The Weekly (Wall Street/Capitol Hill) Crib Sheet: Putting a Price Tag on Action/Inaction? [UPDATED 7/23]
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Last week we were spot on to say the major news focus of the week would be on Judge Sotomayor, health care, Bush administration era anti-terror policies and programs, and the economy. We were also right to say that former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s testimony on the Capitol Hill along with the release of the Federal Open Markets Cmte. minutes and selected earnings would drive the business pages. This week, we think Judge Sotomayor will still get attention with the Senate Judiciary Cmte. expected to vote on her nomination (see below), but we also think Iraq/Afghanistan, health care and the economy will get greater play in the press.
MBA readers HERE’S WHY YOU CARE: Fed Chmn. Ben Bernanke is on Capitol Hill twice this week (see below) for his semi-annual report to Congress – that makes him the highest profile person before Congress this week to field questions on the economy. Expect not only to have this drive the business pages but to make it on to the front page and general newscasts. The other items below that will certainly drive business page news are the TARP Special Inspector General’s report on how the money was used (yes, he’s testifying as well – see below), and testimony on regulatory reform from the heads of the SEC, FDIC, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (all below). Health care will make it into the media mix because both Congress continues its hearings and Pres. Obama continues to do events pushing it. However, you’ll see more questions about cost given the reporting on the Congressional Budget Office’s health care cost analysis last week, and the hearings on stimulus spending noted below. Lastly, with Iraq’s Prime Minister in town this week to meet with Pres. Obama, followed by yet another primetime press conference – look for Iraq and Afghanistan to get additional press attention. What we suspect what will happen is that creative journalists will take the broad array of events and do a economic price tag piece at some point this week: Health care + stimulus + Iraq + Afghanistan = Interesting and informative journalism. Let’s see if that happens. Look for that piece, and continual drill down pieces on regulatory reform drips and drabs as Congress chugs along on that front.
MBA wannabes HERE’S WHY YOU CARE: Take a look at the points we’ve made above. We think that this week offers a terrific opportunity based on the many events to really look at the cost of Congressional actions and inaction. Keep your eyes peeled for good journalism that tries to add up the prices tags listed above. Whoever is out of the gate first on that will set the record – and will garner both interest and political arrows from all sides. Not bad for what is generally a sleepy Summer of substantive reporting.
Here’s The Weekly Crib Sheet… We do caution that you check back for updates.
MONDAY 7/20
Earnings: Halliburton, Legg Masson, M&T Bank
Pres. Obama: Health care event and statement in DC, then meets with Apollo 11 crew.
Health Care Bill Mark Up: House Energy and Commerce Cmte. marks up America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.
National Press Club: RNC Chmn. at the National Press Club on health care.
TUESDAY 7/21
Earnings: Apple Inc.; BlackRock, Inc.; Boston Properties; Lockheed Martin; The Coca-Cola Company; Yahoo!
Pres. Obama: TBD, plus country music celebration.
Sotomayor: Senate Judiciary Cmte. Judge Sotomayor’s Supreme Court nomination.
Senate Hearing: Senate Homeland Security and Govt. Affairs Cmte. on “Follow the Money: An Update on Stimulus Spending, Transparency and Fraud Prevention.” Witnesses: Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board Chmn. Earl Devaney, GAO Acting Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, and Federal Trade Commission Chmn. Jon Liebowitz. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Postponed as of 7/20].
Senate Hearing: Senate Environment and Public Works Cmte. and its Green Jobs and the New Economy Subcmte. jointly on “Clean Energy Jobs, Climate-Related Policies and Economic Growth: State and Local Views.” Witnesses: Governors Bill Ritter Jr. (D-CO), Chris Gregoire (D-WA), Jon Corzine (D-NJ), and John Hoeven (D-ND).
Health Care Bill Mark Up: House Energy and Commerce Cmte. marks up America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.
House Hearing: House Oversight and Govt. Reform Cmte. on “Following the Money: Report of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program.” Witness: TARP Inspector General Neil Barofsky.
House Hearing: House Financial Services Cmte. (10a) hearing on “Humphrey- Hawkins Semi-Annual Report of the Federal Reserve on Monetary Policy.” Witness: Federal Reserve Chmn. Ben Bernanke.
House Hearing: Financial Services Cmte. (2p) hearing on “Systemic Risk: Are Some Institutions Too Big to Fail and If So, What Should We Do About It?”
House Hearing: House Judiciary Cmte’s Commercial and Administrative Law Subcmte. on auto industry bankruptcy fallout.
Derivatives Panel: U.S. Chamber of Commerce holds panel on “Modernizing Derivatives Oversight: Developing Policy for the 21st Century.” Panel list? Click here.
