Sarah Palin: This Liberal's New BFF

When I had to chance to interact with former Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin at SkyBridge Capital's SALT conference, I was surprised to discover that she is intelligent, nice, knows the name of the newspapers that she reads, and has an elaborate tattoo on her ankle.When I asked if I could take a picture of Palin, she graciously asked if I wanted to take a picture with her knowing I was part of the "lamestream" media.

On the way home from the SALT conference, I ran into her at the airport. She was walking behind me and called out to me. Since airport security was escorting her, she did not have to say hello. Even though, they wanted to help her with her bag, she insisted on rolling it on her own. She offered to take another picture at the airport with me. She was the opposite of the prima donna that she has been portrayed to be. When I was walking to my seat in coach, I saw her talking to her seat mate.

Palin is even more beautiful in person. There is never a hair out of place. She is always perfectly dressed for the occasion. She was dressed in all black -leather jacket, shirt, skirt- but tan 6 inch sandals that showed off her tattoo. At the airport, she looked smoking hot in a short dress and Bristol's cowboy boots.

While I do not agree with her positions on the Affordable Care Act and abortion, it is pretty clear that she has been unfairly maligned by the press. I have to wonder if some of the reaction is because she is a pretty woman.

It was easy to unlock the mystery of Palin's newspaper reading habits. When I told Palin that I had written for the Jerusalem Post, Haaretz and Globes in Israel, she responded without hesitation, "I get the headlines from the Jerusalem Post delivered to my inbox daily. I also look at the Times of Israel."

The Times of Israel is a fairly new site, financed by billionaire Seth Klarman and edited by David Horowitz formerly of the Jerusalem Post, with a right of center viewpoint. Many Jews are not yet familiar with the Times of Israel yet, so that she named it tells me that Palin is looking for reliable news from the Middle East and regularly reads newspapers.

Some of the SkyBridge conference attendees were going to boycott her speech. To me, they are just as ignorant as they claim her to be. The conference organizer, Anthony Scaramucci, had the right answer for protesters -"Get over it."

She did make a foreign policy mistake during her prepared remarks. Palin wrongly criticized the Obama administration for military interference in Egypt and Libya but not Iran and Syria. Obama only utilized his bully pulpit at all. The protesters in Tahrir Square achieved the downfall of former President Mubarak all by themselves without any outside interference. Clearly, Palin's expertise is not foreign affairs.

Palin spends a lot of time hunting and fishing. While I know my Arab states, I could not hook bait on a fishing rod. We can not label as unintelligent  those that do not share our interests.

Having grown up hearing in the financial industry's mantra of "what did you do for me today," I was a little bored listening to recite 3 year old tales of her gubernatorial fiscal restraint. I did perk up when described the $47000 killer shrub. If she is going to continue to be relevant, she will need to come up with new material. Jokes about the GSA will only take you so far.

Her calling of the 1 percenters in the room "unsung heroes" made me queasy, but all Republicans worship the rich. Embattled Harbinger Capital's Phil Falcone, whose major investment is bankrupt LightSquared, is not my idea of a hero.

She is still defensive about the bad press. At one point, she said, "I can really see Russia from my house."

She reminded the audience, "I had four days to prepare to go on the international stage." Even though I am in the news business, I do not always have time to read newspapers and watch newscasts. Sarah Palin is a busy mother of five that likes to spend her free time hunting and fishing not watching television. That does not mean she is not intelligent. It just may mean that she is not as well informed as news junkies are.

When Scarmucci of SkyBridge Capital threw her the softball question of what is your greatest accomplishment to date, Sarah froze and could not come up with an answer. On the other hand, she gave a beautiful answer to her three guests at a dinner party. She would catch and cook beer battered halibut on Mother's day for her son, who would be home from Afghanistan; Abraham Lincoln, whose Secretary of State Seward purchased Alaska from Russia; and author C. S. Lewis.

Palin is clearly intelligent. She is just not glib. John Edwards is glib, but I think that can all agree not very smart. We as a society have to decide which is the more important attribute for a politician to possess-glib or smart.

My prediction is that Palin will be a major force in the Republican Party for years to come. She has a good grasp of the issues that she cares about and knows how to frame them in a way that Middle America understands.

SALT Conference: Maroon 5, Sarah Palin, and Much More

After last year's SALT conference's speaker roster included former President George W. Bush, Colin Powell, former Senator Chris Dodd, Obama advisor David Axelrod,  and hedge fund managers Steve Cohen, Citadel's Ken Griffith, and Dan Loeb, I did not think that Skybridge Capital's Anthony Scaramucci would be able to present as dynamic a conference. I was wrong.

Some of this year's speakers are Sarah Palin; Nobel Laureate and former Vice President Al Gore; the irascible T. Boone Pickens; former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and Harbinger 's Phil Falcone and Third Point's Dan Loeb, two hedge funders that have been grabbing headlines this week. The SEC is giving an off the record session about regulation. Maroon 5 will be giving a private concert headlining Wednesday's night of philanthropy.

