July 2009

This morning, a frequent guest of mine, Senator Shelby [R-Ala.] joined me. We talked about the president’s address last night, Bernanke’s performance on the Hill and whether the Fed is responsible for one of the longest recessions in U.S. history. Senator Shelby was very forthcoming. Here is some of what he had to say: The press conference last night had “an air of desperation to it." ... read more

This morning we recapped the president’s press conference last night on health care. How do you think he did? Did he get his message across? My initial observations, quite honestly, were that his hair is a lot grayer and that he’s aged a lot in 6 months. I know that happens to most presidents, but for some reason it was the first thing I noticed last night when I turned the press conference ... read more

The most striking interview / guest of the morning had to be Mark Muller of Max Motors. He is the president of a car dealership in Kansas City, MO which announced a promotion that sounds like a David Letterman joke. The car dealership is offering a free AK-47 for every pick-up truck sold in August. Yes, an AK-47, an assault rifle. To be clear, they will not let you walk right out of the ... read more

One of my favorite repeat guests is former Senator Alfonse D'Amato. He is raw and authentic! You may not agree with all of his policies or his decisions as Senator, but he does what so few politicians past and present do: he calls them as he sees them. Frankly, I find it refreshing. Speaking of calling them as you see them, forgive the personal mistake at the top of the interview. The Senator ... read more

Where do you stand on health-care reform? I don't about you, but I'm confused! We have so much information being thrown at us and it's hard to make heads or tails of it. Personally, I'm all for reform. All for change, but at what cost and why so quickly? I don't understand the president's urgency. I would think that the blueprint evidenced by the '94 failure to reform health care would suggest ... read more

This morning Wayne Angell, a former Federal Reserve governor, joined me to discuss the role of the Fed and how quickly they should raise interest rates. Wayne’s comments were shocking given current forecasts. “The Fed must raise rates sooner rather than later. August would be good. December could be tragic.” Wayne does not hold back and he’s concerned that the Fed Chair should be focused ... read more

This morning, Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly joined me to discuss earnings, traffic, business travel, oil prices and competition. I interview Gary every quarter following the company's earnings release. Despite the fact that Southwest Airlines (LUV) beat earnings estimates and returned to profitability for the 1st time in three quarters, Gary seemed very subdued. He’s concerned about the ... read more

This morning CIT (CIT) was delayed, halted news pending. The company filed an 8k filing with the SEC. In that 8k, they talked about the risks to the company, the stress test and the cash tender offer to existing bondholders. To be very clear about this, the 8k did not change the outcome of the negotiations with the existing bondholders who have agreed to give the company more support. That deal ... read more

Expect a CIT announcement / release within the hour on the new funding facility. It will be $3 billion as reported--$2 billion from existing bondholders and $1billion from new investors. The existing bondholders are made up by six or seven top-notch players.  Be sure to look for cash tender announcements, this likely gives CIT leeway for the rest of the year and could lead to further ... read more

It looks like CIT will live to see another day. At least that is where things stand at this hour because bondholders have agreed to raise $3B to keep them afloat. Whether it will keep them in business past the next 60 to 90 days or convince the FDIC & the Federal Reserve Bank to back their move to put assets into the bank holding company has yet to be determined or announced. The story still ... read more