FOX BUSINESS: Santander Executive Chairman: Not selling US business

During a wide-ranging exclusive interview with Maria Bartiromo, Banco Santander Executive Chairman Ana Botin said the financial services company isn't selling its U.S. subsidiary. (VIDEO)

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Yahoo! Finance: Boeing CEO: 'We are working with regulators on safety' (video)

Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg delivered remarks at Economic Club of New York on the airline industry and Boeing. Yahoo Finance's Adam Shapiro, Julie Hyman, Emily McCormick and Bethany McLean, Vanity Fair Contributing Editor and Making a Killing Host, discussed.

Aviation Today:  Boeing CEO Targets Fourth Quarter 737 MAX Return to Service 

While the ultimate decision on when the grounded fleet of 737 MAX aircraft can return to service relies on the approval of individual civil aviation regulators, during a speech at the Economic Club of New York Wednesday Oct. 2, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg said the company is expecting the grounding to be lifted in the fourth quarter of 2019.

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Bloomberg: Schwarzman Says WeWork Valuation Puzzling


Steve Schwarzman said he was puzzled by the high valuation of WeWork, comparing it to a similar company that Blackstone Group Inc. owned that was “worth a few billion dollars.”

Hearing about WeWork’s pre-initial public offering value, Schwarzman said: “I sort of went, what? How do you get this? It doesn’t seem right to me given what they’re doing,” adding that he hasn’t studied WeWork. He didn’t name the company Blackstone owned.

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CNBC: Regular Investors Are Cut out of a Major Financial Market and the SEC Chief Wants to Change That

The head of the SEC says more needs to be done to make it easier for companies to go public and that his office is taking a “fresh look” at allowing Main Street investors access to the private capital markets.

In a speech to the Economic Club of New York on Monday, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said the lack of more IPOs and the inability of most of the Main Street investing public to access private markets was a “growing concern.”

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Bloomberg Law: Corporate Debt Surge Being Watched by Regulators, SEC Chief Says

The head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said his agency and other regulators are keeping taps on emerging risks in the fast-growing corporate debt market, highlighting assets that could he susceptible to liquidity shocks.

Years of low-interest rates and pressure on banks to hold less corporate debt has pushed more of it into investment funds, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said in prepared remarks at the Economic Club of New York on Sept. 9. The trend isn’t surprising, he said, but the shift away from the regulated banking system has made it more difficult for government watchdogs to monitor...

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ThinkAdvisor: SEC's Clayton Still Troubled by Potential Manipulation of Bitcoin Prices

Don’t hold your breath for the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve a Bitcoin ETF, or any other cryptocurrency ETF, anytime soon. SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said as much at an appearance Monday before the Economic Club of New York.

In the brief Q&A session that followed a speech, Clayton said, “When you put it [Bitcoin] into a product and make it a security, then we have to worry about whether it trades appropriately or not and whether it can be held appropriately or not. … It troubles me that people look at the trading on these venues and think it has the same level of protection that you have in the equity market in the U.S., on Nasdaq and NYSE. Nothing could be further than the truth.”

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Yahoo! Finance: World Bank President David Malpass: U.S., China Continue to Grow as Europe Slows

(Video) World Bank President David Malpass weighs in on global slowdown concerns during his conversation at The Economic Club of New York. Yahoo Finance's Zack Guzman & Brian Cheung discuss.

LA Times: Bank of America Warns of Possible ‘Carnage’ Linked to Leveraged Loans

The U.S. economy is on solid footing except for one potential trouble spot, according to Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Brian Moynihan: leveraged loans — a business the bank has dominated for a decade. Problems aren’t yet emerging as the economic expansion continues and companies churn out profits, Moynihan said Tuesday at the Economic Club of New York. His own bank has repeatedly said it focuses on “responsible growth” and sticks to lending standards it has had for years. But leveraged finance threatens to become an issue in the broader market, he said.

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Axios: America's Top Leveraged Loan Banker is Worried About Corporate Debt

Brian Moynihan, America's top leveraged loans banker, is joining the concern chorus over high levels of corporate debt. Why it matters: Moynihan is CEO of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, regularly the country's top book-runner and lead arranger for leveraged loans, with 2018 market share of 10.8% and 9.8%, respectively. In fact, it's led those categories since Moynihan took the reigns in 2010. Yesterday he told the Economic Club of New York that increases in leveraged lending, particularly at riskier terms, threatens to undermine the broader markets

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Bloomberg: BofA, Longtime Leader in Leveraged Loans, Warns of `Carnage'

The U.S. economy is on solid footing except for one potential trouble spot, according to Bank of America Corp.’sChief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan: leveraged loans -- a business the bank has dominated for a decade. Problems aren’t yet emerging as the economic expansion continues and companies churn out profits, Moynihan said Tuesday at the Economic Club of New York. His own bank has repeatedly said it focuses on “responsible growth” and sticks to lending standards it’s had for years. Yet, leveraged finance threatens to become an issue in the broader market, he said.

