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This editorial in the WSJ responds to Donald Trump's comments about the system being "corrupt" and "crooked" and saying there could be violence at the convention. It says the rules are transparent and long standing in Wyoming, Colorado and other states where Trump has not campaigned or sought support. It calls on the Republican National Committee not to be intimidated by Trump's statements, especially as it says the the Republican party should not nominate a candidate who has the highest negative perceptions rating of a shocking 65% with national voters in a general election. Trump never complained when he won 99 delegates in Florida with 45% of the vote and 50 delegates in South Carolina with 32% of the votes cast- securing the most delegates because of a winner take all or winner take most system. It says Trump has so far won only 37% of all votes cast and won about 45% of the delegates, a process that can be seen as disproportionately favoring Trump because of the rules. This is particularly true because Trump's core support has remained at about 35%, and the fragmentation of the remaining vote has hurt the other candidates. About 83% of eligible voters have not voted in the primaries, making the process less representative than it should be. ...

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GM will hasten plant closings as its cash situation deteriorates and it finds itself without access to credit, as the credit markets remain frozen in the global financial crisis that hit in late September. GM will hasten closing of Moraine, Ohio plant, Grand Rapids Stamping Plant to close December 2009, and Janesville, Wisconsin plant to close December 23, 2008. All 3 plants make parts for large and midsize pickup trucks. Accelerated plant closigs save money. The Janesville plant assembles GMC Yukon, Chevrolet Tahoe, and Chevrolet Suburban, all large SUV's. whos sales have fallen badly and precipitiously. And more than 40% of the parts produced at Grand Rapids went into large SUV's. Othe plant closings GM announced earlierinclude ending production of a truck lie in Toluca, Mexico, and ending production at an assembly plant in Oshawa, Ontario. All are part of the shift to cars, smaller cars, and crossover vehicles to respond to changing consumer preferences after gas prices went above $4 a gallon. ...

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Roubini at NYU and Rosenberg at Merrill Lynch see serious damage this time- prolonged and serious downturn. Roubini sees the auto loans and credit cards next as another bubble unraveling. The consumer may have already been affected and the effects there may be serious and lasting in 2008 and 2009. Exports may not boost manufacturing that much as to make up for the severe impact of a number of things-tight credit, consumer spending declines, housing bust, and escalating oil prices. The losses from the housing and mortgage bubble has been estimated at around $400 billion, Roubini thinks that the figures approaching $100 billion that the candidates are saying they would stimulate the economy by are nowhere near the $300-$400 billion needed and the government cannot afford that magnitude of stimulus. Experts are saying that the losses of firms are not revealed as firms are not saying much, and there is a lot more to come which will act as a further drag on growth. Roubini thinks this one will be severe and a recovery may not be in the works to 2010 or 2011. Some stimulus after the election and rate cuts may just make it appear that things may reverse themselves, but there is just too much going on. The consumer has human feet that are bound to falter at some point with all this burden stacked onto him....

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A new Pew Research Center Survey shows prime minister Modi enjoying 88% popularity, very high ratings for a world leader. More unusual is that Modi's popularity was 87% in a Pew Survey in 2015, showing extraordinary resilience. This comes after moves to remove the large denomination rupee notes under what is called demonetization to take out some of the black money in India and increase tax revenues that were lost due to evasion. In South Asia tax evasion is rampant, much more than in countries like Italy of the eurozone. The move was difficult as it required being sudden, and a shift to use of debit cards and ATM's which required additional effort, slowing the economy. The other moves such as on GST tax were designed to facilitate doing business in India with one tax and free movement of goods replacing different state by state taxes. Business has not responded quickly to support Modi, and the Indian economy being prepared for the long term growth Modi hopes to generate is slowing in the short term. GDP growth has dropped to 6%. A bullet train planned in western India with help from Japanese financing and technology is being criticized unfairly because of the collapse of an old bridge near a railway station in Mumbai. Bruce Stokes, Director of Global Economic Attitudes at Pew Research, says the survey was done after demonetization but before the GST tax overhaul. This is not likely to change Modi's high ratings. The GST overhaul has been on the agenda for many years for all political parties in India. The views of Modi are not necessarily the same as for his BJP party which are lower for the party, the party gaining more from Modi's efforts and leadership, including in his home state of Gujarat. ...

