June 2009

This morning in a First on FOX Business,  Sir Richard Branson joined me to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Virgin Atlantic. As always he was charming, and at times, giddy! Last night, he celebrated the anniversary with Kate Moss among others. He was happy to see that the British government upheld his call to allow British Airways to fail, if need be, without government intervention. He sees ... read more

This morning on The Opening Bell, I interviewed George Ball of Sanders Morris Harris, which manages $8 billion in client assets and is based in Houston, Texas. Mr. Ball is the Chairman of the Board. He was formerly president & CEO of Prudential Bache Securities as well as president of E.F. Hutton Group. His resume also includes being former governor of the American Stock Exchange & the Chicago ... read more

This morning on our roundtable discussion we debated the merits, or lack thereof, of lobbying. Lobbying expenses are through the roof as a result of the financial changes and proposed regulatory overhaul. Thanks to health-care reform, health-care lobbying is up 41% in the first quarter alone. Those numbers will likely continue to rise as health care becomes the No. 1 issue in D.C. Here's my ... read more

This morning on The Opening Bell (my 9am program), Jay Fishman, chairman and CEO of Travelers joined me to talk about the 2009 Travelers Championship with J.J. Henry (2006 winner of CT's PGA Tour, 40th in scoring average on the tour) and Stuart Appleby (8 time winner on the PGA Tour, ranked 14th in career earnings). We had some fun talking about the upcoming Travelers Championship, where the ... read more

On the same day a Senate panel meets to debate the sweeping health-care reform, I sat down with former Tennessee Senator Bill Frist to discuss how we can create a plan without stifling innovation, increasing costs and satisfying both doctors and patients.  Frist spent 20 years in the health sector before entering the political arena and he gave excellent insight on what needs to be included in ... read more

As I wrap up three days in Detroit let me give you my key takeaways. 1. Detroit will reinvent itself. I have no doubt. It will be a struggle but they understand what lies ahead and they know how important manufacturing is to this economy. Manufacturing jobs employ at least 10 million people and pay 20% more than service jobs. Manufacturing jobs are highly technical, require highly skilled ... read more

Today I sat down with the CEO of the only major domestic auto maker that hasn’t entered Chapter 11—Ford’s Alan Mulally. We talked about everything from getting back to profitability, the UAW and what products we can expect in the near future. Mulally said the company has reduced it debt by more than $10 billion and is working to increase its market share. “We also went to the ... read more

With oil prices holding steady around $70 I sat down with Conoco Phillips CEO James Mulva to discuss commodities and what needs to be included in any cap-and-trade legislation. Mulva says the increase in crude prices are based on expectations of the economy stabilizing soon."There are some indications, not only in our own country, but in the world that we are starting to work toward and that’s ... read more

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My last guest of the day was U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, and boy did he have a lot to say about government intervention and regulation, small businesses and trade. Earlier today he announced the creation of “one-stop shop advocacy centers” for small businesses that have trained professionals from all the Federal agencies that can help a small business owner expand his/her ... read more