As you might’ve noticed, Snoop Dog rang the Opening Bell this morning as part of the NYSE’s second annual Mentoring Madness program. He apparently then stuck around to talk shop with Maria Bartiromo, who made it clear where her allegiances lie (East Coast rappers, particularly Brooklyn-born).
Maria Bartiromo
By now you’re heard the devastating news that Bloomberg will not run Maria Bartiromo’s BusinessWeek column after the deal to acquire the magazine is complete. So the Money Honey’s pearls of business wisdom need a new home and, pretty clearly, that home is DealBreaker (consider this post a formal offer). We’ll keep the name, “Face Time With Maria Bartiromo,” because that’s too great to give up, but let’s talk subject matter. She’s well-equipped to pick up where Lenny Dykstra left off in educating the public about the benefits of flying private but really the possibilities are endless. Let’s get some ideas. Think outside the box. This is her moment.
MARIA BARTIROMO: JAMIE, THANKS FOR JOINING US.
JAMIE DIMON: MY PLEASURE.
BARTIROMO: CAN YOU CHARACTERIZE WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW IN THIS ECONOMIC SLOWDOWN, IN THIS TIGHT CREDIT ENVIRONMENT?
DIMON: YOU KNOW, MARIA, I THINK IT’S ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO DO BECAUSE I’VE NEVER REALLY SEEN PEOPLE FORECAST THE FUTURE. THE REAL INFLEXION POINT IS THE ECONOMY. YOU KNOW, WE’VE HAD A PRETTY SHARP DOWNTURN. AND I THINK IT’S BEING SEEN AROUND THE WORLD. AND THE REAL QUESTION IS DOES IT LEVEL OFF FROM HERE OR DOES IT GET A LITTLE BIT WORSE BEFORE IT LEVELS OFF?
BARTIROMO: AND YOU TALK TO SOMEONE LIKE NORO RUBINI (PH), HE SAYS THAT THE WORST IS AHEAD.
DIMON: HE MAY BE RIGHT. YOU KNOW, I MEAN, AS– AS A PRESIDENT OF A COMPANY, WE PREPARE FOR THE WORST AND HOPE FOR THE BEST. SO– YOU KNOW, I THINK THE BEST YOU’RE GONNA REALLY HOPE FOR IS TWO BAD QUARTERS AND THEN A– AND THEN A RECOVERY. I MEAN, IT COULD BE WORSE THAN THAT. BUT I THINK AT LEAST THAT IS IN THE CARDS.
BARTIROMO: SO EVEN WITH THE STIMULUS PACKAGE BEING TALKED ABOUT AND, YOU KNOW THIS EFFORT TO GET THE BANKS TO LEND, A LOT OF PEOPLE SAY, LOOK, THE BANKS STILL AREN’T LENDING ENOUGH. IS JP MORGAN LENDING?
DIMON: YES. SO I DON’T REALLY THINK THAT IS TRUE ABOUT THE BANKS NOT LENDING. AND IF YOU LOOK AT ACTUALLY AGGREGATE NUMBERS, THE BANKS’ BALANCE SHEETS ARE ABOUT WHAT THEY WERE BEFORE. I SPEAK TO A LOT OF BANKERS, A LOT OF BANKS MAKING LOANS. IN FACT, JP MORGAN ALONE IN THE LAST 90 DAYS HAS MADE OVER $150 BILLION OF LOANS, INCLUDING $50 BILLION– WHICH LIKE WE HAVE OUT TODAY IN THE INTER-BANK MARKET. SO I THINK WHAT HAPPENED IS A LOT OF BANKS ARE LENDING. BUT A LOT OF OTHER PEOPLE WHO LENT TO THE MARKETS, MONEY MARKET FUNDS, BOND FUNDS, AREN’T. SO I THINK PEOPLE GET A LITTLE CONFUSED ABOUT WHO’S OUT THERE LENDING AND WHO’S NOT AND– WE’RE– WE’RE GONNA TRY TO GET MORE INFORMATION OUT ‘CAUSE I THINK IT’S A GOOD QUESTION PEOPLE ASK IS, “ARE YOU LENDING?” AND– YOU KNOW, WE ARE.
- Use the Bloomberg command
NH BLG_DEALBREAKER <GO>
to access Dealbreaker