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Novartis is taking a new approach to drug research and drug discovery. The old one which was popular in the drug industry was to go directly for blockbuster drugs for large numbers of users, with a long time in the research pipeline because the area of research was largely an unknown. This was costly and becoming less and less productive. Dan Vasella who heads Novartis, is taking a different approach which comes from his understanding of medical science as a physician, in an industry run by accountants, lawyers and business people. This is to go after wellknown molecular pathways identified by Dr Fishman at Harvard in his research, and do this by taking on problems in diseases that afflict small numbers of people. These drugs have some established medical science to work with, and the research work takes a shorter period. Once the drug proves its effectiveness in one illness, it is tested for other illnesses that afflict a large number of people but which shares some of the same underlying phenomena that cause the disease in the two situations. Dr Vasella stumbled on this approach after the development of the drug Gleevec by Novartis. Gleevec was originally approved for a rare blood cancer, but has now shown to be effective against six other dieases. Gleevec brought 3.7 billion in revenues in 2008 for Novartis. In 2002 Vasella made a bold move to discard the old drug development model. The basis of this approach was to go after new drugs that were desperately needed and where the genetics of the illness were well understood. Whereas pursuing rare dieases is considered foolhardy by most drug company leaders, Vasella's idea is to use the common genetic underlying arrangements for that drug to go after other diseases that would be good prospects for the now proven drug. The known genetics makes it possible to complete the research in a shorter time. In 2009 Novartis has 93 drug candidates in the pipeline, 40% more than 3 years ago and 80% of Novartis' drugs last year made it from early testing to late stage development. This was a 60% improvement over 2005. The new approach fits the current regulatory climate, with regulators concerned more about safety, and Medicare and Medicaid and other payor less willing to pay for treatment with modest benefits or with uncertain outcomes. The approach had to be executed in terms of organization and staffing. Vasella moved the R&D global research operation from Basel to Cambridge, Massachusetts, and spent $4 billion on the move. He recruited a renowed researcher and cardiologist at Harvard University, Dr Mark Fishman, who had done research on the genetic mutations in the cardiovascular systems, to run the center and set the new direction for global research. Fishman convinced Vasella that medical research should focus on a small number of molecular pathways- the complex suquences of interactions among chemicals, proteins, and larger cell structures in the body that are behind all illnesses. Says Fishman, there are 24,000 genes in the genome, but only a few dozen pathways conserved through evolution. Fishman's theory is that you find all the links in a pathway and then locate the signals that can turn the genes on or off to develop medicines for illnesses. Bercause disease after disease share a common pathway, the knowledge gathered can then be applied across that region with more accuracy and directly, to address a range of illnesses. Fishman's approach means marketing and sales no longer make the decisions. There is a new method for doing things. Fishman focusses on clinical data and insists that commercial analysis comes after sufficient clinical data. A major restructuring in 2007 led to shedding 1260 sales and marketing jobs, as clinical science now takes precedence and medically trained scientists take senior leadership positions. The new approach is being used for a drug developed for Muckle-Wells syndrome. Computer simulations are shortening the time to late stage trials. The drug has applications for Type 2 diabetes and severe arthritis. The whole process will take many years, as its a sea change for the industry and for Novartis, a fresh approach when the approach used by the pharmaceutical industry for so long is failing. An oral drug treatment for multiple sclerosis is being developed along these lines. Afinitor. approved by the FDA for kidney cancer in March shows potential in six other diseases, including lymphoma where Afintor shrank tumors by 50% in one third of the patients in a trial. ...

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Pam Bondi, US Attorney General gives a vigorous defense of the DJT administration and the president in hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee. She tells US senators it was Democrats who politicized the Justice Department first. And Bondi defended the hard work of the administration in fighting illegal immigration and violent crime. In 5 hours of exchanges she answered Senators on the other side- “Don’t you ever challenge my integrity.” “I have abided by every ethical standard. Do not question my ability to be fair and impartial as attorney general.” She told Senator Durbin of Illinois when asked about the sending of the National Guard to Chicago- “I wish you loved Chicago as much as you hate President Trump." Senator Graham of South Carolina, and Senator Grassley of Iowa who is the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, asked Bondi why the Jack Smith investigation into Trump under president Biden had looked at phone calls made by Senator Graham and by Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, both Republicans. Graham asked Bondi: “Can you tell me why my phone records were sought by the Jack Smith agents? Why did they ask to know who I called?” Grassley called this an "outrage" and an "unconstitutional breach." At the same time FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that he had fired "those who had acted unethically" in this situation. These exchanges show the mood of the Nation and the people as the National Guard heads to Chicago in September 2025 to reduce violent crime and tackle illegal immigration.     ...

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Comments by the banking sector and the central bank of Canada on the Volcker Rule.

