Feds+FatCats Meetings and Subsequent Unusual Events
As I recall I am not the only one to have noticed the meeting that took place just before some unusual events happened in April:
Obama Talks Economy With Top Bankers Blankfein, Dimon, Moynihan
2013-04-11 18:22:37.407 GMT
By Dawn Kopecki and Margaret Talev
April 11 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama discussed
ways to bolster business confidence and economic growth during a
White House meeting with heads of the world’s biggest banks,
including Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s Lloyd C. Blankfein and
JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Jamie Dimon.
The chief executive officers offered their ideas on
strengthening the recovery including promoting the rebound in
housing, enhancing education and training and clean energy
initiatives, according to a White House statement. The topics
also included reducing the budget deficit and reworking U.S.
immigration laws, the White House said.
Also among the bank CEOs were Bank of America Corp.’s Brian
T. Moynihan, Citigroup Inc.’s Michael Corbat, American
International Group Inc.’s Robert Benmosche and Wells Fargo &
Co.’s John Stumpf, according to a list provided by the
administration. The bankers are in Washington for the Financial
Services Forum’s quarterly meeting.
Jay Carney, the White House press secretary, declined to
give details about the conversation with the president. He said
the meeting was “part of our ongoing engagement with the
financial sector and with the business community.”
Obama is seeking to rebuild relationships with top business
leaders as he seeks to create more jobs. Ties with bankers have
been strained by new U.S. curbs on fees and trading, and Obama’s
Nov. 6 re-election helped drive the KBW Bank Index to its worst
drop in five months the following day. The gauge has since
rebounded and is up 11 percent this year.
Budget Plan
The closed-door meeting follows yesterday’s release of
Obama’s $3.8 trillion spending plan for fiscal 2014. The
blueprint, which the White House budget office says would
provide $1.8 trillion in additional deficit reduction over 10
years, includes collecting $580 billion more in taxes, mostly
from the wealthiest Americans.
He again is seeking adoption of the Buffett rule, named for
billionaire investor Warren Buffett, to impose a 30 percent
minimum tax on households with more than $1 million in annual
income. The plan also would restrict tax deductions for top
earners and cap tax-favored retirement accounts of some private-
equity executives and self-employed professionals at $3 million....
Right after this on April the 12th and the 15th we saw some events out of the ordinary: the precious metals smackdown and the Boston bombing.
Now I see that another meeting has just taken place:
Blankfein Said to Be Among CEOs Meeting With Lew on U.S. Economy
2013-05-03 17:35:46.251 GMT
By Ian Katz
May 3 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew
met today with about 40 corporate and finance executives
including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd
Blankfein, Loews Corp. CEO James Tisch and Lazard Ltd. CEO
Kenneth Jacobs to discuss the global economy, a person who
attended the meeting said.
The executives discussed the U.S. and European economies,
housing finance, tax reform and cybersecurity at the event in
New York, the person said, asking not to be identified because
the conversation was private. The meeting was hosted by the
Partnership for New York City and Time Warner Inc. Chairman
Jeffrey Bewkes.
President Barack Obama’s relationship with Wall Street has
been rocky at times, with the president referring to “fat cat
bankers” in 2009 and his campaign last year running ads
attacking Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s record as co-founder
and CEO of Bain Capital Partners LLC.
Lew met yesterday in New York with executives including
JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon, billionaire hedge-fund
manager John Paulson, Blackstone Group LP CEO Stephen Schwarzman
and CEO Leon Black of buyout firm Apollo Global Management LLC.
Paulson also attended today’s meeting.
Others who participated in the discussion today include H.
Rodgin Cohen, senior chairman of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP;
Charles Kaye, co-president of Warburg Pincus LLC; Phil Kent,
chairman of Turner Broadcasting System Inc.; and Jacques Brand,
CEO for North America at Deutsche Bank AG.
I expect all have heard by now of the unusual rumour of allegations that also came out today:
May 3 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co. was warned by
U.S. energy-market authorities that they may take action against
its employees as part of an inquiry into bidding practices, the
New York Times said, citing a document it reviewed.
Enforcement officials at the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission plan to recommend the agency hold traders and
commodities-unit chief Blythe Masters “individually liable,”
the newspaper reported, citing a 70-page document the agency
sent the New York-based bank in March. Investigators said
Masters falsely denied awareness of problems, the Times said....
One more anecdotal tidbit: two of my credit cards from different issuers just gave me brand new account numbers "to reduce the possibility of fraud occurring on my account."
The question is: what are they cooking up this time?
My current guess is some sort of financial disruption under cover of a "cyberattack against banks" paired with some other equally or greater attention-grabbing events.
Post your guesses below.
