Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Money Talks

Top All-Time Donors, 1989-2010

From OpenSecrets.org

LEGEND: Republican Democrat On the fence



= Between 40% and 59% to both parties
= Leans Dem/Repub (60%-69%)
= Strongly Dem/Repub (70%-89%)
= Solidly Dem/Repub (over 90%)
RankOrganizationTotal '89-'10Dem %Repub %Tilt
1ActBlue$51,552,98099%0%
2American Fedn of State, County & Municipal Employees$45,037,99394%1%
3AT&T Inc$40,800,95545%54%
4National Assn of Realtors$39,494,41047%49%
5National Education Assn$36,188,34581%5%
6Service Employees International Union$35,854,53978%2%
7American Assn for Justice$33,664,77189%8%
8Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers$32,920,95497%2%
9Laborers Union$31,183,76789%7%
10American Federation of Teachers$31,021,12890%0%
11Teamsters Union$30,365,80989%6%
12Carpenters & Joiners Union$30,279,18786%9%
13Communications Workers of America$29,221,95395%0%
14American Medical Assn$27,285,29039%59%
15United Auto Workers$27,104,45798%0%
16United Food & Commercial Workers Union$26,596,85993%0%
17National Auto Dealers Assn$26,391,89232%67%
18Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union$26,177,62498%0%
19United Parcel Service$24,208,95337%62%
20American Bankers Assn$23,810,24439%59%
21National Assn of Home Builders$23,267,41436%63%
22National Beer Wholesalers Assn$22,918,53233%66%
23Altria Group$22,783,16426%73%
24National Assn of Letter Carriers$21,899,39385%10%
25Goldman Sachs$19,923,36061%38%
26AFL-CIO$19,284,61092%4%
27Credit Union National Assn$18,609,11148%50%
28Sheet Metal Workers Union$18,373,84895%1%
29International Assn of Fire Fighters$18,319,40779%17%
30National Rifle Assn$18,212,57117%81%
31Plumbers & Pipefitters Union$17,576,38594%4%
32FedEx Corp$17,396,59741%58%
33American Dental Assn$17,215,24646%52%
34Operating Engineers Union$17,023,93285%14%
35American Hospital Assn$16,801,27753%46%
36Lockheed Martin$16,586,66444%55%
37Air Line Pilots Assn$16,562,44784%15%
38Verizon Communications$16,523,70939%60%
39Citigroup Inc$16,489,57746%52%
40Natl Assn/Insurance & Financial Advisors$16,031,09942%57%
41Microsoft Corp$15,311,03646%52%
42AFLAC Inc$14,901,85245%54%
43General Electric$14,897,30248%51%
44United Steelworkers$14,522,15199%0%
45United Transportation Union$14,455,86088%10%
46JPMorgan Chase & Co$14,422,63547%52%
47Blue Cross/Blue Shield$14,218,11539%60%
48Ironworkers Union$14,078,44892%6%
49Union Pacific Corp$13,875,36025%74%
50Bank of America$13,699,20045%54%
51Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu$13,427,68033%66%
52American Postal Workers Union$13,327,30396%3%
53American Institute of CPAs$13,325,33542%57%
54Ernst & Young$13,202,57044%55%
55National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn$13,009,70551%48%
56Time Warner$12,993,89067%32%
57Boeing Co$12,821,40546%53%
58Reynolds American$12,813,88424%75%
59Pfizer Inc$12,766,76230%69%
60PricewaterhouseCoopers$12,621,54237%62%
61Morgan Stanley$11,898,92544%55%
62National Air Traffic Controllers Assn$11,686,33880%18%
63Northrop Grumman$11,519,45043%56%
64BellSouth Corp$11,512,05946%53%
65Natl Active & Retired Fed Employees Assn $11,266,50077%21%
66General Dynamics$11,167,30347%52%
67Anheuser-Busch$11,087,96748%51%
68GlaxoSmithKline$10,490,03929%70%
69National Restaurant Assn$10,366,29516%83%
70Honeywell International$10,262,39747%52%
71Human Rights Campaign$10,259,87190%9%
72Associated Builders & Contractors $10,181,4211%98%
73Chevron$10,100,04824%74%
74Raytheon Co $10,036,94347%52%
75American Academy of Ophthalmology$10,035,68352%47%
76Exxon Mobil$10,016,01411%88%
77American Health Care Assn $9,948,86052%46%
78American Crystal Sugar$9,828,16462%37%
79Newsweb Corp$9,817,64696%0%
80American Society of Anesthesiologists$9,759,43743%56%
81Saban Capital Group $9,721,03799%0%
82Indep Insurance Agents & Brokers/America$9,649,36440%59%
83National Cmte to Preserve Social Security & Medicare$9,636,17181%18%
84American Optometric Assn $9,441,01359%40%
85Associated General Contractors$9,330,41314%84%
86KPMG LLP $9,323,10330%69%
87Koch Industries $9,315,21511%88%
88UBS AG$9,219,35438%61%
89Securities Industry & Financial Mkt Assn$9,163,12343%55%
90Wal-Mart Stores$9,125,33528%71%
91American Maritime Officers$9,089,01247%51%
92Transport Workers Union $8,986,59995%4%
93Seafarers International Union$8,707,09485%14%
94National Cmte for an Effective Congress$8,695,66899%0%
95Eli Lilly & Co$8,646,99530%69%
96Freddie Mac$8,613,70943%56%
97National Fedn of Independent Business $8,531,8607%92%
98Comcast Corp$8,520,85752%47%
99CSX Corp$8,494,71236%63%
100New York Life Insurance$8,492,48351%48%
101Painters & Allied Trades Union$8,485,17188%11%
102Southern Co$8,392,93534%65%
103MetLife Inc$8,374,70054%45%
104Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance $8,361,73939%60%
105News Corp$8,301,22856%43%
106Walt Disney Co$8,197,15566%33%
107Credit Suisse Group$7,989,26242%56%
108UST Inc$7,989,02722%77%
109American Financial Group$7,968,41624%70%
110General Motors$7,942,78737%62%
111National Assn of Broadcasters$7,760,01446%53%
112Amalgamated Transit Union $7,742,68493%6%
113Amway/Alticor Inc$7,718,6490%99%
114Aircraft Owners & Pilots Assn$7,711,56745%54%
115Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp$7,666,27932%67%
116American Council of Life Insurers$7,663,66238%61%
117Marine Engineers Beneficial Assn$7,532,35574%24%
118American Airlines$7,114,72147%52%
119MCI Inc$7,043,98448%51%
120Ford Motor Co $6,885,43436%63%
121American Trucking Assns $6,781,32531%68%
122Prudential Financial$6,700,57351%48%
123Archer Daniels Midland$6,671,59350%49%
124AIG$6,630,36253%46%
125MBNA Corp$6,350,27119%80%
126Bristol-Myers Squibb$6,312,15922%77%
127DLA Piper$6,268,52757%41%
128Merrill Lynch$6,247,70536%63%
129Fannie Mae $5,949,58251%48%
130Enron Corp$5,339,24029%70%
131EMILY's List$5,245,12795%0%
132BP$5,109,92030%69%
133Lehman Brothers$4,878,10348%51%
134Wachovia Corp$4,854,57226%72%
135MGM Resorts International$4,698,22144%49%
136Andersen$4,572,69138%61%
137Vivendi$3,711,56462%37%
138Skadden, Arps et al$3,425,43174%24%
139Bear Stearns $3,374,12554%45%
140Club for Growth $1,535,0990%41%
Based on data released by the FEC on March 27, 2011.