A night of philanthropy is part of Scaramucci's holistic approach to conferences. Like a good Jewish mother, he tried to remind those in the audience, who have been fortunate, that they should give back to their community.

Some of the conference attendees include legendary investor Leon Cooper, who called me sweetie; and Emanuel Friedman, the former head of Friedman Billings and Ramsay; and president of ASA Gold, David Christensen. Apparently no one can refuse Scaramucci.

Friedman, who now runs a $2 billion hedge fund, told me, " I could not say no to Anthony, Skybridge has $100 million with me."

Some highlights from the speakers:

Morgan Stanley Chief Investment Strategist David Darst: Politicians are going to have to make tough decisions. He praise the job that current Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu did as finance minister because he slashed welfare and government employee pension benefits. He recommended "Start Up Nation," a book about the Israeli hi tech scene. He also described visiting Occupy Wall Street in his three piece suits on the way to his CNBC appearances

Star economist Nouriel Roubini: AA ratings are the new size 6

Wharton Professor Jeremy Siegel: It is the 1950's all over again.

Phil Falcone, who is more thoughtful and low key than press accounts would lead you to believe:
is very concerned about liquidity. He is looking to raise permanent capital. Regulation is hurting the markets. He would recommend the quasi public stocks that he holds in his portfolio.

In general. the speakers, so far, think that Obama is going to win reelection and gold is going up.

Defending Skybridge's"Mooch" Scaramucci from Bloomberg and Reuters

I need to respond to the recent spate of negative publicity received by Anthony Scararmucci, managing partner of Skybridge Capital and founder of the SALT (Skybridge Alternatives) hedge fund conference. Bloomberg's Edward Robinson placed the hatchet squarely in Scaramucci's back. Reuters Felix Salmon followed up  by divulging a petty fight that happened a long time ago.  

Both authors seemed hell bent on badmouthing Scaramucci because he is made millions without seeming to possess any discernible talents but schmoozing. They lament the paucity of his investment talent but forget to mention that he dodged the Madoff, Starr, and Stanford frauds. Robinson glosses over the incredible deal that he engineered to acquire Citigroup hedge fund assets for next to nothing. While Bloomberg (the media outlet) typically glorifies conspicuous consumption, they resent Scaramuuci's charity showboating and extravagant marketing expenditures in this article. 

Robinson sticks it to Scaramucci coming and going. He also hectors him for his lack of billions. He notes that Scaramucci, who collects 1.5% running a fund of funds, is not as rich as his hedge funds colleagues that charge 2/20. 

Scaramucci is a schmoozer extraordinaire, a skill that should not be dismissed lightly. As someone whose take home pay depended on jawboning clients, I can tell you it is a lot harder than it looks and requires more intelligence than you think. Your work is not done when the cocktail party ends.You still need to execute. 

Robinson focused a third of the article on minor failures in Scaramucci's life that occurred over twenty years ago. Spoiled by Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, the media now thinks you are a failure if you are not worth a billion dollars by college graduation. Robinson seems to forget that JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon was fired from Citigroup, the late Senator Kennedy was expelled from Harvard, and Mediq terminated US HC founder Len Abramson.

For Salmon, Scarmucci's high crimes and misdemeanors was vigorously complaining aboutan unflattering article about him. The retelling of this ancient incident probably reveals more about Salmon than Scaramucci.

A sense of irritation at the lavishness of the conference emerges from the article by Bloomberg. The article never discloses that they are competitors of Scaramucci since Bloomberg also runs conferences, which are not as good. 

As a frequent conference participant, I appreciated the effort and expense that went into the conference's preparations. Quite simply, the SALT conference is the best conference that I ever attended. Speakers included former President Bush, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former Senator Chris Dodd, and Presidential adviser David Axelrod. It was at this conference that former President Bush disclosed his reaction to the capture of Bin Laden. Star economist Nouriel Roubini pontificated, SAC hedge fund founder Steve Cohen whitewashed, Third Point's Daniel Loeb evangelized, and Citadel's Ken Griffin trashed Obama. 

The lineup of illustrious speakers was not what made this conference great. Unlike most investment conferences, this was a conference with a heart. Representatives from various charities such as Wounded Warrior Project and Charity: Water shared stage time with the financial and political luminaries. Generals candidly communicated the current conditions of American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

What both articles did not tell you is that Scaramucci is genuinely a nice guy. Although everyone wanted a piece of him, Scaramucci took the time to hug me hello. (Robinson accurately depicted Scaramucci's love of physicality.) He told that I was "beautiful," which was a total lie, but music to this middle aged lady. This personal gesture was all the more extraordinary since I was an unknown, but clearly not well heeled or well-connected. 

I am not going to defend the fees attached to the fund of funds structure or Skybridge's performance. As an investment professional, I found that it was not always possible to sell clients the product that is best for them. Believe it or not, they often gravitated towards high commission products. The word hedge fund was magical to many and they could not be dissuaded from investing. 

Do not believe everything you hear. Scaramucci may not be perfect, but he is a mensch.