WEDNESDAY 7/22
Earnings: Carlislie Companies; Delta Airlines, Inc.; E*Trade Financial Corp.; eBay; Eli Lilly; PepsiCo; Pfizer; Suntrust, The Boeing Company; U.S. Bancorp; Wells Fargo & Company.
Economic Report: Mortgage Bankers Assoc’s weekly mortgage application info.
Pres. Obama: Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at the White House, plus 9p ET prime time news conference.
Senate Hearing: Senate Banking Cmte. hearing on “Humphrey- Hawkins Semi-Annual Report of the Federal Reserve on Monetary Policy.” Witness: Federal Reserve Chmn. Ben Bernanke.
Health Care Bill Mark Up: House Energy and Commerce Cmte. marks up America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Hearing postponed].
Hosue Hearing: House Financial Services Cmte. hearing on “Regulatory Perspectives on the Obama Administration’s Financial Regulatory Reform Proposals” – Part I. Witnesses: SEC Chwmn. Mary Schapiro and Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chmn. Gary Gensler.
House Hearing: House Judiciary Cmte’s Commercial and Administrative Law Subcmte. on auto industry bankruptcy fallout.
House Hearing: House Financial Services Cmte’s Oversight and Investigations Subcmte. on TARP and warrant repurchases.
House Hearing: House Oversight and Govt. Reform Cmte’s Domestic Policy Subcmte. on “Arbitration or ‘Arbitrary’: The Misuse of Arbitration to Collect Consumer Debts.”
THURSDAY 7/23
Earnings: Amazon.com; American Express Company; AT&T; Bristol Myers-Squibb; Capital One Financial Corp.; Fifth Third Bancorp.; Northrop Grumman; The New York Times Company; Union Pacific; United Parcel Service, Inc.; US Airways; Wyeth; Xerox Corporation.
Economic Reports: Existing Home Sales ( for June); Initial Unemployment Claims (for 7/18).
Pres. Obama: Health care event in Cleveland, then DNC fundraiser in Chicago.
Senate Hearing: Senate Banking Cmte. on “Establishing a Framework for Systemic Risk Regulation.” Witnesses: FDIC Chwmn. Sheila Bair, SEC Chwmn. Mary Schapiro, and Federal Reserve Board member Daniel Tarullo.
Senate Hearing: Senate Judiciary Cmte’s Administrative Oversight and the Courts Subcmte. on “The Worsening Foreclosure Crisis: Is It Time to Reconsider Bankruptcy Reform?”
Health Care Bill Mark Up: House Energy and Commerce Cmte. marks up America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. [EDITOR'S NOTE: Added 7/23].
House Mark Up: House Financial Services Cmte. marks up draft bill on overhauling financial industry regulations.
FRIDAY 7/24
Pres. Obama: NATO Secy. General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the White House.
House Hearing: House Financial Services Cmte. on “Regulatory Perspectives on the Obama Administration’s Financial Regulatory Reform Proposals” – Part II. Witnesses: Treasury Secy. Timothy Geithner, Fed Chmn. Ben Bernanke, FDIC Chwmn. Sheila Bair, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Comptroller John Dugan, Office of Thrift Supervision acting Dir. John Bowman, and Conference of State Banks Supervisors’ Joseph Smith.
House Hearing: House Budget Cmte. on the stimulus package. Witnesses: Transportation Secy. Ray LaHood and Agriculture Secy. Tom Vilsack.
National Press Club: House Judiciary Cmte. Chmn. John Conyers at the National Press Club on myriad topics from torture to health care.
LOOK AHEAD:
July 27: House Financial Services Cmte. Chmn. Rep. Barney Frank (D-NY) addresses the National Press Club.
July 28: House Financial Services Cmte. to mark up executive compensation legislation (HR 3269, the Corporate and Financial Institution Compensation Fairness Act of 2009).
July 29: Federal Reserve’s Beige Book.
July 29-30: House Financial Services Cmte. marks up draft bill on overhauling financial industry regulations.
1 Comment
[...] Last week we were spot on to say the major news focus of the week would be a combination of health care, Judge Sotomayor’s nomination and a look at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In particular we were correct to add that Federal Reserve Chmn. Ben Bernanke’s testimony (and others on Capitol Hill) would drive the business pages. We, of course, could not predict the events that would unfold in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This week the business pages will be driven by two factors: 1) the litany of earnings out, offering a cross-section of the US economy; and 2) Congress’ desire to get something press release worthy done on health care and financial industry regulatory reform before the August 7th recess. (FYI – we never saw the wrap piece last week on the costs of health care + regulatory reform + Iraq + Afghanistan. We did see a few political pieces pondering whether Pres. Obama is trying to do to much too soon, but that wasn’t what we were hoping for – thus we suggest that piece is still a jump ball). [...]