JPMorgan Chase, Obama tax cuts, Restrepo, Sebastian Junger, TARP, Tim Geithner, underemployment, unemployment, United States | Leave a comment
The 2011 Academy Awards, hosted this year by acting ingénues James Franco and Anne Hathaway, was an attempt by the Academy of Arts and Sciences to reach out to a new, younger audience. By that measure, the Academy failed miserably, reaching 12% less viewers in the 18-49-age bracket. Ultimately, the Academy’s strategy, to reach all audiences at once, was baldly transparent and ineffective. The projected image of Bob Hope, who produced the funniest lines of the night, represented the Academy jumping the shark.
While The King’s Speech, a film about a British monarch overcoming a speech impediment, took the biggest honors of the night, the most competitive and interesting race was for Best Documentary. Presenter Oprah Winfrey said that, “It has never been more important for us to see these stories to help us try to make some sense of the world we live in.” Five strong films entered, including Sebastian Junger’s Restrepo and Josh Fox’s Gasland. Inside Job, Charles Ferguson’s searing inquiry into the roots of the financial crisis, took the Oscar. As Ferguson accepted his Oscar, he started by saying, “Forgive me, I must start by pointing out that three years after our horrific financial crisis caused by financial fraud, not a single financial executive has gone to jail, and that’s wrong,”
One can’t help but think that JP Morgan Chase (JPMC) foresaw Inside Job’s victory and the speech by Ferguson, as no less than four times during the Oscar broadcast, their “New Way Forward” commercial appeared, promoting JPMC as a key driver of our ‘recovery:’
Conveniently, JPMC released their annual 10-K financial statement one day after the Oscars, so we can put their claims in perspective. In 2010, JPMC held just over $50 Billion in wholesale commercial loans to United States businesses, a significant drop from their commercial commitments in 2007 and 2008. While they are committed to making $10 Billion available to small businesses, that doesn’t mean that they will actually make the loans. Additionally, their offer of a second review seems reminiscent of the situation when you aren’t getting the assistance you need on the phone and ask to speak with a customer service representative’s manager. Why is this process necessary, and what does it actually offer to the small businessperson? More importantly, why are small businesses having trouble getting access to money in the first place?
The quandary over small business loans goes to a larger question: what did the bailout of our financial institutions, through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and FED actions, accomplish, if we don’t yet have a strong recovery? After the financial crisis the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department bailed out many of our largest banks, including investment banks, through funds from TARP and through access to cheap money from the discount window at the FED. Many of the banks were overleveraged, and these programs allowed them to recapitalize. In essence, the government allowed these banks to repair their balance sheet by printing money, and forcing the public to take the loss through devalued currency. The actions in late 2008 and early 2009 by Hank Paulson, Ben Bernanke, and Tim Geithner certainly prevented a collapse of our banking sector. The TARP program remains universally unpopular, despite reports that even losses from loans to AIG won’t top $14 Billion, a significant drop from earlier estimates.
During the last few years, banks like JPMC and Goldman Sachs have made tidy profits and made tidy bonus payments, but that hasn’t necessarily translated into an economic recovery. We have stronger banks, but not a stronger recovery. The Excess Reserves of Depository Institutions (EXCRESNS) is a valuable lens with which to view this quandary. In 2009, after nearly 50 years of being near zero, meaning that banks lent out as much as they could based on their reserves, the data jumps to hockey stick proportions. You don’t have to believe me, you can see the data yourself on the FED’s website. Many banks are standing pat on reserves that they could be lending.
While JPMC isn’t actually saying much in their Oscar ad, they do sound earnest and committed to a recovery. I wonder how much that ad cost? JPMC paid to lobbyists $6.2 Million in 2009 to help make the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill to their liking. What if JPMC lent that money out to small businesses in 2009, instead? In retrospect, I think the Oscar voters missed out on an award-winning acting performance by JPMC.
What can key an economic recovery? Lets look at the stimulus efforts to date, made up of both tax cuts and direct government expenditures. John Maynard Keynes argued that both tax cuts and government spending would help to increase the GDP, but that government investments were far more effective, driving a more powerful Keynesian multiplier. In essence, the expenditures recycle themselves more directly into the economy and have a larger impact, whereas tax cuts are often put into savings or used to pay off debt meaning that less money gets recycled back into the economy.
Republicans often argue that tax cuts ‘pay for themselves,’ relying on the unsubstantiated and discredited ‘Laffer curve;’ for example, the Republican House does not require tax cuts to be paid for in regards to the deficit. With Republican governors continuing to reject direct government stimulus, as Wisconsin and Florida governors recently did with high-speed rail money, this means that our efforts to stimulate the economy will still hurt the deficit, but they will not be very effective.
However, the recent ‘Obama’ tax cuts, the extension of the Bush tax cuts including those on the top 2% of wage earners, amounts to Supply Side economics redux. Capital gains cuts are similar in their effect to tax cuts, as the windfalls go to wealthy taxpayers who won’t spend the money immediately. Supply Side economists argue that by reducing tax rates and eliminating regulation, businesses will be able to hire more workers, and increase the GDP. To date, after many rounds of tax cuts for businesses, unemployment (and more importantly, underemployment) remains high. Looking at the big picture, the actions of our government in response to the financial crisis is a bit like the Academy – trying to please a lot of different audiences at once, without delivering a clear, concise, and effective message.
Share this:TwitterFacebookRedditEmailLike this:Like Loading... Keynes vs. Hayek: the sequel hiphopmaggeden
Posted: 11/04/2010 | Author: Rob | Filed under: Financial Reform | Tags: Austrian School, Friedrich Hayek, John Maynard Keynes, Keynesian economics | Leave a comment
The guys who brought you ‘Fear the Boom and the Bust’, the Hayek vs. Keynes Hip Hop Smackdown are back. They preview their new sequel here in front of an audience of Wall Street Tycoons. The new video comes out in a month, with more lyrics and a new beat. For now, check out these sweet econ rhymes, starting at about 1:30 of the Youtube clip.
Incidentally, if you missed the original video, here it is:
Share this:TwitterFacebookRedditEmailLike this:Like Loading... Review of The Shock Doctrine, by Naomi Klein
Posted: 07/15/2010 | Author: Rob | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 9/11, Argentina, Augusto Pinochet, Bolivia, Boris Yeltzin, Capitalism and Freedom, Chicago Boys, Chile, China, CIA, Deng Xiaoping, Developmentalist, Donald Rumsfeld, Ewen Cameron, Friedrich A. Hayek, International Monetary Fund, Iraq War, ITT, Jeffrey Sachs, John Maynard Keynes, Kubark Counterintelligence Interrogation, McGill University, Milton Friedman, MK Ultra, Naomi Klein, Richard Nixon, Russia, Salvador Allende, South America, Southern Cone, Sri Lanka, The Brick, The Shock Doctrine, United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, University of Chicago, Uruguay | Leave a comment
I was born in 1976, and came of age in Ronald Reagan’s ‘Morning in America.’ After reading Naomi Klein’s 2007 book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, I feel as if a veil has been lifted from my perception of history, and the important events of my youth stand out in new significance. The story told in this important book centers around Milton Freidman, and the fundamentalist capitalist beliefs espoused at the University of Chicago School of Economics, where Freidman taught.
Klein’s main thesis in the book, which travels across continents and decades, is that in order to implement the fundamentalist economic policies espoused by the Chicago School, a clean slate is required. The technique to facilitate that clean slate is what amounts to the shock doctrine. Klein uses a quote from Freidman’s introduction to his seminal work, Capitalism and Freedom to quantify the shock doctrine. Freidman observes that:
“Only a crisis – actual or perceived – produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. That, I believe, is our basic function: to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible becomes politically inevitable.”
The crisis that Freidman describes is crucial. To analyze how that crisis and the clean sheet are created, Klein uses torture as a metaphor, tracing the ghastly experiments at McGill University by psychiatrist Ewen Cameron, under the direction of the CIA (through its MK FrUltra program).
Dr. Ewen Cameron
Cameron believed that in order to teach his patients new behaviors, old pathological patterns needed to broken up to create a tabula rasa. The way to create that blank slate was to attack the mind with electricity, uppers, downers, and hallucinogens to, in Cameron’s words, “disinhibit [the patient] so that his defenses might be reduced.”
The CIA provided grants to Cameron starting in 1957; at this point Cameron started upping the number of shocks to unprecedented levels, increasing the dosage of drugs, and experimenting with sensory deprivation and extended sleep. The CIA took the fruit of Cameron’s research and produced a handbook, Kubark Counterintelligence Interrogation, a secret manual on the interrogation of resistant sources. The CIA taught these methods to authoritarian governments including Chile, Guatemala, Honduras, and Iran.
Klein traces the introduction of this fundamentalist form of capitalism over the last 40 years and finds that:
“Seen through the lens of this doctrine… some of the most infamous human rights violations of this era, which have tended to be viewed as sadistic acts carried out by antidemocratic regimes, were in fact either committed with the deliberate intent of terrorizing the public or actively harnessed to prepare the ground for the introduction of radical free market ‘reforms.’”
Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia were part of the first wave of the imposition of Freidman’s reforms, and those junta regimes used disappearances, as well as torture techniques from the Kubark handbook, to eliminate opposition to the implementation of reforms. Klein also views the 1990s crises in China, Russia, and Asia through the lens of the shock doctrine, and closely looks at the role of the International Monetary Fund in creating the necessary shock condition. Ultimately, Klein turns to 9/11, Iraq and Sri Lanka to show the rise of disaster capitalism as a global movement.
Economist Milton Freidman
In the 1960s, at the University of Chicago, Freidman saw a United States where its capitalism was tainted by “interferences” (fixed prices, minimum wage, public education); while they may have provided benefits to the public, these interferences polluted the equilibrium of the market and inhibited market signals. Freidman and his fellow Chicago economists (including his mentor Friedrich Hayek) wanted to purify the market, to get rid of these interferences. Friedman saw the mixed economy supported by John Maynard Keynes as the enemy to be defeated.
Freidman’s prescription was as follows: remove as many rules and regulations as possible, privatize most state assets, and cut back most social programs. Taxes should be low, and flat, if they should exist at all. Protectionism was sacrilege to Freidman. The invisible hand should determine prices, and there should be no minimum wage. These were bold steps to take, even in the capitalist United States. In order to prove his theories, Freidman would have to demonstrate them in the real world. He found a laboratory in Chile, one of the Developmentalist, mixed economies in South America that sought to find a middle road between the Cold War economic extremes.
These economies were linked around the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America, based in Santiago Chile, and headed by economist Raul Prebisch. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the Developmentalist economies prospered, and nurtured a burgeoning middle class. However, American multi-national companies like Ford convinced the United States government create a program that, starting in 1956, educated 100 Chilean economists at the University of Chicago. These Chileans, indoctrinated in Freidman’s fundamentalist beliefs, were unable to change Chile, however, without America’s help.
After the 1970 election of leftist Salvador Allende, the new government promised to nationalize sectors of the economy that were being run by foreign corporations. President Nixon declared a virtual war on Chile through the Ad Hoc Committee on Chile, which included ITT, owner of 70% of the Chilean phone system. Ultimately, in September 1973 General Augusto Pinochet took power in a military coup, but before the coup, the Chicago boys prepared a set of laws and regulations known as “The Brick” which went into effect immediately, a 500 page economic bible full of deregulation, privatization, and social spending cuts.
General Augusto Pinochet
Unfortunately, by 1974, counter to the expectations of Freidman and the Chicago Boys, inflation doubled to 375%. The Chicago boys argued that the medicine wasn’t strong enough, and Freidman himself came to the country in 1975 to personally make the same case. Freidman urged another 25% spending cut, and even more deregulation. Unfortunately, in the next year the economy contracted by 15%, and unemployment reached 20%. In fact, the economy did not start to improve until 1982, when Pinochet was forced to follow Allende’s advice and nationalize many companies. Ultimately, the real legacy of Freidman’s prescription in Chile was that by 1988, 45% of the population had fallen below the poverty line, while the richest 10% had seen their incomes increase 83%. But it wasn’t just poverty that eviscerated the middle class; Pinochet used the techniques in the Kubark manual to torture prisoners, who instead of being arrested, were “disappeared.” In fact, the CIA trained Pinochet’s security forces, along with those in Uruguay and Argentina. Ultimately, in South America, that was the effort required to create a tabula rasa: military coup, economic shock, and torture.
Klein’s conception of the Shock Doctrine is most clear when she looks at the brutal dictatorships in South America, as well as South Africa’s transition and Russia’s paradigm shift in the 1990s. Klein’s analysis of Russia under Yeltzin is powerful. I was in high school and college during those years, and my impression was formed from the jingoistic American press. Klein makes clear that the IMF and Jeffrey Sachs, economic wunderkind, produced the kind of pressure that resulted in tragedy and mass killings.
However, Klein’s argument loses coherence when she looks at China, the United States, and Sri Lanka. In the United States, Klein makes the leap from Freidman laissez-faire economics to the privatized homeland security apparatus. I applaud the critique of Donald Rumsfeld, a Freidman acolyte, but it doesn’t fit the overall thesis. In China, Klein describes the protestors as resisting the free market reforms of Deng Xiaoping. Klein argues that most of the protestors opposed free market reforms, and that Xiaoping attacked those protestors to quell the rebellion and implement reforms while the Chinese population was still in shock. This narrative is historically tenuous, at best.
However, the larger point of Klein, particularly as demonstrated in South America, is valid. Freidman’s fundamentalist free market reforms require a tabula rasa, and the middle and lower classes will naturally oppose the lowering of their standard of living. In order to create the tabula rasa, some level of force will be required. The research that Ewen Cameron completed at McGill University is particularly troubling, especially in light of the torture that the United States implemented in Iraq. In fact, Iraq is a Pandora’s box that should continue to produce troubling revelations. Hopefully, those revelations will remain in the public consciousness the next time that we want to create the kind of fundamental change that President Bush wanted to in Iraq, that General Pinochet wanted to do in Chile, and that dictators have long sought to do in the name of the free market.
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Posted: 07/02/2010 | Author: Rob | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alan Greenspan, austerity, Barack Obama, Bond vigilantes, Canada, Congressional Budget Office, entitlement reform, G20, Herbert Hoover, housing market, Japan, John Maynard Keynes, Paul Krugman, Republican Party, stimulus, Sweden, The Economist, Thriller, unemployment benefits, Wall Street Journal, zombies | Leave a comment
Beware, the bond vigilantes are coming! Or are they?
Get the kids, get the dog, and grab whatever weapons you happen to have within arms reach, zombies are coming! Now, I’m not talking about the raised dead, like we all saw on Thriller, but rather bond vigilantes, about to pull the plug on good old Uncle Sam because they perceive us as unable or unwilling to pay our debt. At the G20 summit this week, President Obama argued that more Keynesian stimulus was necessary until employment recovered. The rest of the G20 balked, opting instead of fiscal austerity, because they fear the bond vigilantes. Economist Paul Krugman, Nobel laureate, believes you can put that weapon down:
“Yes, America has long-run budget problems, but what we do on stimulus over the next couple of years has almost no bearing on our ability to deal with these long-run problems. As Douglas Elmendorf, the director of the Congressional Budget Office, recently put it, “There is no intrinsic contradiction between providing additional fiscal stimulus today, while the unemployment rate is high and many factories and offices are underused, and imposing fiscal restraint several years from now, when output and employment will probably be close to their potential.” Nonetheless, every few months we’re told that the bond vigilantes have arrived, and we must impose austerity now now now to appease them. Three months ago, a slight uptick in long-term interest rates was greeted with near hysteria: “Debt Fears Send Rates Up,” was the headline at The Wall Street Journal, although there was no actual evidence of such fears, and Alan Greenspan pronounced the rise a “canary in the mine.” Since then, long-term rates have plunged again. Far from fleeing U.S. government debt, investors evidently see it as their safest bet in a stumbling economy. Yet the advocates of austerity still assure us that bond vigilantes will attack any day now if we don’t slash spending immediately.”
However, advocates for austerity want to cut off unemployment benefits, when the housing market, and the larger economy, is still on life support. They want to fire teachers, firefighters, and policemen around the country by slashing state aid. In the halls of power, you can hear faint echoes of Herbert Hoover. These austerity advocates often talk about Japan’s lost decade, and the inability of government spending to lift that country out of its recession. However, no less than the Economist, Bible to the global business elite, brings up the much more pertinent examples of Canada and Sweden:
“The advocates of austerity… base their argument on cases in the 1990s, when countries such as Canada to Sweden cut their deficits and boomed. But in most of these instances interest rates fell sharply or the country’s currency weakened. Those remedies are not available now: interest rates are already low and rich-country currencies cannot all depreciate at once. Without those cushions, fiscal austerity is not likely to boost growth.”
What would be a sensible action to take right now? Well, how about finally tackling entitlement reform? Sure sure, Republicans would never undertake bipartisan work on entitlements in their Party of No posture, but stepping outside of political reality, now is the perfect time for politicians to compromise and craft a sensible reform of Social Security. If not now, when? It would send the right signals to those (imaginary) bond vigilantes that everyone worries about so much, but more to the point, it would deal with the long-term deficit, which we will have to deal with sooner or later. Politicians will always try to punt that football down the road, but who is to say that there will be a better opportunity in the future?
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Posted: 05/30/2010 | Author: Rob | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Alan Greenspan, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, Collateralized Debt Obligations, Federal Reserve, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, John Maynard Keynes, Larry Summers, Milton Friedman, Ronald Reagan | Leave a comment
Economist Milton Friedman
John Maynard Keyes wrote in 1945 that “the day is not far off when the economic problem will take the back seat where it belongs, and the arena of the heart and the head will be occupied or reoccupied, by our real problems – the problems of life and of human relations, of creation and behavior and religion.” In the United States, we have pursued a policy of unquestioned growth and expansion, following the recommendations of prominent economists with an ardor that borders on religiosity. However, the economic problem, as Keynes described it, has not taken a back seat, but rather has the developed world in the grip of a severe recession.
In the United States we have always looked to economists for the magic to make our economy go. Milton Friedman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, believed that a free market economy could expand and prosper with minimal government interference. Alan Greenspan, an admirer of Friedman, was revered as an enabler of unending growth during his service as Chairman of the Federal Reserve; he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the inaugural Harry S. Truman Medal for Economic Policy, the inaugural Thomas Jefferson Foundation Medal in Civilian Leadership, and was named both a Knight Commander of the British Empire and a Commander of the French L’Egion D’honneur. Presidents from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush all trusted Greenspan with the keys to the economy. During the same time period, Bill Clinton, a Democrat, trusted economist Larry Summers’ advice that deregulation of banking and finance would also lead to continued growth; that was the height of Milton Friedman’s influence. Barack Obama appointed Summers to be Chairman of his Economic Council despite the fact that his policies were partly at fault for the current economic crisis. Why do all of these Presidents, from Reagan on the right to Obama on the left, put so much faith in these economists? Keynes, in The General Theory of Employment History and Money (1935), addressed this question. He wrote that:
“The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas.”
The economic policies of the United States have become more and more complex since Keynes’ time. Over the decades, as the United States left the Gold standard, and created a dynamic economy reliant on the growth of consumption and continuous expansion, we have relied and trusted economists to make it all work. Most Americans who do not work on Wall Street have trouble understanding even some of the basic terminology and concepts used in finance today. Many of us learned what a Collateralized Debt Obligation was last year, and discovered how debt was securitized in such complex ways that even some of the old hands in charge of major firms didn’t really understand. Americans trusted economists to drive our growth, and while many don’t understand the problems we face, they expect economists to create a deus ex machina to miraculously get us out of the recession and onward to unending growth.
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Posted: 05/21/2010 | Author: Rob | Filed under: EROEI, Sustainability | Tags: EROEI, Global Warming, John Maynard Keynes, Sustainability, The Atlantic | Leave a comment
In 1930, with the Western World mired in the Great Depression, John Maynard Keynes wrote an essay, titled Economic Possibilities for our Grandchildren, in which he forecast that one day, the economic problem which had concerned the human race since its beginning would be solved. He wrote that “assuming no important wars, and no important increase in population” we could be in sight of a solution by 2030. Of course no one except possibly Adolf Hitler could have foreseen World War II. In addition, the population of the world has increased since 1930. However, Keynes’ point about scarcity, that the human economic problem could be solved, bears consideration.
Keynes believed that revolutionary technical improvements would create the condition for continued advances in the material condition of peoples’ lives. He also believed that when those continuing technical developments improved the human condition to a certain point, the human moral condition would change. The large majority of us would have a “purposeness” in which we would be “more concerned with the remote future results of our actions than with their own quality or their immediate effects on our own environment.” Basically, Keynes believed that the great majority of people would no longer strive to accumulate wealth; in fact we would return to traditional conditions of virtue where “avarice is a vice, the extraction of usury is a misdemeanor, and the love of money is detestable… we shall once more value ends above means and prefer the good to the useful.”
Keynes did not think scarcity would be a problem, because he believed that innovations would solve any problems of scarcity that appeared. Looking back at the last 80 years, The Green Revolution is an example of a predicted scarcity that was overcome with technical innovations. Mark Sagoff, in his 1997 essay “Do We Consume Too Much,” considered again the question of scarcity; he too believed that the human capacity for innovation was infinite. As an example, he shows how the farm fishing of salmon and tilapia makes up for disappearing fisheries in our oceans.
Sagoff structures his argument about what he considers three main misconceptions: that we are running out of raw materials, food and timber, and energy. He describes how economists disproved Keynes’ main proposition, that accumulation would no longer improve well-being, – because they discovered that human wants are insatiable. Sagoff doesn’t buy that, but he does believe that “as long as the debate over sustainability is framed in terms of physical limits to growth rather than the moral purpose, mainstream economic theory will have the better of the argument.”
Now mainstream economic theory does treat scarcity as something to be solved with innovation. We do commonly substitute one resource for another; however, during the economic downturn, it has become common to see people break into vacant homes to steal copper, a resource that is becoming scarce. The other problem with unending mineral wealth and energy supply is that over time, the Energy Returned on Energy Invested (EROEI) of oil, copper, and other resources has gradually diminished; the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico shows that obtaining oil from the ocean bottom is a technical feat, but also inherently expensive, difficult, and dangerous. With China and India building their respective Middle Classes, the scarcity of resources will only become more apparent. Technology will certainly help; alternative energy will expand, and new forms of efficiency will be discovered.
The problem, of course, with that reliance on technology is that humans also rely on the Earth’s biosphere to support our growth and development. Global Warming will make it more and more difficult for human civilization to prosper, unless we change our habits. Sagoff wrote that “we consume too much when consumption becomes an end itself and makes us lose affection and reverence for the natural world.” Unfortunately, affection and reverence will not do the job. Consumption is an end to itself, at least in Western Society. The moral dreams of Keynes seem quaint today. Certainly, when we consider the sustainability of our communities, we do echo the “purposeness” that Keynes imagined. However, we also invent new technologies that require more and more energy consumption, like the iPhone. The excessive consumption that Sagoff saw in 1997 will go on unabated, largely, until scarcity becomes apparent to human society at large. When gas prices went up above $4/gallon, people adjusted their consumption habits; some even bought ultra-efficient vehicles.
Of course, when you look at science fiction, with stories set in the distant future, humans typically have discovered some sort of energy source that allows them to travel light years through space. You could call it unobtanium. In our time, cold fusion was that unobtanium. Of course, the “discovery” of cold fusion” in the late 1970s turned out to be incorrect. I don’t discount the potential for innovations that would solve the problems of scarcity that I see on the horizon. In fact, after reading Keynes and Sagoff’s essays, I don’t doubt that the world will turn out completely different than I am imagining it 50 or even 100 years from now. However, I am skeptical that our voracious consumption will ever abate; as such, I see scarcity as a continual dilemma for human society.
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2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/13001 | Home > About the PCAOB > Senior Staff
George Botic
Special Advisor to Chairman James R. Doty
Page Image Page ContentGeorge Botic is special advisor to PCAOB Chairman James R. Doty. He advises the chairman on all matters that come before the Board for decision. He is also involved with international, cross-border inspection efforts and the development of regulatory policy for the PCAOB.
Previously, Mr. Botic was a deputy director in the Division of Registration and Inspections where he oversaw the operations of the Non-Affiliated Firm Inspection Program for domestic and non-U.S. registered accounting firms. He also oversaw the inspection reporting for all triennially inspected firms. Mr. Botic served as the division's representative in all matters related to international regulatory relations, working closely with the Office of International Affairs to establish and maintain cooperative arrangements with non-U.S. regulators. He joined the PCAOB in 2003.
Before joining the PCAOB, Mr. Botic was a senior manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the Washington office. During 13 years at PwC, he conducted audits of numerous public and private companies in a variety of industries and assisted companies in going public.
Mr. Botic is a graduate of Shepherd University and received a Master of Accountancy from Virginia Tech.
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2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/13159 | USCANADALog In Tech Coast Angels Hold First Close on Fund
Investor network Tech Coast Angels has held a first close of its Angel Capital Entrepreneurial Fund I. The amount of the close was not released. Tech Coast Angels focus on early-stage, high-growth companies in Southern California, and invests across a range of sectors including life sciences, retail, Internet, media and consumer products. PRESS RELEASE:
Tech Coast Angels (TCA), the nation’s largest angel investment network, today announced the completion of the first closing of its Angel Capital Entrepreneurial (ACE) Fund 1. The Fund has begun investing in early-stage, game-changing companies, and entrepreneurs are encouraged to submit plans to TCA for funding consideration. One of the purposes of the Fund, according to Dave Berkus, Chairman Emeritus of TCA, is that it “gives us more fire power and the ability to move quickly on what we evaluate as excellent business opportunities. In fact, the Fund’s first investment in Vokle, a unique online event platform, was completed in seven days.”
The efficient structure of the ACE Fund is what makes possible the rapid decision-making. Management of the ACE1 Fund is overseen by an elected Board of Trustees and potential investments are brought before the membership by an elected five-member Deal Committee. This structure assures that all members of the Fund benefit from the investment experience of the committee, while still having the opportunity to vote on selections. This structure is original to the Fund and has been operating smoothly since its inception, according to Berkus. The Deal Committee meets at least twice a month to review all potential deals that have been presented to TCA. If a proposal appears exceptionally promising, the committee can bring it to vote that day and the funding can be completed in a week.
For consideration by the ACE Fund, entrepreneurs simply go through the standard process of presenting an idea to TCA. This can be done by going to the TCA website (www.techcoastangels.com) and following the steps. The ACE Fund will invest in entrepreneurial enterprises selected for their game-changing ideas, strength of management and market growth potential. Invested companies are mentored by TCA members who participate in day-to-day activities, giving the companies a significant leg-up in terms of expertise and management experience.
Entrepreneurs may submit proposals to TCA. For instructions and procedures visit: www.techcoastangels.com
About Tech Coast Angels
Tech Coast Angels, www.techcoastangels.com, is the largest angel investor group in the United States. Its members provide funding and guidance to more early-stage, high-growth companies in Southern California than any other investment group. TCA members invest in companies in a wide range of industries, including life sciences, biotech, IT, services, retail, Internet, financial, software, media, consumer products and tech startups. TCA members give companies more than just capital; they also provide counsel, mentoring and access to an extensive network of potential investors, customers, strategic partners and management talent. TCA has more than 250 members, including its venture capital affiliates, in five networks in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Westlake/Santa Barbara and the Inland Empire. More information on investment with Tech Coast Angels can be found at www.techcoastangels.com, www.facebook.com/techcoastangels or twitter.com/techcoastangels.
