Month: October 2016

Trump’s spending spikes in Sept, but still lower than Clinton’s

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Donald Trump’s campaign massively increased its expenditures in September, but he continued to trail Hillary Clinton’s spending and fundraising, according to filings released on Thursday.

Trump spent USD 70.2 million last month, raised USD 54.7 million (including a USD 2 million contribution from the candidate himself), and closed the month with about USD 34.8 million in cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission filings. That spending figure represented a sizable jump from the only USD 29.9 million disbursed by the campaign in August — a roughly 135 percent increase.

At the beginning of September, the Trump campaign had about USD 50.3 million in cash on hand after raising USD 41.8 million in August, filings said.

Hillary Clinton’s filing for September financials showed that she ended the month with USD 59.7 million on hand. During September, the Democratic nominee spent USD 82.6 million and raised USD 73.8 million, according to her campaign’s filings.

In August, Clinton had spent USD 49.6 million and raised USD 59.5 million, ending that month with USD 68.4 million.

These September financials were recorded before the early-October release of a video featuring lewd comments Trump made in 2005. The publication of that hot mic recording marked yet another inflection point for the race, as many prominent Republicans sought to distance

themselves from their party’s nominee.

When Mitt Romney submitted his October monthly report in 2012, his campaign said it had raised USD 77.7 million, spent USD 65 million, and had finished out September with USD 63.1 million in cash on hand. President Barack Obama, meanwhile, raised a whopping USD 126.1 million in September 2012, spent USD 115.6 million, and closed the month with USD 99.3 million on hand.

Of note in Trump’s September disbursements is the data point that the GOP nominee spent USD 857,345.09 on payroll — up from USD 643,190.52 in the prior month. Despite that increase, Trump’s payroll expenditures still pale in comparison to Clinton’s USD 3.4 million in September.

Those figures come amid the backdrop of questions about the depth of Trump’s ground game operation — a key facet of get-out-the-vote efforts.

The largest portion of Trump’s September spending, meanwhile, went to “placed media” advertising — to the tune of more than USD 23 million. That category was followed closely by USD 20.6 million for “digital consulting/online advertising,” all of which appeared to go to Giles-Parscale, a San Antonio-based company behind much of Trump’s online efforts.

Clinton’s largest September spending category by far was media buying, which cost almost USD 66 million for the Democratic nominee.

Another notable expense for the Clinton campaign was USD 260 spent at the Trump International Hotel on Central Park West in New York City. Within the filing, that cost was explained as “Merchandise Not Made In America.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

European stocks open mixed; Caution as ECB meeting,earnings eyed

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Donald Trump tops Twitter, Facebook talk during third debates

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Donald Trump dominated Twitter and Facebook chatter during the third presidential debate, according to both networks.

Trump was involved in 59 percent of conversations on Twitter, as well as 56 percent of Facebook chatter, per both companies.

The top tweeted moments of the debate was the fight over sexual assault allegations against Trump,his refusal to say if he would accept election results, and conversations about Russian espionage during this election, with Hillary Clinton calling the Republican presidential candidate a “puppet” of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

The most retweeted tweet of the debate was one Trump sent on Jun 18, 2013, where he asked if Putin would be his “new best friend” if he attended the Miss Universe Pageant. He denied during the debate he knew Putin.

Clinton beat Trump on new Twitter followers after the debate. She welcomed 13,200 new followers, while Trump upped his numbers by 6,000.

On Facebook, the leading topic of conversation was around Trump and moderator Chris Wallace disagreeing on the Republican presidential candidate’s statements about Aleppo. Wallace said that things Trump said during the second debate about the city were not true, especially that the city had “basically fallen.”

The Republican presidential candidate retorted by asking the Fox News anchor if he knew what was going on in the city, saying it is a “catastrophe.”

Trump asserting Bernie Sanders said Clinton had “bad judgment,” was the second most discussed moment on Facebook. “John Podesta said you have terrible instincts. Bernie Sanders said you have bad judgment,” Trump said. “I agree with both.”

