April 2009

Banks lead a late day surge. TOP SHELF on Happy Hour: We're making sense of these tea party protests. Thousands of anti-tax, anti-government, anti-spending protesters showed up from sea to shining sea. The protesters mostly fired up about spending trillions bailing out corrupt and poorly run companies. They're also angry about the wealth redistribution policies that helped get President ... read more

The tea party organizers in Boston, where the whole thing started back in 1773, expect 2,000-5,000 protesters tomorrow.   If that doesn't sound like a lot, maybe here's why:   Massachusetts is getting more than a billion dollars in gift money from Washington just to balance the budget.  That’s $3 billion for ... read more

Stocks slumped as earnings season gets underway in earnest.  TOP SHELF on Happy Hour:   I'll say it once again: companies need to stop firing people for no apparent reason.  Today's exhibit "A" comes from Dean Health System in Wisconsin.   The company laid off 90 workers including one nurse ... read more

For the first time ever, the Pentagon is playing a war game that is focused on *economic* warfare, instead of a war fought with missiles and possible nukes. One of their key findings involved China selling off American dollars and debt. Apparently the war gamers found a way for China to hit us where it hurts. Yale Professor Paul Bracken, one of the participants, joined me today in The Diamond ... read more

The markets started off the week on an earnings cliffhanger!! TOP SHELF on Happy Hour: Congratulations to the navy for rescuing Captain Richard Phillips, and here's to Captain Phillips himself for his heroic actions. Now America needs to develop a detailed strategy for safeguarding commerce through this immensely important corridor for global trade. The world transports 80% of all ... read more

Today in The Diamond District, another call for corporate America to stop firing people, at least until we steady the ship. Possibly the most important thing that needs to be changed is the focus on short-term gains enforced by Wall Street. Current and former CEOs like Jack Welch complain about this "short-termism." Some say Wall Street even rewards job cuts by pumping up the stock every ... read more

Eric brought a big-time rally back from the Bahamas. TOP SHELF on Happy Hour: There's an old saying. "trust only movement. Life happens at the level of events, not words." So we're hearing today that no banks are going to fail Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's stress tests. We're hearing that Wells Fargo expects to be $3 billion in the green. Yes, a bank will make money again. And we're ... read more

Metabolife 356 containing Ephedrine was a smash hit with Americans trying to lose weight. It generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. Metabolife was one of the greatest business success stories of our time, until reports of serious adverse effects including death, from the dietary supplement started to emerge. Congress weighed in with hearings. The FDA banned Metabolife five years ... read more

Stocks rose off that billion-dollar builders deal. TOP SHELF on Happy Hour: Today's billion dollar stock-for-stock deal between Pulte Homes and Centex sounds great for housing, but is it really? The housing market is open to all sorts of smaller builders who can put up houses here and there on a local scale. They continue to add to a market where there is already 19 million units of excess ... read more

On Friday, I urged American businesses to stop firing people. That little rant of mine got a lot of responses from viewers. Some people thinking I'm nuts, but isn't business just collectively shooting themselves in the foot because as people lose their jobs, they don't spend and business suffers -- a vicious cycle. My guest in The Diamond District today refuses to let her workers go, ... read more