Archive for February, 2008
February 28, 2008 3:10PM
By Cheryl Casone
I spoke Tuesday night at the Yale Club here in New York City. (Yes, as in the school Yale, I should have gone there, beautiful alumni building.) I was on a panel sponsored by Wilmington Trust with two people I really respect but had never met: Edwin Finn, editor and president of Barron’s (my Sunday read) and Alan Murray, executive editor of the Wall Street Journal. The topic was investing in an election year. It may have been the first time that three News Corporation’s business news properties were together. World domination!
I won’t go into too much detail of the panel, but the basic premise was, if it comes down to Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Clinton, what would the impact be on our market, our economy, foreign investments and taxes? The latter, taxes sounds interesting right? Say YES right now, because that is what I chose to focus on. If you look closely at Barack Obama’s campaign speeches, you will see that he intends to pay for some of his programs by raising taxes on the wealthy (which is really the middle class in cities like New York if you look at the numbers) and go after the “polluters,” which translates to oil companies, something most of us invest in through mutual or index funds, and corporate taxes, again something that most of you have in your portfolio.
Alan Murray, went first and I’m smiling but I’m really thinking…..
Read More
February 27, 2008 5:23PM
By Cheryl Casone
Yesterday, we had Bruce Weinstein on once again. The Ethics Guy from Business Week. This is the guy that says you should not gamble at work, you should not date at work, you should not (insert thought here) at work. Basically, it is all work and no play to this guy!
Here’s the video, see for yourself!
I know what Bruce is saying, I just think that our culture is such a work hard, get it done or else culture, and we are not the French. There is guilt in not coming to work, sick or not sick. It is what makes us such a productive and great country. What do you guys think? Agree or disagree?
February 25, 2008 4:44PM
By Cheryl Casone
Sometimes, well, many times it is the behind the scenes events here that make things very interesting. Today, was one of those days.
We had a segment about the selling of one’s own life insurance policy. It’s an old practice, and has been around for years (Tom tells me) but it seems to have recently gained steam. Why? Because now with more of the “young” investors, or targets, as you may not realize you are when it comes to the selling of financial products, the same guys who invented the subprime loan, realize that seniors, who have a guaranteed check coming every month, are ripe for the picking.
So, there you are 80, and you own your house outright, no more payments, and you have a life insurance policy you’ve been paying on, and you need some money. Or, maybe you are much younger than that, and think, hey, what a great deal. This company/person/agent is offering to pay me monthly for my house (a reverse mortgage), or pay me for my life insurance policy. So, when I die, the payment goes to someone else.
Tom and I really got into this one, because elder scams is something that makes our blood boil. So much of the time, there is someone out there willing to sell you, your mom, your grandma, some annuity, or vehicle, or policy. It always sounds good, and they always smile when they pitch you.
But Tom and I both were frustrated that people, in particular the older generation, are becoming more of a target. Tom was saying “hey these products have been around forever.” He didn’t feel the story was fresh. But, I completely disagree. As I pointed out above, with subprime loans gone, and credit tightening everywhere, who else to go after more aggressively than those that have fixed income, probably do not care as much about their credit rating, and are much of the time susceptible to either scare tactics and/or charming sales pitches.
I don’t know about you, but what if some shark (aka Tony Soprano) buys your life insurance policy from you? Lock your doors, bolt the windows, and please, please, be careful out there.
CC
February 21, 2008 6:31PM
By Cheryl Casone
John McCain is my state senator, and has been for most of my life. My family moved there when I was 10, and I went to elementary, junior high, high school and college in the state. While I have only met him once, the New York Times scandal hit home for several reasons for me. First and foremost, my stomach turned when the SECOND question asked him during a presser was “did you have a sexual relationship with her.” Seriously? How much more tacky can we the media get?
Whether or not the story is true, and I have no idea if it is, I was ashamed of my fellow journalists for their lack of tact. Who do they think they are interviewing, Britney Spears? Arizona has seen several scandals. Our sad but true rejection of the MLK holiday, our crazy, and I mean nutso Governor Evan Mecham and our role in the savings and loan scandal courtesy of Frank Keating Jr.
John McCain has put Arizona on the map, and has continued to serve our state in the Senate term after term, beginning as a Congressman back in 1982. Like I said, most of my life! Mecham actually had the gaul to run against McCain in 1992, and somehow 11% of my fellow residents voted for Mecham, but McCain crushed him, with 56% of the vote.
This election happened AFTER the Keating Five scandal (five senators accused of working on Charles Keating’s behalf.) At the time, even the most blood thirsty journalist in Arizona didn’t revisit the savings and loan scandal. Look, we go for it if we have it, if there is a story, we are after it. That didn’t happen way back when in Arizona. For the most part, and I don’t speak for the state obviously, people in Arizona respect John McCain.
I offer this perspective because I saw some slimy reporting today, and I only hope, whether or not the Vicki Iseman story has legs, that we keep things above the fold on this one. John McCain, like him or not, spent years as a POW, has served as our senator, is running for president a second time and stood by his wife when she outed herself about her painkiller addiction. He deserves some respect, and I hope he gets it, win or lose, right or wrong.
CC
February 14, 2008 4:54PM
By Cheryl Casone
We have a segment we call “Big Spender.” We do it every week, and it usually features a high priced item that only the wealthy can afford. Diamonds, art, or cool cars. We’ve had some great stuff, but nothing we’ve done has caused as much debate among our staff as this……
THE $21,000 ROAD BIKE
Our guest was Paul Levine of Signature Cycles. For more on what 21k gets you…
Read More
February 4, 2008 3:17PM
By Cheryl Casone
How is it possible that Yahoo (YHOO) has sunk so far from that 125 dollar a share Internet wonder story we had seven years ago? It is about evolving, and changing, and honestly in the case of Yahoo, maybe a little arrogance. Who knew that two kids could come up with Google (GOOG), and overtake the great Yahoo, but they did.
I was in San Francisco as a reporter and business news anchor during the dot-com build, the dot-com bubble, and the dot-com implosion. It was like a big zit that just exploded, it was awful.
There was so much arrogance and wasteful spending leading up to that event. 26-year-olds driving Lamborghini’s, buying wineries and five star restaurants, renting yachts for an average office happy hour. It was fun, I had a great time, but I was never part of that world, I only covered it.
I remember seeing so many graduates coming out of college who believed they were “due” the nice car, the expense account, the stock options. I remember those same young adults getting laid off, divorced, demoralized, and in many cases bankrupted. That is when I first witnessed the hard reality of AMT.
Where are they now? Read More