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2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/13214 | Lassonde Industries Secures New Canadian Credit Facilities
ROUGEMONT, QC, April 10, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Lassonde Industries Inc. (TSX: LAS.A) ("Lassonde") announces that it has secured new credit facilities for its Canadian operations aggregating up to $ 250 million. The facilities include a 5-year committed revolving operating line of credit for up to $ 175 million (which represents an increase of $ 105 million over the existing operating facility) and a term facility of approximately $ 75 million. The operating facility is provided by a syndicate of Canadian financial institutions. The term facility has been fully drawn so as to replace under the same terms and conditions and with the same lender the current Canadian term loans of Lassonde. The revolving facility will be used to finance operations and may be used, under certain conditions, for potential acquisitions. The facilities are unsecured and exclude Lassonde's U.S. subsidiary Clement Pappas and Company, Inc. which has its own credit facilities. Interest margins and fee rates for the credit instruments available under the operating facility vary, based on a financial ratio, from 0 to 100 basis points in the case of prime rate based loans and from 1.25 % to 2.25 % in the case of other instruments. About Lassonde Industries Inc. Lassonde Industries Inc. is a North American leader in the development, manufacture and sale of a wide range of fruit and vegetable juices and drinks marketed under brands such as Everfresh, Fairlee, Flavür, Fruité, Graves, Oasis and Rougemont. Lassonde is also the second largest producer of store brand ready-to-drink fruit juices and drinks in the United States and a major producer of cranberry juices, drinks and sauces. Lassonde also develops, manufactures and markets specialty food products under brands such as Antico and Canton. The Company imports and markets selected wines from various countries and manufactures apple ciders and wine-based beverages. Prev | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/13296 | Dec 9th (Sun)
Dec 7, 2012 4:00pm EST
think the fiscal cliff uncertainty is going to continue t actually. so i'm a little more bearish in the near term. then i think it's a sell-off, if there is one, that should be bought aggressively for a rally in the end of 2013 that would be the beginning of a new bull market. >> when you say a rally towards the end of next year, do you think over the course of 2013 it's going to end higher? we're going to be higher than where we are right now? >> yeah, i mean, i think ultimately 2013 ends up higher at the end. i think we're going to go -- we're going to test some lower resistance in the first six, seven months of the year. we have so much uncertainty in washington. we do have slowing economies in europe and in the u.s. >> right. david, what do you say right now? break the tie for us. >> break the tie. in the near term, there's an epic tug of war between extremely aggressive monetary easing and just total disdain for what they're doing in washington on tax and regulatory policy. in the near term, the fiscal cliff prevails. in the longer term, the fed will prevail. there's so much BBC Newsnight
to the pressing economic deadline facing the united states, which has global implications. the fiscal cliff, a combination of tax increases and spending cuts. right now there is a political standoff, which the head of the imf, christine largarde, has a duty to stop. >> the fiscal cliff -- when you talk to people around the world, how concerned are they about the ramifications of americans going over this cliff? >> people around the world are concerned about it. it used to be the case that they were more concerned about the eurozone than the fiscal cliff. now things have changed. they often ask about it and its resolution. >> what do you think the impact could be globally? we're looking at a time when the global recovery is fragile at best. >> the u.s. is about 20% of the global economy. if the u.s. suffers as a result of the fiscal cliff, a complete wiping out of its growth, it is going to have repercussions around the world. if the u.s. economy has two% less growth, it will probably be a 1% less growth in mexico, canada, in europe, and japan. there will be ripple effects. >> are you worrie Hardball With Chris Matthews
in washington. let me start tonight with this, with hope. i think we're getting somewhere with this fiscal cliff problem. number one, smart conservatives now say the republicans would face hell if they let this country go over the fiscal cliff. just to protect the top 2%. better to take the hit now, they argued, than in january with the world economy in turmoil and second recession coming. number two, john boehner, the speaker is claiming he's met obama's demand for higher taxes for the rich. that's good. he agreed in principle the rich must pay more. number three, there's talk for the republican leaders that they could vote to continue the tax cuts for the 98% now and therefore avoid the fiscal cliff and put off for now the top 2%. and the question then, let the debt ceiling not take effect. a tax cut delayed i argue is a tax cut avoided. joining me with the republican defense highly tauted fan of the eagles, ed rendell and alex wagner of msnbc's "now." governor, i want you to read what's going on here. first speaker boehner defended the gop's tax proposal saying it does take a bite out of the Hardball With Chris Matthews
% now and therefore avoid the fiscal cliff and put off for now the top 2%. and the question then, let the debt ceiling not take effect. a tax cut delayed i argue is a tax cut avoided. joining me with the republican defense highly tauted fan of the eagles, ed rendell and alex wagner of msnbc's "now." governor, i want you to read what's going on here. first speaker boehner defended the gop's tax proposal saying it does take a bite out of the rich but president obama held firm to tax rate hike on the wealthiest. let's listen to the back and forth. >> revenues we're putting on the table are going to come from, guess who? the rich. there are ways to limit deductions, close loopholes and have the same people pay more of their money to the federal government without raising tax rates, which we believe will harm our economy. >> let's allow higher rates to go up for the top 2%, that includes all of you, yes. but not in any way that's going to affect your spending, your lifestyles, or the economy in any significant way. let's make sure that 98% of americans don't see it -- a single dime in tax Markets Now
Dec 7, 2012 11:00am EST
to the edge of the fiscal cliff. instead of reforming the tax code, the president wants to raise tax rates. even if the president that the tax rate hike that he wanted, understand that we will continue to see trillion dollar deficits for as far as the eye can see. washington has a spending3 problem, not a revenue problem. if the president does not agree with our proposal, i believe he has an obligation to families and small businesses to offer a plan of his own. we are ready and eager to talk to the president about such plan. >> you did speak with the president earlier this week, can you characterize that call. also, it has to be increases in rates for the wealthy or no deal. >> the phone call was pleasant, but more of the same. it is time for the president to be serious and come back with a counter offer. [inaudible question] >> the risk the president wants us to take, increasing tax rates will hit many small businesses that produce 60-70% of the new jobs in our country. that is the whole issue. [inaudible question] >> i think that is reckless talk. [inaudible question] >> listen, raising Washington Journal
" this morning -- that is a little bit from "politico" on that fiscal cliff. david, thank you for holding. caller: yes, good morning. host: what do you think about hillary clinton could go future? caller: i do not think she will run. [indiscernible] we have the man that we need [indiscernible] we are not working. there is no way the government can be supported. host: that was david from georgia them but we are able to bring you some live events to date on c-span. this afternoon, the annual christmas tree lighting. the president will be there. that will be live at 4:30 p.m. eastern time. you will be able to see the lights on the national christmas tree. that is held right in front of the white house just south of the white house. jay on our boat page says -- says -- page scott is an independent from florida. caller: good afternoon, c-span. i am going to say some things you probably do not want to hear but there are the truth about hillary clinton. i think she is very intelligent and on top of her game. when i look back at her career when her husband was president, we were having attacks on our and Capitol Hill Hearings
the fiscal cliff. this included chris van hollen. also, senators mark warner and bob corker, a republican from tennessee. this is one hour. >> good morning. i'm the head of bloomberg government. thank you for joining us today, and thank you to deloitte for partnering with us in this event. when we launched bloomberg government just about two years ago, we had the aspiration of creating a one-stop shop, with data, tools, news, and analysis to help government affairs and government sales professionals make better and faster decisions. we went a long way toward achieving that aspiration. a big part of it is conversations on the important issues that face our nation today, particularly at the intersection of business and government. today's discussion on the fiscal cliff clearly meets that. we are honored to have such a thoughtful panel. senator mark warner, senator bob corker, congressman chris van hollen, governor tim pawlenty, who is currently president and ceo of the financial services roundtable. moderating our discussion today is al hunt. we always love having al over here. he really pu BBC World News America
. >> christine lagarde, the fiscal cliff, how concerned are they about the ramifications? >> people around the world are concerned about it. it appears to be the case there was more concerned about the eurozone than the fiscal cliff. now things have changed and there is more concerned about the fiscal cliff. they asked about a resolution. >> what could the impact speed? we are looking at a time when the global recovery is fragile at best. >> of u.s. is 20% of the global economy. if the u.s. suffers as a result of a fiscal cliff, a complete wiping out of its growth is going to have repercussions around the world. probably half of that. if the u.s. economy has less growth, it will probably be 1% less in mexico, canada, probably less so in europe and japan. but there will be a ripple effects. >> are you worried about it? >> yes. of course i worry about it. the u.s. is a big chunk of the global economy. it has often been a driver of growth. and to have that player virtually flat, if not in recession, would be bad news for the rest of the world. we do not need that because recovery is fragile. Capitol Hill Hearings
. tonight on c-span, a senate debate on the fiscal cliff. shaun donovan discusses it. harry reid and mitch mcconnell when back-and-forth on fiscal cliff issues and a proposal to raise the debt ceiling. here is part of their exchange. >> yesterday afternoon, i came to the floor and offered president obama's proposal on the fiscal cliff to show that neither he nor democrats in congress are acting in good faith in these negotiations. with just a few weeks ago before a potentially entirely avoidable blow to the economy, the president proposed a plan the members of his own party will even vote for. he is not interested in a balanced agreement, not particularly interested in avoiding the fiscal cliff, and clearly not interested at all in cutting any spending. with the president is really in, as we learned just yesterday, is getting as much taxpayer money as he can, first by raising taxes on small businesses who he believes are making too much money, and then on everybody else. not so he can lower the debt or the deficit, but so he can spend to his heart's content. for months, the president has b Americas News Headquarters
on avoiding the so-called fiscal cliff were going no where on capitol hill. each side continues to dig in. but even if the president and house speaker john baner are able to reach a deal, there is no guarantee it would pass the lame duck congress. some say they are not sure they could go along with it. and some democrats might balk as well. everybody agrees that something has to be done, but so far no deal. >> first if congress does nothing, every family in america will see their income taxes go up on january 1st. a typical middle class family of four will get a $22 tax hike. that would be bad for families. it would be bad for businesses, and it would drag down our entire economy. >> we must get the national debt under control. tax increases will not solve our $sick teen trillion debt. only economic growth and a reform of entitlement programs will control the debt. >> let's say hello to our political panel. debbie is the former chair of vice president al gore's 2000 campaign in michigan. nice to see you. and chip is a former governor, nice to see you chip. let me talk to you about the ide Piers Morgan Tonight
. it is hypocritical. turning to other offensive things the fiscal cliff which is beginning to be the crashing balls in politics. you are three bright americans involved in politics. you find this almost laughable that year in and year out that washington doesn't get deals done. you are thinking what is wrong with american politicians? why can't they get around the table and negotiate properly? >> nobody cares about the future of america. here we have america urging the israe israelis to negotiate except us in washington. our parties are so extreme. >> i think the moral is set so low right now on both sides. the country is so divided. we are the one that is are going to be handed down the $16 trillion deficit. it is hard for this to play out. they will come to some sort of a deal. you are going to see them come to a deal. you are going to see them with something sort of like the simpson bowles. >> pam has sent it to the public. that if it goes over the fiscal cliff republicans are prepared to make the middle class pay more tax paying more. and that is a very bad position for the republicans to find Starting Point
republicans want to solve washington's fiscal cliff dilemma, and what the democrats are saying about it. we'll talk about that, and much more with our special guest this morning, the former british prime minister tony blair is with us. but planes from iran. revolutionary guards showing off what they are claiming to be is a captured american drone. coming up why the pentagon says don't believe it. >>> and baby makes three at buckingham palace. the royal couple, will and kate, creating a media frenzy on both sides of the pond with word that they are expecting. we're going to go live to london. >> talk about this morning, in addition to tony blair, we're talking to democratic congressman xavier becerra, republican senator ron johnson from the state of wisconsin, also pat houston, whitney houston's sister-in-law and manager and jeopardy champion ken jennings written a new book. it's tuesday, december 4th, "starting point" begins right now. >>> welcome everybody, you're watching "starting point." we're honored this morning to have the former british prime minister tony blair with us as our guest Piers Morgan Tonight
the simpson bowles. >> pam has sent it to the public. that if it goes over the fiscal cliff republicans are prepared to make the middle class pay more tax paying more. and that is a very bad position for the republicans to find themselves in isn't it? >> sit a very bad position for them to find themselves in. the fact of the matter is, it isn't true. the taxes on the wealthiest americans, it doesn't address the core problems. the $16 trillion comes from government over spending and we have slow growth. raising the taxes on anybody whether it is on the poor or the other americans doesn't solve the problem. let's get in and figure out what the key problems are and solve those. i made an analogy earlier to giving a kid more allowance. i stopped paying them. >> i mean un believable. so kate, middleton, is in hospital with this morning sickness and revealed that she is pregnant and some dumb aussie dejay rings up with this accent and they think it is the queen of england land. have you ever heard of something so ludicrous? >> i thought it was you. >> of all the problems in the world this is Varney Company
, these are taxes no matter how the fiscal cliff works out. and larry ellison knows it and pays to avoid a dividend tax. gets 200 million dollars. i'm still shaking my head. ambassador anna wintour? "varney & company" is about to begin. [ male announcer ] this is steve. he loves risk. but whether he's climbing everest, scuba diving the great barrier reef with sharks, or jumping into the marke hgoes with people he trusts, which ishy he trades with a company that doesn't nickel and dime im with hidden fs. he caworry about other things, like what the market is doing and being ready, no matter what happens, which isn't rocket science. it's just common sense, from td ameritrade. i heard you guys can sp ground for ss than the ups store. that's right. i've learned the only way to get a holiday deal is to camput. you know we've be open all night. is this a trick to t my st? male announcer break frothe holiday stss. save on ground shipping at fedex office. >> ambassador anna wintour, it's got an interesting ring, does it not? a new report says that president obama is considering the fashion magazine editor Piers Morgan Tonight
of running the original picture. >>> turning to other offensive things. the fiscal cliff, which is beginning to be one of the great crashing bores in the history of world publics. you're three bright americans all involved in politics, in some way or form. the rest of the world finds this, not only laughable, but almost dangerously laughable, that year in, year out, it seems, washington goes to these cliffs. plays games, doesn't get deals done. what the hell is wrong with american politicians? alan dershowitz, what is wrong with american politicians? why can't they get around a table and negotiate properly? >> because all they care about is getting elected. nobody cares deeply about the future of america. we have america to urge with the israelis to negotiate with the palestinians. urging to negotiate with everyone but us in washington. we don't negotiate. our parties are so extreme. i'm a relatively wealthy person. i want to be paying more taxes. i want our taxes to go to serve the policies of the country, education, charity, health care. i think that president obama's right about this. but Liberally Stephanie Miller
and the business roundtable, a big business lobbying group. this morning fiscal cliff negotiations appear to be at a stand still. treasury secretary tim geithner says the president's offer is unwavering. we're going to let tax rates go up for top earners and republicans will have to work with that reality. >> there is no responsible way we can govern this country with those low rates in place for future generations. those rates are going to have to go up. >> house speaker john boehner appears to be struggling now that the president and democrats are negotiating for a position of power. talking points memo points out republicans are used to getting 70% to 75% of what they ask for in these types of negotiations but now speaker boehner is going on and on about how he's shocked and amazed at president's plan and is refusing to offer a counter plan on the republican side. you want to talk about this or anything else, join us online at current.com/stephaniemiller. we'll see you with more after the break. kind of guys who do like rev Jansing and Co.
to be digging in on a fiscal cliff deal and so right now it's a stalemate. >> for right now i would say we're nowhere. period. we're nowhere. >> what are the chance we'll go over the live? >> there's clearly chance. >> tuning we'll get a deal by the end. year. >> do i. >> i think we'll go over the cliff. >> republicans are angry the president presented them with an offer they don't think is serious. but the president's new negotiating strategy is clear, don't give in. don't start with concessions. even as some republicans say they don't think they need to put out any kind of formal proposal. let me bring in "the washington post" columnist and our politics reporter. good morning. so the headline in the "new york times" is pushing the gop to negotiate, obama ends giving in. and peter baker writes that president obama has emerged kind of a different style of negotiator in the past week or two, sticking to the liberal line, frustrating the republicans clearly. this is a strategy his base might like but i'm wondering will it make him a better deal maker? >> it just may mean that republicans ult Public Affairs
. for the top 1%. i just don't see any changes from the fiscal cliff that is coming up. guest: i think there are big changes coming up. i think the president has drawn a line in the sand and let republicans know he has no intention of allowing the tax rates for the wealthiest americans to be extended again. they were extended in 2010, but i feel there is a new resolve on the part of the white house to not let that happen again. i'm not sure if all the rates will be increased as much as the president would like. it could be that they get bumped up by a point or two, instead of the 45 that he wants to increase them by. -- four or five that he wants to increase them by. if nothing changes, then tax rates go up for everybody, which would be a very big change, but i do not think that is going to happen. host: here is a tweet. christian churches are not the only ones affected by deductions. holiday donations, how is that factoring into the fiscal cliff? is there anything going on that's give them more of an argument? are they coming to washington like everyone else to have their point of vie Happening Now
to hammer out a deal over tax hikes and spending cuts as the clock particulars towards that fiscal cliff deadline on january 11. mike emanuel is live. we are still getting hard lines from either side about where they stand on this. what is really happening behind the closed doors? are they closer to a dole? >> reporter: jenna you're right about a lot of tough talk in public, but behind closed doors we know the president, the speaker of the house john boehner had a phone call late yesterday, the first call they had in a week. there has not been much in the way of leaks as to what was discussed. most folks on capitol hill may suggest that no leaks means they are getting down to serious movement on finding a compromise to avert the fiscal cliff. because in public the treasury secretary was asked yesterday if the administration is prepared to go over the fiscal cliff. check this out. >> is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff. >> absolutely. we see no prospects for an agreement that doesn't involve those rates going up on the top 2% of the wealthist. remember it's only 2%. Markets Now
, with what we have seen, with the fiscal cliff, it is virtually impossible. i think that senator demint can do more running the heritage foundation the way she would like to rather than sitting in the senate. dagen: does this also speak to him resigning from the senate, the power of the tea party, perhaps? >> i do not know it is the waning power of the tea party. i spoke with senator demint out and he feels that we have to do a better job with that. i believe that he thinks he can take the heritage network, and they do have operations around the country, at the state level, find out what works at the state and local level. there are models, social policy, education, welfare that have had some success out in the country that reflects conservative ideas. match that with the researchers in washington that to the policy work for heritage. connell: i think a lot of people will hear or read about this today and think about the conversation we have been having about the future of the republican party. does the tea party still have, you know, lindsey graham just put a statement out saying he is ver U.S. Senate
with the fiscal cliff and dealing with our debt situation and not have a debt ceiling hanging out there as a diversionary but dangerous issue. but for some reason, inexplicable, the minority leader, the republican leader, changed his mind. now, he said on the floor well, important measures deserve 60 votes, but when he brought it up earlier, he acted as if he was in favor of it, he was offering it. and now, of course, essaying no, he's going to object to his own resolution. i wish he would reconsider. again, playing -- using the debt ceiling as leverage, using the debt ceiling as a threat, using the debt ceiling as a way to achieve a different agenda is dangerous. it's playing with fire. and yet, with the opportunity to take that off the table, reassure the markets, the minority leader blinked. i don't know why. it's hard to figure out the strategy that he's employing, but we would hope on this side of the aisle -- and i think i speak for all of us -- that he would reconsider and perhaps early next week let us vote on his own resolution. i yield the floor. mr. schumer: i notice th Jansing and Co.
the fiscal cliff crisis. they will also meet with john boehner. boehner counter proposal yesterday. $600 billion in cuts in entitlement and $250 billion in changes in way the government changes inflation that would impact social security. let me bring in the national journal from the editor. good morning. i want to talk to you about this republican proposal saying republicans in congress want to get serious about asking the wealthiest to pay slightly higher tax rates. we won't be able to achieve a significant balanced approach to the deficit. it does have some revenue in it, even though it's not from tax increases. so what does this opening offer say about where we are in these negotiations? >> well, it seems very difficult to imagine that we're going to be getting to a deal that will handle everything that needs to be addressed before the end of the year. i think the first main thing that needs to be addressed is the question of the tax cuts expiring. and for the obama administration, the question is, is it in their interest to trade tax cuts for the wealthy? increase for the wealthy fo CNN Newsroom
, a lot of news to get to on this monday. first, of course, talks over the fiscal cliff. they are going nowhere fast. democrats, they're basically telling republicans, hey, ball's in your court. we'll take you live to the white house for that. also, as the city grieves over an nfl player's tragic breaking point, new debates today about gun control and domestic violence. you'll hear both. but first, the u.s. has long believed syria has a huge stockpile of chemical weapons. now new concerns that chemical arsenal is on the move. secretary of state hillary clinton today issuing another stern warning against syria, using these weapons. the syrian foreign ministry quick to respond here saying it would not use chemical weapons against its people if it had any, but this announcement as turkey is sending warplanes to its border with syria after the syrian military bombed a nearby town of ras al-ain. you can hear that and see the smoke. this is the turkish side of the border. this is fueling more fears that more of syria's violence will spill into its neighbor to the north, being turkey. security U.S. Senate
of congress plus it puts the fiscal cliff and place right now and you lay it out i'm sorry, count me out. stacte want to take the first question? >> you raise a good point. this is where people's eyes glaze over. they can say whatever you want them to say. but the notion, i do think that there's been to the relationship between revenues and the titles and if we want to go bigger the better we need to push all of those, the smaller unit and the less you do on the other side, but there are some who say the idea of the american public is going to buy into this notion okay we are going to look devotees taxes go up so everything can be returned in a tax cut, and we go through this magical power. they are going to think 90% of the approval. so, you're going to have a general consensus. you do this year to get 500 of that in the interest savings alone. this should not be as challenging as it is. >> the other thing i would disagree about is the fact and i have been a huge jet kit and continue to be a huge advocate of tax reform debate and it's a critically important piece and i do think the noti Politics Public Policy Today
, everybody is saying it is a fiscal clove -- a fiscal slope, not a fiscal cliff. it is not like a zombie accomplice happens. if market confidence was up the window, that could be damaging. >> i think is likely there is going to be a deal, some other deadline for another deal next year. it is really important and they not said a whole series of opportunities to have that kind of collapse again. they have a couple months, but they have to make sure whenever they come up with for the last significant period of time. i think that will build confidence. i want to come back to the question of housing. i think is so important to overstate the importance of housing to the economy. especially from the starter business and start up perspective. those are the companies with a lot of job creation. they all grow very rapidly, sometimes growing into large companies. they are not starting up that high written all right now. a big chunk of that is confidence. folks often do not have financial resources. if there are looking at the value of their home and 401k, they are taking a risk. there are calculati Public Affairs
:00 eastern. john boehner makes remarks on the fiscal cliff. we will show you that when the happens. by now, a little bit more about the fiscal cliff. >> we turn our attention this morning about unemployment benefits and how insurance could back -- how insurance could be impacted. thank you for coming in. we want to start the discussion. when we're talking about unemployment insurance, what specific programs are we talking about here? >> unemployment insurance is the combination of federal and state programs. it usually lasts up to six weeks. it can be extended up to 93 weeks, depending on which they were in. it is this extension that we're really talking about as part of the fiscal cliff. >> that is what might be cut. that is what automatically expires. we know it cost $30 billion to continue additional unemployment benefits. of the deal i want to make, the benefits should continue. firm stand. we have seen in the past obama host: what specific benefits do guest: usually some kind of a cash benefit or they may help the search for a job. it is usually about $300 a week. it can vary from sta Public Affairs
to this extraordinary country that we inherited. that being said, before we talk about fiscal cliff, we are here because of the last fiscal cliff. since we had another fiscal cliff-type scenario that created the scenario and ridiculous idea that i voted against, put a bunch of things bad to happen at one time. surprise, it didn't work and we are facing this. there are two issues number one, avoid doing damage and avoid doing harm. and we need to look for a way to accomplish that in the short-term. and we have to, we have to have a conversation about getting the fiscal house in order. i heard bob talking about that. it is true. we spend $1 trillion more than we take in. it's a fact and we have to address it. i approach this issue with the following belief. the only way to get it in order is through rapid economic growth. no taxes you can raise to bring the debt down. what the president is offering is not enough but will make a dent on job creation, particularly middle-class job creation. i oppose his plan. we should do real tax reform. if there are loopholes, there is a loophole for being able to write o Happening Now
bit about the fiscal cliff and that's something we've all been talking about recently, and what it means for us right now and the year ahead. we also have other business news. we'll get back to the president by the way if and when we get that feedback. he will be taking questions from the audience there of business leaders as gregg mentioned. elizabeth mcdonald ever the fox business network is standing by list toning some of what the president had to say about the economy. liz, can you place it in context about where our economy is right now. >> reporter: the president just now was placing it in the -- the economy in the broader context of what is going on in the world, mentioning asia, mentioning europe, and then he turned to what was the most important part of the speech, he started to speak and that is what is holding us back ironically is stuff that is going on in this town, and he also, the president also said, no one wants to get a deal done more than me. so he's trying to essentially give some encouragement to get the fiscal cliff deal talks ignited and going. and so this CBS This Morning
, are they prepared to go over the fiscal cliff. >> absolutely. >> fiscal cliff negotiations in washington, still up in the air. most lawmakers have gone home for a long weekend. >> i'll be here and i'll be available at any moment to sit down with the president if he gets serious about solving this problem. >> the duchess of cambridge has left hospital. there for morning sickness. >> how are you feeling this morning, kate? >> as of today, possession of small amounts of marijuana is legal in the state of washington. >>> now the 55th annual grammy awards revealed. the top contender, kanye west and jay-z. >> he's got it. kobe bryant. the greatest player in the history of the los angeles lakers. >> all that, ready for your mistake? >> yeah. i'd like to hear it. >> can eating while driving be distracting. >> no! >> and all that matters. >> former senator alan simpson is bringing his meg aboutssage about the national debt to a new generation. >> gangnam style. >> on cbs "this morning." >> the star? a toddler and tiaras earning a spot on barbara walters list of the 20 most Politics Public Policy Today
on how to stolve fiscal cliff i'm sure heed like to hear that. >> while you are writing your next song i'd like to present you with your coffee mug. it might give you some inspiration. >> thank you so much. [applause] >> i want to thank the national press club staff including the journalism broadcast center for organizing today's event. and i was wondering if you had one last song you'd like to sing us out on. >> [applause] >> can she borrow your stool? >> this is my wife kim and here is the song we sing to our twin boys actually about two years ago we went in to sing them to sleep with this lull by and we got the guitar out and sat down on the side of the bed and we were about to play the opening cords and rough fuss looked up at me and said you know dad, we don't have to do this anymore. ♪ ♪ >> good buy and thank you very much. >> among the iletms on the agenda next week appointing members to a committee to hash out an agreement it was defense bill next year. the house planned to adjourn for the holidays next week but the house will be back in session december 17 to deal with the s Public Affairs
the fiscal cliff and jobs. it's live here on c-span. >> and continues to preach the kind of message that i think the nation needs, one of compromise but one of assurity that we are going to be looking out tore the interest of the middle class and the protection of social security, medicare and medicaid for the people who are in such desperate need of those great programs that are the hallmark of our country. we have repeatedly said and our caucus again just confirmed that job creation equals deficit reduction, and we must put the country back to work. we have proposals that are on the floor. we still believe that even with the -- what little time remains and what little time remains when we're actually working, this is still possible. this is still doable. this is not a democrat or republican issue. republicans believe that america needs to go back to work. it's just a matter of having the will to do it, the programs are out there. compromise can be made around the streamlining of regulations to make sure that we are putting people back to work. if chris christy and barack obama can get -- Morning Joe
than not. >> all right. well, with 25 days to go until the year-end fiscal cliff deadline, president obama and speaker boehner spoke on the phone yesterday for the first time in days. both men agreed not to publicly characterize how the conversation went. but the stalemate in negotiations entered new territory yesterday with treasury secretary tim geithner suggesting the white house is ready to go off the cliff if republicans refuse to raise taxes on the 2%. >> if republicans do not agree to that, is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> oh, absolutely. again, there's no prospect to an agreement that doesn't involve those rates going up on the top 2% of the wealthiest americans -- remember, it's only 2%. the size of the problem in some sense is so large, it can't be solved without rates going up as part of that. again, i think there's broad recognition of that reality now. >> one fallback option republicans are reportedly considering is to accept tax cuts for the middle class, allow rates to go up for the wealthiest, and then start the fight over again during de Morning Joe
to be permanent. and on top of it, for me, the bigger question is the fiscal cliff debate rather than a growth cliff debate is what we've got wrong. >> whatever the news is, at this point, everyone -- it comes down to certainty, whatever it is, doesn't it at this point? joining us now from capitol hill, maybe we'll get an answer here, republican representative from washington and the new chairwoman of the house republican conference, congratulations, congresswoman, kathy mcmorris rodgers, good to have you on the show this morning. >> thanks. >> great to have you here. >> great to be with you. >> you've heard part of this debate. >> yes. >> how do republicans knowing we have to raise revenue, how do republicans raise the type of revenue that needs to be raised? >> well, republicans believe that this is the time for big solutions, for laying out that framework so it's not just a quick fix, but a appraisal fix. and as you were just talking about, the rates, what we really need that -- focusing on the top 2% is really a straw man. what we need is a tax reform in america for middle class families a Democracy Now
fiscal cliff rather than cave to republican demands for a continued tax break for the wealthiest americans. he made the statement in an interview with cnbc. >> i want to understand the administration's position on raising taxes for the wealthy, those making more than $250,000. if republicans and not agree to that, is the administration prepared to go over the fiscal cliff? >> absolutely. there is no room for an agreement that the not involve the rates going up for the top 2%. >> speaking to a roundtable of corporate executives in washington, president obama said republicans' aid to examine the reality that tax rates will rise for the wealthiest americans. >> we have seen some movement in the last several days with some republicans. there has been a recognition that, maybe, they can accept some rate increases as long as is combined with a serious impediment reform and additional spending cuts. and if we can get the leadership on the republican side to take that kramer, to acknowledge that reality, then the numbers are actually not that far apart. another way of putting this is, we U.S. Senate
of negotiations over what is called the fiscal cliff. also, don't forget to explore the history and literary culture of new york capital city of albany this weekend. book tv is on c-span2 and american history to be on c-span three. >> coming up at 7:00 c-span will be lot of discussion unskilled immigrants. virginia senator mark warner is sponsoring a bill to allow more highly skilled veterans and to the u.s. >> we have had these this the five explosions of knowledge in madison, but we have not coordinated care. all the services that we have end up having some any cracks that the cracks are as harmful as the diseases that we are treating. we have to step back and ask, you know, are we hurting people overall? and income on a global level where we doing some times? and, of course, now we have to these reports saying 30 percent of everything we do may not be necessary in after. we will be step back, 30 percent of all the medications we prescribe, the tests we order, the procedures. this is something, i think, which is for the first time really being called out as a problem. >> dysfunction in the Americas Newsroom
clinton is dismissing the whole so-called fiscal cliff thing, he says, we don't have anything to worry about it. they are going to work the whole thing out. bret baier joins us on that. bill: new documents shedding light on the accused colorado movie theater shooting suspect. what we are now learning about james holmes before the massacre that shook america. >> we are bringing bodies out get someone to the back as soon as we can. we have three to seven hits. >> we need rescue to move up to the rear of the theater. we have officers there. we request they come immediately for multiple victims. ♪ i don't wanna be right [ record scratch ] what?! it's not bad for you. it just tastes that way. [ female announcer ] honey nut cheerios cereal -- heart-healthy, whole grain oats. you can't go wrong loving it. martha: new developments in the colorado movie theater massacre store raoefrplt the university of colorado released thousands of emails that shed new light on the shooting suspect james holmes. you may remember that holmes is accused of opening fire during a midnight showing of the batman Public Affairs
-span.org. 8:00 eastern on c-span, negotiations on the fiscal cliff. we'll hear from harry reid and mitch mcconnell. c-span3, the impact of hurricnae ane sandy. a bipartisan group of senators spoke to reporters today about the civil war in syria and the potential use of force against the regime of bashar al-assad. >> good afternoon. i'm here with my colleagues from the senate, senator lieberman, senator gramm. -- graham. we are deeply disturbed by reports that bashar al-assad may have lionized -- weaponized some of his stores of chemical and biological agents and prepare them for use in aerial bombs. these reports also suggest that his forces are awaiting orders to use these weapons. if true, these reports may mean that the united states and our allies are facing the prospect of an eminent use of weapons of mass destruction and syria, and this may be the last warning we get. time for talking about what to do may now be coming to a close, and we may instead be left with an awful and it's very difficult decision. whether to continue on the sidelines and hope that a man who has slaughtered n Washington This Week
