Just Visiting

What Obama Will Say to Wall Street

Goes to New York to focus on risky decisions.

President Obama pays a visit to New York Thursday to deliver a speech on financial reform. "It is essential that we learn the lessons of this crisis, so we don't doom ourselves to repeat it," he will say, according to prepared remarks. "And make no mistake, that is exactly what will happen if we allow this moment to pass." He will also ask financial lobbyists to come around to his side: "I am here today because I want to urge you to join us, instead of fighting us in this effort." The president will emphasize that what happens there fuels what happens on Main Street. But don't expect bankers to take too kindly to the pop-in. “I don’t think Wall Street is expecting any kind of olive branch on the substance of the legislation, but I think folks on the street would like to see cooler rhetoric,” said one analyst. “I’m not sure that they’re going to get it.”