FIRST LOOK: SAVVY INVESTORS FEAR THE SEQUESTER — POLITICO’s indefatigable MJ Lee snags an early look at poll results suggesting professional investors are growing convinced the sequester cuts will in fact hit on March 1 and the stock market will take a serious hit as a result. This jives with M.M.’s anecdotal hedge fund manager reporting suggesting pros view the sequester as likely to happen while the broader market seems nonchalant, apparently expecting another last minute Beltway deal.
GEITHNER BOOK DETAILS — POLITICO’s Ben White reports: “Timothy Geithner recently said he was ‘not really the type to sit alone at a desk and write.’ But that’s exactly what the former Treasury secretary plans to do. Geithner is preparing to shop around what could turn into a blockbuster book. He’ll lay out his close-up view of the much-maligned bank bailout, which he claims saved the United States from a second Great Depression and critics say was a no-strings-attached gift to Wall Street.
NO ‘SCORE SETTLING’ — A source familiar with Geithner’s thinking said while the book will look to respond to what Geithner views as myths and misperceptions surrounding the bailout, it won’t be intended to settle scores with critics. M.M. remains unsure what the operative difference is between these two things. But there you have it.
GEITHNER BOOK WISH LIST — Better Markets CEO Dennis Kelleher, a persistent critic of the Geithner Treasury, emails M.M.: “There are 3 areas I hope he addresses honestly, openly, completely and in detail, which would mean it would be a very unusual Washington book. First, his actions when he was head of the New York Fed in the years leading up to the crisis and until he became Treasury secretary. Second, his role in bailing out Wall Street, the auto companies and virtually everyone else except notably homeowners. Third, his role in shaping the Dodd-Frank financial reform law and its implementation after passage. ….
JOHN BRENNAN’S COLORFUL PRIVATE SECTOR TOUR — CNBC’s Eamon Javers reports: “John Brennan, President [Barack] Obama's nominee to be director of the CIA, like many government employees took a three-year turn through the private sector before rejoining the administration — but it was nothing like the blandly profitable corporate stints of other federal bureaucrats. When Brennan went to work for a private intelligence contractor called The Analysis Corporation, he entered a murky milieu of transnational private spy firms with taxpayer-fueled profits.
THIS MORNING ON POLITICO PRO FINANCE -- Jonathan Allen and Jon Prior on what happened at the first House Financial Services hearing after Monday’s civility dinner. … Zachary Warmbrodt on the latest Libor settlement. … Kelsey Snell on how industries are trying to carve some of their profits out of the carried interest debate. … To learn more about Pro's subscriber-only coverage -- and to get Morning Money every day before 6 a.m. -- please contact Pro Services at (703) 341-4600 or info@politicopro.com.
GOOD THURSDAY MORNING — M.M. is on CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. for those of you reading the early version. For everyone else, look for our wit and wisdom on the CNBC website, should you care to. As always, send your tips and comments to bwhite@politico.com and follow on Twitter: @ morningmoneyben and @ POLITICOPro.
MUST-SEE TV: RUBIN ON SQUAWK AT 8 A.M. — Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin will be on Squawk starting at 8 a.m. Rubin will discuss his thoughts on the state of the economy, the debt threat, tax reform, the nomination of Jack Lew to be Treasury secretary, financial regulation, whether big banks should be broken up and other topics.
DRIVING THE DAY — Initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. EST expected to dip to 360,000 from 368,000 … Productivity also at 8:30 a.m. expected to show a decline of 1.4 percent with unit labor costs up 2.9 percent … Consumer credit at 3 p.m. EST expected to rise $14 billion.
S&P HIRES TOP DEFENSE LAWYER — Reuters’s Karen Freifeld: “Standard & Poor's has hired John Keker, one of the country's top white-collar defense attorneys, to help fight a $5 billion lawsuit brought by the U.S. government this week. Keker, who is based in San Francisco and has represented everyone from cyclist Lance Armstrong to Enron's Andrew Fastow, was hired at the recommendation of Floyd Abrams, a prominent New York attorney who also represents the ratings firm. … Abrams, a noted First Amendment lawyer who has defended S&P in dozens of lawsuits over its ratings, said this week that freedom of speech may not be a defense in this case.
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