SmartBrief caught up with CME Group Executive Chairman and President Terry Duffy on the sidelines of the Milken Institute Global Conference. In Part 1 of this two-part interview, Duffy talks about leadership in the exchange industry. In tomorrow’s Part 2, Duffy shares his views on what Dodd-Frank got right, Libor reform and the role Twitter stands to play in the financial markets.
How has leadership in the exchange world evolved during your time in the industry?
We walk a very fine line. What we never want to do is disintermediate our futures commission merchants community. … When you are working with a big bank and you are working with their clients, you must work together. I think that is different today than it has ever been in the history of our business. An exchange used to be just four walls for gathering price. Now you have to go out and cultivate clients. (read more…)
Home improvement is often a springtime activity. As the snow melts and the weather improves, homeowners often want to make improvements to their homes. These projects can include painting, fixing roofs, carpet and flooring installs, room remodeling and complete renovations. Although many people hire contractors to do the work, others are more do-it-yourselfers who are handy and may be concerned about finances. They want to save money and can easily do the work themselves.
Who are the do-it-yourselfers? Does it depend on the type of work?
Interior painting
A relatively quick, easy way to change a room dramatically without spending a lot of time or money is to repaint the walls. These projects can often be done in just a day or a weekend — depending upon the commitment and skill of the painters. The biggest challenge is usually selecting the color and doing the preparation work. Where do these do-it-yourself painters live? (read more…)
For many Americans, April 15 — Tax Day — is their least favorite day of the year. In 2009, Americans paid $866 billion in taxes to the federal government. The top 1% of earners — those making more than $343,927 — paid 36.7% of that figure. The bottom 50%, those who earned less than $32,396, paid $19 billion in taxes. Regardless, taxes affect people of all income levels.
Where people live can greatly affect their tax bill. States — and even counties and cities — levy taxes differently. In addition to the federal tax, 41 states and the District of Columbia also collect taxes on income. Cities and/or counties may add their own income tax on top of the state rate. Counties collect property taxes at rates that vary immensely across the U.S.
Many people who have complicated investments and assets will hire a good CPA to prepare their taxes for them. (read more…)
Providing affordable health care has been a hot-button political issue for decades. Many Americans could not afford costs for regular checkups and other preventive health options because they didn’t have health insurance. The lack of insurance became increasingly critical as uninsured patients jammed emergency rooms and clinics. These facilities absorbed the extra cost of treatment, stretching already-strained budgets and increasing health insurance costs for others. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Small Area Health Insurance Program, 17.2% of Americans did not have health insurance in 2010. That figure was much lower for those younger than age 19 at just 8.45%. Hispanics had the highest percentage of those without health insurance. In 2010, 32.5% of Hispanics did not have health insurance.
A goal of the new health care initiative was to provide affordable health insurance for everyone. When the Affordable Care Act was passed in March 2010, health insurance was to be made available to every American. (read more…)
Whether it was introducing Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler’s keynote address or sharing his witty take on NASCAR advertising with reporters, IntercontinentalExchange founder, Chairman and CEO Jeff Sprecher was the man about Boca at last week’s International Futures Industry Conference. There is no doubt that Sprecher is at ease in the spotlight that comes with ICE’s play for NYSE Euronext. Below are a few of the opinions Sprecher shared throughout the week.
On the very timely issue of exchange mergers and acquisitions: “We’ve had to move things around like chess pieces in order to keep up with our client needs. We think that’s driven a lot of growth for us. M&A has not so much been about trying to get big for scale sake. It’s about trying to have enough pieces to solve customer problems.”
On the greatness of U.S. capital markets: “The public markets are a great place to raise capital. (read more…)
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