Another Edition of Follow the Money

April 28 (Bloomberg) -- Barack Obama's supporters are giving him more than just record amounts of cash. They also are providing personal information that may make his donor list the most powerful tool in U.S. politics.

Even if the Democratic presidential candidate doesn't succeed in his White House bid, this data will make Obama a power broker in the party for years to come. For the interest groups or Democratic candidates he chooses to sell it to, it would provide a gold mine of information and access to potential donors.

Almost 2 million people have entered personal information on Obama pages on social-networking Web sites such as Facebook, MySpace and his campaign's mybarackobama.com, offering home addresses, phone numbers, their views on specific issues and the names of friends. The data have allowed Obama, 46, to raise more than $200 million, fill sports arenas with supporters across the nation and motivate millions more with custom-tailored messages.

``It's gigantic,'' said Laura Quinn, chief executive officer of Catalist, a company that maintains a database of 280 million Americans. The list is as ``transformational'' as the advent of political advertising, she said.

Volunteering Information

The Illinois senator's biggest innovation is in persuading people to enter personal information directly on his campaign's Web site, according to Bill McIntyre, executive vice president of Grassroots Enterprise Inc., a Washington-based Internet marketing firm that advises campaigns.

McIntyre, a Republican and former chief national spokesman for the National Rifle Association, said the data entered by 800,000 names on mybarakobama.com may be worth as much as $200 million.

While in the past, campaigns have cross-referenced lists of registered voters against other records such as credit-card purchases or magazine subscriptions to find potential supporters, Obama's information is more accurate and precise because it relies on data that donors provide themselves.

``When people give information online, they are going to be more truthful and more credible because they are in the privacy of their own environment,'' said McIntyre.

Republican Effort

It's the kind of detailed information that Republican operatives such as Karl Rove, who directed President George W. Bush's campaigns, excelled at gathering through expensive microtargeting techniques that combine data from several sources. The Democrats responded with Catalist, a similar list- building effort organized by top Clinton campaign adviser Harold Ickes that sells its data to ``progressive'' causes and candidates, according to its Web site.

Obama's success stems from a decision early in his campaign to embrace the concept of social networking, allowing him to leap ahead of his Democratic rival, Senator Hillary Clinton of New York, or the presumptive Republican nominee, Senator John McCain of Arizona. For example, Obama now has 790,000 Facebook ``friends,'' compared with 150,000 for Clinton, 60, and 117,000 for McCain, 71.

Mybarackobama.com, the first social network specifically devoted to a political campaign, is modeled on Facebook. Chris Hughes, a 24-year-old Facebook co-founder, has been a fulltime Obama campaign worker for more than a year and helped develop the candidate's site.

Part of Campaign

When supporters join mybarackobama.com, they become part of the campaign, gaining access to phone bank lists, local events and the ability to contact like-minded people or recruit new ones.

Mybarackobama.com is also a sophisticated data network that allows the campaign to home in on detailed information such as whether a supporter is more concerned about civil liberties, foreign policy, education or energy policy.

People who provide their information on line may not realize that the data they are posting at mybarackobama.com may have a long afterlife and find its way to other campaigns in future election cycles.

According to the Obama campaign's online privacy statement, it reserves the right to ``make personal information available to organizations with similar political viewpoints and objectives, in furtherance of our own political objectives.''

Fair-Market Value

Federal election laws require campaigns to charge for the use of their data. The campaign must either sell the information or record the transaction as an in-kind contribution at fair- market value.

Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor declined to comment on the value or possible future uses of the data.

Even as Obama's interactive databases prove to be efficient ways to energize volunteers, their ability to raise large amounts of money may outlast the current campaign, said Tad Devine, an independent media consultant.

``That's really what we are talking about here,'' said Devine, a former strategist for Democrat John Kerry's 2004 presidential bid. ``We are talking about a fundraising network that will far surpass the dominance that the Republicans held in the '80s and even in to the '90s.''

Obama's list of 1.4 million donors may be an especially strong fundraising tool in the future, Devine said.

``This is something where if this guy sends out a letter saying send some money to someone, suddenly a House candidate can have a half million dollars in a day,'' said Devine. ``That may be what the House candidate was hoping to raise in a quarter.''

This ability to produce results ensures Obama will play a prominent role in the future.

``Win or lose, it's his list,'' McIntyre sai

d.

Money Talks Louder Than Happy Talk

Good indications here. From Bloomberg.