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Monday, May 16, 2011

Money Funds

Money market funds are still an accident waiting to happen

Article from The Independent by Stephen Foley

US Outlook:
So farewell then Sheila Bair. America's most ferocious regulator says she will step down when her term as chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) ends in July, robbing government of one of the few people who still seemed keen on radical reform of finance in the wake of the credit crisis.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Pimco

The Vigilante

Article From Atlantic Monthly by Megan MCardle

Why the man who runs the world's largest mutual fund sold all his Treasury bonds.

In February 1993, as the fledgling Clinton administration grappled with the nation’s budget woes, campaign adviser James Carville groused to The Wall Street Journal: “I used to think if there was reincarnation, I wanted to come back as the president or the pope or a .400 baseball hitter. But now I want to come back as the bond market. You can intimidate everyone.” If Carville were serving in the Obama administration today, he’d be seeking reincarnation as Bill Gross. The founder and co–chief investment officer of PIMCO, Gross runs his firm’s Total Return Fund—the world’s largest mutual fund, with holdings entirely in bonds. And for some time, he has been an outspoken critic of U.S. economic policy.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Education Debt Bomb

Bad Education

What's The Point ? World Ending

What will happen to us?

Forecasters tackle the extremely deep future

The Royal Institution of Great Britain has stood on the same site since 1799, and on most days it would seem one of the older and fustier buildings in central London. But on April 6, time did a funny thing: The institution’s 212 years of existence suddenly contracted, and went from seeming unimaginably long to unimaginably short.

From (Timothy Goodman for the Boston Globe)

Friday, May 6, 2011

A Different View

Credit will save stock bulls in next ‘flash crash’

Commentary: Strong credit market is good for equities


By Jon Markman, MarketWatch

SEATTLE (MarketWatch) — An unintended, unexpected, unprecedented crisis of liquidity among high-frequency traders on May 6, 2010 undercut the deepest roots of stock investors' confidence in the fair operation of markets — a condition that persists to this day.

Yet markets have barreled forward. High-beta stocks are up 35% since the “flash crash” despite the mistrust, while the old boys of the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA -1.10% have gained 18%. Why?

Thursday, May 5, 2011

SUMMER DEADLINE

Debt Ceiling Has Some Give, Until Roof Falls In

WASHINGTON — The federal government will not run short of money to pay its bills on May 16, when the federal debt reaches the legal maximum of $14.3 trillion.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Goldman Working On Shaping The Edge

Goldman Lobbying Hard to Weaken Volcker Rule

NYTIMES ARTICLE FROM REUTERS

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Goldman Sachs Group Inc has just a few more months to put its stamp on the Volcker rule, and it is not wasting any time.
Reuters

The rule, designed to limit banks from speculating with their own money, will cost Goldman at least $3.7 billion in annual revenue, by one estimate. And billions more could be at stake if regulations now being drawn up are extra-tough.