US News & World Report (February 27)
“New Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivered a message Tuesday that wasn’t quite what Wall Street had expected: The U.S. economy is doing well, maybe even better than he thought late last year.”
Tags: Economy, Fed, Powell, U.S., Wall Street
Barron’s (January 29)
“Interest rates and volatility have been so low for so long that what was once abnormal is starting to look normal,” leading investment banks to adopt different approaches. Goldman has maintained its trading unit, “which lives or dies on volatility and which sealed Goldman’s reputation as the elite firm on Wall Street,” even though its revenue “has been reduced to crumbs.” In contrast, Morgan Stanley slashed the head count at its trading unit and has seen its market value surpass Goldman’s. But this could prove short-lived. “When trading conditions improve,” revenue from fixed income currency and commodities (FICC) “could bounce back quickly. No one else is as poised as Goldman to profit.”
Tags: Abnormal, FICC, Goldman, Head count, Interest rates, Investment banks, Morgan Stanley, Normal, Trading, Volatility, Wall Street
Wall Street Journal (July 5)
“The bosses of America’s biggest and best-known companies are learning a common lesson this year: The pay is great, but job security has rarely been shakier.” During the first five months of 2017, CEO turnover at large companies more than doubled. The “churn reflects a broader reality for the country’s business elite: An array of challenges—from increasing impatience on Wall Street and in boardrooms to a corporate landscape rapidly transformed by new technologies and rival upstarts—have made the top job tougher and more precarious than just a few years ago.” Today, “even the biggest companies are vulnerable to shareholder disapproval and competitive forces that their size and stature once helped them fend off.”
Tags: Boardrooms, CEO, Challenges, Elite, Impatience, Job security, Pay, Shareholders, Technologies, Turnover, U.S., Upstarts, Wall Street
Reuters (March 22)
“The Trump Trade could start looking more like a Trump Tantrum if the new U.S. administration’s healthcare bill stalls in Congress, prompting worries on Wall Street about tax cuts and other measures aimed at promoting economic growth.” Investors are less optimistic “that U.S. President Donald Trump will swiftly enact his agenda, with a Thursday vote on a healthcare bill a litmus test which could give stock investors another reason to sell.”
Tags: Congress, Economic growth, Healthcare, Investors, Tax cuts, Trump Tantrum, U.S., Wall Street, Worries
Bloomberg (February 6)
“Just a few weeks ago, Wall Street analysts were busy boosting their economic forecasts on the expectation that President Trump would implement sweeping corporate-tax reform, a rollback of regulations, and new fiscal stimulus.” After seeing the first two weeks of the Trump Presidency, the analysts are having second thoughts. Their forecasts are now poised for “a rethink, if not an outright reversal.”
Tags: Analysts, Expectation, Forecasts, Regulations, Rethink, Reversal, Second thoughts, Stimulus, Tax reform, Trump, Wall Street
San Francisco Chronicle (September 28)
“Score one for public shaming. Following widespread outrage… Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf has said he’ll forfeit his outstanding stock awards of about $41 million.” That’s not enough. He should resign. “The public is worn out by Wall Street’s bad behavior — and it’s also tired of watching low-level employees be scapegoated while top executives get off scot-free.”
Tags: Bad behavior, CEO, Forfeit, Outrage, Public shaming, Resign, Scapegoats, Stock awards, Stumpf, Wall Street, Wells Fargo
USA Today (July 14)
“Raising the minimum wage can lead to higher corporate earnings,” writes Bill Gross, the founder of PIMCO. “Main Street is Wall Street’s best friend…. It is time to let common sense as opposed to the race for short-term corporate profits guide our economic future.”
Tags: Bill Gross, Common sense, Earnings, Economic future, Main Street, Minimum wage, PIMCO, Short-term corporate profits, Wall Street
Los Angeles Times (October 28)
“Policymakers are clear about their bond-buying goal, but the Street isn’t listening.” Current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke stated publicly that quantitative easing would continue until unemployment falls to 6.5%. “If we generate 200,000 new jobs every month, tapering starts in November 2016. If we see an average of only 148,000 new jobs each month, we won’t ever see Fed tapering…. Tapering is still a long way off.”
Tags: Bernanke, Bond-buying, Fed, Jobs, Policymakers, Quantitative easing, Tapering, Unemployment, Wall Street
The Economist (May 11, 2013)
Following the darkest days of the financial crisis, more than a few European bankers and leaders were caught gloating. It looked like the big Wall Street investment banks had been beaten. “Almost five years on it is Europe’s banks that are on their knees and Wall Street that is resurgent.” But this comeback may be a nightmare in disguise. “Indeed, it is American taxpayers and investors who should worry about the dominance of a few Wall Street firms. They bear the main risk of future bail-outs.”
Tags: Bail-outs, Europe, Investment banks, Investors, Taxpayers, U.S., Wall Street
New York Times (February 14)
“The mega-merger is back.” Big deals were out for five years. “Wall Street deal makers and chief executives, brought low by the global financial crisis, lacked the confidence to strike the audacious multibillion-dollar acquisitions that had defined previous market booms.” In 2013, the cycle changed with the announced takeover of Heinz and the proposed merger of US Airways and American Airlines. “Merger activity has suddenly roared back to life.”
Tags: American Airlines, Heinz, M&A, Market cycle, US Airways, Wall Street
