Tag: Street

‘Really weak option’: Wall Street sours on DeSantis as Trump challenger

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“People will change horses,” said Dave Carney, a veteran Republican strategist for both former Bush presidents. “You may get really excited about somebody and then all of a sudden realize, ‘Eh, not really my cup of tea.’”
Where Wall Street puts its money matters because financial industry executives are among the biggest donors in presidential elections. And while bankers and asset managers generally favor lower taxes and lighter-touch regulation, they also value stability and experience — and they spread their money around to candidates of both parties, meaning they’re very much in play in each cycle.
On paper, that should give DeSantis an advantage. People close to Wall Street donors said his national profile and powerhouse fundraising operation that has included support from hedge fund titans like Ken Griffin and Jeff Yass had positioned him as most able to survive a primary with former President Donald Trump.
DeSantis’ gubernatorial reelection campaign is still loaded with cash, giving him big advantages over possible competitors. But many now say he no longer seems so formidable — at least on Wall Street.
His escalation of a feud with the Walt Disney Co. over its opposition to what critics called the “don’t say gay” law has made for a rocky rollout to an expected presidential campaign announcement in the coming weeks. On April 26, the company announced it was suing DeSantis, saying he violated its First Amendment rights — which will force him to do battle with one of his state’s largest employers in federal court.
It was “‘wait and see,’ and this is why,” said an adviser to one top GOP donor in New York, who like others interviewed for this story was granted anonymity to avoid alienating candidates. “We’re not the only ones who are happy with our decision to wait and see.”
With Trump surging in the polls following his indictment on criminal charges stemming from alleged hush money payments, one executive at a New York bank said confidence in DeSantis’s ability to win is flagging.
“DeSantis is certainly a better option than Trump at this point,” the executive said. “But he’s a really weak option.”

The executive said many are growing resigned to the possibility of a general election rematch between Trump and President Joe Biden.
“What we probably wind up with is a choice between a guy who is very old and wants to raise our taxes and reregulate everything, and a guy who could be running from prison,” the executive said.
In the meantime, any hesitation about DeSantis’s viability could be good news for Republicans who have tried to carve out space as business-friendly alternatives to Trump. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott — another South Carolina Republican who has launched an exploratory committee — have started lining their war chests with checks from major investors, according to campaign filings released in April.
During the first quarter, Haley raised about $8.3 million across her campaign, joint fundraising committee and leadership PAC. Scott, the ranking member on the Senate Banking Committee, raised $1.6 million and had $21.9 million on hand through his Senate committee, according to POLITICO’s analysis of his FEC filings. Those funds can easily be transferred to a presidential committee should he formally announce.
Scott is a fixture in New York, turning up for meetings at various big banks, and is beginning to draw backers at firms like Goldman Sachs. Bankers say they appreciate both his personal narrative — rising from humble beginnings — and his positive message about the power of American capitalism.
Still, Scott and Haley’s fundraising totals remain modest compared to those of DeSantis-aligned groups — one state-level committee, Friends of Ron DeSantis, has more than $85 million on hand.
For many Republicans on Wall Street, “there’s a lot of concern about whether Trump will consolidate support in the polls,” said Ken Spain, a partner at Narrative Strategies who advises investment firms. “Then the concern becomes: Does that freeze money in the investor class? Do people sit on the sidelines if they think the chance of defeating Trump in a primary is diminishing?”
Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), who leads the House Financial Services Committee, said in an interview at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills this week that the Trump campaign’s tactics over the next two months will be “well-organized, calculated, surgical.”
“This reminds me a lot of ’16 where everybody’s trying to figure out alternatives to Trump,” he said.
Those dynamics won’t make things any easier for DeSantis, who’s been catching flak over everything from the Disney fracas — a “self-inflicted wound,” one financial industry power broker said — to his arms-length relationship with key donors and GOP allies in Florida.
“I call my donors. I call my supporters. And that’s been an issue that people have complained about with him,” said Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, a Republican who has flirted with a 2024 bid.
But Scott, Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence and other potential GOP nominees face their own challenges. While DeSantis has shown he can win big in a swing state, other nominees have won in Republican strongholds. Many also lack national name recognition that would put them within striking distance of Trump or DeSantis.
“Scott is pretty fantastic, and if he can perform the way I think he can he has a real chance,” said one senior banker who is trying to organize support for him. “But it’s obviously a big hill to climb.”
DeSantis allies are taking comfort in the difficulties other candidates could have in breaking through. While there’s “some hesitancy from the Wall Street Journal class,” the Florida governor’s resources should be enough to sustain any surge from non-Trump competitors, said Jason Thomas, a Republican strategist who runs a pro-DeSantis Super PAC.
Even though DeSantis has shown a willingness to wage public battles against big businesses — hardly typical of what Thomas labeled a Country Club Republican platform — Thomas said he expects financial services donors to “eventually come home when DeSantis recaptures his first-place position in the nomination process or is the nominee.”
The first executive at the large New York bank said Wall Street would love a candidate like former House Speaker Paul Ryan “or a younger Mitt Romney.”
But they acknowledged that Trump would likely obliterate any candidate from the increasingly small centrist segment of the GOP.
“We all saw what happened to Jeb Bush, who everybody up here loved,” the executive said of Wall Street donors who flocked to the former Florida governor’s 2016 campaign. “He got crushed and crushed quickly, and that would just happen again.”
DeSantis could face another problem even if he does win substantial financial industry backing: Executives say they worry that raising money or donating to his campaign would give Trump the chance to brandish him as a Wall Street lackey.
“We know everyone hates us and that nobody running for president wants to be seen as the ‘Wall Street candidate,’” the first executive said. “So you’ll probably see a lot of people just sitting this one out.”
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#weak #option #Wall #Street #sours #DeSantis #Trump #challenger
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

