WEBVTT - Single Best Idea with Tom Keene: Frances Donald & Robert Fishman

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>The single best idea is we get ready for the

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<v Speaker 2>FED meeting this afternoon. Francis Donald on fire today with

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<v Speaker 2>the RBC Capital Markets. She made clear, Boy did she

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<v Speaker 2>state a case why are we cutting interest rates?

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<v Speaker 3>Tom? If I woke up this morning and I'd been

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<v Speaker 3>in a coma and all I had was the data,

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<v Speaker 3>I would think, well, this Federal Reserve must be neutral

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<v Speaker 3>or hawkish heading into this period. They are in an

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<v Speaker 3>environment where inflation has been above target for fifty five months.

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<v Speaker 3>The unemployment rate is extraordinarily tight. In fact, there's only

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<v Speaker 3>two times in history going back to the nineteen seventies,

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<v Speaker 3>when the unemployment rate has been this tight. What happened

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<v Speaker 3>to the concept of normalizing and growth is fine? So

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<v Speaker 3>what I want to hear from Chair Powell today is

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<v Speaker 3>why are you.

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<v Speaker 2>Cutting Francis Donald their RBC Capital After that conversation we

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<v Speaker 2>had the ECI. I really lean on this. It's the

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<v Speaker 2>Employment Cost Index and it's a blended study of wages

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<v Speaker 2>and benefits. It's different than all the other wage series.

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<v Speaker 2>Some people believe in it, some people don't. I look

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<v Speaker 2>at the year over year of the view from sixty

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<v Speaker 2>thousand feet and the answer is from the high wage

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<v Speaker 2>and benefit gains that we saw out of COVID, we're

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<v Speaker 2>coming down, but we're not back down yet to normal.

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<v Speaker 2>You really wonder if wages and benefits get down, how

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<v Speaker 2>that would change some of the ideas. Like we just

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<v Speaker 2>heard from Ms Donald on Netflix in update Robert Fishman

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<v Speaker 2>definitive at Maffatt Nathanson here on mister Robert's company.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, you think about who the natural dance partners are.

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<v Speaker 1>It was Comcast and it still is, Paramount Skuydance now

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<v Speaker 1>after the Skuydance deal, and Warner Brothers Discovery. Those three

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<v Speaker 1>are the most natural players because they're all so scale

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<v Speaker 1>in streaming. So when thinking about how to solve that

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<v Speaker 1>streaming scale issue from a global basis, it's just natural

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<v Speaker 1>to think that you need to see some combination of

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<v Speaker 1>those players. And so that's essentially what's playing out in

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<v Speaker 1>front of us. Paramount Skuidance needs these assets in order

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<v Speaker 1>to accelerate the timing to reach the scale that they're

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<v Speaker 1>desiring on a global scale basis for Paramount Plus.

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<v Speaker 2>So yes, we.

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<v Speaker 1>Very much think that the combination with Paramount Skiddance is

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<v Speaker 1>a must.

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<v Speaker 2>Have Robert Fisherman from Moffatt Nathansen as well. We're on

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<v Speaker 2>podcasts on Apple and Spotify, on YouTube podcasts, it's single

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<v Speaker 2>best idea