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While most of America cheered the inauguration of Barack Obama, Wall Street issued a raspberry, sending the Dow Jones down 4%. But that should be the least of the new President's worries. John Kennedy was the last to see the markets rise on the day he was sworn into office.
It's not as if Wall Street has been immune to Obamamania. Some of its best-known players have been eager supporters. Of the $ 27 million (£19 million) raised by the Presidential Inauguration Committee, $7.1 million came from people in finance. George Soros and family gave $250,000 and David Shaw, founder of DE Shaw, gave the maximum individual gift of $50,000.
In total, 118 donors with Wall Street ties gave more than $3.5 million, or an average of $30,534 each. Even battered Citigroup scratched together $50,000. Let's hope it wasn't from the government bailout funds.
What do these people want in return? Ambassadorships? Preferable tax treatment? Or are they just enthused by the new man? It would be wonderful if they followed up by encouraging their peers to drop the tax-avoidance schemes endemic among rich Americans. Right now, the country could use its share of the money growing tax-free in the Caribbean and elsewhere.
* Someone should pull all the bad newsletters sent out by hedge funds into a short book. The latest comes from Warren Lichtenstein of Steel Partners, who decided to turn his main fund into a publicly listed vehicle after it was down 43% from January to November last year. Investors are suing Steel, saying they were not properly told of the change. When Lichtenstein did get round to it, he wrote: “Life is full of stumbling blocks or stepping stones. It all depends on which you choose.”
* Financial struggles at The New York Times have allowed Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim to increase his stake. Slim is one of the few who can make New York's other major newspaperman, Rupert Murdoch, owner of The Wall Street Journal and New York Post, feel poor. His telecoms fortune is estimated at $60 billion, 10 times Murdoch's. Rupert may hesitate before launching another of his price wars to win readers.