May 8, 2023
Another blast at Heritage Street near Amritsar’s Golden Temple

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Amritsar: One person was injured in a blast on Monday morning at Heritage Street near the Golden Temple in Punjab’s Amritsar, the very site where an explosion took place on May 6, police said today.
The cause of the explosion, however, is yet to be ascertained and police said they are “verifying” the cause of the incident.
“We are verifying. The situation is normal here. Anti-sabotage, Bomb Squad, and FSL teams are here,” Amritsar Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Mehtab Singh told ANI.

He further said that one person has received a minor injury in the leg and the glass facades of some nearby buildings were damaged in the blast.
“After the clarification, we can tell how it happened. The investigation is going on by our teams,” he added.
A sweeper who was present on the spot during the incident said, “I am a sweeper here and was doing my duty when I heard a big blast sound and saw heavy smoke,” he said.
On May 6, Saturday night around 11:15 pm there was an explosion at the same Heritage Street near the Golden Temple, police said in which one person was injured.
Amritsar ADCP Mehtab Singh said that both Saturday’s blast and the one today was of a low intensity. (

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#blast #Heritage #Street #Amritsars #Golden #Temple
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

May 8, 2023
Maha: Aaditya seeks answers from BMC on street furniture ‘scam’ of Rs 263 crore

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Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MLA Aaditya Thackeray has written a letter to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner and administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal, seeking answers from him over the Rs 263 crore worth “possible scam” in buying street furniture.
In his letter written on April 26, which Thackeray tweeted on Sunday, he sought access to the report of the three-member fact-finding committee formed after the allegations were made and also to the reports of quality tests of all the bidders conducted by the Veer Jijamata Technological University.
He also alleged that the “entire process seems to be rigged in favour of a particular contractor friend of the BMC”.

“In the past few months, many irregularities in processes and financial transactions have come to light from the BMC…I would like to seek further clarity on the street furniture mess that the BMC has created in my city, more so the hard-earned money of my city, to benefit one contractor friend of the BMC and those in government,” the Worli MLA said targeting the Eknath Shinde-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) dispensation.
“…One contractor has bagged the Rs 263 crore tender for street furniture. Many questions asked by me as a Mumbaikar have remained unanswered by the BMC,” he said.
Last month, Thackeray alleged a Rs 263 crore worth of “scam” in the Mumbai civic body’s plan to buy street furniture, including benches.
The civic body is set to buy thousands of street benches (almost 40,000) and planters (containers in which plants are grown) as part of the project, said Thackeray and asked where will the BMC install all these items.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader said these products should be purchased on need basis by civic wards and not centrally through one tender.

