Antitrust statement from Cramer?

[DemonD]

As a stock-loving guy I've learned to sort of ferret out what Cramer says and when to listen to him and when not.

Just saw him on Chris Matthews, and Matthews asked him about whether the economy will be good in 2008. Cramer, the ultra-perma-bull, stated that the economy was going to be outstanding, interest rates were going to be lower, and inflation was going to be low.

Um... yeeeeeah... okay there Jimmy.

Then he turns around and gives this nugget:

(paraphrased) "There will be a wave of anti-competitive merger activity over the next 18 months as Wall Street knows that if the Democrats win the Presidency, they will return the Anti-Trust jurisdiction to the Justice Department, where right now it is with the Commerce Department."

As far as I can tell, antitrust is still prosecuted by the Justice Department, I can't find any evidence online otherwise..

Can anyone tell me what he was referring to?

[Jim Nickerson]

Re: Antitrust statement from Cramer?

As a stock-loving guy I've learned to sort of ferret out what Cramer says and when to listen to him and when not.

Just saw him on Chris Matthews, and Matthews asked him about whether the economy will be good in 2008. Cramer, the ultra-perma-bull, stated that the economy was going to be outstanding, interest rates were going to be lower, and inflation was going to be low.

Um... yeeeeeah... okay there Jimmy.

Then he turns around and gives this nugget:

(paraphrased) "There will be a wave of anti-competitive merger activity over the next 18 months as Wall Street knows that if the Democrats win the Presidency, they will return the Anti-Trust jurisdiction to the Justice Department, where right now it is with the Commerce Department."

As far as I can tell, antitrust is still prosecuted by the Justice Department, I can't find any evidence online otherwise..

Can anyone tell me what he was referring to?

Perhaps he was speaking tongue-in-cheek, meaning that if anti-trust considerations now lie with the Commerce Department, then there are no anti-trust considerations.

[Finster]

Re: Antitrust statement from Cramer?

Perhaps he was speaking tongue-in-cheek, meaning that if anti-trust considerations now lie with the Commerce Department, then there are no anti-trust considerations.

Ought to just get rid of them completely. This is supposed to be a free country, after all. And in a supposedly market-based economic system, why are armies of lawyers and bureaucrats making these kinds of decisions?

Far better to make the corporate tax more progressive, just like for individuals. Give the really big companies a 50% marginal rate. And then let all corps deduct dividend payments to shareholders just like they do coupon payments to bond holders. This way big companies will have an incentive to recyle their excess capital instead of using it to get even bigger.