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	<title>Stock Market News &#38; Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks &#187; Bethesda</title>
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		<title>Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc., Orthofix International NV, Conmed Corporation, Exactech Inc. and Owens &amp; Minor Inc. &#8211; Press Releases</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/zacks-analyst-blog-highlights-hanger-orthopedic-group-inc-orthofix-international-nv-conmed-corporation-exactech-inc-and-owens-minor-inc-press-releases/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/zacks-analyst-blog-highlights-hanger-orthopedic-group-inc-orthofix-international-nv-conmed-corporation-exactech-inc-and-owens-minor-inc-press-releases/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:40:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zacks Market Commentaries</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Bethesda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Chicago]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CONMED Corporation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Orthotics & Prosthetics Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Exactech Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Leonard Zacks;]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Maryland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[neuromuscular technologies]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Orthofix International NV;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[orthotic and prosthetic patient care services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Owens & Minor Inc.;]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/25765/Zacks+Analyst+Blog+Highlights%3A+Hanger+Orthopedic+Group%2C+Inc.%2C+Orthofix+International+NV%2C+Conmed+Corporation%2C+Exactech+Inc.+and+Owens+%26+Minor+Inc.+-+Press+Releases</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p align="left"><strong>For Immediate Release</strong></p>
<p align="left">Chicago, IL &#8211; October 12, 2009 &#8211; Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: <strong>Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc.</strong> (<a href="void(0)">HGR</a>), <strong>Orthofix International NV </strong>(<a href="void(0)">OFIX</a>), <strong>Conmed Corporation </strong>(<a href="void(0)">CNMD</a>), <strong>Exactech Inc. </strong>(<a href="void(0)">EXAC</a>) and <strong>Owens &#38; Minor Inc. </strong>(<a href="void(0)">OMI</a>).</p>
<p align="left">Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: <a href="http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513">http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513</a></p>
<p align="left">Here are highlights from Friday&#8217;s <a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/AnalystBlog">Analyst Blog</a>:</p>
<p align="left"><strong>Hanger on Acquisition Spree</strong></p>
<p align="left"><strong>Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc.</strong> (<a href="void(0)">HGR</a>) recently made three acquisitions totaling $10.7 million in annual net revenues. These acquisitions are: Creative Orthotics &#38; Prosthetics, Inc.; Custom Orthopedics of Wyoming; and certain orthotics and prosthetics assets from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. These acquisitions will enable Hanger to add patient care centers to its existing markets in New York, Wyoming and Pennsylvania.</p>
<p align="left">Hanger will fund these acquisitions from internally generated cash flows. It is estimated that the acquisitions will be accretive to Hanger&#8217;s earnings once the integration process is over.</p>
<p align="left">The acquisitions strengthen Hanger&#8217;s leadership position in the orthotic and prosthetic (O&#38;P) market and bolster its top-line. Hanger Orthopedic Group, based in Bethesda, MD, provides orthotic and prosthetic patient care services through its 671 patient care centers in the U.S. The company operates through four business units: patient care, distribution, Linkia and Innovative Neurotronics.</p>
<p align="left">Patient care consists of orthotic and prosthetic practice centers throughout the nation. Distribution comprises distribution centers dealing with the supply chain of orthotic and prosthetic components to Hanger and third party patient care centers. Linkia is the first and the only network management provider for the orthotics and prosthetics industry. Innovative Neurotronics provides emerging neuromuscular technologies developed through independent research in a collaborative effort with industry suppliers worldwide.</p>