“I have written about another possible scam in the making to the @mybmc administrator, seeking clarity on it. His conspicuous silence and inability to answer any of these questions posed by a Mumbaikar only increases the confirmation that this too, like roads, is a scam,” Thackeray said in his tweet posted on Sunday.
“A similar letter was written by a ruling party MLA also, but I believe he hasn’t got any response to it. Wonder why the state BJP supports the corrupt mindhe regime,” he added.
The Shiv Sena (UBT) refers the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena as “Mindhe group” to mock it.
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#Maha #Aaditya #seeks #answers #BMC #street #furniture #scam #crore
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 30, 2023
FDIC, Wall Street scramble to pull together sale of First Republic Bank

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Formal bids for First Republic — which has seen heavy deposit outflows and suffered massive share price declines in recent weeks — are due to the FDIC by the middle of the day on Sunday, according to the people, who requested anonymity to provide details of the discussions.
Federal regulators are hoping to put an end to turmoil in the banking industry following the stunning collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month. First Republic’s problems largely stemmed from the panic that engulfed those two banks amid a run on deposits.
First Republic, until this year one of the more envied banking franchises in America with over $200 billion in assets at the end of the first quarter, would be the third-largest bank failure in U.S. history after SVB and Washington Mutual. First Republic issued a grim earnings report last week that showed just how fast deposits were racing away, replaced by more expensive loans, an unsustainable formula that helped spark the latest stock price collapse.
While JPMorgan and PNC Financial expressed interest in a First Republic deal on Thursday, the bidding process was formally opened up on Friday, which could clear the way for another large bank to also make the winning offer, one person familiar with the process said.
It also remains possible that the FDIC could decide that the bids they receive are insufficient and no deal could emerge. That would mean First Republic opening for business again on Monday and trying to survive at least until regulators agree to a subsequent bid.
First Republic, a California-based institution with a strong track record and highly desirable customer base, has been foundering and bleeding deposits since the failure of SVB and Signature. Like those two, First Republic has a large number of customers with deposits that exceed the FDIC-guaranteed limit of $250,000 in their accounts.
When the government rescued SVB and Signature, regulators hoped that their decision to backstop all deposits at both banks would send a message to depositors that they shouldn’t worry about the money in their bank accounts.
That worked to a degree but it did not stop rapid deposit outflows from First Republic or end a share price rout that saw the bank’s stock slide another 40 percent on Friday to close at just $3.51, a nearly 98 percent drop from this time last year. The consensus among investors is that First Republic will continue to founder if not rescued by a combined public and private sector deal by the time markets open on Monday.

A group of big banks including JPMorgan and PNC tried to shore up First Republic last month by injecting $30 billion in deposits. It did not work.
JPMorgan, PNC and the FDIC all declined to comment on the talks.
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#FDIC #Wall #Street #scramble #pull #sale #Republic #Bank
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 30, 2023
Sudan street battles threaten fragile ceasefire as Turkish plane shot

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Street battles and gunfire threaten what remains of a fragile ceasefire in Sudan, now hanging by a thread despite a three-day extension of the truce agreement as a Turkish evacuation plane was shot at as it attempted to land.
The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), loyal to Gen Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, claimed the paramilitary group the Rapid Support Forces had shot at the plane as it landed at the Wadi Seidna airbase, 12.5 miles (20km) north of Khartoum on the western bank of the Nile. The SAF said the attack had wounded a crew member and damaged the plane’s fuel supply.
The RSF denied its forces had attacked the Turkish military plane and instead blamed the SAF, claiming it wanted to “sabotage our relations” with allies. “It is not true that we targeted any aircraft in the sky of Wadi Seidna in Omdurman, which is an area not under the control of our forces, and we do not have any forces in its proximity,” it said.
Why violence has broken out in Sudan – video explainer
Amid questions about whether three more Turkish flights scheduled to evacuate citizens from Sudan would be able to land, or whether the fourth plane would leave the airfield, Turkey’s defence ministry confirmed the incident without attributing blame.
“Light weapons fired on our C-130 evacuation plane,” it said, adding that the plane had landed safely. “Although there are no injuries to our personnel, necessary checks will be carried out on the aircraft.”
The British ambassador to Sudan and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) had instructed British nationals wishing to leave the country to travel to the evacuation centre at Wadi Seidna airbase as soon as possible, amid growing criticism that the FCDO was doing little to help doctors and others with British residency stranded in Sudan or neighbouring countries with their families.
Plumes of smoke rise in Bahri during clashes. Photograph: Video obtained by Reuters
Fighting between the two warring generals who head the SAF and RSF has overtaken the capital, Khartoum, and much of its sister city, Omdurman, amid increasing reports of violence in West Darfur province next to the border with Chad and fears that the street battles and looting that have plagued Khartoum could take hold across Sudan.
Clouds of thick smoke rose above two areas of Bahri, northern Khartoum, on Friday as locals reported hearing sounds of gunfire. The Sudanese army, the SAF, has used airstrikes with jets or drones to strike RSF forces that have fanned out through residential neighbourhoods in Sudan’s sprawling capital. Civilians have been left to shelter in their homes, often without easy access to food, water, fuel or electricity.