about the fiscal cliff, affordable care act in laying the groundwork for the 2013-2014 elections. >> why a writers institute? >> i think it is something that is very important. we are a culture of words, of voices. words are a key to our imagination, our capacity to imagine things. we are not completely tied to print on the page. there is no other art form so readily accessible other than perhaps soma, which we work with, too. there is something in literature that captures the human. . the >> joint american history television and c-span local content vehicles as we look behind the scenes of a letter lives of new york city. >> next you hear from bradley manning's attorney about his case. he is accused of leaking classified documents to the web site wikileaks. the trial is under way in maryland. he testified earlier on the conditions he has experienced since being detained in iraq. this is half an hour. >> i really appreciate the turn out here, especially the turn of by the press. thank you for that. i have not participated in any public event for today. i also avoid any interviews with th U.S. Senate
to avert that fiscal cliff that we hear so much about. yesterday, after weeks of delay, and as the days dwindle and taxes are set to go up for millions of families and businesses, republicans in the house finally showed up at the negotiating table. and now we know why they've been holding their cards so close it their vest. their proposal would raise taxes on millions of middle-class families. their plan to raise $800 billion in revenue by eliminating popular tax deductions and credits would reach deep into pockets of middle-class families. republicans are so intent on protecting low tax rates for millionaires and billionaires, they're willing to sacrifice middle-class families' economic security to do so. at the first of the year, middle-class families, will get an average of $200 i,200 in additional taxes they'll have to pay. their proposal was short on specifics but we do know from independent analysis that it is impossible to raise enough revenue and make a dent in our deficit without using one of two things -- raising tax rates on the top 2% or raising taxes on the middle class. an Search Results 0 to 49 of about 52 (some duplicates have been removed)First<12 >Last | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/13319 | General Metals Corporation Announces Date of the 2012 Annual Meeting
RENO, Nev., Nov. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- General Metals Corporation (the "Company") (OTC.QB: GNMT) announced today that it will hold an annual meeting of stockholders on December 12, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. (Pacific time) in the meeting room at The Center for Unique Business Enterprises 300 East 2nd Street., #1405, Reno, NV, 89501 (the "Meeting"). The Meeting is being held for the following purposes:
to elect five (5) directors to the board of directors; to ratify the appointment of Ingenium Accounting Associates as the independent registered public accountants for the next fiscal year; to approve the adoption of the company's 2012 Stock Option Plan; and to transact such other business as may properly come before the Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof.The board has fixed the close of business on October 22, 2012 as the record date for determining the stockholders entitled to notice of, and to vote at, the Meeting or any adjournment or postponement of the Meeting. At the Meeting, each holder of record of shares of common stock, $0.001 par value per share, will be entitled to one vote per share of common stock held on each matter properly brought before the Meeting.In the Company's release dated November 10, 2011, we indicated that, based on results of two of our most recently completed drill holes – GM-127 and GM-128 - a new zone of potential mineralization had been identified at the project which could significantly increase the overall size of the resource. For clarification, the results of drill hole GM-127 were included in the mineralization calculation reported in the Independent Technical Report in the National Instrument NI 43-101 ("NI 43-101") format submitted to the TSX Venture Exchange for approval. Both holes intercepted gold grades that were substantially higher than that typically seen in the deposit and indicate that the mineralization continues down dip and that the grade may increase. While both drill holes GM-127 and GM-128 show there is potential for additional mineralized resources to be identified down dip, there is not enough evidence to support adding additional mineralized material to the totals presented in the Company's NI 43-101 report. In the release dated April 10, 2012, the Company stated that its Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") should be completed within three months. This statement should have been qualified to make it clear that the referenced timetable was dependent on the Company securing sufficient funding to ensure all aspects of the analysis could be completed in a timely manner. In fact, no terminal date for the release of the PEA has been established by the Company or its outside consultants though we hope to accelerate the process soon, again, subject to available funding.About General Metals Corporation
General Metals Corporation is an aggressive junior mining exploration and development company, based in Reno, Nevada. The company is actively pursuing the re-opening of its Independence Mine property strategically located in the prolific Battle Mountain Mining District of Nevada, which currently includes the neighboring Phoenix operating mine as well as Twin Creeks, Marigold mine and historically was home to the following mines Fortitude, Tom Boy and McCoy Cove. Historically, a producing operation in the '70s and '80s, the Independence Mine is now 100% owned and controlled by a seasoned management team dedicated to re-opening the mine after additional mineralization drilling showed measured, indicated or inferred quantities of over 1 million ounces of gold and 4 million ounces of silver—per the current Canadian NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate. The four main competitive advantages the Independence Mine project has over many other junior mines is its previous viability as a gold and silver mine, its proximity to other major operating mines, its near-term production status and its management team depth.Cautionary Note to U.S. InvestorsThe U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission permits U. S. mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms in this presentation, such as "measured", "indicated", and "inferred" "resources", which the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit U.S. registered companies from including in their filings with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our form 10-K which may be secured from us or the SEC website at: http://www.sec.gov/edgar.htmlNotice Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis news release contains "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, that the Company will find appropriately priced equipment or a contractor willing to move the muck on our property, or that it will be able to complete any additional financing activity, or that the near surface mineralized material will be economically recoverable.Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with mineral exploration. We are not in control of metals prices and these could vary to make development uneconomic. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recent fiscal year, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.For More Information Contact:Wayne MeyersonInvestor RelationsGeneral Metals Corporation1155 West Fourth Street, Suite 210Reno, NV 89503wayne@gnmtlive.com775.583.4636 officeSOURCE General Metals Corporation | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/14018 | Porter Stansberry: Get ready... The worst is yet to come
Today, I'd like to simply point out one very unpleasant fact. I'd like to give you some insight into why it's so important and what it really means.Here's the fact: America's standard of living is falling at a faster pace today than at any time since the Great Depression. Specifically, the real median income is down 9.8% since the fall of 2008. Additionally, Americans have lost roughly $5.5 trillion in asset value, or about 8.6% of their wealth.When you talk about a depression, what you're really talking about is a collapse in the standard of living. That's what's happening today, right now, in our country. But people continue to go about their lives as though nothing is happening. Certainly, our politicians don't want to draw attention to the problem. Instead, they are behind the campaign to "paper over" these losses with schemes like "quantitative easing."These schemes do nothing to make our economy more productive. They're designed instead to make prices rise so people (hopefully) won't notice how poor they're becoming.If you've been reading my newsletters since 2008, none of this is a surprise to you. I've been warning month after month, year after year, that the government's efforts to paper over our bad debts won't work. And they won't work for two primary reasons…First, soaring levels of high-powered money (like the Federal Reserve's asset base) will eventually cause prices to rise. That means the savings of millions of Americans – and the value of their wages – will fall in real terms. That's exactly what's happening. That's why our standard of living is falling so precipitously.Second, the impact of this inflation and the uncertainty about its impact on the economy will cause entrepreneurs and corporations to delay or cancel major capital investments. That's the primary reason we have yet to see any rebound in employment.The best way to see what's really happening in our economy and to our standard of living is to look at the value of the stock market through a sound-money lens. You can pick whatever sound money you like. Of course, most people won't ever do this… It would never even occur to them that the dollar is not sound and that it's distorting the value of everything in our economy.Here's the real situation in America:That's what the S&P 500 looks like when you price stocks in ounces of gold instead of in U.S. dollars. You'll see we are now below the lows we saw in 2009. Unfortunately, few people understand this… They've never thought about it this way before. And as a result, they're simply not doing enough to protect themselves.They don't know this is what's really happening, because Washington keeps papering over these problems with more borrowing and more printing. But you can't solve a debt crisis by going deeper into debt. You can't reverse inflation by printing more money.If I could magically wave a wand and change just one thing about my fellow citizens… I'd make them realize paper money is a crime.It allows politicians to rob creditors to bail out debtors. It's a tool that's used to take value away from savers and give it to reckless borrowers. It's how both political power and economic power remain vested in Washington D.C.Now… the politicians and their backers on Wall Street will swear up and down that their policies and the actions of the central bank (which has more than doubled its assets via nearly $3 trillion of asset purchases) aren't causing the inflation. It's as if, in their minds, printing trillions of dollars in new money has no impact on our economy.It's simply a lie.But that's not the worst part. The worst part is all that new money will end up in the hands of the people who caused this crisis in the first place.Let me give you one example. Below, you'll find a chart of Genworth Financial. It's a mortgage-insurance/life-insurance company. It was spun out of GE Capital during the midst of the 2000s financial boom.Without the bailout of the financial system, via $700 billion in TARP money and more than $2 trillion in quantitative easing, there's no doubt in my mind that Genworth would have gone bust because of losses in its mortgage-insurance unit. But that's not what happened. Instead, Genworth Financial became the No. 1-performing stock in the U.S. from the spring of 2009 until the spring of 2010.It held on to those gains as long as the Central Bank continued its quantitative easing policies. And when QE finally ended in the summer of 2011… guess what happened to Genworth? I bet you can guess without even looking at the chart.Paper money took the biggest loser, the company that had made the worst bets with the most leverage… and turned it into the biggest winner… at least, temporarily. For this, we all paid a massive, invisible tax: the largest decrease in real wages since the Great Depression.This isn't how America should work. The rich and the powerful in New York and Washington D.C. shouldn't have the right to impoverish the rest of us simply to bail out their backers and their cronies.My guess is… sooner or later… our creditors and the American people will wake up to what's happening to our money. And as I've been warning, they will be furious. What's scariest to me is to see how this anger is manifesting itself in the Occupy Wall Street movement. These folks are blaming capitalism for these kinds of problems. But this has nothing to do with capitalism. Paper money was Marx's idea. But try explaining that to any of those folks…What's happening to our country is a crime. The ramifications of these kinds of manipulations will be decades of mistrust and social unrest. Unfortunately, this is a long way from being over. The price inflation that will inevitably result from the Fed's actions of 2009, 2010, and 2011 are only now beginning to manifest. The worst is yet to come. And it's going to be a lot worse.
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Gold price recoups losses as Italy’s woes grow | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/14048 | | Thu Jan 10, 2013 1:42pm GMT
UK statisticians unexpectedly reject inflation change
| By David Milliken and Olesya Dmitracova
A generic picture of a some British sterling money in coins and bank notes. BANKG Reuters/Catherine Benson
LONDON Britain's top statistician unexpectedly decided against major changes to the country's longest-running inflation index on Thursday, rejecting a move that could have significantly cut government borrowing costs.The decision to keep the Retail Price Index in its current form is a major boost for older Britons who have company pensions linked to RPI, as well as to holders of Britain's inflation-linked government bonds.Changes to RPI had been expected to bring it closer to the lower Consumer Price Index measure of inflation (CPI) used by the Bank of England, and prices for 10-year index-linked gilts soared on Thursday's news, taking yields to a record low.RPI was developed after World War Two, but in recent years it has increasingly diverged from CPI and for months Britain's Office for National Statistics had been consulting economists, fund managers and other users of the data on its proposals.Most economists had believed that the ONS was set on change, but in a statement Jil Matheson, who supervises the ONS and is the government's chief statistical adviser, said she had decided to keep RPI and create an alternative parallel index."There is significant value to users in maintaining the continuity of the existing RPI's long time series without major change, so that it may continue to be used for long-term indexation and for index-linked gilts and bonds," Matheson said.There is a big question mark over whether the new index, known as RPIJ, will find favour. The government said new index-linked bonds would continue to be linked to RPI, not RPIJ. CPI, which is based on the standard European Union measure of inflation, is Britain's most widely used alternative."The RPIJ may find no takers and exist in obscurity. At the moment, we do not plan to forecast it," said Nomura economist Philip Rush.
The ONS plans to have the RPIJ measure in operation for March data onwards.FUND MANAGERS RELIEVEDDavid Dyer, a portfolio manager at AXA Investment Managers, said he welcomed the decision, and that it was unexpected."It is a surprise ... though of course we were arguing for this on the basis that RPI is a very long-standing index used by many parties in striking long-term financial contracts. It was not just fund managers who were arguing against the change, but also other investors," he told Reuters.
"At a time when savers have been hit, this would have hurt them even more. But on the other hand, when the government is cutting the deficit, this would have been a handy saving for the chancellor to have," he added.Some economists had estimated cash-strapped Chancellor George Osborne would have saved up to 3 billion pounds a year in interest payments if RPI had been changed, out of annual debt servicing costs of 47 billion.Moreover, many experts - including The Bank Governor Mervyn King, who commented on the issue in November - believe the techniques used to calculate RPI are outdated, and see little statistical justification for keeping them."I think it's remarkable that they have said that the current formula does not meet international standards, and then continue to use it for a number of key functions," said Sam Hill, a bond strategist at Royal Bank of Canada.
The 'Carli' averaging method used in RPI - which will be dropped in RPIJ - is not used in CPI nor by most other countries, and has been criticised by the International Monetary Fund for giving an upward bias to RPI inflation.Its continued use will contribute to RPI inflation averaging more than a percentage point above CPI in future, with the bulk of that due to the statistical methods used rather than differences between the baskets of goods used for CPI and RPI.However, an overwhelming majority of respondents to the ONS consultation opposed a change to RPI, citing the need for long-term consistency in the series.The ONS said this was a legitimate objection, even if it implied the continued use of outdated statistical techniques. The consultation did not require respondents to say if they would financially benefit from opposing change to the index.Annual RPI inflation was 3.0 percent in November, compared to 2.7 percent for CPI, reflecting a recent narrowing in the gap between the two measures due to differences in how changes in insurance and mortgage interest payments are accounted for.($1 = 0.6247 British pounds)(Additional reporting by Patrick Graham; Editing by Stephen Nisbet) | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/14111 | Housing Starts Hit Four-Year High; Bernanke Heads Back To Capitol Hill By Mark Memmott
Jul 18, 2012 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email In Phoenix earlier this month, workers were framing this new home.
Matt York
Originally published on July 18, 2012 9:57 am There's more evidence that the housing sector is on the mend and may be the sector of the economy that's got the most going for it these days. According to the Census Bureau and Department of Housing and Urban Development there was a 6.9 percent increase in "housing starts" last month. At an annual rate of 760,000, ground-breaking for construction of single-family homes, apartments and condominiums the pace hit a four-year high, The Associated Press says. As Eyder reported last Wednesday, The Wall Street Journalhas already concluded that "the U.S. housing bust is over" and that housing "is unlikely to drag the U.S. economy down further." Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will get another chance to share his thoughts about how the economy is doing this morning at 10 a.m. ET when he testifies before the House Committee on Financial Services. Tuesday, when he appeared before the Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs Committee, he painted a rather glum picture. Bernanke did note, though, that: "We have seen modest signs of improvement in housing. In part because of historically low mortgage rates, both new and existing home sales have been gradually trending upward since last summer, and some measures of house prices have turned up in recent months. Construction has increased, especially in the multifamily sector." The Fed chairman added, however, that: "A number of factors continue to impede progress in the housing market. On the demand side, many would-be buyers are deterred by worries about their own finances or about the economy more generally. Other prospective homebuyers cannot obtain mortgages due to tight lending standards, impaired creditworthiness, or because their current mortgages are underwater--that is, they owe more than their homes are worth. On the supply side, the large number of vacant homes, boosted by the ongoing inflow of foreclosed properties, continues to divert demand from new construction." Copyright 2012 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. Our Partners: | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/14157 | Why Dividends, Capital Gains Are Big Part Of Fiscal Cliff Talks By Tamara Keith
Nov 29, 2012 ShareTwitter Facebook Google+ Email Originally published on November 29, 2012 1:58 pm As the White House and Congress debate how to steer clear of the fiscal cliff, one obstacle is the president's insistence that the wealthy should pay more in taxes. And one way that could happen is through changing the rules for dividends and capital gains. If you own a share of stock in a company today, when the company pays out a dividend, the most you're taxed is 15 percent. And if you decide to sell the stock and cash out, you'd also pay 15 percent on your profits — the capital gains. The tax code has long favored investment income over the money you get in your paycheck. But today's rates are especially low, dating to tax cuts installed under President George W. Bush. Back in 2003, Congress set the top tax rates for both capital gains and dividends at 15 percent, lower than they had been since the 1930s. Now, President Obama wants to raise those rates, but only for the wealthy. Under his plan, for those earning more than $250,000 a year, capital gains would be taxed at 20 percent, and dividends would go back to being taxed as they had historically, as ordinary income, more than doubling the current rate. "Of course it's never a bad time to be rich. But it's a worse time to be rich now because, you know, President Obama has clearly said he wants the wealthier Americans to shoulder a bigger burden of the tax liability," says Bill Smith, with accounting firm CBIZ MHM. Raising rates on investment income, as the president has proposed, would bring in about $240 billion over a decade. If Congress and the president can't reach a deal and the Bush tax cuts expire for everyone, it would be even more. Smith says that as a result, some companies are making sure to pay dividends before Jan. 1, and many people are cashing out investments to realize the capital gains in 2012. He speculates the tax changes may have been on filmmaker George Lucas' mind when he sold Lucasfilm to Disney earlier this year. Roberton Williams of the Tax Policy Center says he was wondering the same thing when the deal was announced. Lucas "certainly will save if we have the president's plan go into place, or go over the fiscal cliff." Like $400 million. "He'll save more in tax than we will make in our entire lifetimes," says Williams. Fewer than 20 percent of taxpayers report income from dividends, and even fewer get money from long-term capital gains. There are certainly plenty of people who have the two shares of McDonald's their grandfather bought them, or are supplementing their income with dividends from the power company where they worked. But Williams says that's not what you should picture when you think about who is benefiting from the low rates in the current tax code. "High-income people are much more likely to have investments in the first place and more likely to have income from those investments," he says. "And their tax savings are greater than those for people in lower income categories, because the difference between the capital gains rate and dividends rate and their ordinary tax rate is larger." Williams says more than half of today's tax benefit on investment income goes to people in the top one-tenth of 1 percent.Copyright 2013 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/. View the discussion thread. North Carolina Public Radio - WUNC is created in partnership with: | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/14225 | It’s commonly understood among those with knowledge of how markets work that there’s little government can do about gas prices. Even we have written as much. But is that really true? No, according to Michael Greenberger, a former director of the division of trading and markets at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Greenberger asserts that a ban on two obscure financial products would reduce speculation by removing as much as half a trillion dollars from the oil futures market. That would bring down demand, lowering the cost of a barrel of oil and, presumably, the price at the pump. Greenberger spelled out how it would work in testimony before the House Democratic Policy and Steering Committee.
The products are called commodity index swaps and synthetic ETFs. A commodity index swap works like this: You bet that an assortment of commodities will go up in price. That is, if you’re a pension, mutual, or hedge fund manager and have millions of dollars to invest on a single trade—these products aren’t available to retail investors. Since they can only bet the price will go up, that purchase puts upward pressure on the price of the commodities. The investment bank taking the bet—the swap was brought to the oil markets by Goldman Sachs (GS) and Morgan Stanley (MS) in 2004, but today other banks offer them, too—is shorting the market. So to lay off its risk, the bank goes long on a futures contract, putting additional upward pressure. The bank makes its money on fees, so provided it can hedge, it’s agnostic on price.
With $400 billion or more in commodity index swaps floating around, that’s a lot of pressure. Greenberger says synthetic ETFs, notes sold on the basis of price and without the purchaser owning the underlying product, have the same effect. Some speculation is considered a good thing—it provides liquidity, which reduces dangerous volatility—and conventional wisdom is that a smooth-functioning commodity market should be 70 percent commercial players, 30 percent speculators.
That ratio is now reversed: Upwards of 70 percent of the oil futures market consists of market players who have no intention of actually taking delivery of the oil. Greenberger isn’t alone in believing speculation significantly affects price. Forbes cites a Goldman Sachs report attributing about $23 of the current barrel cost to speculation.
Stanford’s Ken Singleton, who studies commodity index swaps, says the solution isn’t Greenberger’s ban but more transparency about speculation, including having the CFTC release information it collects but doesn’t make public. Even with a ban, says Greenberger, “you could still own the physical commodity, invest in energy companies, and buy energy futures. We’d just be closing the casino.”
Tullis is a Bloomberg Businessweek contributor.
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2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/14286 | 2/21/201211:55 AMOlivia LaBarreNewsConnect Directly0 commentsComment NowLogin50%50%
3 Steps to Building a World-Class BankWith global markets growing increasingly important to banks bottom lines, optimizing world-wide operations has become a business imperative. Here are three tips to help banks achieve world-class distinctionThe ongoing European financial crisis and overall economic downturn have driven banks to reprioritize their technology investments and raised a renewed sense of urgency around optimizing operations. For large banks that have staff, customers, vendors and operations spread across the globe, that means moving in unison across multiple markets to operate more efficiently on a global scale while still enabling flexibility that powers innovative, valuable products for local customers. According to Judd Holroyde, SVP and head of global product management and delivery at San Francisco-based Wells Fargo, the key to becoming a successful global bank depends on evolving your overall operating model, and a big part of that is taking a proactive approach to identifying and implementing technology while exploring the best ways to standardize, outsource and maintain a consistent customer experience. "I don't think any banks are completely there today," he says. "But do I think they are heading there quickly? Yes."
3 Steps to Building a World-Class Bank
Banking the Unbankable Requires a Targeted Effort
Regulatory Harmony: Building Out Retail Banking Systems for a New Global Order
3 Hot Banking Markets Beyond the Obvious
Although one clear path to globalization does not exist, financial industry experts agree on a few areas where banks should focus their attention in order to optimize global opportunities and achieve world-class distinction.
1. Strive for Standardization With (Not too Much) Flexibility
In the new global environment, it's not feasible for financial institutions to support very complex, siloed operations and platforms, according to Likhit Wagle, GBS banking leader at Armonk, N.Y.-based IBM. "That sort of complexity makes it very difficult to manage the business and bring new products to the market, and it's more expensive," he explains. A more streamlined approach across the globe enables banks to take advantage of economies of scale, drive down overall cost-to-income ratios and increase speed to market.
That's where industrialization -- simplifying a bank's operating model through the standardization of products, processes and technology across markets -- comes in, says Fiaz Sindu, an executive with New York-based Accenture's core banking services group. Key to industrialization is "ensuring that the manufacturing, fulfillment and servicing that go with a bank's products are centralized across multiple segments," he explains. "Whether it's retail banking or wholesale banking, there needs to be a common engine underneath that supports those segments."
IBM's Wagle points to Madrid-based BBVA, a financial institution with more than US$785 billion in total assets and about 7,600 branches in more than 30 countries, as one global bank that is benefiting from this standardized approach. "The cost-income ratio for banks like BBVA is in the mid 40s," he indicates. "They're able to respond very quickly to market changes, and it seems like almost weekly they're bringing out a new product." Adds Jose Olalla, technology and operations director at BBVA, "This strategy has yielded good results, and we are now taking further steps to integrate, taking full advantage of our global scale." He notes that the bank has expanded the scope of its strategies to focus on regions and continents rather than individual countries. Part of this standardized approach is automation, something Olalla says BBVA has achieved on various levels. "Our processes are automated and we have a paperless global workflow," he reports. "We have real-time posting and validation processes and have implemented a compliance/fraud-prevention proactive and reactive system."
Achieving success on a global scale through standardization, the experts agree, also is dependent on maintaining enough flexibility to deal with inherent inconsistencies across markets in areas such as compliance, payments and deposits, not to mention cultural differences. But Wells Fargo's ($1.3 trillion in assets) Holroyde warns that there's a very fine line between a flexible variable in a tool and too much customization. "One product that works more places consistently but gives up a little nuance in other global markets is better in the end," he insists. "You need to remain flexible without going down the rabbit hole of mass customization. If you do that, you'll start to lose track of variables, spend too much time reacting and fixing things, and then you'll lose sight of real effort." Banks can even decide on certain variables that they will fundamentally standardize based on customer and market behavior, according to Holroyde. "When you think about the customer side of globalization, clients need a partner that can be flexible enough to adapt with them as they change," he explains. "You have to be able to take a step back and anticipate a client's needs, but do it in a way that's more simplified, by anticipating and identifying variables that can be turned on or off." OPTIMIZING GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIESStrive for Standardization With (Not too Much) FlexibilityTackle Customer Experience From the Top DownMove Beyond Traditional IT Outsourcing
Banks also need to recognize that customers are facing the same challenges that banks face in terms of market uncertainty, and that they expect visibility and control, Holroyde adds. "We need to be able to identify triggers and react to them before they can even touch clients," he says, noting that this can be achieved with a centrally monitored, highly automated auditing process.
2. Tackle the Customer Experience From the Top Down
Regardless of what is happening in IT and operations on the back end, a successful global bank should strive for consistency in the client interface so that customers know they can depend on the brand and have the same experience everywhere, stresses Accenture's Sindu. "There's a client-facing distribution function that services a specific segment of the market," he says of the ideal global bank operation. "There's a wholesale banking line of business, there's a retail banking line of business, and it's fully integrated in terms of all the products that they're trying to sell to their client base because it's built around the clients and not around the products." Wells Fargo has an ever-growing number of customers that have interests overseas, as well as clients in other countries that have interests in the U.S., according to the bank's Holroyde. In order to provide consistent products and customer experience in all markets, he says, the bank has taken a top-down approach to product distribution across all customer-facing channels. "The reason we've gone that way is because the consistency for the customer starts and stops at the front end, the interface," he explains. "Whether someone is in Europe, New York or California, they're going into the same front-end tool. It's the same product -- what's different are the pieces of infrastructure and technology."
Holroyde says his team "preserves and protects" the customer-facing front end, as well as the higher-risk back end. Instead of making any major changes in those layers, he relates, the group tries to make as many changes as possible in a shared services layer, what he describes as "a handling layer that acts as a buffer between the complex processing technologies and the customer experience or product channels." This approach ensures smooth integration and hopefully causes little or no disruption to the customer experience. Analytics also come into play when striving to provide global consistency, says IBM's Wagle. In order to ensure that customers are getting the same products and experiences across channels and markets, banks need access to a single source of information and a single view of their customers, he insists. Adds Accenture's Sindu, "Customer-centric banks should be able to see the full client relationship and use that visibility to drive the customer experience." | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/14287 | TEMPORARY STIMULUS PACKAGE WON'T ADDRESS UNDERLYING STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS IN U.S. ECONOMY, NEW LEVY REPORT SAYS Sharp Drops in Stocks, Exports, and Private Spending in 2001 Mark Need for Substantial Changes in U.S. Fiscal Policy Mark Primoff 845-758-7412 primoff@bard.edu 11-20-2001 ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.--As most economists predicted, the U.S. economy contracted in the third quarter, and policymakers, while expecting a rebound in 2002, are now working to implement a modest, short-term stimulus package. Scholars at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College warn, however, that the forces generating the current slowdown?mainly a sharp drop in private sector spending relative to income?were in place before the September 11 attacks and, with exports falling, a substantial and longer-term fiscal response will be needed to restore growth and contain unemployment.
In a new Strategic Analysis from the Levy Institute, The Developing U.S. Recession and Guidelines for Policy, distinguished scholar Wynne Godley and research scholar Alex Izurieta argue that a spontaneous recovery is unlikely given the unprecedented structural imbalances that have been allowed to develop over the past decade. "The fall in private expenditure relative to income, which has generated the slowdown, is not temporary at all. It is only the beginning of a reversion toward a normal situation that still has a long way to go," the authors write, stressing the central role that record private spending relative to income played in the economic boom of the 1990s. "The fiscal measures so far announced are not nearly large enough to replace this engine. The scale of the permanent shortfall in aggregate demand in the medium term is very large--probably much larger than most estimates currently under consideration."
Godley and Izurieta contend that, combined with a declining balance of payments, the government's maintenance of budget surpluses has been choking the U.S. economy, bleeding the circular flow of income, and destroying financial assets. Should private expenditure revert fully to its normal relationship to income, they say, government outlays plus exports might have to be $600 billion per year higher than they were in mid 2001 in order to achieve balanced and sustainable growth and full employment. "As the private sector's financial balance, or net saving, reverts to its normal positive state, the government's budget also will have to revert to its normal state of deficit," write Godly and Izurieta, who note, however, that because of the unacceptable implications for the balance of payments, the remedy cannot reside in fiscal stimulus alone, and measures to boost exports will be necessary. "It is only by a combination of internal and external policies that it will be possible to achieve adequate growth that can be sustained in the medium-to-long term," they contend. The authors find that the consensus outlook for a spontaneous recovery is unrealistic because it assumes that the private sector's deficit will begin to grow rapidly again, at a time when businesses and households are already at record levels of debt. Godley and Izurieta maintain that the Congressional Budget Office's most recent assumptions for the economy over the next five years--a 3.1 percent growth rate, 5.2 percent unemployment, and a slowly rising fiscal surplus--would cause a significant deterioration in the balance of payments and require a rise in the private deficit to as much as 8 percent of gross domestic product by 2006, with an accompanying increase in net lending.
"This cannot be expected to happen at a time when many firms are already overindebted and many households, already heavily indebted and threatened with unemployment and reduced earnings, have had their financial wealth depleted as a result of the fall in asset prices," the authors write, pointing to the current downturn as evidence of the dangers of relying too heavily on private spending to fuel the economy. "The growth of private expenditure relative to income required growing injections of net credit, which implied a growing ratio of debt to income--an intrinsically unsustainable process that has made the private sector increasingly vulnerable to negative shocks such as a downturn in income, employment, asset prices, profits, or investment."
[Complete text of the report can be viewed on the Levy Institute website: www.levy.org. To obtain a print copy of the report call 845-758-7412.] | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/14318 | SEC Adopts New Rules to Protect Investors In Broker-Dealers
Related XLF
With No Fed Help, This Leveraged Bank ETF Is Soaring What Do Wall Street Banks Do When They Runs Out Of Jobs To Eliminate? Commercial Bank Lending Is The Next Market Catalyst (Seeking Alpha) The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced the adoption of amendments to the net capital, customer protection, books and records, and notification rules for broker-dealers. The amendments to the broker-dealer financial responsibility rules are designed to better protect a broker-dealer's customers and enhance the SEC's ability to monitor and prevent unsound business practices. The rule amendments were approved by a unanimous Commission vote.
“Investors need to feel confident that their money is safe when it's being held by their broker-dealers,” said Mary Jo White, Chair of the SEC. “These measures will significantly bolster the protections that our rules already offer.”
The rule amendments will become effective 60 days after their publication in the Federal Register.
Adopting Amendments to the Financial Responsibility Rules for Broker-Dealers
What Are Broker-Dealers? Broker-dealers are generally entities that engage in the business of carrying out securities transactions either for someone else's account or for their own account. Under the federal securities laws, most entities engaged in these activities (with the notable exception of certain commercial banks) must register with the SEC and be subject to Commission rules. Broker-dealers must be members of at least one self-regulatory organization (SRO) such as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority or a national securities exchange.
What Are Broker-Dealer Financial Responsibility Rules and How Do They Protect Customers? Broker-dealers must meet certain financial responsibility requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These requirements help to protect customers from the consequences of the financial failure of a broker-dealer by requiring the safeguarding of customer securities and funds held by the broker-dealer.