<p align="left">As the market leader, Hanger has economies of scale unmatched by other competitors. To further drive awareness and market share in a 1-2% volume growth market, the company&#8217;s field force provides extensive education to physicians. To build relationships, the company is attempting to become a one-stop shop by offering a comprehensive total care package to patients that physicians can rely upon.</p>
<p align="left">Hanger competes with <strong>Orthofix International NV </strong>(<a href="void(0)">OFIX</a>), <strong>Conmed Corporation </strong>(<a href="void(0)">CNMD</a>), <strong>Exactech Inc. </strong>(<a href="void(0)">EXAC</a>) and <strong>Owens &#38; Minor Inc. </strong>(<a href="void(0)">OMI</a>) in the orthotic and prosthetic space.</p>
<p align="left">Want more from Zacks Equity Research? Subscribe to the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: <a href="http://at.zacks.com/?id=5515">http://at.zacks.com/?id=5515</a>.</p>
<p align="left"><strong>About Zacks Equity Research</strong></p>
<p align="left">Zacks Equity Research provides the best of quantitative and qualitative analysis to help investors know what stocks to buy and which to sell for the long-term.</p>
<p align="left">Continuous coverage is provided for a universe of 1,150 publicly traded stocks. Our analysts are organized by industry which gives them keen insights to developments that affect company profits and stock performance. Recommendations and target prices are six-month time horizons.</p>
<p align="left">Zacks "Profit from the Pros" e-mail newsletter provides highlights of the latest analysis from Zacks Equity Research. Subscribe to this free newsletter today: <a href="http://at.zacks.com/?id=5517">http://at.zacks.com/?id=5517</a></p>
<p align="left"><strong>About Zacks </strong></p>
<p align="left">Zacks.com is a property of Zacks Investment Research, Inc., which was formed in 1978 by Leonard Zacks. As a PhD in mathematics Len knew he could find patterns in stock market data that would lead to superior investment results. Amongst his many accomplishments was the formation of his proprietary stock picking system; the Zacks Rank, which continues to outperform the market by nearly a 3 to 1 margin. The best way to unlock the profitable stock recommendations and market insights of Zacks Investment Research is through our free daily email newsletter; Profit from the Pros. In short, it's your steady flow of Profitable ideas GUARANTEED to be worth your time! Register for your free subscription to Profit from the Pros at <a href="http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518">http://at.zacks.com/?id=5518</a>.</p>
<p align="left">Visit <a href="http://www.zacks.com/performance">http://www.zacks.com/performance</a> for information about the performance numbers displayed in this press release.</p>
<p align="left">Follow us on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/zacksresearch">http://twitter.com/zacksresearch</a></p>
<p align="left">Join us on Facebook: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts">http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Zacks-Investment-Research/57553657748?ref=ts</a></p>
<p align="left">Disclaimer: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investors should always research companies and securities before making any investments. Nothing herein should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.</p>
<p align="left">Contact:<br />
Mark Vickery<br />
Web Content Editor<br />
312-265-9380<br />
Visit: <a href="www.zacks.com">www.zacks.com </a></p>
<p align="left"> </p>
<p align="left"> </p><a href="http://www.zacks.com">Zacks Investment Research</a><br />]]></description>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hanger on Acquisition Spree &#8211; Analyst Blog</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/hanger-on-acquisition-spree-analyst-blog/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/hanger-on-acquisition-spree-analyst-blog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:45:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zacks Market Commentaries</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Investing Lessons]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Stocks to Watch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Analyst]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bethesda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CONMED Corporation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Creative Orthotics & Prosthetics Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Exactech Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc.]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Market Leader]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Maryland]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[neuromuscular technologies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Orthofix International NV;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[orthotic and prosthetic patient care services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Owens & Minor Inc.;]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pennsylvania]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/25754/Hanger+on+Acquisition+Spree+-+Analyst+Blog</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />
<strong>Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc.</strong> (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/hgr">HGR</a>) recently made three acquisitions totaling $10.7 million in annual net revenues. These acquisitions are: Creative Orthotics &#38; Prosthetics, Inc.; Custom Orthopedics of Wyoming; and certain orthotics and prosthetics assets from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. These acquisitions will enable Hanger to add patient care centers to its existing markets in New York, Wyoming and Pennsylvania. <br />
<br />
Hanger will fund these acquisitions from internally generated cash flows. It is estimated that the acquisitions will be accretive to Hanger&#8217;s earnings once the integration process is over.<br />
<br />
The acquisitions strengthen Hanger&#8217;s leadership position in the orthotic and prosthetic (O&#38;P) market and bolster its top-line. Hanger Orthopedic Group, based in Bethesda, MD, provides orthotic and prosthetic patient care services through its 671 patient care centers in the U.S. The company operates through four business units: patient care, distribution, Linkia and Innovative Neurotronics.<br />
<br />
Patient care consists of orthotic and prosthetic practice centers throughout the nation. Distribution comprises distribution centers dealing with the supply chain of orthotic and prosthetic components to Hanger and third party patient care centers. Linkia is the first and the only network management provider for the orthotics and prosthetics industry. Innovative Neurotronics provides emerging neuromuscular technologies developed through independent research in a collaborative effort with industry suppliers worldwide.<br />
<br />
As the market leader, Hanger has economies of scale unmatched by other competitors. To further drive awareness and market share in a 1-2% volume growth market, the company&#8217;s field force provides extensive education to physicians. To build relationships, the company is attempting to become a one-stop shop by offering a comprehensive total care package to patients that physicians can rely upon.<br />
<br />
Hanger competes with <strong>Orthofix International NV </strong>(<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/ofix">OFIX</a>), <strong>Conmed Corporation</strong> (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/cnmd">CNMD</a>), <strong>Exactech Inc. </strong>(<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/exac">EXAC</a>) and <strong>Owens &#38; Minor Inc. </strong>(<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/omi">OMI</a>) in the orthotic and prosthetic space.<br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=HGR">Read the full analyst report on "HGR"</a><br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=OFIX">Read the full analyst report on "OFIX"</a><br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=CNMD">Read the full analyst report on "CNMD"</a><br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=EXAC">Read the full analyst report on "EXAC"</a><br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=OMI">Read the full analyst report on "OMI"</a><br /><a href="http://www.zacks.com">Zacks Investment Research</a><br />]]></description>
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		</item>
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		<title>DrStockPick.com Stock Report! 10/06/09, FDML, TXN, GLOB, EMC, FCSC, CICI</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/drstockpick-com-stock-report-100609-fdml-txn-glob-emc-fcsc-cici/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/drstockpick-com-stock-report-100609-fdml-txn-glob-emc-fcsc-cici/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Oct 2009 13:27:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Dr. Stock Pick</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://drstockpick.com/?p=3847</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Dr Stock Pick HOT News &#38; Alerts!
_______________________________________