“The situation this morning is very scary. We hear the sounds of planes and explosions. We don’t know when this hell will end,” Mahasin al-Awad, a Bahri resident, told Reuters. “We’re in a constant state of fear for ourselves and our children.”
Fierce battles and airstrikes have caused mass displacement, with thousands of Sudanese and foreign nationals fleeing the capital for Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast or to the borders with neighbouring countries.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) said an estimated 20,000 people, primarily Chadian and Sudanese nationals, had crossed Sudan’s border into Chad since fighting began almost two weeks ago. The UN refugee agency estimated that up to 100,000 people may seek refuge in Chad in the coming weeks from Sudan, as well as a further 170,000 people fleeing to South Sudan.
The non-governmental organisation Care says most of those arriving in the Sudan-Chad border region are women and children. More than 42,000 people are sheltering in the open or in huts carrying just a few essential belongings or in some cases nothing at all due to the stress of their flight from their homes.
‘We’re just lucky’: Sudan evacuees reach safety – video
Aid groups in Chad also highlighted concerns that the influx of refugees had come as they were trying to prepare for the lean season between harvests, increasing food insecurity for millions, as well as heavy rains that could block vital food aid to thousands of stranded refugees.
“It’s a perfect storm,” said Pierre Honnorat, who leads the World Food Programme in Chad. “The lean season coming in June. And the rainy season that will cut off all those regions.”
Sudan was already hosting an estimated 1.3 million migrants, including some who had fled violence in surrounding regions, particularly Ethiopia’s northern state of Tigray. Many now risk further displacement or being unable to escape violence owing to fears of political persecution in other surrounding countries.
According to the IOM, at least 1,000 people have crossed into Ethiopia each day this week, and more are expected to arrive. Most are Turkish and Ethiopian nationals, as well as groups of Sudanese and Somali citizens. Almost 15% of arrivals in Ethiopia are minors, it says.
Sudanese refugees queue to receive supplements from the World Food Programme in the border town of Adre, Chad. Photograph: Mahamat Ramadane/Reuters
This increased pressure on surrounding countries has prompted regional leaders to bolster efforts to press on the warring generals to restore what remains of the fraying ceasefire.
The Ethiopian prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, said he had held phone discussions with Burhan of the SAF and Gen Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, known as Hemedti, of the RSF, to discuss “the need to settle differences amicably and bring stability to Sudan”, adding: “The great people of Sudan deserve peace.”
Countries from the African Union and the UN, as well as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the UK and the US, welcomed the ceasefire extension and called for “its full implementation”. The groups hailed both parties’ readiness “to engage in dialogue towards establishing a more durable cessation of hostilities and ensuring unimpeded humanitarian access”.
The generals’ willingness to cease fighting and prepare for dialogue did not appear evident on the ground, where battles have left at least 460 people dead. Shortly before the ceasefire renewal, the World Health Organization condemned what it said were increasing attacks on healthcare personnel, hospitals and ambulances across Sudan. The attacks had left at least three dead and two injured, it added.
The WHO said 16 hospitals, including nine in Khartoum, were “reportedly non-functional due to attacks”. A further 16 hospitals in Khartoum and Darfur states were close to being non-functional due to staff fatigue and lack of supplies, it added.

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#Sudan #street #battles #threaten #fragile #ceasefire #Turkish #plane #shot
( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

April 28, 2023
Baby showers, icicle music and sauna time: How embassy parties have become the new K Street

