Money & Politics -- Mike (fast)
NYSE -- Deb (fast)
>> hello, i’m michael mckee. welcome back to “money & politics.” in business news today, general motors selling a majority of its finance unit to a group led by cerberus capital management, for $7.4 billion. the sale of the 51% stake in general motors acceptance corp. will help g.m. buy out workers and invest in new cars and trucks to win back buyers lost to competitors. investor enthusiasm muted after moody’s investor service and standard & poor’s said gmac’s debt probably will remain below investment grade. speaking of autos, ford’s march sales of cars and trucks fell 4.6%. the company trying to reduce sales to fleet buyers such as rental agencies that generate little or no profit. daimlerchrysler’s rose 2.9%. investors were excited by alcatel’s purchase of lucent technologies in a $13.4 billion share swap. u.s. stocks climbed on speculation the s&p 500 will build on its best first-quarter performance in three years. the dow jones industrial average up .3 while the nasdaq lost ground. all of the major averages were high on the day until there was a late-day drop. deborah kostroun is at the new york stock exchange. what did traders make of today’s move?
>> having the market―the thing that was so disappointing was the fact that that the s&p, at one point, up 14 points. at the close, only three points. the dow, up 113 points, but closing up 35. it was disappointing for some traders that we lost the luster on the first day of the second quarter. stocks were higher but generally off their best levels of the day by a long shot. mike mentioned general motors. general motors, that was the biggest drag in the dow. we also saw late-day pressure on general motors. of course, some of the that coming from the sales news and also from the fact that they’re selling that gmac stake, as well. one of the things that helped out the market early in the day, and this could kind of come to be a nice theme for the market coming into tomorrow’s session, that’s first-quarter earnings growth. what we’re looking at for the first quarter, earnings growth above 10%. back on february 17, we’re only looking at 9.2% growth for the first quarter. as we get into this week, in particular, next week, when alcoa starts reporting earnings next week, we’ll get more of a feel on what first-quarter earnings will look like. then we also had the mergers and takeovers, alcatel agreeing to buy lucent and the gmac deal, as well. we saw records in today’s session. the transports, cyclicals and the amex broker/dealer index, surprising that you saw the transports at a record mainly because oil was up once again. but many of the transports, like the railroad, performing quite well. that piggy backed on to the cyclicals because if if the economy is doing better, you have to have a way to ship all the products.
>> as deb mentioned, crude oil rising to a two-month high after iran test-fired its fastest torpedo, escalating a dispute about the country’s nuclear program. oil finishing up by 11 cents. gasoline fell on expectations supplies will rise as more refineries come back on line. heating oil and natural gas were mixed. up next, conservative icon william f. buckley turns 80. he looks back on his life and tells us what he thinks about today’s political climate. that’s ahead on “money & politics.”
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Listen Focus: Conservatives
>> tough times these days for conservatives. many are turning on the bush administration over growing budget deficits, immigration, even the war in iraq. william f. buckley has been an icon of the conservative movement for decades. veteran political reporter judy woodruff had a chance to talk to buckley about his long career and the movement he helped to begin.
>> thanks very much. william f. buckley is not only the founder of the modern conservative movement, he’s probably the most revered figure. it was a few days ago that he invited our bloomberg crew to go to his home in stanford, connecticut, where we talked about, among other things, the conservative movement, about the war in iraq, about president bush. much of this interview aired on bloomberg over the weekend but he had so many interesting things to say, as well, about, for example, getting orland. he just turned 80. you mentioned that. about the american business community―he’s disappointed in it. we also talked about the coming 2008 presidential election. looking ahead to 2008, there are all these names out there, these individuals. does any one of them capture william f. buckley’s fancy? any one of them whom you think is particularly interesting?
>> the answer is, no, i don’t find a commanding presence sort of knocking on the door.
>> john mccain?
>> john mccain, i think he’s a remarkable human being. i don’t think that his name comes to mind automatically as somebody who, over a period of years, has addressed problems with fruitful thinking. let alone with consistent thinking.
>> one democratic name, hillary clinton?
