Buffett says banks properly capitalized, pose no threat to U.S. (2003)

The banks will not get this country in trouble, I guarantee it.  The capital ratios are huge, the excesses on the asset side have been largely cleared out.

~ Warren Buffet, Bloomberg, January 10, 2003

Jamie Dimon on fiscal cliff

We are one decision away from restoring our fiscal and moral authority from around the world.  Let's just do it.

The U.S. economy could grow at a 4 percent rate and monthly job creation could get above 200,000 if
Washington politicians can "grasp a rational fiscal policy" and avoid the "fiscal cliff".

~ Jamie Dimon, CEO JP Morgan, CNBC, December 12, 2012

Warren Buffet endorses Dimon for US Treasury head

I think he'd be terrific.  If we did run into problems in markets, I think he'd actually be the best person you could have in the job.

~ Warren Buffet on Jamie Dimon as head of the US Treasury, November 27, 2012, CNN

Woodrow Wilson on neutrality

Neutrality is a negative word. It does not express what America ought to feel. We are not trying to keep out of trouble; we are trying to preserve the foundations on which peace may be rebuilt.

~ Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
1938

Ken Fisher: "Ignore political babble"

This year, ignore political babble. You’ll be better off. Ignore debt debates, silly fake controversies and finger pointing over who is or isn’t the bigger fan of private enterprise. (I win that footrace, anyway.) Or whose supporters are richer or not. And whether that’s bad or not. My forecast is for global stocks to end 2012 up big. Tune out the nonsense, and you’ll better enjoy the ride.

[...]

Love it or hate it, we either re-elect a Democrat or newly elect a Republican in November. Barring alien invasion, no other options. Historically, US stocks average 14.5% when we re-elect a Democrat and 18.8% when we newly elect a Republican—both great outcomes. So tune it out—your eardrums and portfolio will thank you.

~ Ken Fisher, "Put Them On Mute," Forbes.com, May 29, 2012

Ben Bernanke on QE3

Going forward, we’ll have to continue to make judgments about whether additional steps are warranted, but as we do so, we have to keep in mind that we do have a dual mandate, that we do have to worry about both the rate of growth but also the inflation rate.

The trade-offs are getting — are getting less attractive at this point. Inflation has gotten higher. Inflation expectations are a bit higher. It’s not clear that we can get substantial improvements in payrolls without some additional inflation risk. And in my view, if we’re going to have success in creating a long-run, sustainable recovery with lots of job growth, we’ve got to keep inflation under control. So we’ve got to look at both of those — both parts of the mandate as we — as we choose policy.

~ Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Bloomberg press conference, April 4/28/2011

Nouriel Roubini: "I don't see the markets falling"

Right now I don't see the financial markets falling.  I see the U.S. stock market flat for the rest of the year.

~ Nouriel Roubini