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The UAE has myriad interests before the U.S. government, including weapons acquisition, and more than a dozen firms actively registered with DOJ to represent government clients.
Otaiba said his favorite event to host is an interfaith Iftar dinner during Ramadan with Christians, Jews, Sikhs, Buddhists and others. Former Trump Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, former Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Special Olympics Chair Timothy Shriver have all attended the event, which started before the pandemic.
The dinner in late March drew a lineup of prominent Jewish movers and shakers: Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), Biden antisemitism envoy Deborah Lipstadt, Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog and Republican wordsmith Frank Luntz. The menu included salmon, saffron chicken, eggplant and beef kibbeh labanieh, and guests received a box of dates from the UAE as a party favor.
“Everybody leaves feeling good after that,” Otaiba said. “It’s about tolerance, it’s about inclusion, all of the values that we represent and stand for in the Emirates.”
Iftar dinners, however, are relatively mundane compared to many embassy shindigs. The French ambassador’s residence in recent years has held an Améthyste event, an homage to the purple stone. Washington bigwigs who attended last year included Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), senior White House officials Shalanda Young and Mitch Landrieu and Trade Representative Katherine Tai.
The purpose is to bring together Democrats and Republicans, said a French official in Washington who was granted anonymity to discuss the thinking behind the event. But it also hasn’t hidden its connections to K Street influences. Heather Podesta, a mega-lobbyist who that quarter lobbied for companies including Toyota and SpaceX, co-hosted Améthyste in December.
“Any time you put Republicans, Democrats, the media, corporations, nonprofits, entertainment industry, and diplomatic corps in the same room, good things are going to happen,” Podesta said in a statement. “In a town that too often is bifurcated by party, we all need opportunities to know each other better.”
The event’s corporate sponsors included the South Korean conglomerate SK Group and the French investment firm Ardian, which is looking to invest in the U.S., said Steve Clemons, another co-host of the event whose day job is writing a newsletter for the media startup Semafor. Clemons, a familiar face to those operating at the nexus of journalism and the embassy party circuit, became a Chevalier in France’s Legion of Honor in 2021.

In a statement, Ardian did not comment on its involvement in the party. The party also featured Chevron-branded coasters for the energy company, another sponsor. SK Group did not provide a comment. Chevron spokesperson Bill Turenne said in a statement: “Like other brands and news organizations, Chevron is proud to support events in Washington, like Amethyste, that bring Republicans and Democrats together to benefit important charity partners.”

Chevron sponsored the Améthyste event at the French ambassador’s residence last December, which brought together a number of Washington bigwigs from both parties and featured Chevron-branded coasters.
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Daniel Lippman/POLITICO
Though denizens of the embassy party circuit say corporate sponsorships date back a number of years, they have at least become more noticeable of late. As part of the festivities around the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner, the Swiss commodity company Mercuria is sponsoring Time Magazine’s after-party Saturday night at the Swiss ambassador’s residence.
A representative for Mercuria said in an email: “Mercuria is a Swiss company, so the company often sponsors events at the Swiss embassy. We also sponsor the Soiree Suisse at the Swiss Embassy with other Swiss companies each year.” Spokespeople for the Swiss embassy and Time either declined to comment or did not respond.
One Republican lobbyist said that a company with business with a foreign government or in a foreign country might sponsor an event as a means to build relationships. A defense contractor, for instance, might use the venue to schmooze with a diplomat from a country to whom it hopes to sell military equipment, the lobbyist said.
Alternatively, part of a government’s mission in the U.S. is often wooing companies to show that the country is “open for business” and encourage investment, the person noted.
Asked why more companies are sponsoring events at embassies, Gérard Araud, who was France’s ambassador to Washington from 2014 to 2019, said: “I think it’s money. I think it’s really the foreign ministries are all fighting under budget constraints.” He said that when he was ambassador, he had to get approval from the foreign affairs ministry in Paris for any proposed sponsorship of an embassy event.
POLITICO has partnered with embassies in the past, including hosting an event earlier this month at the home of the European Union ambassador. Thursday’s event took place at the home of Ambassador Karen Pierce.
“POLITICO proudly convenes high-level gatherings of influential people which is why we are so excited to partner with the British Embassy in April to showcase our reporting teams from both here and London for a fantastic audience,” said Brad Dayspring, executive vice president of global communications and brand at POLITICO. “More conversations are needed in Washington, not less, which is why our reporters and editors regularly attend events like these and why we prioritize hosting and connecting people at them.”
One of the quirkiest draws on the embassy party circuit is the Finnish Embassy’s long-running sauna series, which brings together journalists and Hill staffers for a long night of sauna time, conversation and Scandinavian food. The ambassador has his own sauna that he uses to have one-on-ones with top government officials and journalists.
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#Baby #showers #icicle #music #sauna #time #embassy #parties #Street
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 28, 2023
Wall Street gives administration earful over antitrust enforcement

