The Trump administration tax windfall has released billions of dollars into the economy. This windfall has caused more than a few major companies to announce that at least some of this tax money will be used to build much-needed infrastructure, increase employee wages and allow for employee bonuses. Overall it looks as if the economy… [Read More]
Search Results for: buybacks
So, What’s With CEO Pay???
Since the Business Roundtable announced its new purpose of business and de-emphasized the role of profits and long-term value to its shareholders, many articles have fostered the reasoning behind it, including my own. In fact, while their new purpose was praised by many, it also received criticism from others, including the Wall Street Journal. Most… [Read More]
Purpose or Profits? Can we have both?
Milton Friedman, the 1970’s Nobel economist stated that “… there is only one social responsibility of a business, to engage in activities designed to increase its profits.” And for over 47 years, the Business Roundtable (“Roundtable”), an association of CEOs of 193 companies with over $7 trillion in revenue and almost 15 million employees, followed… [Read More]
More Deregulation? The Caution Flags are Waving
According to Merrill Matthews; Senior Fellow at the Institute for Policy Innovation, “We do not think a U.S. recession is imminent, but the threat is very real; the caution flags are waving. Nor do we think recessions are inevitable. Rather, they are almost always the result of misguided policies — sometimes exacerbated by the Federal Reserve Bank,… [Read More]
WE’RE BACK! …The corporate debt bubble strikes again!
Inflated bond ratings were one cause of the financial crisis and it looks as if we haven’t learned from that experience. Here we are ten years later and we’re heading down that path once again. People are concerned right now about an imminent recession for just cause. So how did we circle back? This… [Read More]
Hold onto your wallets…
We could be in for a wild ride! As the 2020 elections approach, the stock buyback debates are heating up, and predictions say the Democrats may potentially gain control of both the Congress and the Senate. So how did a practice that was considered stock manipulation and was generally illegal prior to 1982 gain such… [Read More]
The Fed Has a Concern? Really?
And if they are concerned, shouldn’t we be worried as well? For some time, many experts, including William (Bill) D. Cohan, a former investment banker and author of several books, including the most recent, Why Wall Street Matters, have been warning us about the dangers of the corporate debt bubble. Lest we forget, the Federal… [Read More]
Stock Buyouts are Tilting the “Apple” Cart!
What do Apple, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Applied Materials, among many others, have in common … they have been splurging on repurchasing their own stock at a high dollar, and seeing the value of their stock purchases sharply decline. Apple spent about $62.9 billion on buybacks in the first nine months of 2018, with the market reducing that value… [Read More]
Tax Cuts: Will the Rich Get Richer?
So who will really benefit from the latest tax cuts and overseas repatriation? Will companies invest more in their employees and infrastructure so the middle class and society as a whole benefit or will the rich get richer and companies use the “tax gifts” to buy back more stock and engage in the financial engineering … [Read More]
It’s the Payouts, Stupid!
Well, that’s not quite what Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation‘s (FDIC) Vice Chair Thomas Hoenig said; however, there was no question about his position. A recent Reuter’s article, “Payouts, not capital requirements, are to blame for fewer bank loans: FDIC Chairman,” explains that Hoenig, in a recent letter, cautioned Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R… [Read More]