These requirements include:
•Net Capital Rule (Rule 15c3-1) – Requires a broker-dealer to maintain more than a dollar of highly liquid assets for each dollar of liabilities. If the broker-dealer fails, this rule helps to ensure that the broker-dealer has sufficient liquid assets to pay all liabilities to customers.
•Customer Protection Rule (Rule 15c3-3) – Broker-dealers sometime use their own funds to conduct trades and other transactions. When engaging in such “proprietary business activities,” this rule prohibits broker-dealers from using customer securities and cash to finance their own business. By segregating customer securities and cash from a firm's proprietary business activities, the rule increases the likelihood that customer assets will be readily available to be returned to customers if a broker-dealer fails.
•Books and Records Rules (Exchange Act Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4) – Require a broker-dealer to make and maintain certain business records to assist the firm in accounting for its activities, and assist securities regulators in examining for compliance with the securities laws. •Notification Rule (Exchange Act Rule 17a-11) – Requires a broker-dealer to give notice to the SEC and other securities regulators when certain events occur, such as the firm's net capital falling below its required minimum.
These requirements are designed to protect customer assets held at broker-dealers. However, if a broker-dealer violates these requirements by, for example, misappropriating these assets, the securities and cash may not be available to be returned to customers. In a situation where a broker-dealer misappropriates funds or converts securities from its customer, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) may step in and initiate a liquidation proceeding, which is the process that determines whether SIPC will pay the customers for any shortfalls in their accounts up to $500,000 per customer (of which $250,000 can be used to make up a cash shortfall.) 2007 Proposal
In 2007, the Commission proposed a series of amendments to the broker-dealer financial responsibility rules and gave the public the opportunity to comment. Commenters were given an additional opportunity to weigh in when the Commission re-opened the comment period in 2012. New Rules
Customer Protection Rule (Rule 15c-3-3)
The key changes to the Customer Protection Rule will:
•Close a “gap” between the definition of “customer” in Rule 15c3-3 (which does not include broker-dealers) and the definition of “customer” under the Securities Investor Protection Act (which includes broker-dealers). It does this by requiring “carrying broker-dealers” that maintain customer securities and funds to maintain a new segregated reserve account for account holders that are broker-dealers.
•Place restrictions on cash bank deposits for purposes of the requirement to maintain a reserve to protect customer cash under Rule 15c3-3. The rule is amended to exclude cash deposits held at affiliated banks and limit cash held at non-affiliated banks to an amount no greater than 15 percent of the bank's equity capital, as reported by the bank in its most recent call report.
•Establish customer disclosure, notice, and affirmative consent requirements (for new accounts) for programs where customer cash in a securities account is “swept” to a money market or bank deposit product.
Net Capital Rule (Rule 15c3-1) The key amendments to the Net Capital Rule will:
•Require a broker-dealer to adjust its net worth when calculating net capital by including any liabilities that are assumed by a third party if the broker-dealer cannot demonstrate that the third party has the resources – independent of the broker-dealer's income and assets – to pay the liabilities.
•Require a broker-dealer to treat as a liability any capital that is contributed under an agreement giving the investor the option to withdraw it. The rule also requires a broker-dealer to treat as a liability any capital contribution that is withdrawn within a year of its contribution unless the broker-dealer receives permission for the withdrawal in writing from its designated examining authority (DEA).
•Require broker-dealers to deduct from net capital (with regard to fidelity bonding requirements prescribed by a broker-dealer's SRO) the excess of any deductible amount over the amount permitted by SRO rules.
•Clarify that any broker-dealer that becomes “insolvent” as that term is now defined in Rule 15c3-1 is required to cease conducting a securities business. The companion amendment to Rule 17a-11 requires insolvent broker-dealers to provide notice to regulatory authorities.
Books and Records Rules (Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4) The amendments to Rules 17a-3 and 17a-4 will require large broker-dealers to document their market, credit, and liquidity risk management controls.
Notification Rule (Rule 17a-11)
The amendments to Rule 17a-11 will establish new notification requirements for when a broker-dealer's repurchase and securities lending activities exceed a certain threshold. In lieu of the notification requirement, the final rule provides that a broker-dealer may report monthly its stock loan and repurchase activity to its DEA, in a form acceptable to its DEA.
The effective date for these amendments is 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Posted-In: News Legal
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Related Articles (XLF)
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2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/14437 | Liberty NewsWire: July 11, 2012
The euro rose against the dollar but weakened against other major currencies on unease over how policymakers will tackle the debt crisis after it appeared there would be no quick judgment from a German court on the euro zone's bailout [...]
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House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Noncosponsors
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will hold a markup on Audit the Fed, H.R. 459, possibly even as soon as next week!The following members of the committee have yet to cosponsor H.R. 459, though several of them were [...]
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Audit the Fed Passes House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
This morning, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee unanimously passed Audit the Fed, H.R. 459, by voice vote.Thanks to the historic grassroots efforts supporting this legislation, an amendment offerred by Rep. Cummings that would [...]
“Spoofing a GPS receiver on a UAV is just another way of hijacking a plane,” Humphreys told Fox News.Humphreys says the implications are very serious. “In 5 or 10 years you have 30,000 drones in the airspace,” he told Fox [...]
Audit the Fed's AWOL Cosponsors
With Audit the Fed slated for a stand alone vote in the full House in late July, C4L is pulling out all the stops to build the number of cosponsors up before the vote.The following members were cosponsors of The Federal Reserve Transparency Act [...] | 金融 |
2016-30/0342/en_head.json.gz/14522 | Triple-A Rating: What the US Can Learn From Japan Patrick Allen Wednesday, 27 Jul 2011 | 6:07 AM ETCNBC.com
Analysts at Barclays Capital expect the United States to lose its "AAA" credit rating as a compromise plan is passed by Congress that leads S&P to cut its rating on U.S. debt. But what would that mean for investors?
Photo: Bryan Jones
Japanese Flag
In a bid to understand the ramifications of such a cut, Barry Knapp, the head of U.S. equity strategy at Barclays Capital, has researched back as far as 1998 in order to look at the effect that Moody’s downgrade of Japanese debt had on that nation following the collapse of Long Term Capital Management (LTCM).
Knapp said using the Japanese example to understand the possibilities for the U.S. are “fraught with peril,” but his observations still make for interesting reading. “Macroeconomic fundamentals were the major drivers of asset prices, rather than the ratings downgrade,” said Knapp in a research note on Wednesday. “At first blush, we were struck by the massive underperformance of JGBs (Japanese Government Bonds) relative to German Bunds and sharp steepening of the 2-year and 10-year JGB yield curve, which implied that the downgrade did have a significant impact on longer-term yields,” Knapp said.
While yields rose, so did the Nikkei and yen, according to Knapp, who noted that a rebound in Japanese industrial production began in 1998 that dragged Japan out of recession by early 1999. As a result, the move in Japanese bonds was in Knapp’s opinion due to Fed easing following LTCM’s collapse and Japan’s emergence from recession. “The initial reaction for Japanese equities in the two weeks following the downgrade was positive, underscoring how other factors were driving the markets. However, within a couple of weeks, equities were struggling, again, likely because it was becoming clear that the first round of bank recapitalizations (in early 1998) were insufficient, setting the stage for a second round (in early 1999),” he said. Banking stocks weighed on the Nikkei until the recovery took hold and the second round of bank recapitalizations had occurred. “Once the recession ended and the second round of bank recapitalizations occurred, the yen was right back to where it started before the downgrade,” Knapp said.
With the S&P refusing to take fright at the debt talks in Washington and trading in a range between 1250 and 1350 Knapp has been fielding a lot of questions about why the U.S. equity market has remained so resilient. “Our answer is that earnings season is off to a good start. We do not think this will last, but not because of the political risks. Instead, we expect the macroeconomic fundamentals to again become the primary driver of stocks, bonds, and the dollar, perhaps as soon as the GDP report, followed by Friday’s July employment report,” said Knapp “Our expectation on the debt negotiations is a compromise solution that avoids default but not a downgrade. So, if Congress falls short of $4 trillion and S&P sticks to its words, after a brief muted market reaction, the direction of the markets will be highly leveraged to the data with expectations of a second-half rebound in economic activity hanging in the balance.” Patrick AllenCNBC EMEA Head of News | 金融 |
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Are We Headed For Another Recession? By Ben Casselman
Filed under In Real Terms
EmailTwitterFacebook President Obama delivers the State of the Union address. Evan Vucci, Pool / Getty Images
This is the first edition of In Real Terms, a new column analyzing the week in economics news. We’re still experimenting with the format, so tell us what you think. Email me or drop a note in the comments.
More Economics
Sure, last week’s jobs report was great, gas is cheap and President Obama says the U.S. has “the strongest, most durable economy in the world,” but don’t let any of that fool you: We’re careening headlong toward another recession. Or so fret Robert Samuelson and Larry Summers (separately) in The Washington Post and Alan Murray in Fortune. And don’t expect it to stop there. With the stock market off to its worst-ever start of a year, recession-prognostication looks to be a growth industry. (Economists at the Royal Bank of Scotland last week cheerfully recommended that investors “sell everything.”)
The doomsayers tend to fall into two broad (and overlapping) categories. On one side is the “it’s about time” caucus, which argues, essentially, that it’s been six years since the last recession ended, so we’re due for another one. As evidence, supporters of this position note that the average post-World War II economic expansion has lasted less than five years; in a recent speech, Summers offered a more technical version of this argument that reached pretty much the same conclusion.1
As back-of-the-envelope calculations go, this is all well and good — it’s important to remember that another recession is bound to come eventually and that “eventually” could be sooner than many people think. But it’s not clear why this analysis should mean a recession is more likely now than in, say, five years. Over the past 70 years, we’ve had an expansion that lasted 12 months and one that lasted 10 times that long; there’s no good way to know which end of the spectrum we’ll fall on this time.
The second category of doomsayers argues that there really are reasons to worry right now. Or at least one reason: China. China’s stock market tumbled to start the year, and, depending on whose interpretation you believe, its economy is either gradually slowing or falling off a cliff. The turmoil is reducing Chinese demand for everything from oil to luxury goods and is threatening to destabilize global financial markets.
The question is how much of a threat China’s struggles pose to the U.S. economy as a whole. The answer is clearly not “none,” but it might well be “not much.” U.S. exports to China are relatively modest, and our financial systems aren’t particularly interconnected. A broader global slowdown would surely pinch, but the rest of the world has been struggling for more than two years now and the U.S. recovery has stayed on course.
None of this is to say that a recession isn’t coming. If there’s one truism in macroeconomics, it’s that we’re really bad at predicting recessions. But that failure works in both directions — a vocal subset of economists has been forecasting a collapse for six years. One day, they’ll be right. But I’m guessing that day won’t come in 2016.
The State of the Union
Most of what Obama said about the economy in his final State of the Union address sounded pretty familiar: The job market is improving, the minimum wage should be higher, big corporations should pay their workers more. Buried in the familiar talking points, though, was an interesting nugget: Obama wants to make it easier for workers to change jobs. The Affordable Care Act already took one step in that direction: It made more readily available health insurance that isn’t tied to a specific job, something that economists have long liked about the law but that Obama has rarely emphasized. In Tuesday’s speech, Obama proposed making it easier for workers to take retirement savings with them when they change jobs. He also called for a “wage insurance” program to encourage people to get back to work after a job loss. (Obama hasn’t provided details, but most proposals would help fill the financial gap for workers who take lower-paying jobs after being laid off.)
All of that would be nice for workers, but what makes the proposals significant economically is that Americans are changing jobs less often than they did in past decades. This decline in “labor-market dynamism” worries economists because job changes are important to maximizing productivity in the economy (the idea is essentially that everyone moves around until they find the “right” job). No one is really sure why dynamism has declined, and Obama’s proposals aren’t detailed enough to judge whether they would have much effect. But it’s significant that he’s talking about the issue at all.
The state of our counties
Speaking of the state of our union, the National Association of Counties released a report this week claiming that just 7 percent of U.S. counties have fully recovered from the recession. Color me skeptical. The recovery has been disappointing in many ways, and there are large swaths of the country where it is far from complete. But the association’s definition of “full recovery” is extreme. To qualify, counties must have returned to 2007 levels on four indicators: jobs, the unemployment rate, economic output and home prices. But there’s no reason to think home prices will return to housing-bubble levels anytime soon — or to hope that they do. And while jobs and unemployment are more reasonable indicators, it’s odd to use 2007, the peak of the last cycle, as the benchmark. 2005 was a pretty solid year; maybe we should aim for that.
Oil prices on Tuesday dipped below $30 a barrel for the first time since 2003. Prices picked up a bit by the end of the day, but analysts don’t expect the rebound to last long. Morgan Stanley on Monday joined Goldman Sachs in predicting that oil will hit $20 a barrel, and British bank Standard Chartered said it could go as low as $10. This is where I remind you that no one has any idea where oil prices are headed. Just a few years ago, Goldman was calling for $200 oil, and its arguments sounded just as logical then as its $20 forecast does now.
“Adding in some females changes the dynamic quite a bit.” — Andrew McDonald, of the corporate communications firm LifeSci Advisors, in this truly remarkable Bloomberg story on (the lack of) gender diversity in the biotechnology industry. LifeSci’s solution: Hire models to attend industry mixers.
Check out our live coverage of the Democratic debate. Special shoutout to reader “The Hunt,” who suggested the name for this column, and thanks to all the readers who weighed in with suggestions. (Our original favorite, Free Lunch, was so good that it was already taken; check out Martin Sandbu’s daily econ newsletter by that name in the Financial Times.) And remember to let us know what you think of the column!
Summers noted that once an economic expansion has lasted more than five years and the unemployment rate has dropped below 6 percent, the U.S. has entered a recession within 18 months about half the time. We’ve been in that situation for 15 months now. ^ Ben Casselman is a senior editor and the chief economics writer for FiveThirtyEight. @bencasselman
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A Study That Set the Tone for Austerity Is Challenged
New York Times, April 17, 2013 by Annie Lowrey
In recent years, policy makers in Europe and the United States have fastened on the notion that reaching a certain heavy burden of debt would threaten future economic health – often to justify austerity budgets that increased unemployment and sapped economic strength in the here and now.
But now some economists are challenging the very foundations of that idea, raising questions about whether such a debt threshold even exists and setting off a fierce debate that flared up on Tuesday across the Internet about whether potentially flawed research is at least partly responsible for the slow growth that has bedeviled most advanced industrial countries since the recovery from the financial crisis began in 2009.
The debate comes at a particularly perilous time, as economic officials from the United States and other countries gather for the annual spring meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, where many are expected to urge high-debt Europe to ease up on its commitment to austerity in the face of rising unemployment and new economic contractions.
The controversy stems from a provocative new paper by economists at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst that claims to have found some basic errors in one of the most pathbreaking and influential economic studies to come out in the last few years.
That was a 2010 research paper by Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff of Harvard, also authors of a best seller, “This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly.” The economists, analyzing 3,700 separate economic observations, found little relationship between growth and debt for countries with debt-to-gross-domestic-product ratios of 90 percent or less. But for countries with debt loads equivalent to or greater than 90 percent of annual economic output, “median growth rates fall by 1 percent, and average growth falls considerably more.”
Many politicians interpreted the research as showing a direct relationship between debt and growth. If a country reached a debt burden of more than 90 percent of its annual economic output, the logic went, it would quickly fall into a debt trap that would leave it struggling to grow in the coming years. Prominent politicians – including Olli Rehn of the European Commission and Representative Paul D. Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee – cited it as a reason to try to impose major budget cuts.
The Harvard economists’ research was always more nuanced about the causal relationship between debt and growth than the popular view. Some economists expressed skepticism of the “threshold” theory to begin with. And many others noted how hard it could be to draw straight lines between debt and economic growth, given the panoply of factors at work.
But now, Thomas Herndon, Michael Ash and Robert Pollin of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in trying to replicate the Reinhart-Rogoff results, are challenging the conclusions for a different reason. They say they found some simple miscalculations or data exclusions that sharply altered the ultimate results. According to their rerunning of the figures, “the average real G.D.P. growth rate for countries carrying a public debt-to-G.D.P. ratio of over 90 percent is actually 2.2 percent, not –0.1 percent,” they write. In other words, heavy debts were not associated with the malaise that Professors Reinhart and Rogoff – and much of the world’s economic elite – thought that they were.
The new paper, released this week, has set off a storm within the economics profession, with some commentators even arguing that it undermines the austerity policies that have proved so prevalent in the last few years.
“How much unemployment was caused by Reinhart and Rogoff’s arithmetic mistake?” asked Dean Baker of the left-leaning Center for Economic and Policy Research, for instance.
But in interviews, several economic experts cautioned that it would take time to sort out the statistical implications of any problems in the highly technical research.
“I think it’s totally fair to say it’s embarrassing,” said Justin Wolfers, an economist at the University of Michigan, who added that he had not had the chance to study the results and noted that debates over supposed statistical problems were common in the profession. “But the mistakes that are most embarrassing are the least consequential” to Professor Reinhart and Rogoff’s conclusion, he added.
Other experts said that separate pieces of research had found similar results to the Harvard professors’ paper, using alternative data sets and significantly strengthening the argument that higher-debt economies suffered from slower growth. Those include studies by the I.M.F., the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Bank for International Settlements.
“There’s nothing about this that will change my view of the universe,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former director of the Congressional Budget Office and prominent Republican economist. “The sun still rises in the east. It sets in the west. And a lot of debt is still bad.”
In an e-mailed statement, Professors Reinhart and Rogoff did not directly address the assertions of mathematical errors, and noted that they had only just started to sift through the new paper. But they argued that the Amherst authors had also found lower growth rates when a country had debts equivalent to or greater than 90 percent of annual economic output. “It is hard to see how one can interpret these tables and individual country results as showing that public debt overhang over 90 percent is clearly benign,” they wrote.
The seemingly esoteric debate within the economics profession has collided this week with a broader challenge to excessive budget-cutting in countries around the world. The I.M.F. cautioned Washington against cutting its budget too fast, too soon, even as it saw the American economy strengthening. And on Tuesday, Olivier Blanchard, the fund’s chief economist, warned that Britain was “playing with fire” with its austerity policy.
Professors Reinhart and Rogoff “are right to say the basic structure of the result stands,” Professor Wolfers said. “The authors of the critique are right to say its force is lessened.”
The debate, he added, is far from over.
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2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/6997 | Gobal Economy Outlook Looks Grim By editor
Originally published on October 9, 2012 9:25 am Transcript RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: Finance ministers and central bankers from around the world are on their way to Tokyo for their annual get-together, sponsored by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. The mood, at the moment, about the global economy, is worried. In fact, the IMF has just called the risk of a worldwide slowdown alarmingly high. To find out more, we turn, as we often do, to David Wessel. He's economics editor of The Wall Street Journal. Good morning. DAVID WESSEL: Good morning, Renee. MONTAGNE: Now that's rather unsettling, David, those words. What is it that's caused the IMF to sound the alarm and isn't - I mean isn't the financial crisis behind us now? WESSEL: Well, we hope so. The world economy bounced back after a very deep recession in 2008 and 2009 - 2010 was actually a reasonably good year for global growth. But as you point out, in its New World Economic Outlook, which the IMF released in Tokyo yesterday, it said that its forecast is even gloomier than the kind of gloomier one it put out in July. It said the recovery - as it put it - remains tepid and bumpy, and it says no significant improvements appear in the offing. In the rich countries, like the U.S. and others, growth is too slow to make a substantial dent in unemployment - which remains very high. And this lousy growth in the rich countries of the, U.S. and Europe and Japan is depressing exports from developing countries, like China and India, which at the same time are suffering from a slowdown of their own consumer demand. And it's not just the IMF. There's, for instance, a gauge that the Brookings Institution and Financial Times puts out that purports to predict global growth and they said that they see slowing momentum all across the world economy - both developed and emerging markets. And the thing that I found most alarming is that what the IMF is saying is growth this year will be lousy, worse than last year and next year will only be a tad better, even if Europe gets its act together, and even if the United States avoids this fiscal cliff of spending cuts and tax increases that are due at the end of the year. MONTAGNE: Well, this is all very depressing, David. What has... WESSEL: Sorry. Just the facts, ma'am. MONTAGNE: What has brought the world to this? I mean we hear a lot about lots of downturns everywhere, but what particularly has gone wrong? WESSEL: Well, the International Monetary Fund, sort of, has a three-part diagnosis. One, it says a lot of big countries are pursuing government austerity at the same time, and that's reducing global demand for goods and services. In fact, the IMF is, kind of, critical itself and of global government saying that maybe this effort to reduce deficits has been too much too fast and it's hurting growth. Secondly, the global financial system, while better than it was during the crisis, isn't yet healthy in a lot of countries and that makes it hard for people and businesses to borrow in some places. And then the third factor is what the IMF calls a general feeling of uncertainty that's weighing down the world economy. In fact, the bright spot in this forecast says if this uncertainty dissipates, maybe they'll be an unexpected but welcome up-tick in growth. MONTAGNE: What other aspects are there that would be a remedy for this? WESSEL: Well, in a way that's another worrisome part of this kind of worrisome forecast. Four years ago, world governments cut taxes and increased spending - and the central banks cut interest rate very low. But some of the governments are now tapped out, like Spain and Italy, they can't really increase their deficits to propel growth and the politics in some of the big countries that might be able to increase deficits - namely the U.S. and Germany - are standing in the way. And the central banks - though still trying - simply may not have the tools needed to give the economy the jolt that would be required to get growth growing again. In particular, the IMF is worried about what it called the deepening of the crisis in Europe. It said that's the most immediate downside risk - that the action will be insufficient or delayed or prolonged, and that will make things worse, not only for Europe, but you are what it called deleterious consequences for the whole world economy. MONTAGNE: And I would imagine in a few seconds that we've got left, that you can have a couple word answer to the U.S., its fiscal cliff looming. The IMF, probably worried about that too. WESSEL: Yeah. The IMF basically said the U.S. should avoid the fiscal cliff. Congress should avoid it, to not have the big tax increase and spending cut at the end of the year. But it did say the growth in the U.S. this year and next - though sluggish - will be better than any of the other major advanced economies. MONTAGNE: David, thanks very much. WESSEL: You're welcome. MONTAGNE: David Wessel, economics editor of The Wall Street Journal. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio. © 2016 KTEP | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/7028 | The '80s and the '20s: We can profit by being cautious, not cringing
By RICHARD A. NENNEMAN /
MANY older readers who remember the Great Depression still tend to fear a repeat of those days. Whenever the economic outlook gets a bit hairier, one can be sure there will be a letter in the mail about the '30s. I don't happen to believe that events ever repeat themselves exactly, but I do wish the generations that have matured since the 1920s had some of that folk memory to make them a bit more cautious.In two recent issues of the weekly Smith Barney, Harris Upham Portfolio Strategist, political commentator Kevin Phillips has written about the similarities and dissimilarities between the 1980s and, not the '30s, when things were slowly being put together again, but the 1920s. Mr. Phillips notes President Reagan's admiration for the political culture of the '20s -- in the person of Calvin Coolidge and the policies of governmental nonintervention in business. Business was also fashionable in the '20s, and he sees a parallel there with today's yuppies, who find personal economic achievement more important than involvement in the social goals of the 1960s and early '70s.
As in the 1920s, the nation also has an uneven prosperity. Then, the prosperity was concentrated in the Middle Atlantic states, the Great Lakes (automobiles), and the Pacific Coast. Today, it's more a matter of both coasts doing well, while the farm states, the ``rust belt'' area of the Midwest, and the energy-driven Southwest are having severe slumps.
Finally, he notes that the 1920s were the decade of multiple tax cuts -- five of them. He concedes that the parallel is imperfect, but the question is how much of the 1986 tax reform ``represents a future source of real strength for the economy and what part represents a repeat of the late 1920s go-go mentality.''Dissimilarities between the two periods are strong, however, and it is clear that ``learning the lessons of history'' is not a rote exercise.When the depression began, the Federal Reserve countered by shrinking the money supply. During the mid-1980s, we have had a generous increase in the money supply. Second, Republican administrations in other deflationary periods have tried to maintain the external value of the dollar. The Reagan administration first talked up the dollar, but since 1985 it has been talking it down.Some of this difference is probably due to the Republican strength today being in formerly populist areas of the country. ``Indeed,'' writes Phillips, ``this time the Republican administration in question, instead of having Pennsylvanian Andrew Mellon as Treasury secretary, has a Texan -- a man from the part of the country most worried about commodity deflation and collapsing banks.''Other major differences are the Reagan administration's fidelity to free trade, as opposed to the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930, and Mr. Reagan's acceptance of large budget deficits. But it is clear that not all policies aren't working very fast or effectively to resolve America's major trade weakness.The political cultures of the two periods are similar, and at least some of the economic challenges are similar (such as major parts of the nation being in virtual depression while other parts prosper). But the economic approaches to their solution are not following the mistakes made in the past.
Whether current policy is responding to today's challenges is a separate question -- but one thing is certain: We're not seeing an exact rerun of history.
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2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/7119 | CST: 24/07/2016 05:44:19 Finning Announces Board Chair Succession and Board Appointment156 Days ago VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Feb 18, 2016) - Finning International Inc. (TSX:FTT) today announced that as part of ongoing board renewal Mr. Doug Whitehead will step down as Chairman of the Board at the Company's Annual General Meeting (AGM) on May 4, 2016. Mr. Whitehead, who has been Chairman of the Board since 2008 and a member of the Board since 1999, will remain on the Board of Directors, subject to his re-election to the Board at the AGM. Mr. Mike Wilson will succeed Mr. Whitehead as Chairman of the Board of Directors on May 4, 2016, also subject to his re-election to the Board. Mr. Wilson joined Finning's Board of Directors in January 2013 bringing decades of executive leadership experience, most recently as CEO of Agrium. Finning is also pleased to announce the appointment of Stuart Levenick to the company's Board of Directors effective March 1, 2016.
Mr. Levenick brings a wealth of corporate executive experience gained over the course of his 37-year career at Caterpillar, which included 10 years as Group President prior to his retirement from the company. In his most recent role, Mr. Levenick's responsibilities included management of businesses spanning marketing, manufacturing operations, engineering, supply chain, procurement, human resources and data innovation. As Group President, Mr. Levenick also had overall leadership of customer and dealer support for Caterpillar. Mr. Levenick has a strong background in marketing and general management as well as broad global experience gained from assignments based in the United States, Canada, Russia, Asia Pacific and Japan.
Mr. Levenick graduated from the University of Illinois with a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry and is a Sloan Fellow, with a Master of Science degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The Board of Directors of Finning is very pleased to have Stu join the Company's Board," said Chairman of the Board, Mr. Whitehead. "Stu has been a valuable partner to the Finning organization in his past role as Group President of Caterpillar." "We look forward to leveraging his direct industry experience and knowledge to ensure Finning continues to deliver value for its customers while advancing its operational priorities," said Mr. Wilson.
About Finning
Finning International Inc. (TSX:FTT) is the world's largest Caterpillar equipment dealer delivering unrivalled service to customers for over 80 years. Finning sells, rents and provides parts and service for equipment and engines to help customers maximize productivity. Headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., the Company operates in Western Canada, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, as well as in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Forward-Looking Disclaimer This report contains statements about the Company's business outlook, objectives, plans, strategic priorities and other statements that are not historical facts. A statement Finning makes is forward-looking when it uses what the Company knows and expects today to make a statement about the future. Forward-looking statements may include words such as aim, anticipate, assumption, believe, could, expect, goal, guidance, intend, may, objective, outlook, plan, project, seek, should, strategy, strive, target, and will. Forward-looking statements in this report include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: expectations with respect to the economy and associated impact on the Company's financial results; workforce reductions; distribution network and goodwill impairment charges; facility closures; expected revenue; expected free cash flow; EBIT margin; expected range of the effective tax rate; ROIC; market share growth; expected results from service excellence action plans; anticipated asset utilization; inventory turns and parts service levels; the expected target range of the Company's net debt to invested capital ratio; and the expected financial impact from acquisitions. All such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the 'safe harbour' provisions of applicable Canadian securities laws. Unless otherwise indicated by us, forward-looking statements in this report reflect Finning's expectations at February 18, 2016. Except as may be required by Canadian securities laws, Finning does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements, by their very nature, are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties and are based on several assumptions which give rise to the possibility that actual results could differ materially from the expectations expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements and that Finning's business outlook, objectives, plans, strategic priorities and other statements that are not historical facts may not be achieved. As a result, Finning cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by these forward-looking statements include: general economic and market conditions; foreign exchange rates; commodity prices; the level of customer confidence and spending, and the demand for, and prices of, Finning's products and services; Finning's dependence on the continued market acceptance of products and timely supply of parts and equipment; Finning's ability to continue to improve productivity and operational efficiencies while continuing to maintain customer service; Finning's ability to manage cost pressures as growth in revenue occurs; Finning's ability to reduce costs in response to slowing activity levels; Finning's ability to attract sufficient skilled labour resources as market conditions, business strategy or technologies change; Finning's ability to negotiate and renew collective bargaining agreements with satisfactory terms for Finning's employees and the Company; the intensity of competitive activity; Finning's ability to raise the capital needed to implement its business plan; regulatory initiatives or proceedings, litigation and changes in laws or regulations; stock market volatility; changes in political and economic environments for operations; the integrity, reliability, availability and benefits from information technology and the data processed by that technology. Forward-looking statements are provided in this report for the purpose of giving information about management's current expectations and plans and allowing investors and others to get a better understanding of Finning's operating environment. However, readers are cautioned that it may not be appropriate to use such forward-looking statements for any other purpose. Forward-looking statements made in this report are based on a number of assumptions that Finning believed were reasonable on the day the Company made the forward-looking statements. Refer in particular to the Outlook section of this MD&A. Some of the assumptions, risks, and other factors which could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements contained in this report are discussed in Section 4 of the Company's current AIF. Finning cautions readers that the risks described in the MD&A and the AIF are not the only ones that could impact the Company. Additional risks and uncertainties not currently known to the Company or that are currently deemed to be immaterial may also have a material adverse effect on Finning's business, financial condition, or results of operations. Except as otherwise indicated, forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any non-recurring or other unusual items or of any dispositions, mergers, acquisitions, other business combinations or other transactions that may be announced or that may occur after the date hereof. The financial impact of these transactions and non-recurring and other unusual items can be complex and depends on the facts particular to each of them. Finning therefore cannot describe the expected impact in a meaningful way or in the same way Finning presents known risks affecting its business.
