Credit Suisse --- Matt (slow)
>> credit suisse group is ruling out a merger for now. the bank has had annual losses in two of the past three years and is struggling to keep up with bigger and more profitable competitors, leaving some investors to say that the bank won’t wait too long to find a partner. credit suisse is reorganizeing its business into three units after the departure of john mack, former co-c.e.o. he was hired to revive credit suisse’s investment banking business. he restored csfb to profitability by eliminating 1/3 of the work force. microsoft seeks an immediate suspension of a european antitrust decision. bloomberg learned that the software maker told europe’s highest appeals court it would suffer irreparable damage by bowing to penalties and paying a record $600 million fine. lawyers say it’s likely microsoft will get the temporary stay of the e.u. order but note that microsoft will have a much harder time convincing the court a definitive suspension is necessary. before the software company was ordered to share programming data with rivals and offer a stripped-down version of windows. next tuesday and wednesday, federal open market committee officials from the fed are going to meet to decide on a possible rate hike, a move that we haven’t seen in almost four years. former fed governor laurence meyer says we shouldn’t bother calling this a possible rate hike.
>> they’re going to move 25 basis points, probably one of the most telegraphed moves in the history of the central bank.
>> why did they have to telegraph it? this was done intentionally.
>> absolutely.
>> did it have to be telegraphed?
>> this is part of what i call the monetary policy playbook that i talk about in my book. and one of the first elements in that is signal the markets , don’t fool the market . and many times the chairman would come into a meeting and say i would have moved today but the markets aren’t ready, they’re not prepared, they don’t expect and it will be disruptive. so there is definitely an attempt by the committee and chairman to prepare markets for a move. and i think they would think that’s especially important for the first move.
>> now, the way he has been informing people. we hear a committee but there’s also talk about his relationship with the press and the way things get out. is it appropriate? is it also beneficial in your view?%
>> i think it is beneficial to signal the markets . it’s part of transparency. of course, there’s a great debate about whether the chairman does talk to the press, as i believe he does―but i’m not telling you for a fact, but it’s my conjecture. and there are times when you want to signal but there’s no time for testimony or speeches before the meeting. something happens. and that’s a vehicle for getting the job done and if you believe it’s important to signal the markets , that’s another way to get the job done. i think there are dangers in that because you never know in the press report whether they go the the chairman right, because he’s not going to be that clear about it, or whether it’s their speculation and that’s a confusion that adds noise to the markets , as well.
>> and from there, we turn to world and national news.