FREE Daily Stock Alerts From DrStockPick.com

_______________________________________
Tuesday October 6, 2009
DrStockPick.com Stock Report!
**************************************************************

The first aluminum diesel  piston rolled off the line today at Federal-Mogul Corporation&#8217;s (Nasdaq:  FDML) joint venture with KAMAZ, the leading manufacturer of heavy-duty  trucks in Russia. The 50/50 JV, called Federal-Mogul Naberezhnye Chelny, located  [...]]]></description>
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		<title>HGR Surpasses Estimates &#8211; Analyst Blog</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/hgr-surpasses-estimates-analyst-blog/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/hgr-surpasses-estimates-analyst-blog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:28:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Zacks Market Commentaries</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/22935/HGR+Surpasses+Estimates+-+Analyst+Blog</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br />
Yesterday, <strong>Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc. </strong>(<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/HGR">HGR</a>) reported results for its second quarter of fiscal 2009. Net sales were in line with our estimates and increased roughly 7% year over year to $193.5 million. GAAP EPS was $0.31, compared to $0.11 in the year-ago quarter and exceeded our estimates of $0.27.<br />
 <br />
Growth in net sales can be attributed to higher same-center sales of patient care services, higher sales of distribution segment, and acquisition. Same-center and distribution segment sales increased roughly 4.4% and 4.2% year over year, respectively. Excluding acquisition, net sales growth was roughly 4.4% year over year.<br />
 <br />
Gross margin increased 10 basis points year over year to 69.6% in the quarter due to top-line growth. The company witnessed significant operating expense leverage that helped improve operating margin by 70 basis points year over year to 12.5%. Higher gross and operating margin led to an increase in net margin by 370 basis points year over year to 5.2%.<br />
 <br />
The company ended the quarter with a cash balance of roughly $76.4 million, an increase of approximately $24.5 million sequentially. The company generated strong cash flow from operations. Cash flow from operations was $24.5 million, compared to cash used in operations of $3.7 million in the year-ago quarter.<br />
 <br />
Management has reiterated its 2009 sales guidance of $750 million to $760 million. However, it has raised its EPS guidance by $0.06 to a range of $1.02 to $1.04. <br />
 <br />
Hanger Orthopedic Group, based in Bethesda, Maryland, provides orthotic and prosthetic (O&#38;P) patient care services through its 671 patient care centers in the U.S.<br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=HGR">Read the full analyst report on "HGR"</a><br /><a href="http://www.zacks.com">Zacks Investment Research</a><br />]]></description>
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		<title>New FDA Chief Good for Industry &#8211; Analyst Blog</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/new-fda-chief-good-for-industry-analyst-blog/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/new-fda-chief-good-for-industry-analyst-blog/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:39:46 +0000</pubDate>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/18233/New+FDA+Chief+Good+for+Industry+-+Analyst+Blog</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Highlights include Gilead Sciences (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/gild">GILD</a>), AstraZeneca (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/azn">AZN</a>), Sanofi-Aventis (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/sny">SNY</a>) and Genzyme (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/genz">GENZ</a>).</span><br /><br />Last week, President Obama nominated Margaret "Peggy" Hamburg, a former New York City Health Commissioner, to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Hamburg's appointment must be confirmed by Congress. The president also named Baltimore Health Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein as FDA deputy commissioner.<br /><br />Hamburg earned her M.D. from Harvard Medical School and completed her training at the New York Hospital/Cornell University Medical Center. She did research in neuroscience at Rockefeller University in New York from 1985 to 1986, and in neuropharmacology at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland.<br /><br />From 1986 to 1988, she served in the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, and from 1989 to 1990 she was assistant director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, where her work focused on AIDS research.  President Clinton selected her in 1997 to be assistant secretary for policy and evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.<br /><br />While Commissioner in New York, Dr. Hamburg's treatment plan for tuberculosis (TB) became a model for health departments around the world. In the 1990s, TB was the leading infectious killer of youths and adults, and had become resistant to standard drugs. To be effective, new drugs required patients to take pills every day for up to two years, but failure to complete the full course of treatment allowed the bacteria to mutate into drug-resistant strains. Hamburg sent healthcare workers to patients' homes to help manage their drug regimen, and between 1992 and 1997, the TB rate for New York City fell by 46 percent, and by 86 percent for the most resistant strains.<br /><br />Since 2001, she has been vice president for biological programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a foundation dedicated to reducing the threat to public safety from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. She is a leading advocate for changes in the nation's public health policies and infrastructure -- from local health departments to the highest levels of government -- to meet the challenges presented by modern bioterrorism.