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Carlos Tavares runs Stellantis the company that combined the operations of France's Peugeot, Italy's Fiat and America's Chrysler right out of his living room in his Lisbon, Portugal home one week every month. He is a believer in the advantages of hybrid work model and says most of the 75,000 workers at the company can work remotely most of the time.The quality time that is generated in this new work model that allows life balance and getting fresh air walks outside is needed when you consider that auto companies such as his are embracing world of electric cars- Stellantis will have 75 models of electric cars by 2030 In this interview with the WSJ shown here he says the fact that one is giving back high quality time that otherwise goes to commuting means you get more time during the day. Carlos Tavares says remote work is an opportunity to recreate a better life balance. He doesn't see any risk in it at all. He sees how hard people are working, harder than they did before, and says giving back one half hour or two hours of quality time actually helps the process of getting good work. Look he says after a long day of remote work people need that time to go out and have a walk for an hour just to refresh one's mind, because the work was so intense. Tavares asks why shouldn't we trust each other? He believes it is the only way to go. Asked about his own work routine for remote work.He says it is the Portuguese routine of  7 am to 4 pm or 5 pm and then an hour out for a walk. He has a small desk in his living room, and he is sitting there with his iPad, grandkids are going by but nobody sees them. Does he miss the face to face contact? He does says Tavares. He still sees other employees as he does go to the office. What about mentoring for junior  employees? This does not have to be five days a week, you may want coaching one day a week, what you don't want is someone on your back five days a week. For Tavares it is all about the quality of time that is used. On company culture the much abused word Tavares makes some good points. If you say this is the culture and hand it to somebody then how do you get that creative mind to exercize his own judgement, how do you get diversity of thinking. Tavares is forthright and honest here- he says if I give you a culture and put you in that box I will get it wrong, and by killing the valuable diversity of thinking I will make it counterproductive. Actually with French, Italian and American operations under one roof and employees of 170 nationalities there is a value in appreciating the value each employee can bring. Practices at Stellantis- Tavares says if you want your people to be in game shape or in great shape mentally don't call them or email them on weekends, so that they can use the weekend to recharge themselves. He even apologizes for calling on a weekend. Or if you email your people tell them to not respond till Monday. ...

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Jessica Todd, a USDA economist, says in a report that about 20% of the improvement in the diets of people surveyed comes from Americans eating out less at fast food places or restaurants. And this particular improvement she says is from an increased awareness on nutrition in picking out food, more choices available, and more nutritional information available to buyers. About one third of U.S. adults or 36% were obese in 2009-2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is a large increase from 15% in 1980. Studies show this is now declining gradually with increased public awareness of the risks of poor eating habits, including risks of diabetes.

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Ian Thompson takes over as the new Chief Credit Officer at S&P. He replaces Mark Adelson, who will remain as a senior fellow at S&P. He was hired by the previous CEO, Deven Sharma. Deven Sarma was replaced by former Citigroup excutive, Doug Peterson, in September 2011, weeks after the downgrading of the U.S. sovereign credit rating. Ian Thompson reported to Mr. Adelson, as the head of the Asia-Pacific region. Adelson joined in 2008 with the task of making it difficult to earn the highest credit rating for issuers following the subprime mortgage crisis, in which credit rating firms gave top ratings to lower quality mortgage securities. Mr. Jacob, the structured finance chief, will also be leaving S&P. The frequent management changes are viewed as making it harder for S&P to win back credibility in its ratings.

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An analyst survey by MacroMarkets shows home prices as measured by the S&P Case-Shiller national index will decline by 1.4% in 2010, then increase in 2011 by 1.3% and 2.7% in 2012. At this time weaker jobs data are making analysts cautious about a rebound in the housing market.

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Social unrest grows in Russia as oil falls to $36 a barrrel and Russian growth slows from 8% to the point where its entering arecession and layoffs and salary cuts are taking place at many companies. In the Siberian town of Barnaul large protests took place when the authorites cancelled subsidized public transportation tickets for 200,000 pensioners. The government has adraft law that requires companies to inform the government about impending layoffs and salary cuts. And there is agradual devaluation of the ruble so that there is less adverse reaction in the economy. THe ruble has lost 111% of its value since it reached its peak in August. The government has required restraint in covering the crisis and no mention of the word crisis or reference to social unrest as there is considerable fear in the government and public's mind from the previous crisis days when the ruble collapsed under President Yeltsin causing wwidespread poverty and social disruption and economic failures. Strikes by migrant workers in the Urals city of Yektarinburg. The governments approach is to provide some kind of ressure outlet and let things cool off by reversing actions like the decision to let pensioners use their discounted public transit tickets. As a result of the downturn 7500 firms have informed the government they intend to layoff people and 207,000 workers have had working hours reduced since October 2008. And the government is drawing up alist of significant enterprises needing a bailout....