Finning International Inc.Mauk BreukelsVice President, Investor Relations and Corporate Affairs604.331.4934mauk.breukels@finning.comwww.finning.com | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/7164 | Criticism Of The Federal Reserve
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Description: The Federal Reserve System (colloquially, "the Fed") has faced various criticisms since its conception in 1913. The system was created as a third attempt at central banking in the United States. The Federal Reserve Act, which began the Fed, was a hotly debated issue in its own right, and passed primarily on party lines—and that was only after considerable political manipulation of Congressmen by Woodrow Wilson.The earliest debates on central banking in the United States centered on its constitutionality, private ownership, and the degree to which an economy should be centrally planned. Some of the most prominent early critics were Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Andrew Jackson, although Madison ultimately renounced his earlier objections. As the effects of central banking, and the Federal Reserve System in particular, became more apparent, new criticisms began to emerge.Criticisms of the Fed come from a variety of sources, ranging from conspiracy theorists to mainstream economists.Intense criticism among the general public was a major feature of the 2010 midterm elections. Critics reached a wide audience that reacted against the Troubled Asset Relief Program of 2008-9 and the bailout of major banks, insurance and mortgage companies, as well as the industrial companies General Motors and Chrysler. Longtime critics of the Fed gained new audiences as New York Times columnist Frank Rich noted, "Ron Paul... Read More | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/7211 | ‘Borough Bias’ is hurting the wallets of small businesses
Andrew Pavia
Feb 27, 2013 | 2242 views | 0 | 5 | | Public Advocate Bill de Blasio with Vishnu Mahadeo and small business owners in Richmond Hill.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is calling out the city for their “Borough Bias” against small business owners. A recent report released by his office reveals New York City has increased the amount of fines on small business. According to the report, revenue from fines on small businesses in 2002 was $12.6 million, whereas in 2012 it was $66.2 million.De Blasio said he was “stonewalled” when he tried to get information about the fines being levied on small businesses. “I had to actually sue the mayor to get this information,” de Blasio said at a press conference in Richmond Hill on Monday. “This should be publicly available.”De Blasio also said the report shows a clear pattern of over-enforcement in the outer boroughs. Fines increased in the outer boroughs at the same time they decreased in Manhattan. From 2002 to 2012, inspections of small business in Manhattan decreased by 14 percent, but increased by 2 percent in Queens and 4 percent in Brooklyn. De Blasio also said that many of the fines are outdates and unreasonable. “The truth is we found all sorts of arbitrary judgments,” he said. For example, the owner of a barbershop, which had been in operation for over 40 years, received a fine because he was not handing out receipts, even though no one ever asked for a receipt. “We have been getting complaints from several of our businesses,” said Vishnu Mahadeo, executive director of the Richmond Hill Economic Development. According to the report, Richmond Hill was one of the most targeted neighborhoods by inspectors. “Especially businesses that are selling minority products.”Andy Jareandhan, owner of Fresh Point Market, said he was in fear of losing his business because of the fines. “It seems that we are being brought down a dark alley, not knowing exactly what the rules are,” he said, noting that one fine he received was for $3,000. “We’re a small business and we are not always available to attend the hearings, so we accept the default judgment hoping that it is within reason.”Bloomberg dismissed the report, saying if fines were issued they were probably justified.“Fines are very different than taxes,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said last week at an event on Rikers Island when asked about the report. “You can't avoid taxes, fines are easy to avoid - just don't do what we are trying to prevent you from doing and you won't have a problem.”
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2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/7231 | Common Cause gaming report
October 9, 2013 — ALBANY, NY — According to a report issued on October 7 by Common Cause NY, since 2011, gambling interests have paid out over $3.2 million to New York politicians and committees. During that period the legislature voted twice to approve casino-style gambling.
The report said, “The analysis is particularly relevant in light of the November 5th ballot referendum in which New Yorkers will vote whether or not to approve casino style gambling. The amendment language has been criticized for its nakedly pro-gambling slant, and recent news reports have also revealed the formation of a new political action committee, NY Jobs Now, which is expected to spend handily to sway voters in favor of the amendment.”
The Common Cause NY data is based on a previous report, Stacking the Deck, which showed that industry interests have been spending consistently since 2005 to advance gambling in New York State. “New York’s lax campaign finance laws make it possible for high rollers, like the gambling industry, to dictate public policy. The problem is that the rules of the game are stacked against average voters and the house always wins. We need campaign finance reform now to ensure that politicians are accountable to the people, not the highest pay-out,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause NY.
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2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/7478 | Updated Apr 9 2013 at 12:21 PM
Get ready to ride a wave of money
by Tony Boyd Australia will be hit by a wall of money over the next two years as the world economy recovers and the cash being printed by central banks seeks out higher-yielding assets.That is the considered view of one of the Australia’s top bankers, the CEO of Westpac’s institutional bank, Rob Whitfield
, who spoke exclusively to Chanticleer about the huge structural shifts in the global flow of money.Whitfield, who is highly regarded and most certainly in the race to replace Gail Kelly as Westpac Group chief executive, reckons “yield chasers" will drive a sustained period of investment in more risky assets with higher yields.He says that the current investment markets in Australia remind him of 2006. One year later there was an asset price bubble that burst causing the global financial crisis.
He won’t comment on bank share prices or Westpac’s earnings outlook but if he is right about the huge shift in money flows, Australia’s big four banks will continue to be in demand among foreign investors.
Three of the big four are earning more than 15 per cent return on equity and offering yields of at least 5 per cent or higher. National Australia Bank is playing catch-up. That is bound to be attractive to investors from the United States, United Kingdom and Japan, which plans to boost global liquidity by about $US2 trillion.There is already evidence of a change in flows, according to the latest data from Bank of America Merrill Lynch which shows that equities attracted $US100 billion in the first quarter. About one-quarter of that went into emerging markets.
There has been 19 straight weeks of inflows into equities, although the pace slowed noticeably in the past few weeks, Merrill Lynch said. Money market funds experienced negative net flows of $US88 billion in the first quarter.Foreign investors have already been chasing Australia assets, with their share of government bonds now at about 70 per cent.However, the demand for local assets, including property, shares, bonds and agricultural assets, has pushed the Australian dollar to levels well beyond what is regarded as fair value. The strong dollar has been the main reason behind job losses in manufacturing, including Monday’s decision by Holden to slash 500 jobs.
Whitfield sees tremendous opportunities from Australia being a favoured destination for foreign investors, particularly in the controversial area of infrastructure investment.He says there has never been a better time for the federal government to co-operate with state governments to help finance the estimated $600 billion to $700 billion in needed infrastructure investments.The private sector would be a willing partner in these projects but a number of pre-conditions need to be in place.The first is that market demand for long-dated loans issued by banks needs to change to match the pressures on pricing from the introduction of the Basel III capital rules.
These rules impose punitive capital charges on long-tenured loans. At this stage, investors are not willing to pay the prices that need to be charged to meet those capital requirements. The lack of longer-dated loans has forced many financiers of infrastructure in Australia to seek funding in bond and private debt markets overseas where 7 to 10 year money is freely available to the right credits.Another missing piece to the private financing puzzle in Australia is the need to have a longer-dated government yield curve through the issuance of 20- to 30-year government bonds.Whitfield says the private sector would respond to that sort of government issuance with the issuance of paper of similar tenure and this would be lapped up by superannuation funds.
He says it is clear the federal government has headroom to borrow to fund infrastructure. This challenges the accepted political wisdom but fits with the latest analysis of the economy by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.The median “AAA"-rated economy covered by S&P has general government debt as a percentage of GDP of 50 per cent compared with Australia’s 23.5 per cent in 2012. That S&P ratio includes all debt issued by federal and state governments.That suggests there is room for Australia to borrow several hundred billion dollars before putting pressure on its “AAA" sovereign credit rating.The first report issued by S&P’s new sovereign debt analyst in Australia, Craig Michaels, says there are downside scenarios that may put pressure on the “AAA" rating.He says although the economy is resilient because of its wealthy and open economy and low public debt there are a number of weaknesses.These include “significant offshore debt, elevated household debt and a banking sector reliant on foreign investor funding".Whitfield says a partnership between the federal and state governments is needed to deal with the infrastructure funding gap.Turning to the state of the Australian economy, Whitfield says the relationship between GDP growth and credit growth has undergone a permanent structural change.
Australia used to have credit growth at about three times GDP. Whitfield says it is now moved to about two times. That is not necessarily a bad thing.IBM is one of the most powerful and respected technology companies in the world but its reputation was sorely damaged by a payroll systems project that went bad in Queensland.A government inquiry headed by Richard Chesterman is now lifting the veil on exactly how IBM won that contract. The inquiry is investigating whether any “laws, contractual provisions, codes of conduct or other government standards may have been breached during the procurement and/or implementation process and who may be accountable".IBM was the main contractor on a project for a new payroll system for the 78,000 workers at Queensland Health. It was meant to cost $6.19 million but by the time the system was operating, the amount paid to IBM exceeded $37 million. By May 2012, the cost exceeded $400 million, according to a report by KPMG. That same report says the cost of making the system function for the next five years will be $836 million.To be fair to IBM, the project exploded in cost by 200 times to $1.2 billion because of a range of issues, including the incredible complexity of the awards that cover the workers in Queensland Health.This is a microcosm of the problem facing Australia in trying to lift productivity.Queensland Health workers are covered by 12 different industrial awards and six different industrial agreements with more than 200 separate allowances in operation across these awards and agreements. This results in more than 24,000 pay combinations each fortnight.On top of that, workers are allowed to lodge claims for payments over a period stretching back six years. Also, the timing of the pay date essentially requires line managers to estimate likely hours to be worked by staff for the final two days of any given pay period, which has led to discrepancies and a fortnightly cost for overpayments of about $1.7 million.
The government is still trying to recover about $100 million in overpayments. If it cannot do so, it will be faced with a fringe benefits tax bill of about $10 million.Of course, all of those facts about the operation of Queensland Health should have been known to IBM when it won the tender. It has become clear from the early hearings of the inquiry that confidential information was leaking like a sieve out of the government department formed to centralise Queensland’s IT systems, CorpTech.That particular department’s main project, which was handled mainly by Accenture, was poorly run. Its budget blew out by more than $100 million, prompting the then Labor government to install an IT supremo, Terry Burns, to shake the place up and come up with cost-effective options.The inquiry heard on Monday that the executive at IBM responsible for government business, Lochlan Bloomfield, a former Accenture employee, was leaked confidential information about a proposal put to the government by Accenture.Bloomfield said in a statement to the inquiry that he got a copy of an email signed by Accenture executive Simon Porter that he sent to someone about Accenture’s plans for winning more government business.Bloomfield admitted that he later received an email from a CorpTech executive telling him how the government had marked certain presentations provided by IBM and Accenture.He played down the contents of the email but a picture is emerging from the inquiry of very loose treatment of confidential information ahead of a tender that ended up being extremely lucrative for IBM.Tony.Boyd@afr.com.au@Tony__Boyd
Red tape, surcharge warning on foreign investment 35 | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/7636 | Bloomberg Anywhere Remote LoginDownload SoftwareService Center MENU Homepage Markets Stocks Currencies Commodities Rates + Bonds Economics Magazine Benchmark Watchlist Economic Calendar Tech Silicon Valley Global Tech Venture Capital Hacking Digital Media Bloomberg West Pursuits Cars & Bikes Style & Grooming Spend Watches & Gadgets Food & Drinks Travel Real Estate Art & Design Politics With All Due Respect Delegate Tracker Culture Caucus Podcast Masters In Politics Podcast What The Voters Are Streaming Editors' Picks Opinion View Gadfly Businessweek Subscribe Cover Stories Opening Remarks Etc Features 85th Anniversary Issue Behind The Cover More Industries Science + Energy Graphics Game Plan Small Business Personal Finance Inspire GO Board Directors Forum Sponsored Content Sign In Subscribe National Australia Bank Buys 35% of Area Property Partners David M. Levitt and Oshrat Carmiel March 9, 2011 — 4:48 PM EST Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp Share on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on Google+E-mailShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp National Australia Bank Ltd., the nations fourth-largest lender, bought a 35 percent stake in William Macks Area Property Partners as the U.S. firm seeks funding to expand its global real estate investments. Photographer: Sergio Dionisio/Bloomberg Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp Share on LinkedInShare on RedditShare on Google+E-mailShare on TwitterShare on WhatsApp National Australia Bank Ltd., the nation’s fourth-largest lender, bought a 35 percent stake in William Mack’s Area Property Partners as the U.S. firm seeks funding to expand its global real estate investments.
Mack, chairman of New York-based Area, and Lee Neibart, chief executive officer, will remain in charge of all investment decisions, the real estate fund manager said in a statement. Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed.
Area, which has invested in New York’s Time Warner Center, the St. Katherine Dock complex in central London and the Pascal Tower in Paris, is seeking to increase its real estate holdings in the early stages of an improving market. A recovery is “well under way” in most major markets and global direct investment in commercial properties may climb as much as 25 percent this year, broker Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. said in a Feb. 2 report. “We think that there will be opportunities to acquire some smaller REITs,” or real estate investment trusts, Neibart said in an interview in New York. “There’ll be an opportunity to acquire larger distressed assets. We think that there’ll be an opportunity to significantly grow our debt business. So by having access to this type of capital, we can look for bigger things to do.”
National Australia, based in Melbourne, had been seeking a “a top-tier global real estate investment manager,” Garry Mulcahy, CEO of the bank’s investment-management arm, NabInvest, said in the statement.
“We believe in Area’s ability to deliver high-quality investment solutions for its investors and therefore have high confidence in Area’s future prospects,” he said.
Money for GrowthThe bank’s interest will be non-controlling, Neibart said. “This deal was not done for NAB to provide capital for a continuation of our businesses,” he said. “Our business is in very good shape and it’s totally organized. The capital they invested is really for growth of other businesses and doing new things. That’s really its purpose.”
The agreement will give Area access to institutional investors in Australia and New Zealand, the fourth-largest asset-management market globally, according to Neibart. He projects that the National Australia Bank’s investment could produce returns of 15 percent to 20 percent.
The partnership “puts us in a unique position to take advantage of the recovery,” Mack, 71, said in the statement. Mack, who founded the firm in 1993 with Leon Black’s Apollo Global Management LLC, said a year ago that Area was focusing on investing outside the U.S.
Strategic MoveArea’s move to seek non-U.S. institutional investors makes good strategic sense, said David Hodes, managing partner at Hodes Weill & Associates, a New York firm that advises investors and fund managers. Major U.S. public pension funds, which have been some of the largest investors, are under political pressure to shift to defined-contribution systems, similar to 401(k) plans, “and therefore may be capital constrained,” Hodes said.
“What you’re seeing is a manager who has done well for close to 20 years and they’re taking a step back” to prepare for the future, Hodes said of Area.
Interest in U.S.
The deal is a sign that non-U.S. investors are seeing recovery in the U.S. property market, said Peter Slatin, editorial director at New York-based Real Capital Analytics Inc., which tracks commercial real estate sales and pricing worldwide. It may also be the beginning of a spate of international partnerships, he said.
“You have a company that now has global capital seeking global opportunities. That’s what’s most exciting,” Slatin said. “We will see more cross-border capital partnerships along with cross-border acquisitions.”
Area plans to invest more than $1 billion of equity this year, up from about $825 million last year, according to Neibart. About $500 million probably will be split between Europe and India, and slightly more than that in the U.S., he said.
The firm is considering acquisitions in the Manhattan hotel market, and looking to acquire multifamily assets in U.S. cities including Atlanta, Miami, Dallas and Washington, Neibart said. It also is seeking investments in retail properties.
Office Discomfort“We still don’t feel comfortable in the office market,” Neibart said.
Area, formerly known as Apollo Real Estate Advisors, has invested about $13 billion of equity in more than 500 transactions since its founding, according to the statement.
National Australia Bank investors have suffered in the past from the lender’s U.S. expansion. The company in October 1997 agreed to pay $1.2 billion for HomeSide Inc., a U.S. home-loan business, as part of a plan to build a global mortgage company. The bank sold HomeSide in 2002 after $2.2 billion of writedowns from the takeover ended eight years of record profits.
In November 2007, National Australia Bank agreed to buy U.S.-based Great Western Bancorp for $798 million. In the year ended September 2010, cash earnings at Great Western, which sells services in seven Midwest states, rose 1.4 percent to A$74 million ($75 million). That was 1.6 percent of National Australia Bank’s total profit in the period. | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/7807 | The Diamond Rush
The Billion Dollar Business of Diamonds, From Mining to Retail Bob Pisani | @BobPisani
Monday, 27 Aug 2012 | 11:39 AM ETCNBC.com
Diamonds. For thousands of years, they have been believed to bring good luck (and bad luck!) — health, wealth, and protection against most of the ills that can befall mankind.
They are also a multi-billion dollar business, although compared to the gold business, the diamond industry is small. (Read More: Are Diamonds the New Gold for Individual Investors?)
The worldwide retail market for diamond jewelry was $60 billion in 2010. Like the gold business, the diamond business is segmented into several groups: Miners and producers, who mine rough diamonds, then sort and sell them.Cutters and polishers: those who buy rough diamonds from the producers, then cut and polish.Jewelry manufacturers who create finished pieces.Retailers who sell the finished jewelry to consumers. Some operate on several levels of this "value chain." And in recent years — particularly with the advent of selling jewelry on the Internet — a number of these lines have become blurred. There are retailers, for example, who may buy directly from wholesalers. (Read More: Diamond Investing Not for Faint of Heart.)
Miners and Producers:
According to Bain & Company, about 133 million carats of rough diamonds are produced each year. Botswana and Russia are the two largest producers; between them they have about half of the world's production. Australia, Angola, Namibia and Canada make up most of the rest.
There's even fewer diamond producers. In fact, four control about 65 percent of the market: De Beers, Russian producer Alrosa, and diversified mining companies BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto . De Beers alone controls about 35 percent of the market, with Alrosa about 20 percent. (Read More: Diamonds No Longer Rio Tinto's Best Friend.)
Why are diamonds found in so few places? Because large, commercially viable diamond mines are a rarity. Today, there are only about 20 major diamond mines in the world. And the big supply is even rarer — only 11 mines make up 62 percent of the world's production of diamonds by carat! And they're getting even rarer. The last major diamond mine was discovered in Zimbabwe in 1997. No matter how big the mine is, you've got to move a lot of rock to get at a very small number of diamonds. Production varies by mine, but the world's "richest" mine — the Jwaneng mine in Botswana — has to move a ton of rock to get 1.4 carats of rough diamond, on average.
That mine moves 8 million tons of rock a year and sells the rough diamonds for an average of $134 a carat. That's $1.5 billion in revenues, from a single mine. And it produces profit margins of 24 percent. Cutters and Polishers: The producers then sell their rough diamonds to intermediaries who cut and polish the diamonds. It's a costly process: most rough diamonds lose 50 to 60 percent of their weight going to polished form because material is cut or polished away. De Beers has a particular sophisticated system for selling their rough diamonds. They sell roughly 80 clients they call "sightholders," using long-term contracts.
Other sales are made using auctions.
In the past, most of the cutting and polishing was done in only a few centers: Antwerp, Tel Aviv, New York, and Russia. Today, the majority of the smaller stones in the world (less than 3 carats) are cut in India, followed by China. The reason: low labor costs. In the U.S., it costs about $100 a carat to cut a diamond; in India, it costs $10. To lower production costs, diamond cutters are using sophisticated computer programs that map out the most efficient way to cut a diamond. In recent years, tremendous advances have been made using sophisticated laser cutting machines that can cut and polish diamonds with minimal human labor.
Jewelry Manufacturers:
Once stones are cut and polished, it's time to get them into the hands of jewelry manufacturers. These sales typically take place in the central and regional offices of the diamond cutters, and increasingly at exhibitions that are held in different cities around the world. The two biggest are held each year in Hong Kong and Las Vegas. Jewelry manufacturing is a fragmented business: there's more than 10,000 players in the world, most of whom are anonymous. There are, of course, a few very famous names who act as manufacturers as well as retailers: Tiffany , Cartier, Bulgari, Louis Vitton, Gucci, and Chanel, but more than 80 percent of the players are in India or China and do not brand their work.
Still, branding is where the big money is. Branding is crucial to profitability. According to Bain & Company, a diamond engagement ring by Cartier may enjoy a premium of 40 percent over an unbranded ring with a stone of identical size and quality. Retailers, Supply and Demand For Diamonds
This group is even more fragmented than the manufacturers. There's roughly 250,000 jewelry retailers worldwide, most of them locally owned and operated.
Phillip Hayson | Photolibrary | Getty Images
In the past, diamond sales were done largely through specialized stores. Some were famous: Tiffany, Zale , Kay Jewelers. Most are not.
Today, independent jewelry stores are declining. Department stores like Macy's , JC Penney , and Neiman Marcus, as well as discounters like Wal-Mart , Costco and Target , have become a bigger part of jewelry sales. (Read More: Tips to Finding the Perfect Diamond Ring.)
Internet sales have also grown and have been a big help introducing more transparent pricing.
Industrial Diamonds:
Of the 133 million carats produced, only half went toward jewelry. The rest went to lower-end industrial production, where diamonds are used for cutting, grinding and polishing, usually other diamonds. But they are the smallest, lowest value stones. The majority of diamonds for industrial use are now synthetically made.
It's the jewelry business that generates the money; it represents about 95 percent of the value of production.
Diamond Pricing:
Like gold , the diamond industry has had high expectations for diamond demand, primarily due to the huge emerging middle class in India, China, and Latin America. Sales have indeed increased dramatically in those regions.
This would indicate that prices for diamonds should be steady to slightly higher. Prices for bigger, higher-quality diamonds have indeed risen, but prices for smaller, more commercial stones have remained relatively flat or increased only modestly.
Diamond Demand:
Demand is dictated by macroeconomic trends, or simply put, the state of the consumer. Prices are affected by economic booms and by recessions, like those in 2001 and 2008-2009. While prices did drop during the last global recession in 2008-2009, rough and polished diamond prices increased again in 2010 and 2011. Because diamonds are a luxury item, demand growth is expected to parallel GDP growth. Slower GDP growth, which is now the expectation for the next couple years, particularly in the U.S. and Europe, is a problem for the diamond industry. (Read More: Diamonds Are a Great Way to Diversify - Expert.)
That's also true for emerging market countries like India and China. And currency fluctuations are also an issue. The declining value of the Indian rupee, for example, is a major reason why diamond sales in that country declined in the second quarter of 2012 compared to the same period last year. (Read More: Diamond Prices Soar on Asian Demand.)
What's hot in diamonds right now? Big ones. The biggest increase in pricing has been for larger stones of two carats and above. For example, between 2006 and 2010, prices for a polished one-carat diamond went up 5 percent a year, but prices for a three-carat diamond went up 10 percent, while prices for a five-carat diamond increased 17 percent. Diamond Supply: This includes production levels and sales of stockpiles of diamonds. For example, when Russia and Australia brought large mines onto the market in the 1980s, supplies increased and prices dropped.
On the supply side, the diamond industry has a problem similar to the gold business — known reserves are declining, costs are going up, and grades are lower.
Historically, De Beers controlled diamond prices for decades because it had an effective monopoly on global production. But De Beers sold much of its inventory from 2002 to 2007 and no longer has such a strong grip on the market. Another aspect that might affect diamond pricing in the future: improved acceptance of synthetic gem quality diamonds. Synthetic diamonds have been made for decades but are still largely confined to industrial uses. Prices would have to come down and consumers would have to accept the "value proposition" of synthetic diamonds. To date, none of that has happened.
Finally, there's one other issue that might affect diamond demand: the creation of an investible market for diamonds. (Read More: Investing in Diamonds: Should They Be Traded Like Gold? )
-By CNBC's Bob Pisani@BobPisani
Bob PisaniCNBC "On-Air Stocks" Editor | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/7880 | SEC Charges Couple in $75 Million Charitable Annuity Scam
February 05, 2013 • Reprints A husband and wife who raised millions of dollars selling investments for a purported charity have been charged with fraud by the SEC for allegedly bilking senior citizens across the country.
According to the SEC’s complaint filed Monday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, after Richard K. Olive and Susan L. Olive were hired at We The People Inc., the organization obtained $75 million from more than 400 investors in Florida, Colorado, and Texas among more than 30 states across the country by selling an investment product they described as a charitable gift annuity.
However, the CGAs issued by We The People differed in several ways from CGAs issued legitimately, namely that they were issued primarily to benefit the Olives and other third-party promoters and consultants, the SEC said, adding only a small amount of the money raised was actually directed to charitable services.
Meanwhile the Olives received more than $1.1 million in salary and commissions and siphoned away investor funds for their personal use, according to the SEC.
The SEC further alleged that the Olives lured elderly investors with limited investing experience into the scheme by making a number of false representations about the purported value and financial benefits of We the People’s CGAs.
The Olives also lied about the safety and security of the investments, the SEC said. Investors were coaxed to transfer assets including stocks, annuities, real estate, and cash to We The People in exchange for a CGA, according to the SEC complaint.
We The People claimed to operate as a nonprofit organization while it was offering the CGAs from June 2008 to April 2012, the agency said. However, it was not operating as a charity but instead for the primary purpose of issuing CGAs and using the proceeds to pay substantial sums to the Olives, third-party promoters, and consultants, the SEC said. On rare occasions when We The People did actually direct money raised toward charitable services, it was insignificant, according to the SEC complaint. For instance, the organization made public statements that it donated $21.8 million in relief aid to AIDS orphans in Zambia, but the supplies were donated by others and We The People merely made a small payment to the third party that was shipping the supplies, the SEC said.
The SEC’s complaint charged the Olives with violations, or aiding and abetting violations, of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws as well as violations of the securities and broker-dealer registration provisions of the federal securities laws. The SEC said it is seeking disgorgement of ill-gotten gains plus pre- and post-judgment interest and financial penalties against the Olives.
Separate complaints were filed Monday against We The People as well as the company’s in-house counsel William G. Reeves, the SEC said. They both agreed to settle the charges without admitting or denying the allegations. The settlements are subject to court approval.
We The People consented to a final judgment that will enable the appointment of a receiver to protect more than $60 million of investor assets still held by the company, according to the SEC. The final judgment also provides for disgorgement of ill-gotten gains and provides injunctive relief under the antifraud and registration provisions of the federal securities laws.
Reeves entered into a cooperation agreement with the SEC, and the terms of his settlement reflect his assistance in the SEC’s investigation and anticipated cooperation in its pending action against the Olives, the SEC said.
Reeves agreed to be suspended from appearing or practicing before the SEC for at least five years, and consented to a final judgment providing injunctive relief under the provisions of the federal securities laws that he violated, according to the SEC. The court will determine at a later date whether a financial penalty should be imposed against Reeves.
“The Olives raised millions from senior citizens by claiming that We The People’s so-called CGAs provided attractive financial benefits and were re-insured and backed by assets held in trust,” said Julie Lutz, associate director of the SEC’s Denver regional office. “Investors were not given the full story about the true value and security of their investments.” | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/8014 | Wealth warning: councils told not to kick the habit
Mark Cobley
14 April 2014,
As UK local authorities wrestle with the ethics of allowing their pension funds to invest in tobacco, an asset manager has warned one authority that it would lose financially by shedding tobacco stocks.
Wealth warning: councils told not to kick the habit Baillie Gifford said returns would have been £20 million lower in the past 10 years on the £380 million UK equities portfolio it runs for Hertfordshire County Council if it had excluded tobacco shares. The fund manager analysed a hypothetical non-tobacco version of the portfolio for a report prepared by consultancy Mercer on behalf of the council.
Tobacco holdings have been reviewed by many UK councils since last April, when the government gave them a duty to promote public health. Baillie Gifford’s advice to Hertfordshire is significant because the Scottish fund manager works for many other UK council pension funds.
Baillie Gifford, which manages an active, concentrated equity portfolio for Hertfordshire, warned that “if investment in tobacco were precluded this could significantly affect our ability to add value in the future”. The finding is pertinent in the light of a legal opinion published this month by Nigel Giffin QC, who had been commissioned by the Local Government Pension Scheme Advisory Board to examine the question of selling out of stocks on non-financial grounds. Giffin concluded that pension funds could opt to dump tobacco stocks, but only if they showed there was “no material financial detriment” from doing so.
The London boroughs of Brent and Newham have reduced tobacco holdings in their funds.
Hertfordshire’s pensions committee has concluded it will not sell out of tobacco. A spokesman said it “did not make the decision lightly”, but “the expert financial advice we have followed made it clear that if we placed restrictions on our investment managers it would risk the pension fund’s returns being adversely affected. This is not a risk that the committee is at liberty to take, regardless of its members’ views on tobacco.”
Mercer’s report to the committee also analysed the effects of tobacco divestment on broader index-tracking equity portfolios.
It said the FTSE All-Share index made an average 14.31% a year between the end of 2008 and the end of 2013. The same index without tobacco stocks would have made 14.28%. The ex-tobacco index would have been more volatile. Mercer concluded: “Tobacco companies have performed well over the long periods of time up to end 2013, partly because they have been relatively stable and cash-generative.”
Baillie Gifford declined to comment. Mercer did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.
Asset Management, | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/8154 | Business as usual as GJ branch said to stay open
It was business as usual Monday at the Grand Junction branch of Wachovia, 220 W. Grand Ave., after Citigroup purchased most of the company’s assets.
The Grand Junction branch will remain in business under the new management of Citigroup, employees said they had been told.
All questions were referred to corporate officials, who didn’t immediately return phone calls.
Citigroup agreed Monday to purchase Wachovia’s banking operations for $2.1 billion in a deal arranged by federal regulators.
The deal gives Citigroup more than 4,300 U.S. branches and $600 billion in deposits, placing it on a par with Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Wachovia was seized by the federal government last week. It was a significant originator of option adjustable-rate mortgages, which offered low introductory payments and allowed borrowers to defer some interest payments until later years.