<br /><br />We think the appointment of Dr. Hamburg is very good news for pharmaceutical companies, specifically ones focusing on infectious diseases such as AIDS/HIV and Hepatitis-C, including <span style="font-weight: bold;">Gilead Sciences</span> (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/gild">GILD</a>) and Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and leading vaccines makers, including <span style="font-weight: bold;">AstraZeneca</span> (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/azn">AZN</a>) and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Sanofi-Aventis </span>(<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/sny">SNY</a>).<br /><br />We also think firms with major Department of Defense bioterrorism contracts -- be it for radiation syndrome, anthrax, smallpox or any other bioterrorism threat, including <span style="font-weight: bold;">Genzyme</span> (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/genz">GENZ</a>), Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, AVI BioPharma, Cleveland Biolabs, Inc., Human Genome Sciences and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals -- could also benefit.  
<br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=GILD">Read the full analyst report on "GILD"</a><br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=AZN">Read the full analyst report on "AZN"</a><br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=GENSYND_ZER&#38;t=SNY">Read the full analyst report on "SNY"</a><br /><a href="http://www.zacks.com">Zacks Investment Research</a><br />]]></description>
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		<title>Global Investing Roundups Friday, December 5th, 2008</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/global-investing-roundups-friday-december-5th-2008/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/global-investing-roundups-friday-december-5th-2008/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 05 Dec 2008 14:39:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Contrarian Profits</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.contrarianprofits.com/?p=9647</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[pAT#38;T Disconnecting 12,000 Jobs; Credit Suisse Announces 5,300; Capital One Puts Chevy Chase in Its Wallet; Argentina Announces $3.9 Billion Stimulus, Jobless Benefits at 26-year High; Dupont Cuts 2,500 Employees; Williams-Sonoma Beats Estimates; Oil Falls 5%/p
ul type="disc"
listrongAT#38;T       Inc. /strong(a href="http://finance.google.com/finance?q=t"T/a) said it       would a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE4B33EJ20081204"scale       back 12,000 jobs/a, about 4% of its workforce, between now and the end of 2009 to fight #8220;economic pressures, a changing business mix and a more streamlined organizational structure.#8221; It will also take a severance charge of nearly $600 million for the fourth quarter, strongemReuters/em/strong reported./li
/ul
ul type="disc"
listrongCredit       Suisse Group AG/strong (ADR: a href="http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3ACS"CS/a) will scale       back its workforce, a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive#38;sid=afGPN._nqmiU"eliminating       5,300 workers/a, or about 11% of its workforce. Switzerland’s       second-largest bank will also nix bonuses for its top executives, strongemBloomberg/em/strong reported./li
/ul
ul type="disc"
listrongCapital       One Financial Corp./strong (a href="http://finance.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3ACOF"COF/a)#8230;/li/ul]]></description>
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		<title>General Electric (GE) Backlash: The Pain is Coming</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/general-electric-ge-backlash-the-pain-is-coming/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/general-electric-ge-backlash-the-pain-is-coming/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:08:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Frank Lara</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Market Commentary]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">996 at http://thestockmasters.com</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>
<img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51G2R9ZHR2L._SL500_AA280_.jpg" alt="Here comes the Pain" align="right" />A must read article on Minyanville.com puts the smack down on General Electric (NYSE:<a href="http://finance.google.com/finance?client=ob&#38;q=NYSE:GE" target="_blank">GE</a>) shares, and another one from Bloomberg.com isn't going to help shareholders come tomorrow or the foreseeable future.  GE shares get ready to battle the media.
</p>
<p>
&#160;
</p>
<p></p><p><a href="http://thestockmasters.com/General-Electric-GE-11162008.html">read more</a></p>]]></description>
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		<title>Some Observations on the Ongoing Crisis: Causes and Opportunity Cost Again</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/some-observations-on-the-ongoing-crisis-causes-and-opportunity-cost-again-2/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/market-commentary/some-observations-on-the-ongoing-crisis-causes-and-opportunity-cost-again-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Menzie Chinn</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2008/09/some_observatio_1.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>There's a lot of commentary -- more comprehensive and up to date than I can provide -- on the crisis and the attempts to resolve the logjam in the financial markets.<a href="http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2008/09/understanding-t.html">[0]</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/opinion/19krugman.html">[1]</a> But I stilll have a couple of thoughts about the causes, and the implications, of the process that has resulted in so much turmoil this week.</p>
<p><b>First, what is the source of the crisis?</b> Is it as is asserted here in this statement from <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122182989114256587.html">John McCain</a> today?</p>