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“It’s been a sea change in the regulatory environment over the past two and a half years since the Biden Administration took office,” Roger Altman, the senior chair of investment bank Evercore, and a former Deputy Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton, said last month on CNBC. Antitrust officials have already stymied “a series of business combinations which would have gone ahead in a different environment.”
In the last two years, a string of high profile transactions have been abandoned after being challenged by the government. Those include Aon and Willis Towers Watson calling off their merger in 2021 after a DOJ lawsuit, as well as the abandonments of Lockheed Martin’s takeover of Aerojet Rocketdyne and Nvidia’s purchase of microchip designer Arm following FTC lawsuits.
And some companies are sometimes willing to sell at a lower price if they believe a higher offer will raise a deal’s profile and generate greater regulatory risk, according to one banker focused on the technology sector, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly.
Low interest rates and a flood of fiscal stimulus pumped mergers and acquisition activity and deal sizes to record heights in 2021. But the bonanza faded as inflation set in, prompting the Federal Reserve to quickly raise rates in an attempt to squash surging prices. Cheap financing, a critical lubricant to deal pipelines for large corporations and private equity shops, dried up as Khan and Kanter began cracking down.
So, while economic conditions played a significant role in the slowdown in M&A, the approach taken by Biden’s appointees created additional hurdles for companies that would otherwise expand through acquisitions, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Executive Vice President and Chief Policy Officer Neil Bradley said in an interview. Publicly traded companies are increasingly identifying the FTC, which also enforces consumer protection standards, as a public policy risk, according to the Chamber’s research.
There is “much greater uncertainty that [companies are] receiving from M&A attorneys about how long it will take — and the likelihood for — getting FTC sign off,” he said. Some chamber members have informed him that they’ve “walked away from deals because the uncertainty was too great.”
So far, the drop-off has had more of an effect on the whales than the minnows. A pause in so-called megadeals — which refers to transactions valued north of $10 billion — was the primary reason annual deal volume declined by more than a third last year, according to research compiled by Bain & Company.
“There’s still some purchases going on,” the senior Biden economic official said, adding that the FTC and DOJ are ensuring “that M&A activity is actually promoting what is fundamentally an economy that’s built on the idea of permitting competition and driving economic value.”

Nevertheless, the overall declines have been felt by major investment banks that count on underwriting and advisory fees. Goldman Sachs last week reported that its investment banking revenues had fallen by more than a quarter due to the global M&A slowdown. Morgan Stanley also reported declining profits as dealmaking slowed.
Kanter and Khan have embraced the mission set out by Biden in his 2021 competition policy executive order to hit pause on merger activity in a heavily consolidated economy.
Publicly, they have struggled in that effort, losing most of the legal challenges to deals, including lawsuits to block United Health Care’s $13 billion deal for health care technology firm Change, and Meta’s $440 million purchase of virtual reality developer Within Unlimited.
Kanter has said multiple times though that he measures success not just by whether his prosecutors win in court, but in the deals that either get abandoned during the investigative process are never signed at all. “The deterrent effect is powerful and the results are tangible. Simply put — most anticompetitive deals are no longer getting out of the boardroom,” Kanter said at an event last month.
The administration will be tested over the next year, as a number of high-profile merger challenges play out in court. Those include the FTC’s case to block Microsoft’s $69 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard and the DOJ’s case to block the merger between JetBlue and Spirit Airlines.
“Frankly, before the last two years, I never heard concerns about the idea that people were actually factoring in antitrust as they thought about doing some of these deals,” the official said.
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#Wall #Street #administration #earful #antitrust #enforcement
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 28, 2023
For Wall Street, there’s no Morning in America for Biden’s economy

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And fresh risks loom for Biden’s reelection campaign economy, including a potentially market-shaking fight over raising the debt limit and the risk of a banking industry meltdown that’s causing lenders to tighten up on credit.
“The U.S. economy is unwell, and it’s starting to show,” Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon, tweeted Thursday morning.
The government’s latest GDP report Thursday underlined those concerns. The Commerce Department reported the economy expanded by just 1.1 percent in the first three months of the year, well below expectations of 2 percent growth and down from 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of last year.
Biden’s bullish comments echoed President Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America” reelection theme from 1984. Yet unlike then, the economy is clearly slowing now, presenting Biden with a potential hurdle to his securing a second term.
Still, the GDP report included some bright spots, including continued strong consumer spending, which drives about two-thirds of economic growth. And the economy has remained remarkably resilient, adding over 300,000 jobs per month in the first quarter, something Biden noted in comments on the growth figures on Thursday.
“Today, we learned that the American economy remains strong, as it transitions to steady and stable growth,” the president said in a prepared statement. “This past quarter, real personal disposable income increased and American consumers continued to spend, even as the overall pace of growth moderated.”
Yet most Wall Street banks and many economists — even left-leaning allies of Biden — predict a downshift once the impact of all the Fed rate hikes works through the system along with the fallout from tighter credit standards.
“We continue to expect economic growth to slow, and we are preparing for a range of scenarios,” Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said on the bank’s recent first-quarter earnings call.

