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Trump Victory Clouds Outlook for Time Warner-AT&T, Other Mergers (reuters.com)
U.S. corporate dealmakers were likely to put major merger plans on hold as they assess whether U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will follow through on his populist promises and a threat to block AT&T's purchase of Time Warner, or act more like traditional business-friendly Republican administrations. From the report:Trump's rhetoric and the personal nature of the campaign, which included little discussion of policy, left many uncertain about the new U.S. leader's plans, including how his administration will handle mega-mergers. Wall Street braced for a drop in deals, with Goldman Sachs on Wednesday projecting a 20 to 30 percent downside for earnings of banks that focus on merger and acquisition advice, and Jefferies saying that uncertainty about Trump's policy on trade, healthcare, taxes and energy could hamper underwriting activity and M&A globally. "I think a lot of deals will hit the pause button for a bit until we get some clarity on whether President Trump will moderate or be as disruptive as some expect," said a senior Wall Street banker who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak with the media. "It's going to be a tough environment for everything until we see how [Trump] behaves as a leader," the banker added.
These mergers are good for 3-4 1%ers and bad for everyone else.
Rhetoric wins elections but actions speak louder than words. Trump spent his entire career having to skirt around regulations to get things done so I highly doubt he's going to do anything that gets in the way of business doing whatever it wants to do, including performing anti-competitive mergers.
For the good of everyone, I hope he blocks it...
However, given that it is part way done and that Trump will be REALLY, REALLY busy the first 100 days, it may simply be too far down his RADAR screen to be an issue.
There is a limit to the bandwidth of any human being, Trump has NAFTA, ACA, and a thousand other things to worry about before the AT&T deal...
Assuming it comes with $1 million in cash delivered by a naked supermodel. As long as he gets what he wants, his morals are for sale.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
You have to admit: Trump is the first president in memory who isn't carrying debt to Wall Street or other big business into the White House. His career thus far has been as the puppeteer, not the puppet. I hope he fucks up Comcast and AT&T good and hard.
Low information voters for the win!
"Old man yells at systemd"
It is a shame that you felt that you had to post that as A/C. I find it interesting that the media frenzy has made admitting support from Trump something that many will not do. This probably contributed to the 'surprise' victory and why polsters got it wrong.
I am a Brit, I did not have a vote.
The Democrats would've looked at it pretty skeptically if they were still in charge. It's obviously a bad deal for consumers.
As for Trump, I suspect he'll be very friendly to big business, same as Dubya, with the notable exception of companies and deals that he campaigned against (the auto industry, Time-Warner/AT&T). Supporting big business is what Republican presidents do. They talk about it in populist terms though ("Get government off the backs of the people... I'm going to lower your taxes" etc).
I hope you are still glad when your mortal coil is first bathed in nuclear hellfire briefly before being obliterated by the overpressure blast wave
start looking at his party. or at least approach your decision as a reflection of trust in that party. Wallstreet is naive if they slept through 8 years of republican brinksmanship and stalemating and are just now concerned about the state of leadership now that we've elected a tangerine for president.
to put it a better way, look at the bush presidency. Bush was inept, certainly unfit for the role of president. Youd reconsider anyone who told you after a national terrorist event to "go shopping." However as a leader in economic terms, he was sufficient for Wallstreet for 8 years and served diligently to bail out banks and automakers when they asked.
Good people go to bed earlier.
If you believe anything the man said you're a fucking chump! He has no positions other that what he perceives as good for for himself in the moment and has never uttered a sincere word since the last time his father battered him for being a little loser prick.
If Slashdot has taught me anything in the past 48 hours, it's that anything and everything about Trump is worse than Hitler.
Mega mergers between cable companies that Trump doesn't like? Obviously this means mega-corps are our new friends and opposing them means you hate women and minorities.
AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
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I'd say it's possible it could go to either way. People enmeshed in any situation often become cynical about it's shortcomings and have positive ideas how they'd reform it if only they had the power to do so. Trump and warren buffet both know, and have said so eliptically, that they get away with a lot on tax returns at the same but wanting to close those rules for everyone inclduding themselves.
As for the AT&T merger this is just one beachhead in a protracted battle of media concentration. What I'm more concerned about it net neutrality. 50 years from now that's most likely the most shaping change we could make right now. Even depressions or wars don't last 50 years, but things like freedom of the press do.
The problem with the merger here is not the size of the corproation but whether it has the power to favor it's content over other creators. Short of that, it's entirely possible for competition to degrade the content arm while innovative technologies (someone will event something akin to wimax over lighting fixtures and powerlines that eclipses the current internet in 20 years) can degrade the delivery system monoploy. But if net neutrality isn't in place there's no battlefield for that competition to occur.
This is the one issue all slashdotters, aside from the ellisons or schmidts, shold be wary about of in a trump admiistration.
The reason to worry is that if you read the Wall street Journal then you know the shifting arguments in the net neutrality case have moved to the idea that it's a bussiness innovation to allow the markets to decide on public commons resource allocations. It's an argument that is easier to make to someone like trump for example. He can easily spot a monoploy forming and be against it but can he really say what ferwer bussiness regulations would do? No he'd be in favor of finding out as that is what has made him rich. opportunities over monopilies. So he'll oppose net neutrality in favor of reduced regulation.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Technically I voted for Trump but I really voted against Hillary and the establishment. I don't believe that Trump is the racist, misogynist invocation of Stalin that he was made out to be during the campaign but he said some sketchy stuff early on so I am watching him.
If he doesn't follow through on promises like this then I will join the butthurt Hillary worshipers in calling for his head.
Trump may owe money on loans to various banks - but they are LOANS he has to repay.
Hillary was "given" money from all of the largest corporations, and may foreign nations, given outright... her "repayment" was going to be be very different indeed....
Trump only owes them money, what Hillary owed them would have been paid in our tears.
Also why would you think Trump would be MORE lenient on banks to whom he owes money? Why would he not instead be one of their biggest critics having to deal with them to get money for projects the same way the rest of us do.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
some people might actually think you are serious.
Do they increase RnD? Create more jobs? Develop new product lines? What do they do besides create a flurry of activity for managers, accountants, and brokers?
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
Read your own post again, then remember the phrase "Physician - heal thyself".
I see plenty of psychosis all around, but very little from Trump. I see people claiming that someone who wanted to back off NATO commitments is somehow more of warmonger than the person who literally started the Libyan war... if that's not a break from reality I don't know what is.
I see the first Republican president who openly advocated for gay marriage (and was cheered for it as the Republican convention) being somehow a step back for the LBGT community, even though it has brought half of America closer to accepting gay marriage as a result. More people being accepting as bad? if that's not a break from reality I don't know what is.
I see people marching against things they fear, that will never happen and there is no proof they will... I see people repeating the mantra "Trump is not my president" even though Hillary and Obama are very willing to accept that he is. If THAT is not a break from reality, I don't know what is.
Oh yes there is psychosis, and I hope it will pass. But for many I fear they are now lost within their own minds whatever happens, and they will sadly withdraw from humanity as a result.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
It is true that many will die from the Iranian nuclear bombs that Obama enabled, but they will probably kill a few million Isralies first.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
But he also said that that was broken and shouldn't be happening, and that one of his strengths was that he was best positioned to fix it because he knew exactly how it was broken as an insider participant.
Anyone who believe he actually can or will do anything about this is naive to the point of being retarded. Trump will game this to his own best advantage and seek to help his own enterprises and cronies profit. To believe otherwise is idiotic.
I think it's certainly possible that he could block anti-competitive mergers based on his campaign rhetoric, and more importantly, the open contempt for him that establishment insiders had for him and his campaign, Republicans included. He doesn't owe those people *anything*, if anything they owe him -- he delivered the White House *and* the downticket vote.