<blockquote><p>....</p><p>
There are certainly plenty of places to point fingers, and it may be hard to pinpoint the original event that set it all in motion. But let me give you an educated guess. The financial crisis we're living through today started with the corruption and manipulation of our home mortgage system. At the center of the problem were the lobbyists, politicians, and bureaucrats who succeeded in persuading Congress and the administration to ignore the festering problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
</p><p>

These quasi-public corporations lead our housing system down a path where quick profit was placed before sound finance. They institutionalized a system that rewarded forcing mortgages on people who couldn't afford them, while turning around and selling those bad mortgages to the banks that are now going bankrupt. Using money and influence, they prevented reforms that would have curbed their power and limited their ability to damage our economy. And now, as ever, the American taxpayers are left to pay the price for Washington's failure.

</p><p>...</p></blockquote>

<p>I certainly concur with the first sentence. But I do wonder about the assertion that the problem <i>started with</i> and is fundamentally driven by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. After all, neither of these two institutions were at the heart of the massive surge in subprime mortgages that are the most toxic component of these asset backed securities. Smarter people than me (<a href="http://time-blog.com/curious_capitalist/2008/09/is_mccain_right_about_fannie_a.html">Justin Fox</a>, <a href="http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/07/krugman-on-gses.html">Tanta at CR</a> h/t <a href="http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2008/09/why-is-mccain-p.html">Mark Thoma</a>) have been similarly dubious.</p><p>

Moreover, the originating entities for these subprime mortgages were not Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, by large, but rather the banks that the Federal government refused to let state agencies regulate. Or  the ones the Treasury's OTS itself failed to regulate. To refresh memories, consider this article from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/18/business/18subprime.html">December 18, 2007 <i>NYT</i></a>:</p>

<blockquote><p>WASHINGTON-- Until the boom in subprime mortgages turned into a national nightmare this summer, the few people who tried to warn federal banking officials might as well have been talking to themselves.
</p><p>
Edward M. Gramlich, a Federal Reserve governor who died in September, warned nearly seven years ago that a fast-growing new breed of lenders was luring many people into risky mortgages they could not afford. 
</p><p>
But when Mr. Gramlich privately urged Fed examiners to investigate mortgage lenders affiliated with national banks, he was rebuffed by Alan Greenspan, the Fed chairman.
</p><p>
In 2001, a senior Treasury official, Sheila C. Bair, tried to persuade subprime lenders to adopt a code of "best practices" and to let outside monitors verify their compliance. None of the lenders would agree to the monitors, and many rejected the code itself. Even those who did adopt those practices, Ms. Bair recalled recently, soon let them slip.
</p><p>
And leaders of a housing advocacy group in California, meeting with Mr. Greenspan in 2004, warned that deception was increasing and unscrupulous practices were spreading.
</p><p>
John C. Gamboa and Robert L. Gnaizda of the Greenlining Institute implored Mr. Greenspan to use his bully pulpit and press for a voluntary code of conduct.
</p><p>
"He never gave us a good reason, but he didn't want to do it," Mr. Gnaizda said last week. "He just wasn't interested."
</p><p>
Today, as the mortgage crisis of 2007 worsens and threatens to tip the economy into a recession, many are asking: where was Washington?
</p><p>
An examination of regulatory decisions shows that the Federal Reserve and other agencies waited until it was too late before trying to tame the industry's excesses. Both the Fed and the Bush administration placed a higher priority on promoting "financial innovation" and what President Bush has called the "ownership society." 

</p><p>...</p><p>On Tuesday, under a new chairman, the Federal Reserve will try to make up for lost ground by proposing new restrictions on subprime mortgages, invoking its authority under the 13-year-old Home Ownership Equity and Protection Act. Fed officials are expected to demand that lenders document a person’s income and ability to repay the loan, and they may well restrict practices that make it hard for borrowers to see hidden fees or refinance with cheaper mortgages.
</p><p>
It is an action that people like Mr. Gramlich and Ms. Bair advocated for years with little success. But it will have little impact on many existing subprime lenders, because most have either gone out of business or stopped making subprime loans months ago.