Coming in third and fourth on Facebook respectively were Trump’s comments that the FBI and Department of Justice were “disgraceful” on Clinton’s email probe and Trump saying he should have won an Emmy.

The top topics during the debate on Facebook were:Iraq, Syria and ISIS,Russia and Ukraine,abortion, immigration and the WikiLeaks release.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Markets: Hillary Clinton ‘solidified’ lead over Donald Trump

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Oil dips after strong rally, but sentiment remains confident

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Europe shares mixed after China GDP; Travis Perkins slips 6%

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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European stocks were mixed in morning trade Wednesday, following a raft of data out of China which showed government spending had helped the world’s second-largest economy to stabilize.

The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 Index was flat with major bourses pointing in directions. The main focus Wednesday was China’s gross domestic product which grew 6.7 percent in the year to September, precisely in line with forecasts.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

What’s at stake in the final presidential debate

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will take the stage Wednesday evening at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for the third and final presidential debate — what could be one of the last opportunities for Trump to save his floundering campaign.

Clinton leads her Republican opponent by a healthy margin in most national polls, and — more importantly from the perspective of her campaign — appears poised to capture many of the decisive battleground states in the November election.

Both of the prior two debates were bruising affairs that generated many more headlines from the candidates’ attacks on each other than from any policy discussion.

Many pundits said the first debate went poorly for Trump, who elicited laughter when said he has a “much better temperament” than Clinton. The New York businessman later claimed he held back on making “inappropriate” comments about Bill Clinton. During that first faceoff, the Democratic nominee slammed Trump for perpetuating a false claim that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.

The second debate came in the immediate wake of the release of a 2005 video featuring Trump making lewd comments about women. That hot mic clip included the now-GOP nominee saying that “when you’re a star” women let you “grab them by the pussy.”

Although some prominent Republicans called for Trump to drop out of the race because of that video, the businessman apologized for his comments and counter-punched with personal attacks against Clinton on the debate stage.

But in the week and a half since that debate, Trump has seen a blistering series of reports of multiple women alleging he sexually assaulted them. In response, the Republican nominee has ratcheted up his rhetoric that the media (and even fellows Republicans) are working against him in a coordinated effort.

He’s also suggested that the election could be “stolen” from him as the result of “large scale voter fraud” — even though there’s considerable evidence that voter fraud is a nearly nonexistent problem in the country.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

European stocks up with sentiment boosted by stronger oil prices

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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European stocks were higher in morning trade on Tuesday as firming oil prices lifted global sentiment.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was around 1 percent higher with all major bourses in positive territory.

Investor caution continues to mount as election day approaches in the US This as comments from Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer on Monday suggested the US central bank was “very close” to meeting its employment and inflation goals, sending US stocks lower into Monday’s session close.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

European stocks lower as dollar touches 7-month high

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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European markets were lower in morning trade on Monday as investors remained cautious ahead of earnings, key data and a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting later this week.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Asia mkts fall; Crown Resorts down after China detain employees

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Markets in Asia began the week on the back foot, with gaming shares across the region taking a hit after reports that China was detaining several staff at one of Australia’s largest casino companies.

Shares of Crown Resorts, fell 13.90 percent to 11.15 Australian dollars ($8.48), after the company told regulators that 18 of its employees, including its executive vice president of the VIP international business, Jason O’Connor, were detained by Chinese authorities.

Crown said it was working with Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to make contact with them.

China’s Foreign Ministry told CNBC in an emailed statement that Australian nationals were under criminal detention by the Chinese authorities for their “suspected involvements in gambling crimes.” The statement said the case was being investigated.

Elsewhere, rival Star Entertainment dropped 3.66 percent to close at A$5.52 a share.

Hong Kong-listed gaming shares were also lower, with Wynn Macau down 2.88 percent, Sands China lower by 3.14 percent and Melco International down 5.54 percent in afternoon trade.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow