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GDP Rises At 3.2% Annual Pace, Strongest In More Than Two Years

FYI: The economy grew at the fastest pace in over two years in the third quarter as consumers and government stepped up their spending and exports surged.
Regards,
Ted
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gdp-rises-at-32-annual-pace-strongest-in-more-than-two-years-2016-11-29/print

Comments

  • edited November 2016
    Enough to Put Sen. Elizabeth Warren on the "Warpath" ?

    Some Thoughts On Q3 U.S. GDP By Marc Chandler Seeking Alpha Contributer
    ...Of note, this included an 11.5% surge in domestic financial profits. Net income for the US commercial banks and savings institutions rose 13% to reach a record as profits increased and expense eased.

    There are nearly 6000 banks that are insured by the FDIC. Their net income rose $5.2 bln to $45.6 bln in Q3, according to FDIC data. Net interest income rose $10 bln (9.2% year-over-year) and a $1.2 bln (1.9%) rise in non-interest income. More than half the US banks reported year-over-year growth and less than 5% of the banks were unprofitable, which is the lowest percentage since Q3 1997. The number of banks on the FDIC's "problem list" stands at 132, down from 147 a year ago. Lastly, US banks boosted their loan-loss provisions by a third or $2.9 bln.
    http://seekingalpha.com/article/4027021-thoughts-q3-u-s-gdp

    Trump expected to name former Goldman banker Mnuchin for Treasury: source
    Reuters
    By David Lawder
    Reuters November 29, 2016
    Trump is expected to name former Goldman Sachs partner and Hollywood financier Steven Mnuchin as his nominee for Treasury secretary, a source said on Tuesday, putting a Wall Street veteran in the top U.S. economic Cabinet post for the first time in eight years
    ....Mnuchin's experience running Goldman's mortgage-backed bond trading desk would later prove valuable when an opportunity arose in 2009 to buy the deeply discounted assets of failed California mortgage lender IndyMac Bank
    After rebranding the operation OneWest Bank, Mnuchin built it with other assets and professional sports team sponsorships into Southern California's largest bank, with 73 branches and $23 billion in assets. His group sold OneWest to CIT Group Inc last year for $3.4 billion.
    But the bank came under fire for its foreclosure practices as housing advocacy groups accused it of being too quick to foreclose on struggling homeowners. In 2011, dozens of demonstrators descended on Mnuchin's $26.5 million home in the wealthy Bel Air neighborhood to protest OneWest's eviction tactics, according to the Los Angeles Times.
    *** I think this role clinched it for Mr Mnuchin **** My note.
    Although Mnuchin has a reputation for being a behind-the-scenes player in Hollywood, he does appear on screen in the 2016 film "Rules Don't Apply," according to the IMDB movie database. The drama, opening in theaters Nov. 23, stars Warren Beatty, who also wrote and directed the film.
    https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-expected-name-mnuchin-treasury-secretary-york-times-224602493--sector.html?ref=gs

    Trump selected Steve Mnuchin to be the next Treasury Secretary. Steve is a Goldman man. What else is new? Let’s have a look at the recent men who’ve filled this role in government and their affiliations.
    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-11-29/steve-mnuchin-selected-trump-treasury-secretary-look-previous-secretaries-and-affili?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+zerohedge/feed+(zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline,+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero)
  • edited November 2016
    And It Didn't Take Long
    FINANCE
    Goldman Sachs poised for return to power in Trump White House
    By BEN WHITE 11/30/16 12:04 PM EST politico.com
    “Steve Mnuchin is the Forrest Gump of the financial crisis — he managed to participate in all the worst practices on Wall Street,”
    Those kinds of comments and the rise of Goldman and Wall Street influence in Trump’s Washington is sending progressive Democrats into a panic. Liberals fear an agenda that will slash tax rates for the wealthy and corporations and gut regulations while allowing Wall Street to go back to the kind of trading practices that helped fuel the financial crisis.

    Even many reform-minded conservatives wanted Trump to pick a different Treasury Secretary, someone like House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling or former BB&T CEO John Allison for the job. Both have strong views on increasing bank capital requirements and fighting so-called “Too Big to Fail” institutions. It’s much less clear that Mnuchin will do anything to make life difficult for large banks.

    Warren came out firing against Mnuchin on Tuesday night. And Democrats plan to hammer the Treasury nominee’s record as head of OneWest, a California bank derided as a “foreclosure machine” during the depths of the crisis.

    “Steve Mnuchin is the Forrest Gump of the financial crisis — he managed to participate in all the worst practices on Wall Street,” Warren said in a statement on Tuesday night. “He spent two decades at Goldman Sachs helping the bank peddle the same kind of mortgage products that blew up the economy and sucked down billions in taxpayer bailout money before he moved on to run a bank that was infamous for aggressively foreclosing on families.
    http://www.politico.com/story/2016/11/goldman-sachs-power-white-house-231998
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