Delinquencies and defaults on similar mortgages have skyrocketed in recent months, causing big losses.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in a statement that Citigroup’s takeover of Wachovia’s banking operations would “mitigate potential market disruptions” and that a “failure of Wachovia would have posed a systemic risk” to the nation’s financial system. | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/8268 | Home EU banking industry could face slow death EU banking industry could face slow death 6 Jun 2012
Centralising regulation in Europe should be resisted at all costs
Commenting on the latest EU proposals, Prof Philip Booth, Editorial Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:
"The EU plan to ensure that shareholders and creditors bear banks' losses so that they can be wound down in an orderly fashion has many good features. In particular it will make it less likely that taxpayers will have to bail out banks. There is also a problem in the EU that responsibility for deposit insurance schemes, responsibility for regulation and the functions of the ECB as a central bank are not aligned. This has created chaos in the crisis.
“However, there is a huge danger in these proposals that regulation will become more centralised, more burdensome and more bureaucratic. International banking regulation failed in the crisis and this attempt to centralise regulation and use the crisis to create "more Europe" could mean the slow death of a vibrant banking industry in the EU – especially if it is applied to non-eurozone countries such as the UK."
To arrange an interview, please contact Ruth Porter, Communications Director, rporter@iea.org.ukor 077 5171 7781.
The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems. The IEA is a registered educational charity and independent of all political parties. | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/8469 | HOMES BY ZIP
HOME SCENE
Banks fall short in effort to help struggling owners
June 20, 2013 10:01 p.m.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeowners trying to avoid foreclosure must wait too long for their loan modification applications to be reviewed by some of the nation’s top mortgage servicers, according to a report released Wednesday. Such delays can plunge borrowers deeper in debt.Joseph A. Smith Jr., the independent monitor of last year’s national mortgage settlement, said that while the banks are doing a better job complying with new mortgage servicing rules, more needs to be done.“It is clear to me that the servicers have additional work to do both in their efforts to fully comply with the (settlement) and to regain their customers’ trust,” Smith wrote in the report.Smith, whose office conducted 29 performance tests on how five of the largest U.S. mortgage servicers are meeting the new rules, said the banks need to do a better job collecting customer records and notifying borrowers in a timely manner about decisions on their applications, including when there are any missing documentsThe banks should also provide borrowers with a knowledgeable and helpful person as a single point of contact to make it easier for applicants to keep track of their request, Smith said. Most of the nearly 60,000 complaints Smith’s office had received in recent months were related to the lack of a single point of contact at the mortgage servicer for borrowers.The banks are working to correct the problems and will be tested later on to check their progress, Smith said.The settlement among 49 states, federal government agencies and lenders JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and ResCap Parties (formerly Ally Financial and GMAC) set new rules for how banks handle troubled home loans and provided for up to $25 billion in financial relief to homeowners.The standards prohibit the lenders from pursuing foreclosure while negotiating a loan modification. They require the banks to acknowledge in writing a refinancing application within three business days, notify the borrower of any missing documents within five days and make a decision on a complete application within 30 days.Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said Smith’s report showed four of the five banks tested “consistently failed to send notices and communicate decisions to homeowners in a timely manner.” ResCap Parties was the exception among the five banks, the report said.ResCap Parties was subject to a February bankruptcy court order that split up and transferred the servicing rights and assets to Ocwen Financial Corporation, Green Tree Servicing, and Berkshire Hathaway Inc.Donovan said delays by mortgage servicers can put homeowners at risk of either falling behind or losing their homes. They were the same kinds of lending practices that contributed to the foreclosure crisis, he added.“This is unacceptable,” Donovan said. “The homeowners who have experience servicing abuse deserve justice and we won’t stop until that justice is served.”Donovan said if the problems persist, fines and court action are possible remedies.JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup each said in statements that they had either corrected problems cited in the report or were working with Smith to correct them.The settlement helped close a difficult chapter of the financial crisis when home values sank and millions edged toward foreclosure. Many firms had processed foreclosures without verifying documents.The agreement reduces mortgage debt for only a fraction of those whose mortgages are underwater. About 11 million U.S. households are underwater, and the settlement is expected to help about a million of them.The servicers reported distributing $50.63 billion in direct relief, including loan modifications and principal reductions, to more than 620,000 homeowners through the settlement, according to a report by Smith last month. | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/8521 | Warning over Government forecasts
The taxpayer is losing large sums of money because Government forecasts for the impact of policies are faulty or too optimistic, auditors have warned. Predictions are too often based on "unrealistic assumptions driven by policy agendas", leading to cost overruns, delays and poor implementation.
Examples highlighted by the National Audit Office (NAO) included:
:: Communities and Local Government being forced to add £80 million to the budget for its mortgage rescue scheme after being flooded with applications from struggling homeowners.
:: The Ministry of Defence incurred extra costs of £74 million after realising its decision to purchase the carrier version of the Joint Strike Fighter had been undermined by "immature information and assumptions".
:: The Department for Education underestimated demand for the academy programme and needed to find another £350 million between 2010 and 2012.
:: The Department for Transport was found to be using 10-year-old data to calculate the benefits of the controversial High Speed 2 rail project to business travellers.
The NAO's report said that while the Treasury had introduced incentives to improve forecasting, they conflicted with the obligation on departments to avoid breaching end-of-year spending limits.
A survey of Government finance directors carried out by the spending watchdog found most felt they were being encouraged to set high budgets and come in below them.
In 2012-13 departments had underspends totalling £11.5 billion, although the Treasury had already told them they would be allowed to carry much of the money into this year.
The report said: "'Optimism bias' is a significant problem, with analysts concerned about the pressure to provide supportive rather than realistic forecasts.
"Forecasting is not taken sufficiently seriously and is often hampered by poor quality data and unrealistic assumptions driven by policy agendas."
NAO head Amyas Morse said: "Departments generally treat forecasting of future spending as little more than a technical activity, of limited relevance to financial management. In fact, high quality forecasting is an indispensable element of project planning and implementation.
"We have seen many examples over recent years of Government projects where weaknesses in forecasting have led to poor value for money. A first step towards improving the quality of forecasting would be increased transparency and scrutiny of forecasting and more concerted action at the centre of Government."
A Treasury spokesman said: "We have introduced tough financial controls to bring spending down across all departments, as part of the ongoing commitment to deficit reduction. "The Treasury continues to work across Government to further improve forecasting and financial management." A Department for Transport spokesman said: "Accurate information forms the very foundation of a successful project.
"All of our methodologies have been rigorously tested and we use the most up-to-date data available to us." | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/8594 | Man & Boy: Money Talks
Inside This Week's Issue
The Look:Denim
Man & Boy:Money Talks
The Portfolio:Dolce & Gabbana
The Report:Upper-class hideouts
The Details:Shirt and tie combos
The Edit:Stylish sneakers
The Tech:App Fit
Editors' wish list:this week's top picks
Men of Note:Perfume genius
Illustration by Mr Seth Armstrong
EPISODE 12: MONEY TALKS
One of the joys of parenthood is catching yourself uttering the same asinine phrase that an adult uttered to you when you were small. In my bachelor days, I never thought I would ever have to say, "Don't talk with your mouth full," or "Keep playing with that thing, and you'll go blind." But over the past weekend I've yelled both - plus "Money doesn't grow on trees, young man."
I had a good reason to sputter out the last one: my six-year-old son is at a precarious moment in his understanding of the connection between work and reward. My wife, Honor, and I have succeeded in teaching him that money doesn't literally grow on trees, but he still thinks that money grows in Mommy's unattended purse. To him dollars are succulent winter cabbages that anyone can dig up.
It is not all his fault. He has never really had to think about money before. In his world, goods and services just happen. But as Nicholas and his schoolmates learn addition and subtraction, they have started to take an interest in acquiring cash without understanding what goes into making it. I knew that an intervention was in order when I returned home from the office recently and asked him, "Nicholas, how was your day?"
"Good. I made five dollars today," he replied as he dug his wallet out of its hiding place and waved a crisp, new bill in my direction.
"How did you 'make' this money?" I asked, and then figured he'd tell me about some chore he had performed.
To gauge how long my son's criminal enterprise had been running, I asked him how much money he had in his wallet. "One Hundred dollars," he told me. I nearly fell over
Instead the question was met with a stream of "ahs" and "ums" and "well, you know, Dad..." Then, finally, he said in a whisper, "It is really amazing the things you can find if you keep your eyes open... Just looking around the apartment." To gauge how long my son's criminal enterprise had been running, I asked him how much money he had in his wallet. "One hundred dollars," he told me. I nearly fell over. That's a lot of money for a six year old. I thought he was going to first grade every morning, not apprenticing for Fagin alongside the Artful Dodger.
I've heard all the rational arguments about giving a child an allowance versus paying him for chores, but as in all matters parental, I was sure I had figured out a better way of doing things. So the heir's financial education began with an explanation that what he had been doing amounted to stealing. Over dinner at our local Italian restaurant, using slices of pizza and silverware as visual aids, I tried to explain that the way it worked for grown-ups is that you have a job, and you receive a salary. And in some jobs you receive a salary and a bonus. "Daddy works as a book editor. And if Daddy's books sell really well, and he does some other things that are incredibly brilliant, he gets a bonus, which is like an extra slice of pizza." I cut a second slice of pizza for Nicholas and put it on his plate to underscore my point. He seemed to follow. Or at least he seemed to follow the slice of pizza's trajectory from the pie onto his plate.
"So the guy who edits Harry Potter or Diary of a Wimpy Kid probably gets a really, really, really big bonus because everyone in my school likes those books?"
"He or she probably gets a beach house," I answered. Then my pride kicked in. I didn't want my son to think his dad was a total loser. "Hey, a book that I edited is on the bestseller list right now, but it probably won't stay there too long. It's called Inside Apple, and it is about how the company that makes the iPhone and the iPod really works."
'What do you mean you don't have it in stock? Inside Apple is a bestseller. Now my dad won't get a bonus.' Our carefully constructed cover was blown
"How can we make it stay there?" Nicholas asked. I wanted to encourage his interest in commerce, so I explained that the best thing we could do was to go around to the bookstores in our neighbourhood, pretend to be regular customers and ask if they had the book in stock. If they did have the book in stock, we would buy a copy. And if they didn't stock the book, then we should act really upset and ask them to order it. I wanted him to see first hand that one of the key tenets of business is supply and demand.
The next day we disguised ourselves as potential book buyers. Nicholas put on a French sailor shirt, a chunky shawl-neck cardigan and white corduroys. I went with tweed and a gingham-checked shirt. Soon we were in front of our local independent bookshop. As a reader and as a parent, I love the store. Hardwood floors, a few benches to sit on and a pitch-perfect selection of highbrow fiction, eggheaded nonfiction, elegant coffee table books and overpriced children's books. As an editor of commercial nonfiction, however, I find the store maddening. The air inside is redolent of cat dander and intellectual snobbery.
"Dad," Nicholas whispered as we entered and a twee little bell rang over our heads. "Are we going to pretend to be customers?"
"Yes," I said sotto voce as I got into character as John Q Bookbuyer, and we approached the checkout counter. "Excuse me, do you have a copy of Inside Apple? I just saw it on the bestseller list in The New York Times." "Let me look," said the clerk as he flipped open his laptop, checked his inventory and then informed us. "No, we don't. We don't stock many business books." He uttered "business books" the way some people utter the words "dog crap". He offered to order it for me, but before I could respond, Nicholas was on the case.
"What do you mean you don't have it in stock? Inside Apple is a bestseller. Why wouldn't you have it in stock? Now my dad won't get a bonus." Our carefully constructed cover was blown, and there was nothing left for me to do than buy Nicholas an overpriced picture book and buy myself yet another copy of The Hare With Amber Eyes before skulking out of the store $30 poorer and cloaked in shame. As we walked home, I asked my son if he had learnt anything from our misadventure. "Yes," he said. "I think we both deserve a slice of pizza. Would you like me to pay for it?" Follow Mr Brodie on Twitter: @jbrodieny To read Mr Brodie's previous columns, click here
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2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/8639 | The Screwed Election: Wall Street Can’t Lose, and America Can’t Win by Joel Kotkin 08/10/2012
About two in three Americans do not think what’s good for Wall Street is good for America, according to the 2012 Harris poll, but do think people who work there are less “honest and moral than other people,” and don’t “deserve to make the kind of money they earn.” Confidence in banks is at a record low, according to Gallup, as they’ve suffered the steepest fall in esteem of any American institution over the past decade. And people have put their money where their mouth is, with $171 billion leaving the stock market last year alone, and 80 percent of Wall Street communications executives conceded that public perception of their firms was not good.
Americans are angry at the big-time bankers and brokers, and yet, far from a populist attack on crony capitalism, Wall Street is sitting pretty, looking ahead to a presidential election that it can’t possibly lose. They have bankrolled a nifty choice between President Obama, the largest beneficiary of financial-industry backing in history and Mitt Romney, one of their very own.
One is to the manner born, the other a crafty servant; neither will take on the power.
Think of this: despite taking office in the midst of a massive financial meltdown, Obama’s administration has not prosecuted a single heavy-hitter among those responsible for the financial crisis. To the contrary, he’s staffed his team with big bankers and their allies. Under the Bush-Obama bailouts the big financial institutions have feasted like pigs at the trough, with the six largest banks borrowing almost a half trillion dollars from uncle Ben Bernanke’s printing press. In 2013 the top four banks controlled more than 40 percent of the credit markets in the top 10 states—up by 10 percentage points from 2009 and roughly twice their share in 2000. Meantime, small banks, usually the ones serving Main Street businesses, have taken the hit along with the rest of us with more than 300 folding since the passage of Dodd-Frank, the industry-approved bill to “reform” the industry.
Yet past the occasional election-year bout of symbolic class warfare, the oligarchs have little to fear from an Obama victory.
“Too big to fail,” enshrined in the Dodd-Frank bill, enjoys the full and enthusiastic support of the administration. Obama’s financial tsar on the GM bailout, Steven Rattner, took to The New York Times to stress that Obamians see nothing systemically wrong with the banking system we have now, blaming the 2008 market meltdown on “old-fashioned poor management.”
“In a world of behemoth banks,” he explained to we mere mortals, “it is wrong to think we can shrink ours to a size that eliminates the ‘too big to fail’ problem without emasculating one of our most successful industries.”
But consider the messenger. Rattner, while denying wrongdoing, paid $6.2 million and accepted a two-year ban on associating with any investment adviser or broker-dealer to settle with the SEC over the agency’s claims that he had played a role in a pay-to-play scheme involving a $50,000 contribution to the now-jailed politician who controlled New York State’s $125 billion pension fund. He’s also expressed unlimited admiration for the Chinese economic system, the largest expression of crony capitalism in history. Expect Rattner to be on hand in September, when Democrats gather in Charlotte, the nation’s second-largest banking city, inside the Bank of America Stadium to formally nominate Obama for a second term.
In a sane world, one would expect Republicans to run against this consolidation of power, that has taxpayers propping up banks that invest vast amounts in backing the campaigns of the lawmakers who levy those taxes. The party would appeal to grassroots capitalists, investors, small banks and their customers who feel excluded from the Washington-sanctioned insiders' game. The popular appeal is there. The Tea Party, of course, began as a response against TARP.
Instead, the party nominated a Wall Street patrician, Mitt Romney, whose idea of populism seems to be donning a well-pressed pair of jeans and a work shirt.
Romney himself is so clueless as to be touting his strong fund-raising with big finance. His top contributors list reads something like a rogue’s gallery from the 2008 crash: Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Citicorp, and Barclays. If Obama’s Hollywood friends wanted to find a perfect candidate to play the role of out-of-touch-Wall Street grandee, they could do worse than casting Mitt.
With Romney to work with, David Axelrod’s dog could design the ads right now.
True, some of the finance titans who thought Obama nifty back in 2008 have had their delicate psyches ruffled by the president’s election-year attacks on the “one percent.” But the “progressives,” now tethered to Obama’s chain, are deluding themselves if they think the president’s neo-populist rancor means much of anything. They get to serve as what the Old Bosheviks would have called “useful idiots,” pawns in the fight between one group of oligopolists and another.
This division can be seen in the financial community as well. For the most part Obama has maintained the loyalty of those financiers, like Rattner, who seek out pension funds to finance their business. Those who underwrite and speculate on public debt have reason to embrace Washington’s free spenders. They are also cozy to financiers like John Corzine, the former Goldman Sachs CEO and governor of New Jersey, whose now-disgraced investment company MF Global is represented by Attorney General Eric Holder’s old firm. The big-government wing of the financial elite remains firmly in Obama’s corner, as his bundlers (including Corzine) have already collected close to $20 million from financial interests for the president. Record support has also poured in from Silicon Valley, which has become ever more like a hip Wall Street west. Like its east-coast brethren, Silicon Valley has also increased its dependence on government policy, as well-connected venture capitalists and many in the tech community have sought to enrich themselves on the administration’s “green” energy schemes.
Romney, on the other hand, has done very well with capital tied to the energy industry, and others who invest in the broad private sector, where government interventions are more often a complication than a means to a fast buck. His broad base of financial support reflects how relatively few businesses have benefited from the current regime.
Who loses in this battle of the oligarchs? Everyone who depends on the markets to accurately give information, and to provide fundamental services, like fairly priced credit.
And who wins? The politically well-situated, who can profit from credit and regulatory policies whether those are implemented by Republicans or Democrats.
American democracy and the prosperity needed to sustain it are both diminished when Wall Street, the great engineer of the 2008 crash, is all but assured of victory in November. Joel Kotkin is executive editor of NewGeography.com and is a distinguished presidential fellow in urban futures at Chapman University, and contributing editor to the City Journal in New York. He is author of The City: A Global History. His newest book is The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050, released in February, 2010.
This piece originally appeared in The Daily Beast.
Wall Street bull photo by Bigstockphoto.com.
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There is a difference Submitted by dfunk1 on Thu, 08/23/2012 - 10:07.
Obama, as your article clearly demonstrates, firmly believes in crony capitalism. He gives money (your money, my money) to his friends and his ideas. Then he wants more of your money. Then he ruins other ideas to make a business (EPA rules) either targeted at his enemies (coal, oil) or just in general (lemonaid stands) (OK Obama hasn't closed any lemonaid stands, but those who have, are all progressives, and Obama's BFFs.) Note that all the socialist/communist nations have failed. Most of the people alive in 2000 lived in a communist country that is now no longer communist.
Romney, believes in capitalism. He believes everyone should have a chance to make money, not just his friends. He believes that when the government picks winners and losers, America loses. Note that before capitalism, life for most people in the world was an annual struggle against starvation.
I believe it is a stark difference. You spend so much of your article saying how bad Obama is, then in a paragraph toss off Romney with a "and he was born into it" This is the worst of Marxist claptrap. You write such intellegent looking stuff, which in the end is a condemnation of progressive politics but end with a 'but they do it to' left completely without supporting evidence. I would say that if you tried, you could do better, but really, if you were objective, you could do better.
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Romney, The Banks, And Capitalism. Submitted by MarketAndChurch on Mon, 08/13/2012 - 04:26.
Outsourcing works... and it also doesn't. There's no way around it, the 10's of millions of domestic jobs and wealth that have been created since the 60's because of outsourcing was great, we've seen our standard of living fly through the roof since the Reagan years, but outsourcing as an end is not necessarily a good or even a sustainable route if it is prescribed to with the same faith that anti-tax or soak-the-rich absolutists throw behind their economic convictions. It has to be done with the full understanding of the tradeoffs & what we loose in the process. When Romney finally defines the version of capitalism he is for, I hope he articulates this, & champions both some continuation of the old model, while also encouraging a export-driven model, the benefits of buying local, & letting people know the communal and civic benefits of keeping jobs in America if we can afford it. Also, there is a conservative case for breaking up the banks. Romney should take the lead on this with what little ability he has left to frame any argument. http://www.aei-ideas.org/2012/03/why-isnt-romney-for-breaking-up-the-big...
The problem still is Washington DC, Submitted by rich_b on Sat, 08/11/2012 - 21:29.
The main problem is Washington DC. Wall Street is a symptom of that serious problem. The large and growing federal government enables the crooks on Wall Street to do what they do. The only reason nobody gets jailed is that the "bribes" aren't unlawful (yet). Wall Street should be the symbol of the private free enterprise system. However these days its has become an arm of the federal government. Unfortunately the corrupt part of the federal government. If the federal government hadn't overgrown they wouldn't be able to be bribed. There are reasons why some of us want small government and this is one of the reasons why. You can't bribe what doesn't exist. This is not a failure of the free enterprise system, but the cronyism that comes with a big government. There is little free enterprise on Wall Street today, and that is its problem. These banks have grown to be so big largely due to how the federal government has regulated (and over-regulated) them. The money gets passed around and the regulations are written to favor those banks. That has to be stopped. Rules should be few and simple to prevent fraud, unfair monopolies and the like, not how businesses are run. Few clear rules with clear penalities, outside of that should be nobodies business. Rules favoring one business over another should be illegal. There should be no rules with one company in mind.
I bet the numbers on the confidence of people in the federal government are equally low if not lower. There is nothing wrong with the private free enterprise system if it is truly that. Today's Wall Street is not an example of that system and that is why we have the problems with it today.
Welcome to the Plutocracy Submitted by mackArizona on Fri, 08/10/2012 - 20:26.
Welcome to living in a plutocracy my friends. The America I grew up with a strong, thriving, politically powerful, middle class in is dead, dead, dead. America has morphed from being the land of free and the home of the brave into the land of the fee and home of the wage slaves to the plutocrat class. Let's have a moment of silence to mourn the passing of what Lincoln referred to as "The last best hope of Earth" because we have meanly lost the proposition as he put it, that "all men are created equal". Now all that matters is how much money you have or were born with. "Justice" is for sale and only to the Wall Street plutocrats.
I believe Ben Franklin when asked what form of government we had after the signing of the Constitution replied, "A Republic Madam, if we can keep it.". Well old Ben Franklin must be rolling over in his grave now because America is no longer a Republic of free equal citizens. Like the pigs from George Orwell's novel "Animal Farm" it seems that the Wall Street plutocrats are more "equal" than anyone else and completely unaccountable. It's ironic though since Animal Farm was a devastatingly accurate critique of Communism. Yet Communism's seeming opposite, unregulated Capitalism, has brought us to the same exactly to the same place. A few very rich, very powerful, and who are utterly above the law, a politically impotent and shrinking middle class who is having what wealth they have transferred to the very rich, and many, many poor. America has become utterly corrupt and a pox on the Republicans and the Democrats since they are both to blame.
Americans Are Angry Submitted by DeloreZ on Fri, 08/10/2012 - 14:36.
If you want a longer, impassioned treatment of this issue and its implications check out U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders' blazing speech at this URL.
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/media/view/?id=bf31d4d5-8183-44eb...
election 2012 Submitted by Rushbaby on Fri, 08/10/2012 - 16:54.
Do dirty negative ads always win? Seems they are giving Mr. Obama a huge boost. But is that the way it should be?
I believe Mitt should come out swinging. 4 more of Mr. O and America will be gone!
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2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/8686 | Investor demand for multifamily properties remains robust
With multifamily properties still maintaining their reputation as one of the safest returns on investment, and the supply pool continuing to shrink from lagging construction, competition among investors for New Jersey apartment buildings heated up in the fourth quarter of 2012, though a local multifamily expert said sales activity will cool down at the start of 2013 — especially if the capital gains tax rate spikes from 15 percent to 23.8 percent on Jan. 1.
"Sellers have been extremely aggressively pushing us to get deals closed before the new year, with the possible expiration of the (George W. Bush-era) tax cuts coming into play then," said Thomas McConnell, a senior associate at the Elmwood Park office of Marcus & Millichap. "With the low-cost leverage that sellers have right now, and the construction pipeline being suppressed, this velocity is exactly what I expected to see. But if the tax rates increase, I think next year's first quarter will be much quieter."According to the firm's fourth-quarter report, sales activity in the state's multifamily market surged 50 percent from a year ago — a jump from the 40 percent year-over-year increase that was reported in the third quarter.Despite the looming fiscal cliff, McConnell said that sales pace could continue through 2013 if interest rates on multifamily loans are held at today's extremely low levels, though "if they tick up even a little bit, I think sales and sales prices will drop."Though 2,000 more rental units were delivered to the market in 2012 than the previous year, McConnell said demand continues to severely new development, especially in the northern part of the state, where prospective investors and renters increasingly are seeking out opportunities.That strain on the supply side, coupled with falling vacancy rates, has given landlords enough leverage to drive rents above pre-recession levels, and squeeze the gap between asking rents and effective rents tighter. The report projects effective rents will reach $1,313 a month by Dec. 31 — a 4.2 percent increase from the start of the year, compared to the 2.3 percent increase in 2011.However, McConnell said rental rates "have to be coming to that point where they're maximized, because if they continue to tick up, people will start to look harder at the 'rent verses own' scenario.""While the newer class A product built near a transit hub has a different rent margin altogether, the majority of the product out there are older garden communities that have been in existence since the '60s, and haven't been updated in years," McConnell said. "So, for the market as a whole, I think rents are now as high as they'll get." | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/8743 | Retailers report strong Jan. sales
A woman shops at Nordstrom store in Chicago, Thursday.The nation's consumers, enticed by bitter cold weather, shopped the winter clearance racks with gusto in January, resulting in strong sales for a diverse group of retailers. But analysts expect shoppers, particularly those in the low income to middle income bracket, to pull back in the weeks ahead as they digest rising gas prices and a new payroll tax hike. Associated Press NEW YORK — The devil is in the deals.
Americans shopped the winter clearance racks in January, resulting in strong sales during the month for retailers. But spending is expected to slow as the deals dry up heading into the spring, and Americans digest rising gas prices and a 2 percent payroll tax hike that started in January.
Noelle Perillo, 34, was certainly lured in by deals last month. She says that she spent a total of $100 in January on deeply discounted holiday ornaments, home items and clothes for her toddler son. But she also says her spending may slow in the months ahead.
“I have what I need, and I am kind of shopped out. I’m set for now,” says Perillo, a freelance public relations consultant who lives in Silver Springs, Md. “I am optimistic that things will improve but when I hear things like gas prices spiking, that’s a concern.”
Overall, 20 retailers reported on Thursday that revenue at stores opened at least a year — an indicator of a store’s health — rose an average of 5.1 percent, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. That’s above the trade group’s 3 percent estimate and the 4.5 percent increase posted in December. It also marks the highest reading since August 2012 when the figure was up 6 percent.
Only a small group of stores that represent about 13 percent of the $2.4 trillion U.S. retail industry report monthly revenue. But the data offers a snapshot of consumer spending, which has been heavily influenced by big discounts during the economic downturn.
Retailers are coming off a ho-hum holiday season that was defined by heavy discounting to get shoppers to buy. January, which marks the end of retailers’ fourth quarter, typically is the time when stores have clearance sales on winter merchandise to make room for spring items.
But once the clearance goods disappeared last month, so did shoppers. Analysts say the absence of big discounts — coupled with gas prices that have risen for the past 20 days and the new payroll tax — caused sales to taper off in the last week or so of the month. Such pressures also hurt consumer confidence last month, which fell to the lowest reading in 14 months, according to the Conference Board.
One retailer said that customers started to slow their spending later in January. Cato Corp., which sells women’s and girls’ clothing cut its profit forecast Thursday after revenue dropped 12 percent in January. Cato, which runs about 1,300 stores in the U.S., said sales worsened throughout the month because of delays in shoppers’ tax refunds and the hit to their income from higher payroll taxes.
“Sales at the beginning of the month were in line with our year-to-date-trend,” John Cato, CEO of Cato Corp., which sells moderately priced women’s and girls’ clothing, said in a statement. “However sales at the end of the month were significantly worse than trend. We think this was primarily due to the timing of tax refunds and the effect of higher payroll taxes.”
Still, January was good for most retailers as shoppers seemed to focus more on signs of the economic recovery, particularly the improving housing, stock and job markets.
Macy’s, which runs Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s stores, said revenue rose 11.7 percent in January, nearly doubling the 6.4 percent increase analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected. And the retailer raised its fourth-quarter adjusted earnings forecast due to its strong performance in January.
Even Gap Inc., the owner of the Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic chains that has struggled to regain its relevance in that past couple of years, said its January revenue rose 8 percent on strength in its North American stores. That’s above the increase of 4 percent Wall Street expected.
Meanwhile, Target Corp., a discounter that sells everything from clothes to home goods to groceries, reported a solid 3.1 percent increase in revenue, helped by strong sales of clearance items. That beat the 1.7 percent estimate from Wall Street.
Despite the strong showing, Gregg Steinhafel, Target’s CEO, said its customers “continue to shop with discipline in the face of a slow economic recovery and new pressures, including recent payroll tax increases.”
As a result, Steinhafel said Target remains “focused on providing unbeatable value combined with a superior guest experience in both our stores and digital channels.”
Going forward, Ron Friedman, head of the retail and consumer products group at accounting firm Marcum LLP, said stores will likely have to do more discounting to get shoppers to buy.
“My gut is they’ll be forced to go on sale sooner,” he said. | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/8952 | Business | National / World Business States warned they need to be better budgeters
By MICHAEL RUBINKAMThe Associated Press | June 30,2013
AP Photo James Douglas, former governor of Vermont, speaks at a meeting of the State Budget Crisis Task Force.