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MarketWatch: Why a Cautious Stanley Druckenmiller Piled into Treasurys and Chinese Tech

Onto our call of the day from billionaire investor Stanley Druckenmiller, who is also pretty convinced the Fed is going to cut rates, maybe even to zero. The famed manager says he has been buying Treasury bonds, and seems to be preaching caution to equity investors amid trade-war threats. “When the Trump tweet went out, I went from 93% invested to net flat and bought a bunch of Treasurys,” Druckenmiller told Scott Bessent, founder and chief investment officer of Key Square Capital Management at the Economic Club of New York. 
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Business Insider: Legendary Investor Stanley Druckenmiller Made a Blockbuster Trade by Dumping his Stocks and Going All In on Treasurys...

Stanley Druckenmiller says he put the brakes on his stock-market exposure following President Donald Trump's May 5 tweet raising the stakes in the trade war with China. In a Monday interview, conducted by Scott Bessent of Key Square Capital Management at The Economic Club of New York, the billionaire investor said he reduced his equity exposure to zero and went all in on US Treasurys following Trump's threat to raise tariffs on Chinese goods.

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CNBC: Stanley Druckenmiller Sold Everything and Bought Treasurys After Trump’s Tweet Threatening China

Stanley Druckenmiller, a billionaire hedge fund manager with a long track record of beating the market, said Monday that he sold nearly all of his investments and piled into Treasurys after President Donald Trump’s May tweet that escalated the U.S.-China trade dispute... Druckenmiller, who was interviewed by Key Square Capital Management founder Scott Bessent at The Economic Club of New York, said he’s concerned that Trump’s aggressive trade policies may have damaged the U.S. economy and believes that the president will be beat by Democratic opponents in 2020.

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The Wall Street Journal: Fed Would Consider Interest-Rate Cuts if Growth Outlook Darkens

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said the U.S. economy is in good shape but that central bank officials would consider interest-rate cuts should economic data reveal a material risk of a sharper slowdown than they currently expect.

“Let me be very clear that we’re attuned to potential risks to the outlook,” Mr. Clarida said Thursday during a moderated discussion at the Economic Club of New York.

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CNBC: Fed’s Clarida Says No Need for Rate Cuts Unless Economy Weakens

“If the incoming data were to show a persistent shortfall in inflation below our 2 percent objective or were it to indicate that global economic and financial developments present a material downside risk to our baseline outlook, then these are developments that the [Federal Open Market Committee] would take into account in assessing the appropriate stance for monetary policy,” Clarida said during a speech at the Economic Club of New York.

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Bloomberg: Clarida Opens Door to Fed Rate Cut If the Economic Outlook Dims

The Federal Reserve is prepared to ease monetary policy if it sees mounting risk to the U.S. expansion, Vice Chairman Richard Clarida said while stressing the economy is in a "very good place" with unemployment low and inflation muted.

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Wall Street Journal: Fed’s Rosengren Sees No Reason to Change Rate Policy Right Now

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston chief Eric Rosengren said Tuesday he sees no “clarion call” to change central bank interest rate policy right now, in comments that indicated sustained trade tariffs could accelerate a return to the Fed’s 2% inflation target. “I view current policy as slightly accommodative and likely to be consistent with inflation returning to the Fed’s 2% inflation target over time,” Mr. Rosengren said in a speech at the Economic Club of New York. 

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Reuters: Fed's Rosengren Sees 'No Clarion Call' to Shift U.S. Interest Rates

Cool inflation and a hot jobs market are putting the Federal Reserve’s policy goals at odds, but there is “no clarion call” to push interest rates either way as trade risks lurk, a top policymaker said on Tuesday. “Today, the two elements of the Fed’s mandate are sending opposing signals for monetary policy, with low unemployment perhaps suggesting a bit tighter policy, and low inflation the opposite,” Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren said in remarks prepared for delivery to the Economic Club of New York.

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MarketWatch: Boston Fed's Rosengren Sees ‘No Clarion Call’ for Interest-Rate Hike Soon

The head of the Boston Federal Reserve said he sees “no clarion call” to raise interest rates any time soon, suggesting the central bank’s hands-off approach could help counter the risk of dangerously low inflation. Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Fed, said mixed economic signals and a festering trade dispute with China means “the Fed can afford to wait and see” before it takes any action. Earlier this year the Fed tabled previous plans to raise interest rates again in 2019.

Rosengren is not a voting member of the Fed board that sets a key U.S. interest rate, but his remarks in a speech on Tuesday to the Economic Club of New York echo recent comments by other senior Fed officials.

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Bloomberg: Mastercard CEO Says It’s Not the Company’s Place to Limit Gun Sales

Mastercard Inc. Chief Executive Officer Ajay Banga said it’s not his company’s place to put limits on firearm sales. In fact, it doesn’t even have the information it needs to stop such purchases.

“I actually don’t know whether you’re buying a gun or a diaper in a store,” Banga said at an Economic Club of New York event on Tuesday, adding that Mastercard doesn’t receive information on individual items purchased at a retailer. It would be difficult for Mastercard “to turn off the acceptance of payments at a Walmart that sells bullets and diapers. I don’t know how to do it -- I actually don’t know how to do it.”

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The Economic Club of New York Hosts 500th Signature Event
Welcomes New Board Member John Williams

The Economic Club of New York (ECNY) will celebrate its 500th signature event on Wednesday, March 6, 2019. The guest of honor will be John Williams, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, speaking on “The Economic Outlook: The ‘New Normal’ Is Now.” In the 112 years since its 1907 inception, ECNY has hosted hundreds of luminaries, from business executives to world leaders to sitting U.S. Presidents to top academics, for important discussions on the day’s most pressing topics. Williams will join an impressive list of speakers, which includes many of his current and former Federal Reserve colleagues. 

“We are proud of our Club’s history in providing a platform for civil debate and discussion around the economic and political issues that directly affect the domestic and global economies,” said Marie-Josée Kravis, ECNY Chair and Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute. “We aim to continue in that tradition for at least another 100 years, highlighting different perspectives on the challenges and opportunities we face in this age of globalization and rapid technological advancement.” 

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CNBC: Jamie Dimon Says a Hard Brexit Would be a ‘Disaster’ for the UK

J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Wednesday that it would be in the United Kingdom’s best interest to avoid a hard exit from the European Union. “I think a hard Brexit will be a disaster for Great Britain,” Dimon said at the Economic Club of New York. “We don’t think it will happen because it’s bad for Europe too.” A hard Brexit refers to the U.K. leaving the EU without access to the bloc’s single market and customs union.

Financial Times: Shutdown Could Drive US Growth to Zero, Warns JPMorgan Chief

The record-long US government shutdown could drive economic growth down to zero in the current quarter, JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive said on Tuesday, as big companies amplify their warnings over the mounting damage from the stand-off. US companies are becoming increasingly worried about the entrenched funding dispute at the heart of Washington as the tussle over Donald Trump’s proposed border wall keeps a quarter of the federal government closed.

MarketWatch: Dimon says U.S. Relationship with China will be its Most Important Over Next 100 Years

Wall Street’s longest-serving bank CEO on Wednesday said he thinks the consumer and the economy are in good shape and that the U.S.’s relationship with China remains a vital one.

Speaking at the Economic Club of New York at midday, Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, +0.03% said the relationship with China is “going to be the most important” over the course of “the next 100 years.”

Wall Street Journal: Fed Chairman’s Remarks Spark Market Rally

The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 600 points Wednesday, erasing its November tumble, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell eased investor worries about an aggressive increase in interest rates.

In remarks Wednesday before the Economic Club of New York, Mr. Powell said interest rates are “just below” broad estimates of a neutral level—a setting designed to neither speed nor slow economic growth.


Bloomberg: Powell Says Fed Doesn't Have Preset Policy Path, Impact of Hikes Uncertain

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell comments on the path of monetary policy during a speech at the Economic Club of New York. (video)


Reuters: Fed's Powell, in apparent dovish shift, says rates near neutral

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell injected investors with a strong dose of optimism on Wednesday, saying that the central bank’s policy rate is now “just below” estimates of a level that neither brakes nor boosts a healthy U.S. economy, comments that many investors read as signaling the Fed’s three-year tightening cycle is drawing to a close.

“We know that things often turn out to be quite different from even the most careful forecasts,” Powell said at an Economic Club of New York luncheon on Wednesday. “Our gradual pace of raising interest rates has been an exercise in balancing risks.”


The New York Times: Deal Book Briefing: The Fed’s  Chair Sent the Markets Soaring

The Fed chairman brought smiles to trading floors yesterday with a speech at the Economic Club of New York.
 
