July 2009

Tony Crescenzi, a good friend and colleague, whom I have known for longer than I wish to admit, joined me on The Opening Bell this morning. He was known for his work at Miller Tabak as the Chief bond strategist but a couple months ago he got offered a plum position at PIMCO. He is now living on the west coast and is a senior vice president, market strategist and portfolio manager for ... read more

This morning, Marshawn Evans and Charles Payne returned to the show to give us their reaction to the president's NAACP speech. Michael Steele, the RNC Chairman, was not able to come back on. As you'll recall, I interviewed the three of them in anticipation of the president's speech and then asked if all three would return the next morning. In Michael's place, DaRayl Davis, the founder of Financial ... read more

For days I have been reporting on CIT and read every article out there from the Wall Street Journal to the New York Times. My sources inside CIT tell me the following. The mood inside CIT last night was "flat" when the government declined its petition for a 23A waver. What does this mean? CIT, which became a bank holding company last December (in order to tap TARP funds), requested the ... read more

This morning’s show was one of my favorite shows since our launch a year ago last October. There is no coincidence that a large part of that had to do with Steve Forbes’ visit and his willingness to spend the morning with us. Today we touched every controversial topic and, as Steve always does, he said exactly what was on his mind and did not hold back. You may not agree with all of Steve’s ... read more

Overnight discussions broke down between the government and CIT. Now it appears CIT could be forced into bankruptcy, the government will lose its $2.3 billion dollar TARP investment and hundreds of thousands of small businesses will be negatively impacted. The ramifications could be tremendous. I have focused on the story all week and I believe with good reason. There are several reasons ... read more

Later this evening the president will address the NAACP on the eve of their 100th anniversary celebration. It will be a very closely watched speech because many of the members of the NAACP and the African American community across this country are unhappy with the president’s role in helping address their concerns. African American men are losing jobs at record rates. In fact, in New York ... read more

As you know, I have dedicated a great deal of time to the CIT (CIT) story this week. Why? Because the company funds over a million small businesses in this country. If it fails, it could be catastrophic for the small-business community. The story is one you need to understand especially if you are a small-business owner because it affects you. My guests today were Donna Childs from Dow Jones ... read more

As I mentioned in my last blog ,the House Democrats just proposed a health-care reform bill that will impose taxes on the wealthiest individuals, many of whom are small-business owners. The bill does not say what it will cost or how much they will raise, but it is causing a great deal of anger and debate. Wait until you see the costs. This morning Congressman Culberson [R-Tex.] and Congressman ... read more

What a morning! I don't know where to begin. A fantastic debate on healthcare with Congressmen Culberson & Yarmuth. A in depth interview with Governor Pawlenty on how he closed his state's budget deficit by using a controversial executive order known as "unallotment law" to avoid a special legislative session. Then an in depth analysis on why CIT is a risk to small business owners with a ... read more

Every once in a while you meet someone who blows you away when you least expect it. That happened to me this morning when I met Michael Uslan, the executive producer of Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and ALL of the Batman live action and animated feature films. His personal story is so inspiring that I spent 20 minutes with him in the green room immediately after the show. He was a kid who grew up ... read more