PHILADELPHIA � Former President Bill Clinton says states need to become more responsible budgeters.Even though most states are required to balance their budgets, in practice they don�t do it, and �years of irresponsible budgeting� have led to the current crisis, Clinton said at a symposium in Philadelphia designed to bring attention to the eroding financial condition of state governments.The panel of speakers also included James Douglas, former governor of Vermont.�We shouldn�t let this crisis pass without using it as an opportunity to reform budget systems up and down the line,� Clinton, a former Arkansas governor, said last week at the National Constitution Center. �And they essentially need to be more conservative and responsible.�He also expressed support for immigration legislation making its way through the Senate as well as an Internet sales tax, saying both would broaden the tax base. And he said states and cities should work to attract private investment to infrastructure projects.Turning to Washington, Clinton lamented reductions in federal discretionary spending, especially the sequester, the term for automatic spending cuts that went into effect this year. �The sequester shows you the consequences of the meat ax,� the former president said.He got no argument from Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, who also addressed the State Budget Crisis Task Force symposium and said that federal cuts have seriously hurt city and local governments, hampering their ability to deliver essential services to citizens.The sequester has transferred costs onto local governments, said Nutter, the immediate past president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. In Philadelphia, he said, deep cuts to a program that helps homeowners avert foreclosure will potentially result in more blight. The school district, meanwhile, is facing an existential budget crisis that has forced it to lay off 3,800 employees and eliminate sports, music, art and all after-school programs, although a potential infusion of state aid may soften the blow before school starts.�This is not a sustainable model for cities. The federal government cannot balance its budget on the backs of cities and local governments,� said Nutter, a second-term Democrat.A top Treasury Department official said the federal government, after running trillion-dollar deficits as it tried to stabilize financial markets and stimulate the economy, has to begin getting its own fiscal house in order.Having sent more than $280 billion to state and local governments between 2009 and 2012, largely to be spent on education, infrastructure and health care, �we need to begin pulling back the federal safety net,� said Mary John Miller, Treasury�s undersecretary for domestic finance, who was taking part in a panel discussion.�As we see unemployment coming down, as we see the housing market beginning to recover, as we see the economy growing ... we see that we need to now turn our attention to reducing our federal deficits,� said Miller, adding the administration of President Barack Obama is nevertheless �eager to work with state and local governments� to ease the impact of the sequester.The task force, led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker and former New York Lt. Gov. Richard Ravitch, issued a report last year that said U.S. states are grappling with long-term budget problems that threaten their ability to pay for basic services such as law enforcement, local schools and transportation. The group cites rising Medicaid and pension costs, reduced federal aid and eroding tax revenues as a few of the challenges facing the states.Panelists at the symposium variously called for more flexibility in how states administer federally funded programs, a reduction in unfunded mandates, and an overhaul of the federal budget process.�You will not solve this problem until you change the process,� said John Sununu, a Republican former New Hampshire governor and chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush. �I don�t care what you do to Medicare, Medicaid, you will not get effective changes until the legislators and the president can say, `The devil of budget rules made me do it. I had no choice.�� | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/9120 | FORUMS › General Discussions › Politics › The US economy is recovering well TOPIC: The_US_economy_is_recovering_well « Prev 1 2 3 4 31 to 32 of 32 User Details are only visible to members.
U.S. corporations have also bounced back. Corporate profits are at an all-time high as a percentage of gross domestic product, and companies have $1.7 trillion in cash on their balance sheets. The key to long-term recoveries from recessions is reform and restructuring, and U.S. businesses have been quick to respond. Government intervention assisted this process with banks, auto companies and even in housing. Romney is correct to point out that the Obama administration supervised a managed bankruptcy in Detroit — forcing the kind of reform a private equity firm would have (though, crucially, providing the cash that a President Romney would not have). The Economist magazine, which initially opposed that bailout, reversed itself because of the manner in which General Motors and Chrysler were made to cut costs and become competitive. And then there is America’s energy revolution, which is also bringing back manufacturing. U.S. exports, which have climbed 45 percent in the past four years, are at their highest level ever as a percentage of GDP. All these good signs come with caveats. Europe continues to weaken. The fiscal cliff looms ominously. But the fact remains, compared with the rest of the industrialized world and the arc of previous post-bubble recoveries, the United States is ready for a robust revival. This is partly because of the dynamism of the U.S. economy but also because of the timely and intelligent actions of the Fed and the Obama administration. The next president will reap the rewards of work already done. So it would be the ultimate irony if, having strongly criticized almost every measure that contributed to these positive tends, Mitt Romney ends up presiding over what he would surely call “the Romney recovery.” East Fishkill NY Username hidden
The International Monetary Fund’s latest World Economic Outlook makes for gloomy reading. Growth projections have been revised downward almost everywhere, especially in Europe and the big emerging markets such as China. And yet, when looking out over the next four years — the next presidential term — the IMF projects that the United States will be the strongest of the world’s rich economies. U.S. growth is forecast to average 3 percent, much stronger than that of Germany or France (1.2 percent) or even Canada (2.3 percent). Increasingly, the evidence suggests that the United States has come out of the financial crisis of 2008 in better shape than its peers — because of the actions of its government. Perhaps the most important cause of America’s relative health is the Federal Reserve. Ben Bernanke understood the depths of the problem early and responded energetically and creatively. The clearest vindication of his actions has been that the European Central Bank, after charting the opposite course for three years with disastrous results, has adopted policies similar to the Fed’s — and averted a potential Lehman-like collapse in Europe. (Mitt Romney’s two most prominent academic advisers, Glenn Hubbard and Gregory Mankiw, seem to recognize this, but Romney apparently doesn’t. As recently as August the Republican presidential nominee repeated his criticisms of the Fed and promised to replace Bernanke at its helm.) In addition to providing general liquidity, the Fed and the Treasury rescued the financial system but also forced it, through stress tests and new rules, to reform. The result is that U.S. banks are in much better shape than their European counterparts. Consumers have also been paying off debt, thanks to a series of tax cuts and other forms of relief. A McKinsey & Co. study of crises in recent decades found that the United States is mirroring the pattern of countries with the strongest recoveries. It noted that “Debt in the financial sector relative to GDP has fallen back to levels last seen in 2000, before the credit bubble. US households have reduced their debt relative to disposable income by 15 percentage points, more than in any other country; at this rate, they could reach sustainable debt levels in two years or so.” Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart, the leading experts on financial crises, argue that the United States is performing better than most countries in similar circumstances. U.S. consumer confidence is at its highest levels since September 2007. Every recovery since World War II has been led by housing, except this one. But finally, housing is back. Two weeks ago, Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, declared that housing had turned the corner and predicted that, as a consequence, economic growth in 2013 would be so strong the Fed would have to raise interest rates. Given his firm’s vast mortgage portfolio, Dimon has a unique perspective on housing, and he is a smart man who knows that the Fed has promised to keep rates flat for three years. Last week, data on new housing starts confirmed Dimon’s optimism. East Fishkill NY Username hidden
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2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/9241 | New Hire Roundup: Lincoln Financial Advisors Appoints Joseph Gaeckle Jeff Conway to lead data analytics group at State Street; more
This week in new hires, Joseph Gaeckle was appointed managing principal at Lincoln Financial Advisors, Jeff Conway was named to lead an organization at State Street, and the SEC appointed Dr. Jennifer Marietta-Westberg deputy director of its RSFI division.
Also, Joe Cunningham joined Horizons ETF Management; U.S Bank's Private Client Reserve named two new officers; and Clark Kendall joined the advisory board of the John Marshall Bank.
Lincoln Financial Advisors Appoints Joseph Gaeckle Managing Principal
Lincoln Financial Network, the retail client business of Lincoln Financial Group, announced Monday that Joseph Gaeckle has been appointed managing principal of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp., serving as market leader in the greater Philadelphia area. He is based in Berwyn, Pa., and will report to Jack McCaughan, managing director of the Atlantic regional planning group, which includes the Philadelphia regional offices.
Gaeckle joins from Waddell & Reed, where he served as a managing principal focused on growing sales and the advisor force in his division, and district manager, where he led a team of advisors and supported recruiting efforts. Prior to Waddell & Reed, he served as regional marketing director/wholesaler and sales coordinator with The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (PLANCO Financial Services).
State Street Taps Jeff Conway to Lead Data and Analytics Solutions for Clients
State Street Corp. announced Friday that it had named Jeff Conway to lead an organization dedicated to developing solutions to address clients’ data information and trading challenges. Global Exchange reorganizes existing components from State Street’s research and advisory, analytics, Currenex, Global Link and derivatives clearing capabilities into one organization focused on providing clients with easier access to solutions and accelerating new product development. Conway, executive vice president and 25-year industry veteran, will report to Jack Klinck, a member of State Street’s management committee and head of global strategy and new ventures.
Conway has led a number of businesses and corporate functions during his 25-year career at State Street in addition to leadership roles within the company’s international business in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
SEC Names Jennifer Marietta-Westberg Deputy Director of RSFI
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently announced that Dr. Jennifer Marietta-Westberg has been named deputy director of its division of risk, strategy, and financial innovation (RSFI). Marietta-Westberg will oversee the division’s policy and rulemaking support functions, particularly its economic analysis in support of SEC policy and rulemaking. In addition, she will assist with the overall management of the division, working closely with Craig Lewis, RSFI director and chief economist, and the division’s other deputy director, Kathleen Weiss Hanley.
Marietta-Westberg joined the SEC in 2006 as a visiting scholar in what was then the office of economic analysis. In 2010, she was named assistant director of what is now the office of investments and intermediaries within RSFI, where she oversaw economic analyses in support of policy and rulemaking recommendations by the SEC’s division of investment management and its division of trading and markets. Before coming to the SEC, she was an assistant professor at Michigan State University.
Horizons ETFs Management (USA) Appoints Head of Capital Markets
Horizons ETFs Management (USA), a subsidiary of Seoul, Korea-based Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. (MAGI), recently announced the appointment of Joe Cunningham as executive vice president and head of capital markets for Horizons USA. He will oversee all market-making and capital-market trading relationships for Horizons USA and assist with institutional distribution.
Cunningham is an investment industry executive with nearly two decades of experience in product and business development, strategic relationships management and the implementation of trading models for global equities and derivatives markets. Previously, he served as director of institutional ETF order flow and national account manager at ProShares. Prior to that, he was vice president of Louis Capital Markets, where he helped to launch the firm's algorithmic trading platform.
Horizons USA, through Exchange Traded Concepts, also announced that it has filed a registration statement with the SEC to issue three covered call ETFs on the New York Stock Exchange. The Horizons-branded covered call ETFs seek investment results that, before fees and expenses, generally correspond to the performance of the underlying S&P indexes.
U.S Bank's Private Client Reserve Names Two New Officers
The Private Client Reserve of U.S. Bank has announced the addition of Doug Heding as assistant vice president and private banking officer in Milwaukee, and Kenan Aksoz as wealth management consultant in Minneapolis.
In his new position, Heding will provide a customized set of services to manage the banking needs of high-net-worth individuals and families. He brings a wide range of experience in treasury management, credit risk management, HNW client relationship management and small business relationship management. Before joining, Heding was a private banking officer for the Private Bank and Trust in Milwaukee.
As wealth management consultant, Aksoz will work with HNW individuals and families to develop comprehensive solutions and strategies to help them meet their financial objectives. Aksoz has more than 23 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to cofounding Aksoz Medved, he was a principal in Aksoz & Company, a mergers and acquistions firm. His experience includes corporate restructurings, joint ventures, recapitalizations, management buyouts and the acquisition and sale of companies for his own account.
Clark Kendall Joins Advisory Board of John Marshall Bank
Maryland-based financial services firm Kendall Capital Management announced Tuesday that Clark Kendall, CEO, president and founder, was selected to join the advisory board of John Marshall Bank. In his new role on the board, Kendall will meet with other board members occasionally throughout the year and act as an extended arm of the bank into the local community.
As a founder of Kendall Capital, Kendall is focused on providing financial direction to HNW individuals and families in and around Montgomery County, Md.
Read the April 10 New Hire Roundup at AdvisorOne.
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2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/9424 | IRS Could Be Wrong, So Check Returns
Tom Herman
Updated May 23, 2007 12:01 a.m. ET
One of the worst ways to start the day is to receive a letter from the Internal Revenue Service questioning your tax return. When that happens, it's tempting just to write a check and make the problem disappear. But instant surrender may be a costly mistake. Accountants and lawyers say IRS notices may contain significant errors -- and that more taxpayers should take the time to study them and fight back when they think their tax return is correct. ENLARGE
"You just have to be patient and persistent," says David Lifson, a certified public accountant at Hays & Co. in New York and president-elect of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. "Of course, you also have to be right." In view of the growing complexity of the nation's tax laws, it's surprising the IRS doesn't make more mistakes. Some accountants blame much of the problem on the rapid expansion of the alternative minimum tax, one of the most devilishly complex tax systems ever invented by Congress. Among the areas causing difficulty lately: taxation of state and local income-tax refunds. For example, consider the case of a Los Gatos, Calif., man who received an IRS notice last month from the agency's Ogden, Utah, center. The notice said: "The income and payment information (e.g., wages, miscellaneous income, interest, income tax withheld, earned income credit, etc.) that we have on file doesn't match entries on your 2005 Form 1040. If this information is correct, you will owe $2,310." According to the IRS, the man had received a California state-tax refund totaling $6,273. "Since you claimed state and local taxes when you itemized deductions on your 2004 tax return, you must report any refund or credit of those taxes as income on your 2005 federal-tax return (or the year in which you actually received the refund or credit)," the IRS said. The Californian assumed the IRS was right and wrote out a check. But before mailing it, he asked his tax preparer, Claudia Hill, to look into it. "He was all set to mail in that check," says Ms. Hill, owner of Tax Mam, a tax-services firm in Cupertino, and an enrolled agent, which means she is authorized to practice before the IRS. "He wanted to know why I hadn't included" the refund on his return. Ms. Hill says she quickly realized the IRS was wrong because of the intricacies of the AMT, which had ensnared her client. Ms. Hill says she has spotted the same IRS error in letters to several other clients in recent weeks. When she called the IRS, she was told the agency was taking steps to remedy the situation. Similar problems have been reported in other areas, including New York. A White Plains accountant says a client received a letter this year involving a state-tax refund. When she pointed out to the IRS that her client was subject to the AMT, the IRS agreed she was right. IRS officials acknowledge some recent errors involving state-tax refunds but say they have already taken action to resolve the problems. An IRS spokeswoman said the agency "realized the problem still existed" on erroneous state income-tax refund notices for the 2005 tax year "a few weeks ago." She says the agency "immediately took action," and "we regret any problem this caused taxpayers." The IRS says it processed more than 135 million individual income-tax returns last year and sent out more than 3.3 million "CP 2000" notices, typically saying there appears to be some discrepancy on a return and proposing a tax change. The IRS spokeswoman says there were about 21,000 notices involving state-tax refunds that were sent "in error." Some taxpayers may decide it's easier to pay than try to figure out what the IRS notice is about, especially when it involves an arcane tax issue such as the AMT. Confusing IRS notices long have drawn sharp criticism, even from within the agency. IRS National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson, in her 2004 annual report to Congress, cited "lack of notice clarity" as "one of the most serious problems encountered by taxpayers." If you get a notice that doesn't look quite right, don't always blame the IRS. Tax Mam's Ms. Hill says numerous errors are due to taxpayer flubs, such as putting a deduction on the wrong line or neglecting to include proceeds from sales of stocks and mutual-fund shares. This year, mistakes were especially easy to make because Congress waited until December 2006 to extend the life of several deductions that had expired at the end of 2005. By that time, the IRS already had sent its 2006 tax forms to the printer. Thus, those forms didn't have lines that specifically mentioned deductions for state and local taxes, higher-education tuition and fees or educators' classroom expenses. Instead, taxpayers had to follow special instructions. * * * TAX HUMOR: A group presents musical parodies. Welcome to "The Benchwarmers," a group of tax geeks that includes an IRS official and two Tax Court judges. At a recent tax conference, the group performed several songs, including one inspired by a 2006 law authorizing the IRS to pay higher rewards to informants. Here are excerpts from the song, written by Bill Wilkins, a lawyer whose day job is at WilmerHale. He says the song was sung to the tune of "I Heard It Through the Grapevine." "Oo, oo, I bet you wonder how we knew/How you didn't report that million-two./It was a disgruntled employee,/And we paid him a finder's fee,/And anyway your neighbors around the block/Are calling up the Tip Line around the clock." * * * BRIEFS: The average federal income-tax refund through May 4 was $2,255, up 2.5% from a year earlier. ...The IRS has issued a revised version of Publication 561 on determining the value of donated property. Email taxreport@wsj.com 4 | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/9677 | Submit Search Federal Bureau of Investigation Long Island Mortgage Banker and Five Others Indicted in $30 Million Bank Fraud Conspiracy
Wanted by the FBI
Long Island Mortgage Banker and Five Others Indicted in $30 Million Bank Fraud Conspiracy
Earlier today, an indictment was unsealed charging six men with carrying out a $30 million bank fraud conspiracy by fraudulently inflating the prices of homes for sale and then obtaining mortgages that far exceeded the true collateral value of properties in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. Through his mortgage banking company, defendant Aaron Wider and his co-conspirators allegedly then re-sold these “toxic” mortgages to banks and other investors in the secondary mortgage market, causing millions in losses when the loans went into foreclosure. Four of the defendants were arrested this morning and will be presented for arraignment later today at the United States Courthouse in Central Islip, New York, before United State Magistrate Judge Gary R. Brown. Of the remaining two defendants, one was taken into custody in Florida, while another is scheduled to surrender to federal agents tomorrow in Central Islip.
The indictment and arrests were announced by Loretta E. Lynch, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and George Venizelos, Assistant Director in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office.
“The conduct charged in the indictment is a prime example of the type of corrupt mortgage-lending practices that preceded the bursting of the real estate bubble, the loss of faith in securitized mortgage obligations, and the financial collapse of 2007 and 2008,” stated United States Attorney Lynch. “Instead of using their skills in banking, the law, and investing to assist individuals pursuing the American Dream, the defendants cooked up a sophisticated scheme that defrauded lenders and then fed toxic debt to the investigating public at large in the secondary mortgage market. I would like to thank the investigators at the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office and New York State Department of Financial Services for their invaluable assistance in this investigation.”
FBI Assistant Director in Charge Venizelos said, “As alleged in the indictment, during the height of the real estate boom, these defendants devised a scheme to turn a profit at the expense of unsuspecting lenders, investors, and members of the public. Mortgage fraud poses a threat to our financial systems and to our economy. This case should send a clear message to all individuals who try to game our financial market: you will be identified and held accountable for your criminal acts. The FBI, along with our law enforcement partners, will continue to investigate those who orchestrate and participate in various mortgage fraud schemes in order to protect the public against those who seek to damage our economy.”
According to the indictment and other court filings, between 2003 and 2008, defendant Aaron Wider operated a New York State licensed mortgage bank in Garden City, New York, called HTFC Corp., which issued residential mortgages to borrowers. HTFC did not possess assets to fund these loans but relied on funding from other banks and financial institutions, commonly known as “warehouse lenders.” The warehouse lenders relied on Wider and HTFC to ensure that home buyers were able to pay the mortgages and that the market value of the homes fully collateralized the loans.
Instead, Wider and the co-defendants allegedly engineered a complex series of same-day sham transactions, or “flips,” to artificially inflate the prices of homes. Then, they lied to the warehouse lenders to obtain mortgage funding that was 80 percent more than the actual value of the homes. Wider and co-defendants Manjeet Bawa, John Petiton, and Joseph Ferrara contracted to buy homes in Nassau and Suffolk Counties from innocent sellers at market prices. The defendants then submitted fraudulent loan applications to the warehouse lenders that nearly doubled the true sales prices of the homes. The defendants also inflated their personal assets and concealed significant liabilities to get loan approval.
At each closing, Petiton, an attorney admitted to practice in New York State, oversaw the actual sales to innocent sellers and simultaneously created sham trusts into which title to the properties was transferred for no money. He and the co-conspirators then immediately transferred title back to the co-defendants at nearly double the price to create a false paper trail documenting the artificially inflated prices. Meanwhile, real estate appraiser Joseph Mirando prepared false appraisal reports to justify the inflated prices, while HTFC closing attorney Eric Finger concealed the far lower, true sales price for properties by lying on federal-mandated settlement forms. Finger received wire transfers of funds from the warehouse lenders and, after paying the innocent third-party sellers, disbursed the surplus money fraudulently obtained in the mortgages to his fellow co-conspirators.
HTFC sold each of its mortgages in the secondary market. On paper, the loans appeared to be attractive investments because HTFC’s mortgages carried high rates of return that were supposedly fully collateralized by the market value of homes and the assets and incomes of the borrowers or mortgagors. Upon buying mortgages from HTFC, the secondary market bank paid off the warehouse lenders and then either collected the principal and interest or bundled them into mortgage-backed securities that were sold to pension funds, hedge funds, and other investors seeking relatively secure, high-yield investments. When HTFCs mortgages went into foreclosure beginning in 2007 and 2008, the secondary market investors discovered that the actual value of the collateral was 80 percent less than the amount borrowed for each home.
The charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendants presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, the defendants face up to 30 years’ imprisonment. The indictment unsealed today also seeks to forfeit 19 residential properties traced to the bank fraud or up to $30 million in a money judgment.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Miskiewicz.
Defendants:
MANJEET BAWA, age 46, Dix Hills, New York
JOSEPH FERRARA, age 70, Long Beach, New York
ERIC FINGER, age 48, Miami, Florida
JOSEPH MIRANDO, age 54, Centereach, NY
JOHN PETITON age 68, Garden City, New York
AARON WIDER age 50, Copiague, New York
This content has been reproduced from its
original source. | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/9778 | Financial Executives International
Committee on Corporate Reporting December 16, 2002
Mr. Jonathan G. Katz
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Dear Mr. Katz:
The Committee on Corporate Reporting ("CCR") of Financial Executives International ("FEI") appreciates the opportunity to respond to the Securities and Exchange Commission's (the "Commission") Proposed Rule: Conditions for Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures ("Proposed Rules") Release nos. 33-8145 and 34-46768. FEI is a leading international organization of 15,000 members including Chief Financial Officers, Controllers, Treasurers, Tax Executives, and other senior financial executives. CCR is a technical committee of FEI, which reviews and responds to research studies, statements, pronouncements, pending legislation, proposals, and other documents issued by domestic and international agencies and organizations. This document represents the views of the CCR and not necessarily the views of FEI.
FEI has been proactive in providing best practice guidance for clear and consistent public statements on corporate earnings. In April 2001, FEI and the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI), jointly released "FEI/NIRI Earnings Press Release Guidelines." The objectives and the guidelines detailed in the FEI/NIRI release are generally consistent with those included in the Proposed Rules and therefore, we are highly supportive of most of the Commission's proposals herein to effectively address issues relating to public companies' use of "pro forma financial information." Further, we strongly support the Commission's proposal to require registrants to furnish earnings releases on Form 8-K, consistent with the position we took in our comment letter of May 2002 regarding the Commission's Proposed Rule, "Acceleration of Periodic Report Filing Dates and Disclosure Concerning Website Access to Reports".
We do, however, have some suggestions that we believe will make the Proposed Rules less restrictive, while still achieving the Commission's goals. Prohibitions in Commission Filings
We oppose the proposals which would prohibit a company, in its filings with the Commission, from (a) adjusting a non-GAAP performance measure to eliminate or smooth items identified as non-recurring, infrequent or unusual, when the nature of the charge or gain is such that it is reasonably likely to recur, and (b) presenting a non-GAAP per-share measure. We believe that these proposed prohibitions are overly restrictive and in certain instances, will be an obstacle for a company seeking to provide clear and thorough financial discussion and analysis "through the eyes of management." For example, a registrant recognizing a large gain or loss on the sale of a business or an investment might be precluded from reporting a pro forma earnings amount which excluded the gain or loss, and would be prohibited from reporting a related pro forma EPS figure.
Further, we are concerned that these prohibitions may result in earnings releases and SEC filings that are more narrow in content, leaving much of a company's robust financial reporting and analysis for conference calls and other forums. This is contrary to one of Regulation FD's key objectives of reaching all investors with the same information at the same time. These prohibitions are also at odds with the Commission's position put forth in its December 2001 release, "Cautionary Advice Regarding the Use of "Pro Forma" Financial Information in Earnings Releases", as follows:
" ...Pro forma financial information can serve useful purposes. Public companies may quite appropriately wish to focus investors' attention on critical components of quarterly or annual financial results in order to provide a meaningful comparison to results for the same period of prior years or to emphasize the results of core operations. To a large extent, this has been the intended function of disclosures in a company's Management's Discussion and Analysis section of its reports. There is no prohibition preventing public companies from publishing interpretations of their results, or publishing summaries of GAAP financial statements.
Moreover, as part of our commitment to improve the quality, timeliness, and accessibility of publicly available financial information, we believe that - with appropriate disclosures about their limitations - accurate interpretations of results and summaries of GAAP financial statements taken as a whole can be quite useful to investors. ....we commend the earning press release guidelines jointly developed by the Financial Executives International and the National Investors Relations Institute and we encourage public companies to consider and follow those recommendations before determining whether to issues "pro forma" results, and before deciding how to structure a proposed "pro forma" statement. A presentation of financial results that is addressed to a limited feature of financial results or that sets forth calculations of financial results on a basis other than GAAP generally will not be deemed to be misleading merely due to its deviation from GAAP if the company in the same public statement discloses in plain English how it has deviated from GAAP and the amounts of each of those deviations." We continue to support the FEI/NIRI guidelines and we support most of the elements of the Commission's Proposed Rules. We believe that the Commission's Proposed Rules, without the restrictive and unnecessary prohibitions discussed above, will be effective in addressing issues related to "pro forma financial information" and fully satisfy the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Disclosures in Commission Filings
We generally support the Commission's proposed disclosure requirements for companies that include non-GAAP financial measures in their Commission filings. However, we believe that certain of the proposed disclosure requirements are unnecessary, namely those which would require companies that include non-GAAP financial measures in their Commission filings to provide (a) a statement disclosing the purposes for which the registrant's management uses the non-GAAP financial measure presented: and (b) a statement describing the reasons why the registrant's management believes such non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors. We expect that the purpose of including non-GAAP financial measures is self evident in most cases (i.e., to provide meaningful comparisons for each operating period presented), and therefore, these disclosures would not provide useful information and would become boiler-plate. Transition
With respect to any final rules, we urge the Commission to make the effective date no earlier than first quarter 2003 for companies with calendar fiscal year-ends. * * *
We appreciate the Commission's consideration of these important matters and welcome the opportunity to discuss any and all issues with the Commission at its convenience. If you have any questions regarding this letter, please feel free to call Frank Brod at (989) 636-1541 or David Sidwell at (212) 270-1892.
Frank H. Brod Chair, Committee on Corporate Reporting
Financial Executives International David H. Sidwell
Chair, SEC Subcommittee Committee on Corporate Reporting | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/9800 | QB Jake Delhomme Joins MidSouth Bank Board As Advisory Director
LAFAYETTE, La., May 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --MidSouth Bancorp, Inc. ("MidSouth") (NYSE MKT: MSL) today announced Lafayette great-turned-NFL quarterback Jake Delhomme was named Advisory Director at MidSouth Bank by the bank's Board of Directors Wednesday. (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120524/DA13583) (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100125/MIDSOUTHLOGO) "The MidSouth Bank Board, like anyone who knows Jake, has long been impressed by his energy, enthusiasm and drive," said MidSouth Bank President and Chief Executive Officer Rusty Cloutier. "Never has anyone been told 'no' so many times and proven people wrong so many times as Jake Delhomme." Cloutier also said the bank plans to utilize the leadership skills Delhomme honed on the football field to inspire and encourage young leaders at the bank and to instill a strong work ethic in them. MidSouth Bank Board Chairman Will Charbonnet explained that financial institutions commonly use advisory directors, or consulting directors, as a useful resource for the elected board. He said they provide additional business and professional expertise and often serve as goodwill ambassadors in the bank's market. "Jake is an accomplished athlete and avid horseman who has a tremendous following and network of contacts, and we could not be more proud to have someone of his caliber represent our financial institution in every community we serve," Charbonnet commented. The only true freshman quarterback to start for a Division I school in 1993, Delhomme had a passer efficiency rating that ranked second among NCAA freshmen quarterbacks. On the field with Delhomme when the Ragin' Cajuns won the Big West Conference twice, and finished with three winning seasons, were NFL wide receiver Brandon Stokley and offensive lineman Anthony Clement. "The 29-22 victory Jake led the Cajuns to over Texas A&M in 1997, during his senior year, is still the biggest moment in UL history for so many of us diehard fans," Cloutier said. "The goal posts came down, and the entire city celebrated for what seemed like months. Well, let's just say it ranks right up there with the Cajuns' bowl victory last year." Delhomme was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 1997 and went on to a successful career with the Carolina Panthers, where he holds multiple franchise records and led the team to Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2003, setting a Super Bowl record for his 85-yard touchdown pass. It was the longest offensive play from scrimmage in Super Bowl history. Despite his personal success in the game-- 16-of-33 for 323 yards, three passing touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 113.6 passer rating -- the Panthers lost to the New England Patriots on a last-minute field goal. Two years later, the Breaux Bridge native was named to the Pro Bowl. Delhomme signed a two-year deal with the Cleveland Browns in March 2010 and was picked up by the Houston Texans last year. He is now a free agent. About MidSouth Bancorp, Inc. MidSouth Bancorp, Inc. is a bank holding company headquartered in Lafayette, Louisiana, with assets of $1.4 billion as of March 31, 2012. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, MidSouth Bank, N.A., MidSouth offers a full range of banking services to commercial and retail customers in Louisiana and Texas. MidSouth Bank has 40 banking centers in Louisiana and Texas and is connected to a worldwide ATM network that provides customers with access to more than 43,000 surcharge-free ATMs. Additional corporate information is available at www.midsouthbank.com. SOURCE MidSouth Bancorp, Inc. Copyright 2011 PR Newswire. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Avoid Banks With Big Energy Loans
Banks are just now starting to reserve for the possibility of several defaults from their energy portfolios.
Apple, Comcast, Bank of America: Doug Kass' Views
Doug Kass shares his views on why he's bullish on banks and thinks Apple is overrated.
Caterpillar, Banks, SPDR S&P 500 ETF : Doug Kass' Views
Doug Kass shares his views on how he's positioning his portfolio after the Federal Reserve stood pat on its zero interest rate policy. | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/9941 | Posts tagged with: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Leftist Shareholders Attack Corporate Free Speech Wednesday, April 13, 2016By Bruce Edward Walker On its website, Trinity Health trumpets its shareholder activism. Based in Livonia, Mich., the Catholic health care provider boasts operations in 21 states, which includes 90 hospitals and 120 long-term care facilities. For this last, Trinity should be lauded. For the first, however, your writer is left shaking his head. Among Trinity’s list of five shareholder advocacy priorities, two stand out:
• uphold the dignity of the human person.
• enable access to health care.
In other words, issues any reasonable Catholic could get behind. However, Trinity is the lead filer on a proxy resolution that will be voted on next month at the Allergan, Inc., annual shareholders meeting. The cause? Read for yourself:
*RESOLVED*, the stockholders of Allergan request the preparation of a report, updated annually, disclosing:
1. Company policy and procedures governing lobbying, both direct and indirect, and grassroots lobbying communications.
2. Payments by Allergan used for (a) direct or indirect lobbying or (b) grassroots lobbying communications, in each case including the amount of the payment and the recipient.
