Amazing Interviews, Beer and My BlackBerry: More From Davos

Back to where I left off…

After the Congress Center, we made our way back into town for dinner. We had local favorites wienerschnitzel and rosti. Mmmmmm!!!! It was delicious. By that time, starvation had set in. I also had Monsteiner Bier, an awesome local beer. (Note: it's made in the highest brewery in Europe, at 1625 meters above sea level.) Happily, my migraine headache from lack of sleep, the altitude and no downtime was easily cured by that one VERY large Monsteiner!! I knew I loved the Swiss!!!

After dinner, Yvette (my producer) and I went to the Forbes party. It was much more subdued than last year. It was held once again at the Belvedere Hotel. Next door, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and former president Bill Clinton hosted individual private parties. At Forbes place, we met Adobe Systems CEO Shantanu Narayen, with whom I was thoroughly impressed. We talked about a tax holiday on repatriated funds. We talked about the role of the chief technology officer in the White House. We talked about the hottest topic of the night – Putin and Mr. Wen. Wow!!! Sparks were flying.

After a couple of hours, Yvette and I called it quits. Keep in mind, to leave the hotel and get back to our apartment (my new humble abode after my "Shining" experience.....see last blogs), you have to walk quite a distance through multiple security check points. As you can imagine, it's late, past midnight, we've been up non-stop, we're cold and delirious. Through one of the check points, I realize I have no BlackBerry. Not good. If you know me and this job, no BlackBerry is a VERY BAD thing! So we retraced our steps back to the hotel and found it at our last hotel security checkpoint. Yvette attributed our success to prayers to Saint Anthony. No wonder she is so successful!!

We made it to bed with about five hours of sleep and this morning we are up again and on the go. Today, I must admit, was a WONDERFUL day. We had such fun and exciting guests. I chatted with some of my all-time favorites as well as with some new names and faces.

Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group

I started the day by interviewing Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group. He is simply fantastic. He calls everything as he sees it and was not particularly thrilled with all of the finger-pointing last night at the U.S. Real hypocrisy!

Jim Quigley, Global CEO at Deloitte

Next up Jim Quigley, Deloitte's global CEO. We tackled one of the hottest topics in 2008: mark-to-market accounting. He defended the auditing profession and pointed out that accounting firms like his did their job even when it wasn't popular. He realizes many people blame his profession, but pointed out between commercial breaks that his work is not to make friends with his clients -- it is to provide the necessary advice and credible financials that are necessary to meet FASB rules and SEC compliance. He said it's no different than a patient going to the doctor and the doctor saying you have the following illness and need to do a list of the following things to heal your illness. You may not like the diagnosis, you may not like the remedy, but his job is to tell you what you have and how to fix it. An excellent point!

Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia

Next up, someone I have known for – yes, I'll admit it – 15 years, Stephen Roach, from Morgan Stanley. We used to work together there. He is the chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and the chief economist and director of global economic analysis. I told him how pessimistic he was a year ago (joked about how pessimistic he has been for years, if not decades), predicting much of what we experienced in '08, although a year ago he said we would emerge in the first half of '09. He now says the latter part of '09. As always, he's very bearish, not thrilled with Geithner's yuan comments and has plenty of issues with how we are going to turn this global economic crisis around. He said it is "delusional" to think that Obama’s stimulus package will turn the economy around right away. He says it will not end the recession, but that it will position the economy over time for a recovery. He's always on the mark and I am pleased to report he thinks that American consumers will need to learn how to live within their means and actually return to savings. Hallelujah!!

Ken Powell, General Mills CEO

Next up, Ken Powell from General Mills. How refreshing to speak to a CEO whose company is firing on all cylinders – one of the few in this difficult economy.

MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe and citizen journalist Rebecca McQuigg

Chris DeWolfe, cofounder and CEO of MySpace, and Rebecca McQuigg, a MySpace citizen journalist, joined us to celebrate the 5th year of the launch of MySpace. I talked to Chris about the progress in the hyper-targeting model of attracting advertisers to "safe havens" on the social network site. Now, the issue is how far they will be able to monetize the model; but with 50 million users daily, business is going well.

Khalid Abdullah-Juhani, chairman of Ithmar Bank

By far one of the most fascinating people that I have ever met was Khalid Abdullah-Juhani, chairman of Ithmar Bank. He is one of the most famous bankers in the Middle East. The Bahrain Investment Bank is in a partnership with Gulf Finance House and the Abu Dhabi Investment House called Vision to the Power of Three. We talked off camera about oil prices (a major issue for countries like Bahrain) and the impact on his economy and on the bank. The break-even point to remain at last year's spending levels without dipping into a budget deficit is $75 dollars per barrel of oil, well above his next door neighbors. He talked about all of the finger-pointing toward the U.S. here in Davos and abroad. He has publicly spoken up on behalf of the U.S. and suggested that his counterparts are unnecessarily focusing all of the blame on the U.S. even though they chose to invest in U..S. businesses and financial institutions. Not the most popular statement, but I applaud him for noting that it's not ALL our fault. I kept him in the seat for at least another 10 minutes before I had to rush him out for my next guest. I wish I could remember everything that he told me.

Niall Ferguson, Harvard historian and professor

Then Niall Ferguson, Harvard historian and professor -- a favorite of mine -- came on. Wow! He is so good. Honestly, I could sit with him for hours. You can watch the interview online. We talked about everything from failed fiscal stimulus packages to ‘bad bank’ scenarios (which he already characterizes as the Federal Reserve Bank), to predictions for a turnaround in the global economy and where China fits into that equation. He is brilliant. He just wrote a book called "The Ascent of Money." You should pick it up.

Michael Splinter, president and CEO of Applied Materials

Dave Miller, Splinter's ace public relations specialist

From there, I sat down with Michael Splinter, president and CEO of Applied Materials, who just yesterday was sitting in the Roosevelt Room with 12 other CEOs and President Obama discussing what he and his counterparts believe will revitalize the economy. His plane had just arrived not three hours ago, and he was already sitting next to me. In this exclusive interview, he talked about the need for solar energy to power federal buildings, federal funding, tax rebates and R&D funds to promote renewable energy. I asked him about cuts in corporate taxes and the need to become more competitive. 85% of his company's earnings come from outside the U.S. This, he said, is very important for competition and for jobs. I asked what he made of the recent list of top Fortune 500 companies that have suspended their guidance. He said he understands why they are doing it as things look very "fuzzy." Applied Materials reports on February 10th. Be on the look out!

Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel and former vice chairman of Citigroup

Finally, Dr. Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel and former vice chairman of Citigroup (2002 to 2005) joined me. The Central Bank of Israel just cut rates this past Monday down to 1%, the lowest in the country, and he left the door open for it to go even lower. I brought up 0%. He cautiously said he has not predicted that, but said the government is using all tools at its discretion just as the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank is doing. During the commercial break we talked about Citigroup. He said he was "shocked" by what has happened. He said when he left in 2005, he never could have predicted what would have happened. He did say that there was a very strong emphasis on profitability and growing those profits to meet the competition. No surprise there.

It's now just past 6:45 p.m. local time and I am finally going to make my way back to the apartment to change and get a bite to eat. We are going to have dinner tonight at a local restaurant where Vladimir Putin had lunch today. Can't wait!!!!!

See you in a little bit......don't expect me to appear at any parties tonight. 5 a.m. wake-up call......dozens of unbelievable interviews tomorrow. So much to prepare. I am SO excited!!!!! This is hard work but AWESOME.