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Kingsley of the NYT provides this report from Turkey describing the impact of the conflict with the Kurds inside and outside the country.

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Boeing's goal is to make 10 Dreamliners a month by late 2013. The current rate is 2 per month, which Boeing hopes to move up to 2.5 a month by November 2011, and 3.5 a month by early Spring. Boeing CEO, McInerney, says it will take a few years before each Dreamliner turns a profit. He expects this will happen before 2020. The large investment during this decade should see returns in terms of an annuity for 25-35 years, said McInerney. The Dreamliner is the first jetliner to be made largely of plastic-composite materials, in place of aluminium. To build the Dreamliner Boeing had to accomplish what McInerney calls "game-changing innovation," and at the same time achieve improvements in production techniques. Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing's Commercial Airplanes division, says the next step is to take what takes an hour and half to assemble and bring this down to 15 minutes. This will help meet a long backlog of orders. Boeing has 820 orders for the Dreamliner as of Sept. 2011. The first Dreamliner was delivered on Sept. 26, 2011, to All Nippon Airways....

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A new survey of senior lending officers of 45 emerging market banks by the Institute of International Finance is similiar to surveys done by central banks in U.S., Europe and Japan. The IIF is an asssociation of large global banks. The IIF's chief economist says the survey shows strong demand for loans in these countries. Emerging market banks are becoming cautious, but its difficult considering the strong demand for loans. In China and Brazil, banking authorites are trying to cool the huge increase in loans as asset bubbles are developing. The IIF's first survey shows strong demand for loans aross the board, especially in Brazil. Similiar information from Turkey shows strong loan demand. An index of loan demand for consumer loans in emerging markets- with a score of 50 indicating expansion of loan demand and below 50 contracting loan demand- is at 64.1. Similiar indexes for the U.S. are at 50.1, for Europe 49.8, Japan 48.5, according to the recent surveys by central banks. While 56% of emerging market banks say corporate loan demand has grown in the 1st quarter 2011- the similiar number for the U.S. is 35% in the Fed survey, and 28% for Europe in the ECB survey. The IIF survey looked at the bank's lending practices and found banks in emerging Asia were tightening standards while banks in Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East were lowering the standards. 25% of emerging market banks tightened corporate lending standards, 16% relaxed standards, and the remainder left things as they were. A similiar Fed survey for the U.S. showed no banks tightening corporate lending standards, and 16% relaxing standards. And an ECB survey shows more banks tightening standards than relaxing them....

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Winkler says Nokia may make it but it looks more likely that Research In Motion may not make it through the current storm.

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The Spanish government agreed to open the books of Spanish regional governments and the regional savings banks to reduce concern in financial markets about Spain's debt. Spain's government debt is 53.2% of GDP in 2009, which is lower than Greece at 127%, Italy at 116%, Portugal at 76%, Ireland at 65%, and Germany at 73%. Spain's problem is the a large amount of private debt accumulated during15 years, in the low interest rate environment after joining the eurozone. Joining the euro sent interest rates in Spain down because it removed the risk of devaluation. The government was restrained by the Maastricht treaty criteria but private investors and regional banks could borrow freely, and they borrowed extensively, with money going into home building and construction. The fear is that the Spanish government will end up taking on much of this debt. The other problem is that Spain needs to refinance much of that debt in 2011, at a time when investors are nervous about eurozone debt. Spain's central government will need to raise 170 billion euros in 2011, regional governments another 30 billion euros, and Spanish banks another 90 billion euros. The government has set up a special facility for Spanish banks to draw on of 99 billion euros....

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The government's rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has so far cost $145.9 billon. According to the Congressional Budget Office its eventual cost could reach $389 billion. The federal government has put the companies on conservatorship and has a 79.9% stake in the companies. The federal governmet also provides a guarantee that investors will be repaid. By buying loans from banks and other companies that originate loans, Fannie and Freddie were ostensibly in the business of promoting home ownership. The implicit governmet guarantee of Fannie and Freddie's activities in the housing market had the potential to create a huge government liability if the activities are not run well, and this is exactly what happened. By pushing hard for increasing home ownership to unsustainable levels - setting a target in 2001 of creating six million homeowners by 2014 for instance way beyond what was sustainable for the finances of prospective homeowners- it only fueled speculation, easy money and a bubble in housing in the U.S. As investors get paid with the government guarantee, it is Fannie and Freddie that is ending up with ownership of foreclosed homes- one every 90 seconds in the the first quarter of 2010, according to an estimate. The two companies owned 168,000 homes in March 2010....