Donald Trump’s asymmetrical bid for the White House + MORE Dec 19th

Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital has written the best explanation of investing risk I have ever come across in one of his Memos – Risk Revisited Again (the title revealing that he has refined and revised and expanded his exposition over many years and much hard reflection with much hard experience to inform him). The point of view is very practical as opposed to the academic theoretical approach and the writing is very readable for the DIY investor. That means he looks at risk in all its many facets and subtle but important nuances (24 different kinds of risk!), as opposed to the single volatility measure academics and regulators so love.I sure wish regulators like the CSA and the OSC would come to grips with this stuff instead of lazily opting for the misleadingly simplistic use of price volatility for classifying the riskiness of mutual funds.

Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg/Getty
WASHINGTON — It can be hard to see where Donald Trump the business ends and Donald Trump the presidential candidate begins.
When rivals level political attacks, the Republican front-runner’s company attorney threatens lawsuits on corporate letterhead. When his campaign needs event space, private businesses sometimes provide it free.
The political novice’s use of corporate resources — both his own and those of others — is another tool in his asymmetrical bid for the White House. But it has drawn the attention of federal regulators, as well as campaign-law experts who say some of what he’s doing could be illegal.
“The entanglements with his business and his campaign are certainly unusual, and maybe unprecedented,” said Kenneth Gross, an attorney who previously led the Federal Election Commission’s enforcement division. “Use of a candidate’s own corporate resources is highly, highly regulated activity.”
At the FEC’s demand, Trump’s campaign on Thursday provided regulators with the names of employees at his real estate and entertainment company who are doing work for his campaign _ mostly security and communications aides…

WATERLOO, Ont. – BlackBerry’s chief executive John Chen says he stands by a controversial blog post he published earlier this week that outlines when he’d be willing to hand private customer information over to law enforcement.
The CEO of the Waterloo, Ont.-based company was taken to task by technology websites and commentators over what some deemed as hypocrisy coming from the leader of a brand that pledges security and privacy.
Without pointing Apple out by name on Tuesday, Chen slammed a recent update to Apple’s operating system which makes it impossible for the company to unlock the devices, even if there’s a search warrant for a criminal investigation.
Talking with reporters on Friday, after BlackBerry released its latest financial results, Chen said he wasn’t fazed by the backlash.
“I strongly believe that if there are bad elements out there trying to harm society, for one reason or another… it’s our social responsibility to help,” he said…

WASHINGTON – Just as the Federal Reserve is pulling back slightly on the economic accelerator, Congress is pressing down a bit harder.
The spending and tax-cut package that Congress approved Friday stands to modestly boost growth next year. It could also help drive a shift away from government as a drag on economic growth to a source of potential stimulus.
“This shift … is currently being overlooked by financial markets and analysts,” said Joseph Carson, U.S. economist at asset manager Alliance Bernstein. “But we believe this will be a key aspect of a more positive and faster growth environment for next year.”
Economists at Goldman Sachs have forecast that increased federal spending and tax cuts should add to economic growth in 2016 for the first time in six years.
The $1.1 trillion budget deal boosts spending for most Cabinet agencies by about 6 per cent next year. A separate tax measure provides $680 billion in tax cuts over 10 years. It would do so mostly by extending or making permanent about 50 different expiring tax breaks…

Vale and BHP could be held responsible for the disaster, government is demanding $5-billion (U.S.)