Free Republic

We've come to expect intellectual dishonesty from the media elite, and Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, columnist for the New York Times, never disappoints. Krugman, in a Nov. 11 post on his NYTimes.com blog titled "The agony of Fox Business," made it clear he was a subscriber to the left-wing fairy tale that Fox News, and by extension the Fox Business Channel, are not pro-business. Instead - they're "pro-Republican." "Clearly, the Fox Business crew is having a very hard time," Krugman wrote. "They bill themselves as being truly pro-business - not like those leftists at CNBC. But they aren't really...

A rising Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) means better times are on the way, right? Not necessarily, according to CNBC CME floor reporter and tea party movement inspiration Rick Santelli. Santelli made an appearance on CNBC's Nov. 6 "Fast Money," a show which the host, Melissa Lee, is skittish about a discussion that politics interferes with the market is a reality. Nonetheless, Santelli explained there so happens to be correlation between a rise in unemployment rates and the rise in the Dow Jones Industrial Average. "[I] think we're building a stairway to heaven in Dow prices on the back of...

If you want to know why the dollar has been falling this week and gold hit a new high, look no further than the weak jobs numbers last Friday and the weak communique issued over the weekend at the G-7 meeting in Istanbul. Deploring "excess volatility and disorderly movements in exchange rates" isn't exactly a ringing defense of the greenback. And 9.8% unemployment convinced markets that monetary policy will remain loose regardless of dollar weakness. Bond buyer Bill Gross of the Pimco fund summed up the situation nicely in a recent CNBC interview. Asked whether low interest rates will weaken...

ARAB STATES LAUNCH SECRET MOVES WITH CHINA, RUSSIA, FRANCE TO STOP USING DOLLAR FOR OIL TRADING... DEVELOPING...

Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich was laughed at Friday for claiming "the stimulus package is the thing that is actually keeping the economy up, keeping people employed." In a discussion on CNBC about the larger than expected September job losses reported Friday by the Labor Department, Reich was explaining to hosts Melissa Francis and Lawrence Kudlow how things would be much worse if not for the stimulus package. He also implied that things won't get better until healthcare is reformed. ...more (w/video)...

If any policy maker watches Michael Moore's new movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story" and is influenced by it - be afraid, be very afraid. Moore appeared on CNN's Sept. 23 "Larry King Live" to promote his movie, but he shared with host Larry King he thoughts on why the stock market has rallied off its lows, despite a rising unemployment. His reasoning - Wall Street like joblessness, because it's more for them. Moore outright told King Wall Street wants people unemployed. "It's crazy, isn't it?" Moore said. "I'll tell you why: Because your employees are your biggest expense. And, as...

Michael Moore, the man of many hats - documentary filmmaker, political scientist and now, singer. Moore has been making the rounds to promote his new movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story." On NBC's Sept. 15 "Jay Leno Show," Moore appeared and was asked what was wrong with capitalism. "Capitalism is actually legalized greed," Moore said. "There's nothing wrong with people earning money, starting a business, selling shoes. That's not what I'm talking about. We're at a point now Jay, in this country, where the richest 1 percent, the very top 1 percent have more financial wealth than the bottom 95 percent...

Try to keep a straight face when you hear this: President Barack Obama isn't getting enough media love. That's the world view of MSNBC "Hardball" host Chris Matthews - at least when it comes to the economy. According to Matthews, there has been a plethora of positive economic news - from a stock market that has shrugged off the threat of bad liberal policy, i.e. cap-and-trade or ObamaCare, to the actions of newly reappointed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke of pumping liquidity into the economy. "What do you make of this whole thing about the good economic news out there...

Remember the outrage earlier this year for some of the bonuses paid out to executives of financial institutions that were TARP recipient? Or how about the press coverage that spurred on populist outrage when it was reported former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain spent $35,000 on a commode to redecorate his office? Turns out Thain walked away with a $1.5 million "golden parachute" after he resigned from Merrill, which was acquired by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC). But you would never guess who got a golden parachute that was pretty close to what Thain got. According to an Aug. 14 report...

As the likelihood of President Barack Obama's style of health care/health insurance reform has looked more and more uncertain, health care sector stocks have rallied, nearly 10 percent over the last month. But now as Obama is showing some signs of managing his message and could be trying to make a comeback, even as polls show the odds aren't his favor, CNBC market analyst Steve Grasso is cautioning viewers to be wary of health care stocks for the time being. ...more (w/video)...