>> well, hillary clinton is primarily, i think, a political phenomenon. if she hasn’t been the first lady, she would have been different. she’s a very consequential woman with an extraordinary background her thought is kind of woozy left, not in my judgment threatening. i think she’s primarily interesting as being a phenomenon, a woman candidate who might easily be president, become president.
>> just want to try to get, in a word or two, your take on the american business community today. do you think―you’ve watched it over all these years. do you think it’s better? is it different? are there any business leaders whom you particularly admire today?
>> the business community, i find very disappointing during the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s because of their refusal to encourage intellectual life. now, that has changed. there are a number of foundations and colleges that take seriously the teaching of liberalism and libbertarian life. and to the extent business men are responsible for that, they are commended. but i don’t think a historian looking back on the last 50 years of the 20th century will have any reason to speak with convincing pride about the role of american businessmen? public policy.
>> you celebrated your eighth birthday last year. for those of us who are rapidly approaching that part of our lives, what do we have to look forward to and what do you have to look forward to?
>> well, i don’t think there’s much to look forward to in old age except more leisure time, a chance to listen to music, paint or whatever it is―sail.
>> but you are working on finishing up a novel. you’re working on another book you’ve promised by the end of the year. >> yeah. i’m working on my 51st book. i’ll begin work on that in the next month or so and i finished my 50th. so, i’ve been industrious. people like you have also been patient.
>> so, mike, william f. buckley says there’s not much to look forward to but on the other hand, he’s finishing his 50th book. he’s writing his 51st. he’s got a contract for that. he has extraordinary energy. he and his wife, pat buckley, who was also there when i talked to him, are very proud right now of their son christopher who wrote the book “thank you for smoking” that was adapted for this movie now out in the theaters.
>> he’s a fascinating person. once he was asked why he was always interviewed sitting down. he said it’s hard to stand up under the weight of everything i know. we’ve been talking throughout the show about republicans versus republicans on a number of issues now. how does he feel that george w. bush fits into the conservative movement?
>> well, it was very interesting. on iraq, he said flatly that george w. bush will be judged by the outcome in iraq. he, himself, is very pessimistic about the direction iraq is headed. he said he was only persuaded to support the war in the first place after vice president cheney unequivocally said there were weapons of mass destruction. he said as soon as it became known that there were not w.m.d., buckley began to change his mind. but he puts the burden of all that on the president. he said the president is responsible and he said the way things are headed, george bush will be judged by this war. beyond that, i asked him about the president’s legacy and he talked about spending. he said he doesn’t think president bush has made cutting down federal spending a priority. so, disappointment in that area. he said he does think he’s a conservative, but both in foreign policy and domestic policy, two major areas of disappointment. >> some thinkers say that the conservative movement has run out of energy. where does mr. buckley see it going from here? >> it was interesting on that point too,. because he takes great pride on where the conservative movement has come. he laughed about it, but in all seriousness, he’s proud. but then he went on to lament the fact that government spending is now 20% of the gross domestic product. it was 17% when he founded the national review back in the 1950’s. he talks about he wishes there had been brakes put on government spending. so pride, but also―he acknowledged. i asked him, do you think being in power has been good for conservatives and the conservative movement? he responded by saying, that’s a sly but good point you make. so he’s aware that conservatives, yes, they’ve been in power, but they haven’t accomplished everything he would have liked.
>> we heard what he bodies john mccain. is there anyone on the conservative horizon that he sees adopting the mantle of barry goldwater or ronald reagan?
>> i gave him the opportunity, i asked if there was anyone on the political landscape who would make a difference running for president in 2008 and he came up with no names at all. he did say, well there’s this romney fellow out there, in effect. but he said i don’t really see anything interesting and then he went on to say that john mccain has not been consistent. i found that very telling.
>> we will have to see who picks up the mantle, if anybody. judy woodruff, thank you very much, her conversation with william f. buckley. congress just back from the st. patrick’s day recess, now getting ready for the easter recess. are they doing anything that would matter to wall street? tom gallagher of the i.s.i. group, next on “money & politics.”
