The presidential race is started to come into focus ahead of next week's Super Tuesday primaries.

Democrat John Edwards, whose anti-corporate message never resonated with most voters, is dropping out of the race after failing to win the primary in his native South Carolina, according to media reports. Rudy Giuliani, who fell from presumptive front-runner to also-ran, also is expected to bow out and endorse rival John McCain.

Odds are that Edwards will endorse rival Barack Obama, adding to the growing list of backers which include Democratic stalwart Sen. Edward Kennedy. The Illinois senator is far from having the race locked up.

Continue reading John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani bow out of presidential race

John Edwards, Rudy Giuliani bow out of presidential race originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Barack Obama is odds-on favorite to win Democratic nomination originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 07 Jan 2008 16:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Iowa to Wall Street: Drop dead originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 03 Jan 2008 16:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The Republican Party is supposed to be looking out for the interests of investors. But after Bush-appointed SEC Chairman Christopher Cox supported a new rule that insulates entrenched management from dissident shareholders, we may have to look elsewhere.

John Edwards seems like an unlikely friend of the small investor, but his editorial in today's (subscription required) Wall Street Journal suggests otherwise:

...Our companies should be run for the benefit of workers and shareholders as well as insiders. Today, too many companies in America are putting far too much of their earnings into excessive CEO and executive pay, when this money could be going to increased worker salaries, better benefits and investments in plants and equipment.

As president, I will immediately cap untaxed deferred compensation for executives. I will also give shareholders new rights and responsibilities so that they can call shareholder meetings, remove directors who aren't acting responsibly, and have a say on executive pay.

Regardless of how you feel about putting a cap on untaxed, deferred compensation -- I myself wonder whether that would really do anything to curb excessive pay, and think it might actually exacerbate the problem -- it's nice to see a candidate who wants to talk about what many of us see as one of the greatest threats to capitalism: lack of accountability for corporate executives and directors.

Edwards may not be the right guy to fix the problem, but this is definitely an issue that deserves a lot more discussion.

John Edwards' 'plan to stop corporate abuses' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 02 Jan 2008 16:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading John Edwards profits from others' misfortune, but is he to blame?

John Edwards profits from others' misfortune, but is he to blame? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

John Edwards has attacked Senator Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for accepting donations from News Corp. (NYSE: NWS) and Rupert Murdoch. Here's a sampling of his rhetoric:

"News Corp's purchase of the Dow Jones Co. and The Wall Street Journal should be the last straw when it comes to media consolidation. I'm challenging every Democratic presidential candidate to refuse contributions from News Corp executives and return any they've already taken, beginning with Rupert Murdoch."

"John Edwards will never ask Rupert Murdoch for money -- he won't accept his money."

"The basis of a strong democracy begins and ends with a strong, unbiased and fair media -- all qualities which are pretty hard to subscribe to Fox News and News Corp. It's time for all Democrats, including those running for president, to stand up and speak out against this merger and other forms of media consolidation."

But according to DealBook, "News Corporation claims that its publishing unit, HarperCollins, paid Mr. Edwards a $500,000 advance -- and $300,000 in expenses -- for his 2006 book, Home: The Blueprints of Our Lives.

Oops. Don't you hate it when you get caught?

And as for "speaking out against this merger," hasn't Mr. Edwards heard of the free market? If Rupert Murdoch wants to buy Dow Jones (NYSE: DJ), and Dow Jones wants to sell, how or why should it be blocked? It's really not an anti-trust case at all, as far as I've heard.

The only thing more hypocritical than this would be if Mr. Edwards spoke out about poverty but worked at a hedge fund for a large salary. Oh wait ...

Hypocrite! John Edwards slams others for taking Murdoch money originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 05 Aug 2007 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Reuters reports that two-thirds of Americans think the U.S. is in, or soon will be in, a recession. This despite the recent report from the Commerce Department that GDP grew 3.4% in the second quarter of 2007.