Ben Bernanke's able use of monetary policy to steer the economy during the current financial crisis sometimes makes it easy to forget that Bernanke helped steer the ship into that crisis early in his term as Federal Reserve Chairman and a member of the Fed's Board of Governors. That's a point Strategic Forecasting (Stratfor) founder and CEO George Friedman made when asked the likelihood of President Obama reappointing Bernanke. "The probability of Bernanke being reappointed to the Fed is near zero," Friedman said during an interview on CNBC's Aug. 11 "Squawk Box." ...more (w/video)...

When in doubt blame conservatism, even when it comes to the struggles of a media outlet - and ignore the possibility that liberalism might be to blame. Ever since Nielsen came out with the July numbers for CNBC that showed the network had suffered a 28 percent ratings decline over a year ago, some of the financial media intelligentsia have been eager to point to what they perceive are the right-leaning political shortcomings of the network as a possible reason. ...more...

CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer credits lack of government regulation with a recent market jump in technology stocks. The tech-heavy NASDAQ composite (NASDAQ) shot upward 3 percent, from July 8 through July 23, even defying other market indexes that had down days in the same time period. Cramer theorized on his July 23 show that the tech sector during that time period, despite the setback on July 24 in the wake of news that Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) reported lower than expected earnings - because of government. ...more (w/video)...

Is it time to ask whether the Obama agenda could be hurting and not helping the business of this country. Does he have an anti-business bias or an agenda that gets translated into such a stance? [Here is a] list of what could be impeding the hiring of more people, the principal reason why we have been selling off. 1. Card check with forced arbitration. This pro-union position making it easier for workers to organize could lead to a dramatic expansion in union power. [...] 2. Tax on health benefits. This is a tough one because it could really crimp...

MACON, Ga. — H. Averett Walker used hot money to turn Security Bank from a sleepy Southern lender into a regional powerhouse. Darrell D. Pittard used hot money to jump-start his brand-new MagnetBank, allowing it to lend hundreds of millions of dollars even though it did not have a single drive-up window or even a customer with a checking account. It is a formula being replicated at banks across the United States. Rather than simply wooing local customers, they have turned to out-of-state brokers who deliver billions of dollars in bulk deposits, widely known as “hot money,” from investors nationwide....

Either "CNBC Reports" anchor Dennis Kneale has a flair for the dramatic or he upset a lot of people in the blogosphere with his biting critique of the blogosphere's negativity on the economy. On the July 1 broadcast of "CNBC Reports," Kneale responded to harsh, angry criticism from bloggers - even pointing out blogs like the Huffington Post, with an openly left-of-center perspective. "Last night on this show, I stirred up an angry hornet's nest in the blogs, you know, when I criticized their mean-spirited negativity, bashed them for hiding behind their cowardly cloak of anonymity," Kneale said. "And, I...

Despite the president's claim at a joint appearance this afternoon that "I like Chancellor Merkel a lot," President Barack Obama and Germany's Angela Merkel are widely believed to have a somewhat frosty relationship. The biggest perceived rift between the two? How best to respond to the global financial crisis. Mr. Obama, of course, has pushed through a massive stimulus package and pressed for greater government spending worldwide to end the recession. Merkel, who helms the largest economy in Europe, has resisted such spending; her government has passed only a pair of small stimulus packages in response to the economic crisis....

Here we go again. Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore is going offer his solution to societal ills through one of his documentaries. If Moore's past movies are any indication of the coverage he will get, it is sure to be a media hit. Already, Huffington Post blogger and MSNBC daytime anchor Carlos Watson is praising praised Moore's early promotion of the flick. "Michael Moore, the filmmaker, is back and this time he was taking aim at Wall Street," Watson said on June 15. "[H]e did a very funny thing, Sarah, this weekend when you showed his documentary in some of the...

Want to see what populist-driven liberalism will do for the private sector? Take a gander at the latest comments from Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee. Frank, who told CNBC Congress had been focusing on executive compensation prior to the federal government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), since “TARP was an infield covering” as he put it, said it’s time for a punitive compensation system to discourage “excessive risk taking.” The Massachusetts congressman was asked by Dennis Kneale on CNBC’s June 10 “Power Lunch” how much executives should be punished if a company loses money...

Insight: Recovery not as easy as U, V, W By Gillian Tett Published: May 28 2009 20:09 | Last updated: May 28 2009 20:09 Are you expecting a “V” shaped recovery this summer? Or do you anticipate a scenario more like a “U” or a “W”? That is the question I have been asked repeatedly this month, as the debate about “green shoots” roars on. Personally, though, I suspect that none of the letters in the Roman alphabet quite captures what is most likely to go on. To be sure, the last year might seem to correspond to the start...