October 2009

You guys know I've been out to Silicon Valley countless times to talk to all the hot start-ups and huge tech companies. They all say the same thing: If the U.S. is to stay competitive, we've got to keep open the channels that funnel skilled foreign workers here through the H1-B visa program.  Same actually goes for Wall Street. If they can't find American workers for big jobs in finance and ... read more

Former NBC Chairman and CEO Bob Wright stopped by our studios in midtown Manhattan today to tackle two big subjects: 1) fighting to get Autism coverage shoe-horned into universal healthcare bills and 2) to talk about whether now is really the optimum time to sell all or a portion of NBC, the once super-stellar, number one television network. I'll get to his efforts for Autism in a moment but ... read more

Let's cut right to the chase. It's HAWAIIAN AIRLINES. They're hiring. They're growing. AND their stock price is way off the floor. Not bad for a company in an industry that's been down for the count for the past several years. President and CEO Mark Dunkerley came on Countdown to the Closing Bell today for a First on Fox Business interview and talked about how they're bucking the ... read more

As Congress mulls whether to extend the first-time home buyer credit of $8,000.00, they're looking at the numbers which, on one level are truly disturbing. The good news is, some 400,000 first-time home buyers have taken advantage of the credit. The absolutely horrific news is that it's now revealed that at least 70,000 of those applications are FRAUDULENT. Great.  We brought in Dean ... read more

Intel's CEO Paul Otellini gave his first broadcast interview since an Intel middle-manager from the semiconductor maker's treasury dept. was charged last week for his part in providing inside information about the company to a New York hedge fund called Galleon. But Otellini's comments to David Asman and me about the health of the consumer both in the US and worldwide were equally as ... read more

Bob Olstein of the Olstein Funds has had quite the rollercoaster 2 years. From the markets' highs of October of 2007 to the trough of March 9th of this year, his fund fell a dramatic 60%. Since then though, he's beating the S&P and on a roll. Olstein isn't exactly shadowy but while the media love to follow him (Morningstar says stick with him, BusinessWeek wrote a very positive profile recently ... read more

Barry Sternlicht, the chief of commercial real estate giant Starwood Capital, knows what everyone's saying about commercial real estate: that it's imploding, vacancy rates are jumping, rents are dropping, it's a terrible business, a bubble fast losing air. That's why he's buying distressed properties right now on a global scale. Starwood just bought a huge London property on very favorable ... read more

I want you to meet George Gero of RBC. If ANYone knows about trading gold and the vicissitudes of the yellow metal, he's the one. Trading metals since the 1970's, George is watching this latest run-up with amusement. Are you tempted to jump in here and buy a gold ETF or some physical gold? I had a most interesting interview with him this week on Countdown to the Closing Bell. Wall Street ... read more

Robert Albertson of Sandler O'Neill is one of my favorite people on Wall Street.  There's a no-nonsense quality about him---always has been. His knowledge and perspective are almost...intimidating?  He's an expert in the financials but also sees the economy and the markets overall through a different prism than most of us. Every time he's my featured guest on Countdown to the Closing Bell, ... read more

Hey, leave it to Fox Business to get the word out street by street, pedestrian by pedestrian, driver by driver. Imus launched his morning show on FBN this week. You must check it out 6-9amET M-F. But on the streets of New York City, the word is spreading. Look what we found outside our studio windows during "Countdown to the Closing Bell."  Click on the link below, it's about 1:40 in. You'll ... read more