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said on a call last week: “We see and our experts see a mild recession coming.”
Similar comments are peppering earnings calls across the finance industry. Few executives are predicting a major decline in the economy, but many believe the long run of modest or better growth will finally come to a close with the jobless rate starting to rise again from record lows.
And even some Biden allies like former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers are warning that the economy will have to decline significantly to finally break the back of inflation.
“I think we’re going to have difficulty getting near a 2 percent inflation target until and unless the economy slows down substantially,” Summers said at an investment conference this week.
The latest reading on the economy was driven by a declining housing industry slammed by higher interest rates. Consumer spending remained resilient but is also likely to come under more pressure as Covid-era savings run out and inflation continues to pinch wallets. And the report showed inflation rising, not falling as the Fed expects, meaning another rate hike is likely when central bank policymakers meet next week.
“This morning’s data was the worst of both worlds, with growth down and inflation up,” Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance, said in a client note.
And even Biden, in his reelection announcement, acknowledged that while he envisions greater prosperity ahead, he is aware of the risks, including prices that remain too high.
“We’ve got a lot more work to do, though,” he told union workers. “I know folks are struggling with inflation,” he said, but added that “it’s a global problem.”
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#Wall #Street #Morning #America #Bidens #economy
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 27, 2023
Wall Street starts to fear a debt limit crisis

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How Wall Street investors react to a possible default is crucial because they’re the ones who finance the country’s enormous debt by buying the securities that Treasury sells to fund the government. If they shy away from the market, interest rates could skyrocket, squeezing the government, businesses and consumers.
That’s why their level of confidence can serve as the strongest force to drive Washington partisans to make a deal.
For most of this year, many on Wall Street assumed that lessons learned from the 2011 crisis — including voters furious over declines in their retirement accounts as stocks plunged — would prevent such an event from happening again. That faith is starting to fade.
“Debt ceiling negotiations are essentially nowhere,” Brian Gardner, chief Washington policy strategist at investment bank Stifel, wrote in a note to clients. Gardner added that while a last-minute deal could certainly emerge, “the GOP’s narrow majority and the Speaker’s tenuous political position make the pathway to an agreement more uncertain than usual.”
To be clear, it’s nowhere near all-out panic. The government has until the summer to strike a deal, when the Treasury Department is likely to run out of room to keep paying the nation’s bills and servicing its existing debt.
But signs of stress are piling up, especially after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy came to the New York Stock Exchange on April 17 to make the GOP case that any hike in the borrowing limit must come with significant spending cuts. That’s something the White House and congressional Democrats say they won’t consider.
The shift from general nonchalance to rising concern can be seen in an obscure corner of the markets: the soaring cost of insuring against exposure to U.S. debt through instruments called credit default swaps, which mitigate risk for large holders of Treasury securities.
The cost of insuring against a U.S. default rose to its highest level in over a decade on Thursday as JPMorgan analysts said there was a “non-trivial risk” of at least a technical default on the government’s debt in which the nation runs out of borrowing ability for even a short period before a deal is reached.