April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. led $43.3 billion of U.S. corporate bond sales, the busiest week on record, as financial companies sold debt at the highest yields since May 2001.

Sales compare with $31.2 billion last week and an average this year of $18 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Citigroup, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, sold $6 billion of hybrid bonds in the company's largest public debt offering, while New York-based securities firm Merrill Lynch raised $9.55 billion by issuing debt and preferred securities.

Bond offerings soared as investors grew more optimistic financial companies can recover from $309 billion of writedowns and credit losses tied to the collapse of subprime-mortgage securities. Banks and securities firms sold 88 percent of investment-grade debt this week, Bloomberg data show. High-yield bond sales swelled to the most since November.

``Investors are feeling better about banks being proactive about raising capital,'' said Mike Difley, who helps oversee $21 billion in fixed-income assets as a portfolio manager at American Century Investment Management in Kansas City. ``They're trying to get their house in order.''

The extra yield investors demand to own investment-grade debt fell 9 basis points this week to 268 basis points, the lowest since March 5, according to Merrill Lynch index data. Yet yields rose to 6.13 percent, the highest since August. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point...

Location, Location, Location...

Turkey is playing hardball, I like it. From Bloomberg.

Turkey Seeks Bigger Pipeline Role, Roils Europe It Aims to Join

By Celestine Bohlen

April 22 (Bloomberg) -- Turkey is playing hardball in the geopolitical struggle over an $8 billion pipeline at the center of Europe's efforts to cut dependence on Russian natural gas.

The nation, which bridges Europe and Central Asia, is trying to profit from its strategic location and become a key part of Europe's energy plan. This might bolster its push to join the European Union -- if its negotiating tactics don't exhaust Europe's patience.

Europe wants Turkey to be a transit corridor along the Nabucco pipeline's 3,300-kilometer (2,062-mile) route from the Caspian Sea region to Austria. Turkey wants more control: acting as a regional energy hub, collecting gas from the east, buying some domestically at below-market prices and passing on the rest to Europe for a variable fee.
Pipeline Monopoly

Moscow-based Gazprom OAO has a monopoly on gas pipelines from Russia and Central Asia to Europe. Russia accounts for a quarter of the EU's gas consumption and more than 40 percent of gas imports. With gas demand rising 3 percent a year, the EU will consume 620 billion cubic meters by 2020, 500 billion imported, its figures show.

Nabucco has political backing from the EU and U.S. as an alternative to Gazprom. Meanwhile Gazprom and Eni SpA, Italy's largest oil company, are promoting a new $15 billion pipeline, named South Stream, to rival Nabucco.

In January 2006, Nabucco catapulted to the top of the EU's agenda after Russia briefly cut gas deliveries to Ukraine over a price dispute, blocking flows to Europe. Although Nabucco's capacity of 31 billion cubic meters would account for only 5 percent of the EU's 2020 gas needs, it would provide competition and may help lower prices, the EU says.

``The Nabucco pipeline is a clear economic and political necessity,'' said EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs in a March 2006 interview.

Gas-Rich Regions

Turkey, a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and an EU candidate since 2005, has long aspired to link the oil-and gas-rich regions of Central Asia with Europe. Its port city of Ceyhan receives 1 million barrels daily of Azerbaijani oil through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

Turkey's push for more control over Nabucco, and more revenue, clashes with the EU's proposal that Turkey -- like EU members Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria -- collect only transmission fees tied to costs.

``All Turkey is trying to do is get some of the gas for domestic consumption, and its fair share of commercial transactions,'' says Mithat Balkan, who until six months ago was the Turkish Foreign Ministry's energy coordinator.

Turkey doesn't feel any obligation to abide by rules set by a club that hasn't yet accepted it as a member, Balkan says.
...

Will Isiah Thomas Top Larry Brown's Buyout Number?

Larry set the bar high with $18.5 mil, so good luck, Isiah. From ESPN.

Former New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas has been banned from having any contact with members of the team as part of his reassignment agreement with team president Donnie Walsh, the New York Daily News reported, citing a team source.

Walsh, who replaced Thomas as the Knicks' president, fired him as coach last week after Thomas went 56-108 as coach, including this season's 23-59 disaster. He has been reassigned as an advisor to the team.

According to the report, there is concern that Thomas, if allowed to have any contact with the team, could either willingly or unwillingly undermine its new coach. Thomas acquired all the players on the current Knicks roster as team president.

But the agreement does not prohibit Thomas from speaking to Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan, according to the report.

for some peoples, times are really good

LONDON (Reuters) - While the global credit crunch has forced many consumers to rein in spending, one Beijing-based billionaire has splashed out a record $500,000 on 27 bottles of red wine, London-based Antique Wine Company said on Saturday.

The anonymous Chinese entrepreneur bought a mix of vintages of Romanee Conti, a Burgundy wine and considered to be among the world's most exclusive with only 450 cases produced each year.

The client bought 12 bottles of Romanee Conti 1978, two bottles of the 1961, 1966, 1996 and 2003 and single bottles of the 1981, 1990, 1992, 1995, 1999, 2001 and 2002.

PALM BEACH — In another sign of just how hot the mansion market is, the oceanfront estate built by billionaire businessman and philanthropist Sidney Kimmel has sold for $81.5 million, a record for the island.

John L. Thornton, 54, a former Goldman Sachs partner and chairman of the Brookings Institution, is the buyer, people familiar with the transaction said.

Will Kudlow Recognize the Market's Decision?

More from Morty and Moishe's continuing series Follow the Money. From TPM.

Money Managers Betting On Obama
By Eric Kleefeld - April 14, 2008, 8:39AM

Barack Obama has enjoyed a groundswell of donations from hedge-fund managers, just edging out Hillary Clinton and way ahead of John McCain -- a sign that the markets are, right or wrong, betting on an Obama win in November.

The numbers from up until Feb. 29: Obama has received $2,196,734 from money managers, Clinton $2,046,550, and McCain only $772,375.

Forget About Polls, Follow the Money

Via Andrew Sullivan.

McCain Has No Money; Obama Has No Debt: Weighing the Candidates' Campaign Coffers

Last Thursday was the deadline for the presidential candidates to file their latest fundraising numbers with the FEC. As we await the updates, it's worth taking a look at their most current numbers, and what they may portend for the general election.

With the media focused exclusively on the battle between Clinton and Obama, Republican nominee John McCain has been spending his time shoring up support for his candidacy—and, presumably, fundraising. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, he really, really needs to: In the month of February, he raised just under $11 million, compared to $34 million for Clinton and $55 million for Obama.The numbers get worse when you look at the whole election cycle: in total, McCain has raised just $64 million, less than half of Clinton's $170 million, and a third of Obama's $193 million.

But what's most striking is the debt. The Clinton campaign has amassed a staggering $8.7 million worth, double McCain's $4.3 million. Obama, on the other hand, owes only $625,000. By campaign standards, he's debt free.

What to make of this? If it were only about cash on hand, either Clinton or Obama could trounce McCain in the general election. But Clinton's campaign spent nearly as much as it raised in February, while Obama's used only about 80%. The combination of more funds to use and less debt to pay down would give Obama an unquestionable advantage in the general election. On the flip side, however, McCain's getting a free ride right now. As long as the Democratic infighting continues, he may not need that much money to make his case. But once the general really gets underway, he'll need to compete with an already-daunting cash lead and a horde of enthusiastic donors. If dollars are what count, McCain loses.

—Casey Miner

Genius! bet on news stories - whats better?

Nigel Eccles, a news junkie and former online betting site employee, wanted to try pursuing both interests at once.

Thus was born Hubdub - a new Web site Eccles and three colleagues in Edinburgh, Scotland, assembled - where customers will bet for fun, not money, on the outcomes of real news stories.

The site launches Monday as an influential technology conference gets under way in Palm Desert, Calif. - where Eccles plans to try drumming up support from investors.

Here's how it will work. After signing up, you'll receive 1,000 "Hubdub dollars," play money that works only on the site. You can look at stories about, say, whether Gregg Williams will be named the next head coach of the Washington Redskins or who will win the Florida Republican primary.

Guess right, and you'll win more Hubdub dollars. Lose, and your account will draw down. In the spirit of the board game Monopoly, where simply sticking it out is rewarded, you'll also get 20 new Hubdub dollars ever day you log in.

Compelling - Private money funding public works projects

With this countries infrastructure in dire need of upgrading and lack of public monies to complete these projects - this could be a new model for financing. Public works projects are notorious for cost overruns and delays, think Boston's Big Dig, as their is no accountability or bottom line concerns(who cares about the publics money?). If the private sector were running the show their would be a strong incentive to build on time and on budget resulting in a win-win. Some might argue that $25 is too much to charge consumers to use this tunnel but it's a very simliar concept to congestion pricing. Using market forces (namely charging a premium for something) to control congestion and to some extent help the environment as this would encourage "rationing" and wider use of public transportation.