That's the scary thing. He doesn't owe much so we don't know his motivations. It also means he doesn't have much incentive to actually listen to anyone. For a guy that was openly endorsed by the KKK that's more than a little frightening.
Trump had to skirt some horrid regulations.
Not sure which regulations you are referring to but whichever they are they were horrid in his opinion. Not an opinion that is universally shared. Regulations usually exist for a reason and getting rid of regulations just because the are inconvenient for Donald Trump isn't enough of a reason.
I too, doubt he will do anything bad for the economy.
Based on what? You have NO idea what he's going to do. Nobody does. Most of the crap that has come out of his mouth has been ill-considered if not outright harmful and he changes positions more often than most people change their pants. He tells transparent and easily refuted lies on a routine basis about topics that he clearly doesn't understand and refuses to listen to others about.
But monopolies are bad for the economy.
Sometimes they are, sometimes they aren't. A monopoly in and of itself isn't necessarily bad but they require careful regulation and oversight in most cases. Sometimes monopolies are the most economically efficient way to do something. But this particular merger doesn't seem to benefit consumers in any meaningful way.
The complete annihilation of the entire leftist agenda and policy proves you wrong. You just didn't listen to him, the tens of thousands that went to every one of his rallys did.
Sorry.
Trump has had so many women in his love life that could be or were models that his natural reaction to using one as a bribe when he's President is far more likely to be withering contempt. It's like trying to bribe a very wealthy and successful rancher with a good steak dinner to seal the deal.
Time Warner was one of Hilary's biggest donors, and their subsidiary CNN bashed Trump nonstop. You really think Trump wants to see those people consolidate even more power? Not going to happen. Time Warner invested big into Clinton to get this merger through and the investment didn't workout.
Between a constant threat of impeachment, civil suits and criminal charges as well as massive protests from every direction Trump will have trouble finding enough time to pick his nose much less lead the nation. The republicans liked obstruction tactics. Let's see how they like obstruction multiplied by 1,000. The decent people in America will not tolerate trump or his ilk at all.
I see people marching against things they fear, that will never happen and there is no proof they will... I see people repeating the mantra "Trump is not my president" even though Hillary and Obama are very willing to accept that he is. If THAT is not a break from reality, I don't know what is.
When these same people heard those words said of Obama, they concluded the only reason someone might not like Obama is because he is black and the person in question is a racist. And here they are saying the same things of Trump...and I doubt they think they are racist now.
Totally.
That's why Trump relied exclusively on vapid celebratory endorsements and bread & circuses concerts to lure in stupid voters who didn't know any better.
Just look at all those late night comedians who were bought & paid for to support Trump and trash Hillary! It's outrageous!
AntiFA: An abbreviation for Anti First Amendment.
If we don't know his motivations, how do you "know" that he will use the Presidency to game his own business interests?
How do I know a guy who has spent a lifetime focused on making money and plastering his name on everything he can, bragging about how rich he is and how he games the system, and turning himself into a brand will pursue his own interests? You have to be an idiot to think he would do anything else. Maybe he'll surprise us all but I very much doubt it.
I guess I'm more on the side where he doesn't seem to have motivation to get rich (he's already rich) nor does he have the motivation to need to impress anyone or curry favor
Rich people always want to get richer. There never seems to be a limit where enough is enough. And he now can perfectly legally engage in insider trading just like congress can.
A leader with no checks or balances stands every chance of becoming a despot or an American analog of one. With a republican congress what's to really stop him from trampling the civil rights of millions of minorities? Who will keep him from trashing the environment? Who is to keep him from removing health insurance from millions of people? Who will protect the reproductive and civil rights of women? Who will keep the religious crazies out of schools? These are not idle or hypothetical questions any more.
And really, what does the unsolicited endorsement of KKK loonies have to do with it?
