House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has an impressive record with passing big votes, but according to this article on The Hill a robust public option may be too much for the Congress to handle. Pelosi is relying on a complex series of whips to keep the factional Democratic party in line. There are two votes that will be particularly hard for her to get: Rep. Frank Kratovil (Md.): Kratovil is considered one of the most endangered Democrats in this year’s freshman class. He became the poster child for incivility when protesters hanged him in effigy. So it was a surprise when Pelosi snagged his vote on climate change by making Maryland farmers eligible for as much as $1 billion in incentives for reducing emissions. But she might not get him this time; Kratovil has said he’s a no on the healthcare ...

A bill to freeze cuts to doctors’ Medicare payments – one that should have been heavily bipartisan – is now in serious danger of passing. The American Medical Association (AMA) promised Majority Leader Harry Reid (D) 27 Republican votes, but now it appears there are as few as two. Undoubtedly, 27 is an ambitious number for any bipartisan bill, but the enormous drop in support is indicative of an overwhelming feeling in Washington. It is a sentiment against any healthcare reform, one that has grown within the Republican party and continues to spread across the aisle to conservative Democrats. Though we at Election Stocks still believe something will pass reforming the healthcare system, these kind of let downs are still quite alarming.

The (H.R. 2454) passed the House of Representatives last Friday - but only by seven votes. Obama focused today on making his case to the U.S. Senate, confident that they will “move this country forward.” He cited the case of California, where tougher energy legislation in the 1970s has both created jobs for the state, helped their economy, and made their citizens more energy efficient. Two very specific programs we noticed were for new efficiency standards in lightbulbs and the expansion of new alternative energies in American homes and businesses. Supposing this bill passes the Senate, you might consider investing in fluorescent lightbulb manufacturers such as General Electric (GE) or other alternative energy companies that currently offer products like those in the WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation Index (NEX). The President made sure to stress this moment as the point where the ...

Grow Rich Automatically with the World’s Only Gold-Backed “Cash” The U.S. Treasury Dept. has finally approved the new gold-backed “cash.” And according to gold expert Peter Schiff, this new money, called “Gold Dollars,” is not only the best place for your savings today… it could prove very profitable. Why? Because every “dollar” you hold in your bank account is backed by 1 gram of solid gold, held in Fort Knox-like security. So when each gram of gold goes up in value, so does your cash! (Meanwhile, you can spend your money just like you would regular paper dollars.) For Schiff’s full report, please go here.

By Don Miller Associate Editor Money Morning

U.S. President Barack Obama took a swipe at Wall Street yesterday (Wednesday) as he unveiled a sweeping 85-page proposal to reinvigorate government regulation of the U.S. financial markets by giving the Federal Reserve new powers to supervise the …

Healthcare was one of the sectors that we were unlikely to see much impact in during Obama’s first 100 days. But as we are beginning to get a hold on our economic situation, it is quite likely to see some comprehensive healthcare legislation in the near future. This was discussed yesterday by Les Funtleyder and Arthur Henderson on CNBC (see video below). A few of their favorite stocks were Express Scripts (ESRX), Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd (TEVA), UnitedHealth (UNH), and Illumina (ILMN).

Typically here on Election Stocks, we make decisions on how stocks are likely due to behave based on Barack Obama’s policies in office. What’s interesting about this post is that it has nothing to do with any real policy being proposed by this administration - rather a growing sentiment among many suspicious right wingers. We are referring of course, to the ammunition shortage that is driving prices up out of fear that the 1994 assault weapons ban could be reinstated. This administration has previously stated that there are no imminent plans to do so, yet owners of gun stores and private collections alike are spreading the fear to try and increase the value of their product. A list of prominent small arms and ammunition manufacturers can be found here.

American telecommunication companies have big opportunities to make some cash thanks to Obama’s eased stance on Cuba. Most importantly for our purposes, we can easily link specific stocks that would do very, very well with some Cuban business. Persons under U.S. jurisdiction will be allowed to activate and pay U.S. or third-country service providers for telecommunications, satellite radio, or satellite TV services provided to individuals in Cuba, save for certain senior Communist Party and Cuban government officials. People will also, under a license exception, be able to export to Cuba communications devices such as mobile phone systems, computers, software, and satellite receivers. Satellite radio is easy because we only have one significant company in that sector: Sirius XM Radio Inc. (SIRI). Our major satellite TV providers are Direct TV (DTV) and Dish Network (DISH). These are ...

Today, the White House announced that it would start taking steps to ease restrictions on Cuba. Keep mind these are baby steps, primarily regarding family travel and gift giving, but they are steps in the right direction nonetheless. With bills for removing the embargo in our legislature as we speak, it’s only a matter of time before we’re engaging in prolific trade with the Caribbean island. This would be good news for many gaming, resort, and sugar companies (specifics found in our earlier post).

Hardly a day goes by without another government bailout plan, and this week was no different. In Arizona on Wednesday, President Obama rolled out a plan designed to reduce foreclosures.

The multipronged plan has several moving parts. Since it could have an impact on both your personal finances — and your investing strategy — I want to give you some straight talk on it right here in Money and Markets.

First, let’s start with some background …

On Wednesday, President Obama rolled another bailout plan. …

Dan Clifton, head of policy research at Strategas Partners, was on Kudlow & Company the other night with a solid list of stimulus winners and lowers. You can view the video here (the one titled Stimulus Winners and Losers).

Right off the bat, Clifton said wind and solar were safe calls because of the new grant program the “wind thesis works.” He cited Vestas Wind, First Solar, and Sunpower as beneficiary stocks.

But his most interesting statement was that tech companies would be all over the rest of his profitable sectors: healthcare, technology, and infrastructure. He named Cisco, Intel, and most importantly Microsoft. The quote below is found at 1:49 in the video.
Microsoft has positioned themselves to be the big winner in the stimulus package because they’re writing the software to make this happen.
Clifton had a few losers too, of course. They …