July 2008

Last week I wrote a blog about my concerns with the SEC, the rule changes and the repeal of the “Uptick Rule.” Since then I interviewed the current Chairman Christopher Cox who has been pretty heavily scrutinized for not doing enough. Today the SEC implemented a temporary emergency change in rules to the naked short selling rule on 19 financial institutions. Many of you watched my interview ... read more

Hold onto your hats this is going to be UGLY. Did you hear about the federal investigation into the private banking practices at UBS? Apparently, the Senate subcommittee on investigations released a report yesterday saying that UBS’s offshore accounting practices helped American citizens hide $18 billion from the IRS. As many as 19,000 accounts according to the IRS. Roni Deutch, a tax attorney ... read more

Whoa!!!!!!!!!!!! I was wrong about Citi. Not a brilliant number, but much better than expected. Yes, they took a $7.2 billion writedown and that it not good for any bank, but it was much less than Wall Street expected. I must admit when I saw Merrill Lynch's earnings announcement (which wasn't good), I panicked. I was sure that this morning's Citi number was going to be a disaster. I am very ... read more

Now we know why we call this a roller-coaster ride. A couple quick points before we begin what I suspect will be a difficult session:   1. Merrill’s number was not pretty and the fact that Thain said they are not selling their CDO exposure at discounted prices or doing a fire sale suggests that they are choosing to keep a fair amount of junk on their books. I ... read more

Today I met a very impressive guy. His name is Cory Booker and he is the Mayor of Newark, N.J. I have seen him on television and read about him, but I had never met him up until today. His resume and educational background is very impressive: he has a B.A. and M.A. from Stanford University, a B.A. in Modern History from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar and has a law degree from Yale ... read more

In a market like this where it feels like you're on a roller coaster ride, it's hard to sift through all the headlines. One day you're euphoric and the next day you want to throw up. It's the nature of the beast -- and it serves as a good reminder to think and invest for the long-term. Speaking of the long-term, today I talked to a very well known expert in all things economic, housing and ... read more

Ask and you shall receive. If you read my blog, about five blogs back on the SEC entitled “Concerned by the SEC’s Latest Moves,” you’ll know that I had a lot of unanswered questions about what Chairman Christopher Cox was up to with this new emergency measure to curb naked short selling in 19 financial institutions. This morning he joined me on Money for Breakfast to address many of the ... read more

Out of the gate this morning the market was looking a little stronger. Some of those early gains have subsided but the big story continues to be bank earnings. This morning on Money for Breakfast I talked to one of the leading authorities on the state of the financials, Dick Bove, an analyst at Ladenburg Thalmann. Also joining us was another expert and Managing Director at Burson-Marsteller, Jason ... read more

BRILLIANT! BRAVISSIMO! BRAVO! ONE OF THE BEST COMIC-BOOK MOVIES EVER!   It’s been 7 hours since I walked out of the “Dark Knight” IMAX premiere in Manhattan and I am still speechless. The kick in adrenaline has not left my body. I LOVED “Iron Man” and this is just as good, if not better. Yesterday on Your World (Neil’s show on ... read more

Couldn’t let you end the day with my rants on everything from short selling to the SEC to the proposed solutions to the economy without bringing you my favorite interview of the day. Take a guess? Sports? Football? No.1 running back in the league? No.1 Fantasy Football pick? My new crush? ... read more