He needed only two words. Mr. Powell said that the Fed’s benchmark interest rate was “just below” the neutral level. Investors took that to mean that the central bank would stop raising rates soon.

That sparked a market rally. Stocks soared 2.3 percent, erasing the losses from a rocky November. (Investors may have also noticed that the bond market has signaled that the case for interest rate rises is weakening.)
 

New York Times: Adam Silver Can See That You Are Angry, and He Is Here for It

If you decide to assemble your N.B.A. hate-tweets into a real-life email to Commissioner Adam Silver, do not be surprised if he writes you back.

Speaking to a gathering of the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday, Silver said that he tries to engage directly with fans angry about his decisions. “Whether people said it online or wrote me letters directly saying ‘I will never be a fan of your game again because you have made that decision,’ my reaction was to try and engage with them,” Silver said.

“People are often surprised to hear back from me. I think the mistake would be in this day and age to say, ‘I know I am right.’ ”

Business Insider: Commissioner Adam Silver is 'very confident' the NBA will hire the first female head coach in major men's professional sports

Silver spoke to MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle at the Economic Club of New York on Tuesday about his expectation that the NBA will have a woman head coach soon. According to Kevin Draper of the New York Times, Silver hopes that the NBA will become the first major professional men's sports league in the United States to employ a female head coach.

"We are very focused on a woman being a head coach in our league," Silver said, per the New York Times. "I am very confident it is going to happen at some point."
 

CNN: Does the oil meltdown signal economic trouble ahead?

Crude oil's sudden meltdown could be nothing to worry about. Or it could be a sign that the world economy is sick.The abrupt bear market in oil prices may have been sparked by a sharp drop-off in demand for energy, which powers the economy. 

Investors were similarly spooked by oil's last major selloff, in late 2015 and early 2016. That dive to $26 a barrel led some to fear an imminent recession. That proved to be a false alarm.

"There are shades of this that remind me of the latter part of 2015," Citigroup CEO Michael Corbat said on Wednesday."The question today is: Is oil again pretending to be that canary in the coal mine around slower global growth?" Corbat said while speaking at the Economic Club of New York. "Because if you look at supply-demand figures, nothing at all has materially changed in the last week or two."


American Banker: 'There is likely to be some pain': Citi’s Corbat on nonbank lending

Speaking at an event in New York, Corbat said that U.S. companies are mostly in good financial shape, thanks in large part to the corporate tax cuts, which left them flush with cash and in a better position to pay off debt. Still, hedge funds and other nonbank firms have recently increased lending to risky companies — and they could be hurt by problem loans if the economy takes a turn for the worse.
 

American Banker: Plastic cards will be gone in five years: Synchrony CEO

The days of swiping plastic are rapidly coming to an end. That’s according to Margaret Keane, president and CEO of Synchrony Financial, the industry's largest issuer of store cards, who said during a public appearance Tuesday that she expects credit cards to go by the wayside as soon as five years from now. Asked whether she thought plastic cards would meet their demise within the next decade, Keane said she expects the transition to occur much faster than that. “It’s going to happen soon.

New York Times: U.S. Fed Is Raising Rates for Good Reasons, BoE's Carney Says

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Friday he thought the U.S. Federal Reserve was raising interest rates for good reasons, based on the strength of the U.S. economy.

"They're on the path they're on for fundamentally good, positive reasons," Carney said as he answered questions following a speech at the Economic Club of New York.
 

Bloomberg: Fed's Quarles Favors Gradual Hikes, Eye on Potential Growth

Federal Reserve Governor Randal Quarles said he favors gradual interest-rate increases and voiced optimism that the U.S. economy might be able to grow faster without overheating -- potentially meriting a slower hiking path ahead.

In remarks Thursday to the Economic Club of New York, he suggested that a tick up in the economy’s potential growth rate, if realized, could warrant a slower pace of rate hikes than would otherwise be appropriate.
 

GeekWire: Should Google be regulated? Expedia’s Barry Diller says yes, to stop competition with advertisers

Add one more voice to calls for regulation of Google: Barry Diller, chairman and senior executive of Expedia Group.Diller, interviewed by CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin during an event at the Economic Club of New York, was asked how he felt about the large technology companies. Diller, who holds the titles of chairman and senior executive for both Expedia and IAC, immediately responded that Facebook and Google “own, basically, advertising business worldwide.”

Wall Street Journal: Fed's Kaplan Voices Support For Three More Rate Increases
 
Reuters: Rising yields suggests 'conflicting factors' over U.S. growth: Fed's Kaplan