Are two-thirds of Americans just plain stupid? I don't think so. As John Edwards correctly pointed out during his 2004 run, there are two Americas. The first America -- occupied by hedge fund and private equity grandees, investment bankers, and oil executives -- is a wonderful world where it's easy to make hundreds of millions of dollars a year. For those first Americans, this is truly the best of times.

Then there are the second Americans, the other 99.9%. Unlike the First Americans, they have limited ability to influence economic and tax policy. They have been borrowing on their homes and using credit cards to make up for stagnant wage growth. Meanwhile, their housing, health care, education, and energy bills have been skyrocketing.

Continue reading Why two-thirds of Americans think we're in a recession

Why two-thirds of Americans think we're in a recession originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Aug 2007 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

John Edwards hires Wake-Up Wal-Mart activists originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 09 Jul 2007 13:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The good, the bad, and the hilarious. Those are the three leading categories in the summary of election campaign videos on Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG) YouTube. We also have the Youfomercial, Youspoof, MudslingTube, and any other manner of real or counterfeit political propaganda that you could possibly imagine. PCMike's E-Journal, tech news blog states that his favorites are, "the John Edwards "I feel Pretty" video. Runner up: John McCain's
"Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran" to the tune of an old Beach Boys song.

Early in April, YouTube had officially announced the debut of CitizenTube in a declared attempt to improve direct accessibility to videos with specific political intent. While under the steady eye and watchful guidance of YouTube's news and politics editor, Steve Grove, it would seem that the project is succeeding. SplashCast blogger Marshall Kirkpatrick had expressed some concern at launch time about the service's apparent lack of social diversity, but I suspect that by now, "click weighing" has taken care of most of that.

Now, there are two things I expect shall continue to evolve from this high-powered communications medium. First, I am virtually certain that there is a serious round of hiring going on within the political camps that is aimed at building the teams that shall be attempting to fully exploit the "vid-clip-n-vlog" realm. There is simply too much power there to ignore. The smartest of the campaigners already have their teams assembled, I'm sure, but I'll bet there are a number of teams still trying to play catch up.

The second development that I see as already gaining some serious steam is the use of vlogging by political activists for getting their various messages out. Ah yes, democracy at its finest as expressed in the free flow of ideas. Do be careful out there though because we have entered the age wherein digital media can be easily manipulated to create the appearance that nearly anything is real. There are some nasty "spinmeisters" who will stop at nothing in pursuit of pandering their ideals. So if you happen to see a video of Hillary Clinton knocking back a couple of beers at Hooter's with Larry The Cable Guy, you might want to seek a second opinion.

YouTube carries the election by a landslide originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sun, 20 May 2007 10:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I wouldn't go after Presidential hopeful John Edwards for working at Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG), a hedge fund. After all, it takes a lot of lettuce to pay the property taxes on his $3.8 million home in Georgetown. But his consulting work at Fortress did draw the ire of some critics, and Mr. Edwards offered one of the most perplexing explanations I have ever heard in relation to anything: He decided to work at a hedge fund to learn about poverty, and its relationship with the financial markets.

Here's my favorite part: When asked if it was really necessary to join a hedge fund to learn about financial markets, he replied "How else would I have done it?" When it was suggested that he could have taken a college class (My suggestions: Head to the library or Google it!), he said "That's true," but added that "It was primarily to learn, but making money was a good thing, too."

What's next? Is Marie Antoinette going to head over to Spago's for a four-course meal to learn about starvation? How exactly does working at a hedge fund that, by definition, has the goal of making the rich richer, gel with Edwards' anti-poverty, anti-income gap message?

It doesn't. And like I said, there's nothing sinful about working at a hedge fund. Politicians need money too. I'd still consider voting for Mr. Edwards, but he needs to cut the crap.

Working at a hedge fund to learn about poverty? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 09 May 2007 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hedge funds jump into political race originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 25 Jan 2007 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.