Darrell Cronk, chief investment officer of Wells Fargo’s wealth and investment management division, said his biggest worry is that the “X-Date” — the moment when emergency moves to forestall default are exhausted — gets pulled forward to early-to-mid June with 2022 tax receipts likely weak after a brutal year for markets.
Goldman Sachs researchers said they also expect a much shorter timeline due to a steep reduction in capital gains revenue. And McCarthy’s hardline position — as well as questions about whether he can unify House Republicans over any strategy at all — have amped up alarms. “People seem to be dug in a little bit more in the trenches,” Cronk said.
“People seem to be dug in a little bit more in the trenches.”
Darrell Cronk, chief investment officer, Wells Fargo wealth and investment management division
Some bank executives said they are growing more concerned about the state of play in Washington but remain unsure how to inject themselves into the debate. Speaking out would be unlikely to sway hard-line conservatives, they fear, given that such calls would probably be dismissed as special pleading by rich Wall Streeters.
So for now, they are mostly issuing anodyne statements arguing for the importance of not allowing the U.S. to default, in a bid to nudge the two sides toward a solution.
Following McCarthy’s address, congressional Republicans urged bankers to press Biden to engage with the GOP.
“Obviously, people [on Wall Street] are worried,” Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio said in an interview. “We’ll just say, ‘Look, it’s a two-party system. And Kevin McCarthy gets to make the first shot across the bow, but they need to put pressure on Joe Biden, to the extent they’re able to, to actually come to the negotiating table.’”
Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio said he’s telling bankers that “the only way that we’re going to not default later is if we start taking corrective action now.”
“Joe Biden’s plan is to not take corrective action now,” said Davidson, a member of the House Freedom Caucus. “That’s a nonstarter. We’re not going to move his ‘no action now’ bill,” he said, referring to Democrats’ hopes of passing a “clean” debt limit hike with no spending cuts.
Democrats expressed frustration that the financial world hasn’t exerted more pressure on Republicans.
“Wall Street and business need to start getting energized and put pressure on Republicans to do what we’ve done all these years, which is pay for the debt that we incurred and not hold the American people hostage,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who chairs the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) said he was confident Wall Street would eventually speak up. “But I think that it’s telling that McCarthy went to Wall Street to talk about all this because he’s Wall Street’s guy,” Brown added. “So we’ll see.”
Meanwhile, concerns over the impact that a nasty fight over the debt limit could have on the economy are showing up on bank earnings calls.
Goldman CEO David Solomon identified uncertainty over the debt limit as a potential source of volatility during the bank’s call on Tuesday. An hour earlier, responding to a question from POLITICO, Bank of America CFO Alastair Borthwick told reporters he didn’t have much to say on the status of non-existent negotiations between the White House and McCarthy.
“Obviously, we’re all hoping that gets resolved successfully,” he added.
Citi CEO Jane Fraser said her bank believes it’s “now more likely that the U.S. will enter into a shallow recession” later this year. “The biggest unknown,” she told analysts on the bank’s recent earnings call, is “how the debt ceiling plays out.”
BlackRock Vice Chair Philipp Hildebrand warned at the Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Europe Forum on Thursday that default would undermine “a basic anchor” of the world’s financial system and “must not happen.”
“All we can do is to pray that everyone in the United States understands how important the sanctity of the sovereign signature of the leading currency, of the leading bond market, of the leading economy in the world is,” Hildebrand said.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 24, 2023
Centre directs states to set up 100 food streets; To grant Rs 1 cr as aid per street

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New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry, in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, has written to the states and Union Territories to develop 100 food streets in 100 districts across the country.
The initiative is being taken up as a pilot project to create an example for other such streets to come up across the country to ensure safe and hygienic food practices.
The project aims to encourage safe and healthy practices among food businesses and community members, thus reducing foodborne illnesses and improving overall health outcomes, the Union Health Ministry said in a statement.

In a letter to the states, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary Manoj Joshi highlighted that “easy access to safe and hygienic food is vital for the good health of citizens”.
“Safe food practices not only promote the ‘eat right campaign’ and food safety but will improve hygiene credibility of local food businesses, boost local employment, tourism and, in turn, the economy. It also leads to a cleaner and greener environment,” the letters stated.
Street foods have traditionally been an integral part of Indian society and are present all across the country. They represent the rich local tradition of cuisine, the statement said.
These not only provide a daily diet at affordable prices to millions but also direct employment to a large number of people while supporting the tourism industry, it added.
However, it noted that safety and hygiene remain a matter of concern at street food outlets and hubs.

With rapid urbanisation, while these hubs have led to easy access to food, it has aggravated food contamination and associated health issues due to unhygienic and unsafe practices.
This initiative will be implemented through the National Health Mission in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will lend technical support, the statement said.
Financial assistance to the states and Union Territories in the form of Rs 1 crore per food street or district will be provided to fill the critical gaps, it added.
The assistance will be provided under the National Health Mission in the 60:40 or 90:10 ratio on the condition that standard branding of these food streets will be done following FSSAI guidelines.
Municipal corporations, development authorities and district collectors at the state level will take major initiatives to ensure convergence in terms of financial resources and physical infrastructure.
Various other initiatives such as training of food handlers and independent third-party audits have been taken to enhance safety standards.
Schemes such as Support to Urban Street Vendors, a component of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihoods Mission, have also been taken up.
In addition, the states and Union Territories can also conduct training programmes for street vendors to orient them on food safety, hygiene maintenance and waste disposal.
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( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 20, 2023