3. Allergan’s membership in and payments to any tax-exempt organization that writes and endorses model legislation.
Your writer fails to understand how any of the above reconciles with Trinity’s five priorities listed above, and Trinity’s rationale doesn’t get any less murky: (more…)
7 Figures: NPR/Harvard Survey on Patients’ Perspectives on Health Care Thursday, March 10, 2016By Joe Carter A new survey by NPR and Harvard University reports the self-reported experiences of health care consumers across the country, in states that have (New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon) and have not (Florida, Kansas, Texas) expanded Medicaid, and in one (Wisconsin) that did not have to expand Medicare.
Here are seven figures you should know from the report:
1. When asked about its effects on the people of their state, more than a third (35 percent) of adults say they believe national health reform has directly helped residents, while a similar proportion (27 percent) say they believe the law has directly harmed residents. On a more personal level, most (56 percent) Americans do not believe the Affordable Healthcare Act (i.e., Obamacare) has directly impacted them. Among those who believe it had an impact, more say it has directly hurt them (25 percent), as individuals, than those who say national health reform has directly helped them (15 percent).
2. One-third (33 percent) of adults in the U.S. believe the health care they receive is excellent and just under half (46 percent) say their care is good, while just over one in six (18 percent) say it is fair or poor.
3. Nearly three-fourths (74 percent) of adults in the U.S. believe the health care they receive has stayed about the same over the past two years, while less than a quarter (23 percent) believe it has gotten better or worse.
How Did the Obama Administration Determine Which Catholic Groups Were Religious Enough? Monday, January 11, 2016By Joe Carter When is a religious group not religious enough for the government? When it conflicts with the government’s agenda.
After the launch of Obamacare, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had to determine which employers would get a religious exemptions to the their contraceptive mandate. Instead of relying on factors such as an employer’s religious character, they chose instead to rely on tax law.
This was a rather peculiar decision since, as Carrie Severino notes, “Throughout the long history of taxation in the United States, the tax-writing committees of Congress have generally tried to avoid entangling the Internal Revenue Service in First Amendment religious considerations.” Peculiar, but not accidental. Through the Freedom of Information Act Severino obtained internal government emails that revealed the Obama administration debated how to exclude certain religious organizations from the mandate:
Americans Say Government is Our Greatest Problem Thursday, January 7, 2016By Joe Carter What is the worst problem facing America? According to a recent Gallup poll, most Americans agree with former President Reagan, who said government is not a the solution, government is the problem.
An average of 16 percent of Americans in 2015 mentioned some aspect of government—including President Obama, Congress, or political conflict—as the country’s chief problem. The economy came in second with 13 percent mentioning it, while unemployment and immigration tied for third at 8 percent.
While government takes the top slot, that’s still an answer given by fewer than one in five citizens. We can’t even seem to come to a consensus about our biggest problems. Indeed, 2015 is only the second time since 2001 (2014 was the other year) that no single issue averaged 20 percent or more for the year. Rather than being focused on a single issue, there is a broad range of concerns troubling us; more than a dozen issues received 2-6 percent of the vote for worst problem.
Why Keep Funding Ineffective Government Programs? Tuesday, February 3, 2015By Elise Hilton Head Start doesn’t work. More people than ever are now on food stamps. Medicaid is staggering under the weight of its own bloat. Why are we continuing to fund bad programs?
This is what Stephen M. Krason is asking. Such programs keep expanding:
There has been a sharp increase in the food-stamp and Children’s Health Insurance programs. Obama has proposed more federal funding for Head Start and pre-school education generally, job training for laid-off workers, and Medicaid. In fact, the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) has bloated the Medicaid rolls. He is even seeking free federally subsidized community college education. I have seen numbers ranging from 79 to 126 federal programs aimed at reducing poverty and an annual price tag of $668 to $927 billion.
The question is: are we getting our money’s worth? Krason says absolutely not. (more…)
Explainer: The Obamacare Subsidies Ruling (Halbig v. Burwell) Tuesday, July 22, 2014By Joe Carter What just happened with Obamacare?
In a two-to-one decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit dealt a serious blow to Obamacare by ruling the government may not provide subsidies to encourage people to buy health insurance on the new marketplaces run by the federal government.
What did the court decide?
Section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code, enacted as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) makes tax credits available as a form of subsidy to individuals who purchase health insurance through marketplaces—known as “American Health Benefit Exchanges,” or “Exchanges” for short.
This provision authorized low-income Americans to receive tax credits for insurance purchased on an Exchange established by one of the fifty states or the District of Columbia. (The credits were for household incomes between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty line.) But the Internal Revenue Service interpreted the wording broadly to authorize the subsidy also for insurance purchased on an Exchange established by the federal government.
The court ruled that a federal Exchange is not an “Exchange established by the State,” and section 36B does not authorize the IRS to provide tax credits for insurance purchased on federal Exchanges.
Can you explain that without the legalese?
Skirting The Law: Five U.S. Territories Now Exempt From Obamacare Monday, July 21, 2014By Elise Hilton Last week was a busy one, news-wise, and this may have slipped by you. Suddenly, 4.5 million people in the 5 U.S. territories (American Somoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands) are now exempt from Obamacare. Just like that.
What’s the story? Obamacare costs too darn much, and insurance providers were fleeing the U.S. territories, leaving many without insurance or at least affordable insurance. These territories have spent the last two years begging to get out from under this law, only to be told the Department of Health and Human Services has no legal authority to exclude the territories” from ObamaCare. HHS said the law adopted an explicit definition of “state” that includes the territories for the purpose of the mandates and the public-health programs, and another explicit definition that excludes the territories for the purpose of the subsidies. Thus there is “no statutory authority . . . to selectively exempt the territories from certain provisions, unless specified by law.”
Laws, let us remember, are made by Congress. Unless they’re not. For instance, last week, the Department of Health and Human Services said they’d reviewed the situation and
the territories will now be governed by the “state” definition that excludes the territories for both the subsidies and now the mandates too. But the old definition will still apply for the public-health spending, so the territories will get their selective exemption after all.
As the Wall Street Journal notes, there seems to be some elasticity in the White House’s definition of “state.” And, may I add, some elasticity in the democratic process, the Constitution and rule of law. Perhaps a review via Schoolhouse Rock will help. | 金融 |
2016-30/0358/en_head.json.gz/10128 | Let's Fly Under the Bridge
Hiding Bin Laden(s)
Socialist governments grow the underground economy:MADRID — The government made a plea to banks to keep tighter controls over the flow of EUR 500 notes which are used for money laundering.EUR 500 notes are known in Spain as 'Bin Ladens' because, like the leader of al-Qaeda, everyone knows they exist, but very few have seen one.In the first quarter of the year, the number of these purple notes grew 32 percent from the previous year to EUR 101 million.Now the money-laundering prevention service Sepblanc say they represent 62 percent of all the cash in Spain.According to the economy ministry, this is due to the rise in undeclared income in thousands of households and by increased criminal activity.
Better luck next time, guys
Still gamme after all these years:NAPA, California, May 24, 2006 (AFP) - California wines trounced Bordeaux anew in an epic rematch of a historic blind taste test credited with reshaping the enology world. Wines from California's Napa Valley wine region were judged best by the combined scores of twin panels, one in California and a second in London. Judges on both continents gave top honors to a 1971 Ridge Monte Bello Cabernet from Napa. ....The highest ranked Bordeaux was a 1970 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, which placed sixth out of the ten wines tasted in the anniversary recreation of the historic "Judgment of Paris" tasting on May 24, 1976. Bordeaux wines took sixth through ninth places on Wednesday....The event was "a wonderful sustained victory" for California wines because they held their own against the Bordeaux wine, considered the most elegant aging reds in the world, Vanneque said. ....A "pre-eminent European contingent" headed by renowned British wine writer Steven Spurrier tasted the resurrected vintages at the same time at Berry Brothers and Rudd in London. "We now know that California wines wiped the boards with the French wines," Spurrier said by telephone from London. "No French wine is ever going to compare to a California red," he quipped. ....The 1973 Stag's Leap Cellars Cabernet that won in 1976 placed a dignified second in the rematch. Posted by
Les Trouillardes
The big day came, but most of the French ducked:SAN FRANCISCO, May 24, 2006 (AFP) - French wines dethroned by California vintages in a landmark blind taste test in Paris 30 years ago will get a chance to reclaim their crown on Wednesday. A rematch of "Judgment of Paris," billed as the most famous wine tasting in history, will take place simultaneously in the heart of California's premier wine country and in Britain oldest wine and spirits merchant. Panelists swirling, sniffing, sipping, and spitting at Copia center for food and wine in Napa Valley will include Christian Vanneque, who was a judge at the historic tasting on May 24, 1976. "Some of the Brits and the French are expecting the older French wines to beat the pants off the California cabernets," Copia's wine master Peter Marks said, citing a "classic paradigm" that French wines age better. ....A "pre-eminent European contingent" headed by renowned British wine writer Steven Spurrier will rate the resurrected vintages at the same time at Berry Brothers and Rudd in London. ....Napa Valley wineries putting their championship status on the line included Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, which finished first in 1976 with its 1973 cabernet. Bordeaux wines being uncorked for the rematch included 1970 vintages from Chateau Mouton-Rothschild, Chateau Montrose and Chateau Haut-Brion, and a 1971 Chateau Leoville-Las-Cases. In a bow to diplomacy, and to assuage fears of embarrassment by vintners on both sides, only the original red wines will compete head-to-head. Formidable French vintners reportedly refused to be contenders unless Bordeaux was compared to Bordeaux and California wine to California wine, without the twain meeting. Marks downplayed the reluctance of wineries to duke it out on tasters' tongues, and portrayed the anniversary tasting as a celebration instead of a grudge match. Posted by
More News to France
At $7.00 per gallon, gasoline is expensive:NOTICES on petrol pumps in France could soon be advising drivers to conserve fuel and think of the environment.Finance Minister Thierry Breton said it would make people more aware that "energy is a rare commodity that must be preserved”.Other measures he would like to see are learner drivers being taught how to drive more economically, notices on receipts advising on fuel use and the creation of a website that would allow people to compare prices between individual stations.
Tick, Tick, Tick
The meek shall inherit...something:BERLIN - The number of Islamist extremists based in Germany increased slightly last year but the country faces far lower threat of terrorist attacks than states which took part in the Iraq war, an official report said Monday.There were 32,100 Islamists living in Germany last year - an increase of about 300 from 2004, said the report by Germany's domestic security agency, the Verfassungsschutz.Germany has a Muslim minority of about 3 million out of a total population of 82 million, said the report.The biggest Islamist group is Milli Gorus, a Turkish movement with 26,500 members.Other groups are Hamas with about 300 members, Hezbollah with 900 and the MuslimBrotherhood with 1,300....."Even though the degree to which Germany is threatened is clearly lower than for those states which took part in the Iraq war, it must be noted that Germany is still seen ... as a helper of the US and Israel," said the report which underlined the presence of German troops in Afghanistan as boosting this image.....The police and military in Germany are gearing up for major security operation during the football World Cup which opens June 9 in Munich and ends July 9 in Berlin.No kidding.
The Big Three Oh Approaches
The anniversary of the catastrophic day:LONDON, May 21, 2006 (AFP) - The year was 1976, and in Paris an English vintner, Steven Spurrier, organised an historic tasting that, in the world's wine circles, would be talked about forever after. Nicknamed the "Judgment of Paris", it pitted France's top Bordeaux and Burgundies against American Cabernets and Chardonnays which, while well-regarded, were virtually unknown outside California. The California wines won -- and France has never gotten over it. ....One judge, Odette Kahn, editor of "La Revue de Vin de France", demanded her scores back. Several cried foul. Others were scorned by wine industry colleagues -- and at least one may have been sacked from his sommelier job -- for shaming their country. .... "The reaction of the French was one of complete disbelief and denial," Spurrier said. .... "To this day, some of the judges -- like Aubert de Villaine (co-owner of the iconic Burgundy estate Domaine de la Romanee-Conti) -- refuse to discuss it." Wine columnists, shops and societies around the world continue to stage reincarnations of the original, as well as variations on the Old World versus New World theme to the ongoing consternation of the French. Indeed, a high-profile tasting in Berlin in 2004 saw the likes of Chateau Lafite Rothschild and Chateau Margaux bested by two wines from Chile's Errazuriz wineries. The only journalist--Time's George Taber--who accepted the invitation to attend, published The Judgment of Paris last year which tells the story of how a Stag's Leap cabernet and a Chateau Montelena chardonnay stunned the wine world 30 years ago.
With reports that Ahmadinejad's Iran is about to require Jews to wear a yellow ribbon around their arm and Christians a red one, it's worth remembering that this idea is hundreds of years old:The battle of Nehavend in 642 A.D. and the defeat of the Sassanid by Arab-Muslims ended the independence of Persia after nearly 12 centuries and it became a part of the Arab-Islamic entity. The Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs of Damascus and Baghdad controlled Persia. Arabic words infiltrated the Persian language, and Islam replaced Zorastrianism as the state religion.These changes had a profound impact on the many religious minorities within Persia. Through a covenant of Omar (a Sunni Muslim leader), non-Muslims were deprived of social and political equality, and became, in effect, second-class citizens. Jews were made to wear a yellow ribbon on their arms and Christians a blue ribbon to distinguish them from Muslims.Professor Amnon Netzer of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem told RFE/RL that the yellow patch as a distinctive mark for Iranian Jews reappeared a number of times through Iranian history, most recently at the beginning of the 20th century. It was only with the coming of the Pahlavi dynasty that Jews were treated as normal citizens in Iran. So, can we thank Jimmy Carter for this?
That Urdu, You Do So Well
Goes over like a ton of lutefisk in Norway: A proposal to translate Norway's national anthem into a language used by many of the country's immigrants is stirring controversy. Opponents claim those who can't understand the Norwegian lyrics should just hum along instead. ....The editor of a newspaper for minorities in Norway, Utrop, floated the anthem translation proposal in the national newspaper Vårt Land this week. The idea is that an Urdu version of the anthem would allow many immigrants from Pakistan, for example, to more easily express their love for Norway.....Norway's most conservative party, the Progress Party, was quick to slam the proposal."This is integration in reverse," claimed Per-Willy Amundsen, the Progress Party spokesman on issues dealing with immigration.The "best gift" immigrants can give to "their new homeland," argued Amundsen, is to learn Norwegian. He has no sympathy for immigrants who have problems singing the national anthem in Norwegian."It just takes practice to learn it," he claimed. "Those who are new to the country can hum along while we others sing."
Habla Derecha Cerca Immigracion
Tech Central Station nails the illegal immigration problem with two articles today. First, the reason Mexico is poor (and exporting its valuable natural resource, labor) is that Mexico is struggling with badly outdated political-economic institutions:Spanish colonists arrived first in the Americas, installing their seigneurial (feudal) system in lands claimed for king and church. The state gained title to all mineral rights, upper classes acquired vast land holdings, and often corrupt bureaucrats regulated markets and businesses. The vast majority of families worked the land or did menial labor, with few opportunities to own property, become educated or improve their social status.By the time the English began establishing colonies, their system of laws, democratic government, property rights, free enterprise and individual rights had evolved far beyond feudal concepts. Even poor entrepreneurs could and did acquire property, patent inventions, mine gold and silver, and build businesses, factories and industries. When wars and treaties added Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California to the expanding nation, those new states exchanged Spanish feudalism for the dynamic American system.But even today in Mexico, key industries remain nationalized, and wealth is concentrated in the hands of elites. Prevalent ideologies view wealth as "a zero-sum game," in which what one person acquires can come only by taking money or property from someone else. These doctrines help foment class conflict, demand "more equitable" distribution of wealth, and condemn globalization and foreign investment, rather than seeing them as agents of improved opportunity, health and environmental quality. ....Low-skill wages today are less than 15 percent of what Mexican workers can earn in the US, and half of its 106 million people still live in poverty. Mexico is not poor because it lacks natural resources or bright, industrious citizens. It is blessed with both in abundance. Mexico is poor because it retains an antiquated legal and economic system.If the southwestern United States had remained part of Mexico, this region would have been governed under Mexican laws -- and would probably be as impoverished and bereft of opportunity as Mexico is today.All right, now we know why they flee Mexico. Here's what we can't do about it:Around 1991, the State of Georgia passed a law that made it illegal to have window tint on your vehicle if the tint was too dark -- light tint was fine and legal, but the black tint was illegal. Unfortunately, many of the people who wish to have their cars tinted preferred to have the dark tint on them. Thus, window tinting companies were placed in a bind: They could either obey the new Georgia law and lose customers, or disobey the law and keep the customers who wanted the illegal tint.Now had a state inspector been stationed at every one of the many window tinting shops in the state of Georgia, and if he personally examined every piece of tint put on every window, there is no question that the Georgia window-tinting law would have been a smashing success. But because the enforcement of the law was on a fairly hit-or-miss basis, and since it was aimed primarily at the drivers of the illegally tinted vehicles, the economic effect of the law on the window-tinting businesses themselves was utterly perverse. Those companies that obeyed the law to the letter were economically penalized by their very respect for the law, while those companies that flouted the law were economically rewarded by their lack of respect for the law. ....By the same logic, if all the customers of the hundreds of businesses who currently employed illegal immigrants were prepared to spend more money for the same service provided by American labor, then, once again, the current laws could be enforced -- or, more precisely, they would not need to be enforced, because the people themselves would be spontaneously obeying them. ....Herein lies the drawback to laws that are passed by legislative bodies solely to prove to their constituents that they, the legislators, are really doing something. "See," the legislators can tell the voters back home, "we are really cracking down on illegal immigrants by making tougher laws." But what is the point of tougher laws if these laws only penalize, economically, the few who obey them, while rewarding the many who do not?....At least in the law against illegal tint, it was the final customer who was penalized by fines; but in the law against hiring illegal immigrants, the final customer is in no way punished if he decides to go with a landscape firm that uses illegal aliens, or decides to have his roof replaced by a company that employs them. In most cases, all the final customer will care about is the cost of the service, and if it is cheaper to go with a company that hired illegals, that is what he will do. And how do you solve this problem? By fining customers who eat at restaurants that employ illegal immigrants, or who have their bushes pruned by them?As long as the final customers behave as economic actors, preferring to pay less than more for the same quality of service or product, there will be a market for those laborers who are willing to work for less, provided that they work as hard and as well as those who demand a higher wage. Pass all the laws you want; make as many examples as you please -- neither of these policies can hope to do more than to drive up the cost of those businesses that obey the law, while rewarding those that are willing to take the risk of disobeying it. In short, the end result will not be more Americans working at higher wages, but a flight of illegal immigrants from larger and more stable companies to smaller and less stable ones -- or, to put this another way, a flight from higher to lower wages. Should this surprise us? Considering the history of legislative attempts to regulate trade and commerce, no it should not. There are some things that law can do; but it can never be able to make people act against their economic self-interest. And every time that the law has been used for this purpose, not only does it fail -- it does much worse, it backfires.
Abaya Couture
Next, icecubes to Eskimoes?RIYADH, May 15, 2006 (AFP) - France's famed international fashion school ESMOD is teaming up with an institute in Riyadh in its first foray in the conservative Gulf region, a legal adviser to the venture said Monday. Undaunted by the fact that Saudi women have to cover from head to toe in public, ESMOD executives will on Tuesday sign a contract for an "associated school" with the French Institute of Fashion Design in Riyadh, a first step toward a franchise in the Saudi capital, Jochen Hundt told AFP. While Saudi women must wear black abayas over their clothes in public in the ultra-conservative Muslim kingdom, Hundt said: "Riyadh, which was very conservative, is opening up and has a large segment of rich people ready to spend on fashion." The Middle East accounts for 40 percent of the clientele of haute couture, with Saudi Arabia the number one market, according to the organizer of a series of fashion shows held in the neighboring United Arab Emirates last week. Posted by
A kiss on the hand may be...
or, maybe not, quite continental:"So, do you kiss once, twice, three or four times?"When should I shake hands?""Which rules apply when it comes to greeting men or women? Superiors or subordinates? Colleagues or clients?" The bad news is that their own French colleagues don't agree on a clear set of dos and definitely don'ts. So much depends on context that an easy guide is impossible. The good news is that their own French colleagues don't agree on a clear set of rule.......here are some guidelines (not rules!) for getting off to a good start.First, don't be surprised if a physical greeting of some kind, either la bise or a handshake, is routine in your French workplaces, not just on first introduction but every morning upon arrival at work, even though this ritual may take up several minutes. ....Look for the cues: slight leaning means that a kiss might follow. Let the French person lead the movement: don't force the extra kiss!Shoulder movement indicates that a handshake will probably follow. Accept it with a smile. Do not crush the fingers in a Texan grip. Do not shake wildly. Look the person in the eyes as you say Bonjour.Two kisses are the norm in Paris in most social contexts or with colleagues with whom you are friendly.Three kisses are not as common. French from the West and French from the East both like to claim exclusivity on the three-kiss variant, but just be aware that this more common outside of Paris.Four kisses are for teenagers and family members as well as in some upper-crust areas of Paris. Family members usually kiss twice in the morning to say hello and twice in the evening to say good-bye (so as to arrive at a four-kiss quota per day).A single kiss in France is considered more intimate and reserved for your spouse or lover.Five kisses means you're probably in trouble! Posted by
The Good Ol' Days Are Back
In Murder City:Murder is making a comeback in New Orleans.The city had 30 murders this year through April. That is less than half of the 81 recorded during the first four months of 2005. But New Orleans' population these days is less than half of what it was before Katrina.Also, while there were 17 murders in January through March of this year, there were 13 in April alone. That is the most for any month since the Aug. 29 storm, though still well below the monthly average of 22 in 2003 and 2004.And May has gotten off to a violent start with three slayings, including a shooting that followed an argument in a Bourbon Street bar early Tuesday.....Law-enforcement officers acknowledge rising numbers of murders and shootings, and attribute them largely to turf wars among criminals returning to the city."Since April began, we've had the return of individuals who have a legacy of violent crimes," said Jim Bernazzani, the FBI agent in charge of New Orleans. "Prior to storm they were residing in areas that are now uninhabitable. So they are returning to the 20 percent of the city that did not flood and they are running into violent criminals whose turf it is."The post-Katrina murder are haunting echoes of pre-Katrina New Orleans....."I don't think things have changed at all," said Dr. Micelle Haydel, an emergency-room doctor at Charity Hospital, where most trauma victims in the city are taken. "We're still getting the shooting and stabbing victims. It's still happening, and it will get worse as people return."In neighboring Jefferson Parish, the murder rate is way up. The population has fallen from about 450,000 before Katrina to around 370,000, according to the parish president's office. But there were 22 murders though April, compared with 28 during all of last year.
Let em eat cake
Standing on the shoulders of Harry Lyme's famous maxim:ln ltaly, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed. But they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. ln Switzerland, they had brotherly love. They had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce ? The cuckoo clock.Today's Euro-intellects declare:The European Union has come up with a new way of selling itself to voters - cake.To celebrate Europe Day - 9 May is the day a European union was first proposed - the EU's Austrian presidency took over a cafe in each capital to illustrate the continent's culinary richness.The slogan: "Sweet Europe, let yourself be seduced..."Europe has been searching for years for something to inspire a new generation of citizens - a generation unimpressed by 60 years of peace and the ending of the continents' Cold War divisions.....The new Cafe d'Europe initiative substituted writers for music, debates for concerts and cake for chocolate.The acceding countries, Bulgaria and Romania, were included, so the full menu ran to 27 cakes and pastries.....Some of the contributions were predictable, from France madeleines, from Cyprus baklava, from Denmark Danish pastry.Lithuania's bakers were conjuring up something resembling a hedgehog, called Sakotis, while Malta's were crafting a deep-fried date sandwich made from a dough containing red wine, ....At the London event, in Waterstone's bookshop cafe, one speaker lamented the fact that the fall of communism and the pressures of globalisation had driven some Polish national pastries - Krakowskie kremowki (millefeuilles) and W-Zetki (a cousin of tiramisu) - to the edge of extinction."Tiramisu is now easier to get in Warsaw than W-Zetki," she said. "I wonder why there is no process of sharing the rich diversity on the table with the rest of Europe?" Posted by
White Kids' Burden
The Brits sound the alarum over racist rugrats:Toddlers may already be racists, nurseries toldBy Julie Henry, Education CorrespondentThey may still be in nappies and playing with sand and building blocks but many toddlers are already racists, nurseries have been warned.To stop prejudice from developing while children are still three years old, staff need to ensure that different racial groups "play together right from day one", according to Herman Ouseley, the former chairman of the Commission for Racial Equality.Nursery staff should "discourage separate play" and "help children to unlearn any racist attitudes and behaviour they may have already learnt", said Lord Ouseley."It is important to consider whether patterns of play are consistently based on racial or cultural grounds," he writes in the latest issue of the journal Race Equality Teaching."If, for example, Muslim children nearly always play together and seldom play with other children, the question needs to be asked, 'Is there a reason for it that may relate to culture? Or apprehension? Or prejudice?'," said Lord Ouseley, the author of an influential report on the 2001 Bradford riots.
Greenie Meanies to the Poor; 'Drop Dead'?
Environmentalists got their way and the ship scrappers lost a chance to eke out a living:ALANG, India.... Only a few years ago, Alang was the world's biggest ship-breaking yard, a place where aging cruise liners, fishing trawlers and toxic warships came to die and be torn apart, their parts and cargo sold for profit. Now, largely because of pressure from environmental groups, the town itself is dying.The decision in February to turn away the Clemenceau, an asbestos-lined, decommissioned French aircraft carrier, has only brought more attention to the shipyard and caused a further drop in business, both for the companies that dismantle the ships and for ship profiteers...who sell what once was on board.....In Alang, for example, workers still travel from across India for the chance to earn as much as $4.50 a day, breaking apart ships for 12 hours at a stretch. It's a good wage in India. It's also the only choice for many workers."It's for our survival," said Gama Yadav, who makes about $2.75 a day as a "cutter," taking apart steel hulls with a blowtorch. "What can we do? Back home, there's no work. There's no question of me being happy or sad. It's a question of me being able to eat."In Alang, the numbers tell the story of a dying industry. In the fiscal year ended in June 1999 - the height of the ship-breaking business - 361 vessels came to Alang to be dismantled by 40,000 workers.In the year ended in June 2005, 196 ships arrived.And in the past four months, since the Clemenceau controversy heated up, only 33 ships have docked in Alang. About 3,500 people now work at the yard.
The Gang That Can't Shoot Straight
Al Qaeda, the Comedy:Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is shown wearing American tennis shoes and unable to operate his automatic rifle in video released Thursday by the U.S. military as part of a propaganda war aimed at undercutting the image of the terror leader.The U.S. command showed the footage to reporters at a time when it is stepping up operations against al-Qaida in Iraq and making overtures to other Sunni groups. The Americans hope to isolate religious extremists from insurgents they believe are more likely to cut a deal to end the war.The clips were part of a longer video that U.S. troops seized in a raid last month. Al-Qaida in Iraq militants posted an edited version of the same video on the Internet April 25 _ but without the embarrassing segments.....the previously unseen footage showed a smiling al-Qaida leader first firing single shots from a U.S.-made M-249 light machine gun. A frown creeps across al-Zarqawi's face as the weapon appears to jam. He looks at the rifle, confused, then summons another fighter.....By contrast, the edited version which the militants posted on the Web showed what happened only after the fighter fixed the weapon _ a fierce-looking al-Zarqawi confidently blasting away with bursts of automatic gunfire.His fellow fighters and associates appear similarly inept in the newly released footage. One reaches out to grab a just-fired weapon by the barrel, apparently unaware that it would burn his hand. The camera quickly pans to the ground and then away."His close associates around him ... do things like grab the hot barrel of the machine gun and burn themselves," Lynch said. "Makes you wonder" about their military skills.Another clip showed the Jordanian-born al-Zarqawi _ who has derided everything Western _ dressed in a black uniform but wearing New Balance tennis shoes as he walked to a white pickup. Posted by
The first thing we do...
...is make sure all the lawyers get rich:A lawsuit filed by shareholders over Boeing's procurement scandals has yielded a proposed payment of nearly $12 million for their lawyers, but little else.The suit against Boeing, its top officers and board of directors alleged the individuals had been reckless and negligent in overseeing company operations, leading to scandals such as the use of stolen Lockheed Martin documents in a bid for a 1998 Air Force rocket-launch contract, and the illegal offer of a job in 2002 to an Air Force procurement officer who oversaw a refueling-tanker contract.But the proposed settlement may raise some eyebrows. It would require Boeing to spend an extra $29 million over five years to enhance director and management oversight of its ethics and compliance procedures.Such changes were already under way, thanks to Boeing's internal investigation, and to new federal laws, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, that affected corporate governance.Apart from that, the settlement's only other result would be to pay up to $11.9 million to the national law firms that litigated the case, including Labaton, Sucharow & Rudoff; Lasky & Rifkind; and Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman."It's nice business for the attorneys," said John Coffee, professor of corporate law and director of the Center on Corporate Governance at Columbia Law School.
Can't Hang?
Be a better executioner, but the world won't beat a path to your door. Contra Galbraith, a guy's gotta advertise:Two rival hangmen were severely reprimanded by their Home Office masters because they were "touting" for business in the depths of the Depression.Tom Pierrepoint, who served as an executioner for 37 years and dispatched more than 300 men and women, and Robert Baxter were both discovered writing to under sheriffs, the local officials responsible for securing the services of the hangman.Papers newly released at the National Archives show that Pierrepoint and Baxter wrote whenever a newspaper recorded a capital sentence passed against a murderer.....The link between money, alcohol and hanging seems to have been a long one.After the retirement of William Calcraft, the grand old man of the profession who served as chief hangman from 1829 to 1874, the practice of paying the official hangman of London a retainer of a guinea a week (equivalent to £700 today) was ended. Calcraft received an extra guinea for each hanging and half a crown for each flogging he administered, as well as commanding much higher fees for travelling to provincial cities to execute criminals.....Albert Allen, a junior executioner, was reported in 1934 for being drunk at an execution by the governor of Wandsworth prison in another file just opened at Kew.His was not the first case. Henry Pierrepoint had been sacked for turning up inebriated then fighting with a rival hangman.Allen was placed under supervision for all subsequent executions and was sacked when he botched a hanging.The unfortunate prisoner, Frederick Field, a murderer, did not suffer because he was knocked unconscious by the concussive impact of the hangman's knot and slowly strangled to death.....Perhaps he should have listened to Tom Pierrepoint's sage advice to Albert when first serving as his uncle's apprentice: "If you can't do it without whisky, don't do it at all." | 金融 |
Subsets and Splits