Because nobody knows what he really stands for aside from himself, and even that is in question. Groups like the KKK look at him and see him as their guy. Given the racist, xenophobic drivel that has come out of his mouth why wouldn't hey. It's just an example but hardly the only one. He's like those actors who don't actually emote much so people can project themselves on to them. Nobody actually knows what the guy thinks and that is terrifying in someone who is being given the most important job in the world.
I'm assuming this is sarcasm?
The media needs to be demonopolized. It is my sincere hope that after 30 years of complaining about a corrupt media we finally have enough of a voice to get the DOJ to address this under the Sherman Act.
Free speech is fine, but propaganda is not the same thing. The MSM in the US has become an arm of the Democratic party and what we used to laugh at in the USSR's Pravda. Worse however, is that people in Russia at least knew beyond any doubt that their media was state run propaganda while many in the US actually believe the reality TV shows are real.
-The wise argue that there are few absolutes, the fool argues that there are no probabilities.
He will be surrounded by advisers and staffers who will be paid off or will be promised work after Trump is president, and those people will influence Trump's decisions. And the Repub. party will also influence his decisions.
I noticed a lot of associations during the election period between the words "Trump" and "behave", used in the same story/article/etc. Post-election, they seem to be more closely spaced; same paragraph, same sentence. Just thought I'd throw the psychology out there for whoever wants to give a few brain cycles over the media/social associative narrowing of distance, aforementioned.
He has that much between seat cushions at the Trump tower. And he's married to a former model. So do us all a favor, and take your liberal bullshit elsewhere. One of the candidates made a hundred million dollars selling influence. That's an unassailable, verified fact. I'll leave it to you to figure out which candidate that is.
End of 'catch & release' means its substitution w/ 'catch & deport'.
Rhetoric wins elections but actions speak louder than words. Trump spent his entire career having to skirt around regulations to get things done so I highly doubt he's going to do anything that gets in the way of business doing whatever it wants to do, including performing anti-competitive mergers.
It's like if two people were fighting, and Bob said, "I'd rather have a fistfight than a gun fight." Then Charlie responds with, "That's fine you use your fists and I'll use my gun." This is where all the idiots who insist that actions always speak louder than words that Bob has to fight fists against gun because otherwise he's a hypocrite and if he really meant what he said about preferring a fistfight he must be willing to do that. The same with business, which is similarly a competition and you have to take every advantage you can get to succeed.
Remember, deciding not to act unilaterally towards a goal that requires cooperation is absolutely not actions speaking louder than words, because the words do indeed match the actions. Now if the words were that something is so immoral that they will unilaterally decide not to do it even though it would put them at a disadvantage, then you can talk about actions speaking louder than words if they're caught doing it anyways.
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
Them's winners, awright. Might as well throw that wild card Trump in there...
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Oh yes there is psychosis, and I hope it will pass. But for many I fear they are now lost within their own minds whatever happens, and they will sadly withdraw from humanity as a result.
And the best part is they will be barraging us with their hysterical paranoid delusions for at least the next four years.
If you're the trolling sort you can have a ball writing satirical LWNJ posts and expect them voted up through the roof. The more whack-a-doodle, the better. Just natter on about how the Right Wing Death Squads will be exterminating every type of minority and burning the bodies in the streets. Drawing inspiration from his mentor Mr. Putin, Trump will soon be unilaterally outlawing homosexuality, sodomy, and doggy style ('cus the blacks like it so much), make being Trans punishable by death, institute a policy of throwing captured illegal Mexican migrants off his wall, and round up the Muslims and kill them Auschwitz style.
Maybe he'll even bring back slavery, who knows? It's so exciting to be living in a time where any (or all, dare we hope!) historical evil could make a comeback, courtesy of Donald J Trump, any day now. President Trump, please MAKE AMERICA AN EVIL WHITE COLONIALIST AGGRESSOR AGAIN!!!!