An interesting angle may be to pass legislation similar to Historic Tax Credits that would provide equity funds that would go towards the capital stack to fund these public works projects that would have cash flow. In addition, to the extent these projects offset carbon emissions into the atmosphere they should be entitled carbon offsets which they could sell on the Chicago Climate Exchange or other commodities exchange or directly to a user (an energy company or the like) in a private transaction.

OYSTER BAY, N.Y. (AP) - It would be the world's longest highway tunnel, running more than 16 miles under the west end of Long Island Sound.

The cost is estimated at $10 billion - and it wouldn't cost taxpayers a dime. A developer wants to build the tunnel with private money, recouping his costs by charging drivers $25 each way and by selling advertising.

Developer Vincent Polimeni says the tunnel between Oyster Bay and Rye on the New York mainland would let travelers going between Long Island and New England avoid crowded New York City highways and help alleviate traffic congestion.

While not expected to be completed before 2025, the proposal received renewed attention this past week when a state Senate committee held a hearing.

Polimeni acknowledges his idea was initially met with "smirks and skepticism." But he added: "The more people looked at the plan, the larger circle of intrigued citizens who said 'tell me more.'"

The tunnel also brought back memories of Robert Moses, the powerful New York municipal planner who was rebuffed in his bid to build a bridge over Long Island Sound three decades ago. Long Island officials savaged Moses for his plan.

TO CONTINUE READING

And Moishe is going to figure a way to invest in this, any ideas Morty?

Japanese Garbage Datapoints of the Day

The value of indium in Japan's garbage dumps: $833 million
The value of lead in Japan's garbage dumps: $15 billion
The value of silver in Japan's garbage dumps: $30 billion
The value of gold in Japan's garbage dumps: $178 billion
The value of copper in Japan's garbage dumps: $283 billion

The 6,800 tons of gold in Japan's "urban mines" compares to 765 tons in Japan's official reserves; it's more even than the official reserves of Germany and the IMF combined.

(Source, via Schiff

Moishe is gonna cash in his bar mitzvah bonds to invest in this guys VC fund

Khosla Ventures on Friday said it has invested in fuel efficient diesel engine maker EcoMotors.

The move sets the stage for Vinod Khosla’s appearance at the Detroit Auto Show on Sunday.

“We’re focused on powering the automotive fleet of tomorrow with fuel efficient building blocks,” Khosla Ventures managing partner Vinod Khosla said in a statement.

EcoMotors promises to bring low-cost diesel engines that boast lower emissions and 100 miles per gallon fuel efficiency by 2011.

Khosla Ventures believes the timing is right for EcoMotors’ engine. The venture firm cites the market pressure of the recently enacted new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards law that will require auto makers to improve fuel efficiency by 40 percent starting in 2011 (see Senate Passes Energy Bill).

The venture firm also said that EcoMotors will benefit from more stringent EPA diesel emissions standards for 2010.

Financial terms of the Khosla Ventures investment were not disclosed.

The firm also has an interest in Transonic Combustion, which has developed a fuel injection system for getting diesels (as well as other types of engines) to go 100 miles per gallon. The trick is to burn the fuel far more efficiently. That gassy smell that often comes out of diesel engines is un-combusted fuel. VCs often persuade their companies to work together, so you one day may see collaboration between EcoMotors and Transonic, if it isn't occurring already.

Another potential sign of a bottom in housing market

Developer Behind
Time Warner Center
Gets Capital Infusion

By MATTHEW KARNITSCHNIG and ALEX FRANGOS
December 17, 2007; Page A2

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the investment arm of Abu Dhabi and others have agreed to inject a combined $1.4 billion into Related Cos., the closely held real-estate developer behind New York's Time Warner Center, executives at Related Cos. said.

The deal, which was announced today, includes about $400 million in equity from Goldman and MSD Capital, Michael Dell's investment firm. The equity investment gives Goldman and MSD a 7.5% stake in Related, valuing the New York real-estate firm at more than $5 billion.

In addition, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Development Co. and the Olayan Group, a Saudi Arabian company, as well as an unnamed international investor, have invested about $1 billion total in Related in the form of subordinated long-term debt......