</p><p>...</p><p>
The Fed was hardly alone in not pressing to clean up the mortgage industry. When states like Georgia and North Carolina started to pass tougher laws against abusive lending practices, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency successfully prohibited them from investigating local subsidiaries of nationally chartered banks. 
</p><p>
Virtually every federal bank regulator was loathe to impose speed limits on a booming industry. But the regulators were also fragmented among an alphabet soup of agencies with splintered and confusing jurisdictions. Perhaps the biggest complication was that many mortgage lenders did not fall under any agency's authority at all.

</p><p>...</p></blockquote>

<p>And for some more concrete examples of how deregulatory zeal had an effect, consider this account from the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117449440555444249.html">WSJ</a> (March 22, 200<b>7</b>):</p>
<blockquote><p>Regulators appointed by President Bush often have been more sympathetic to industry concerns about red tape than their Clinton administration predecessors. When James Gilleran, a former California banker and bank supervisor, took over the OTS in December 2001, he became known for his deregulatory zeal. At one press event in 2003, several bank regulators held gardening shears to represent their commitment to cut red tape for the industry. Mr. Gilleran brought a chain saw. 
</p><p>
He also early on announced plans to slash expenses to resolve the agency's deficit; 20% of its work force eventually left. When he left in 2005, Mr. Gilleran declared that the OTS had "exercised increased diligence in its review of abusive consumer practices" while reducing thrifts' regulatory burden. But his successor, Mr. Reich, a former community banker, has reversed many of Mr. Gilleran's cuts. Citing "understaffing," he hired 80 examiners last year and plans to add 40 more this year. A spokeswoman for Mr. Gilleran, now chief executive of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, said he wasn't available to comment. 
</p></blockquote>

<p>So, from my perspective, locating the source of the current crisis in corruption/influence peddling surrounding Fannie and Freddie exhibits a misreading of recent history. (More important might have been lax monetary policy and the saving glut, and exemptions from capital requirements for certain investment banks... [see <a href="http://www.rgemonitor.com/us-monitor/253651/how_sec_regulatory_exemptions_helped_lead_to_collapse">Ritholtz</a>])</p> 

<p><b>Second, how hard will the rescue be given the reckless decisions of the past?</b> It seems that whatever entity is established to purchase these bad assets will require some fiscal outlay. Estimates are all over the place, given that there is so much uncertainty over how much the assets will be bought for and eventually sold; here is <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&#38;sid=a.kAXACVdHTI">one account</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>

U.S. Debt May Grow $1 Trillion on Rescue, Barclays' Pond Says 
</p><p>
By Sandra Hernandez
</p><p>
Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. may have to borrow an extra $700 billion to $1 trillion to fund the biggest rescue of the financial system since the Great Depression, according to Barclays Capital Inc.'s Michael Pond. 
</p><p>
Federal takeovers of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and American International Group Inc.; the central bank's expansion of lending to financial firms; and a slowing economy will add $455 billion to the Treasury's borrowing needs, the New York-based interest-rate strategist estimated. Pond said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan to rid banks of "hundreds of billions" of troubled assets would bring the amount to $700 billion assuming the plan costs $200 billion. 
</p><p>
"We could easily add up to an additional trillion to the outstanding Treasury debt just from the initiatives announced over the past couple of weeks," said Pond, ranked the best Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities analyst in 2008 by Institutional Investor magazine. 
</p><p>
The government's liabilities swelled in past weeks as policy makers sought to arrest a growing financial crisis by taking over financial institutions threatened by a shortage of capital. 
</p><p>
The Treasury on Sept. 7 took over mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and said it would buy mortgage-backed debt in the open market. The Fed this week boosted its Treasury auctions to bond dealers by $25 billion, loaned $85 billion to the insurer AIG, and quadrupled the amount of dollars foreign central banks can auction to $247 billion. Paulson today said the government will buy illiquid assets from banks' balance sheets and insure money-market mutual fund holdings. 
</p><p>
Deficit Widens 
</p><p>
"The odds of the deficit becoming enormous are certainly there," said Nils Overdahl, a bond fund manager in Bethesda, Maryland, at New Century Advisors, which oversees $500 million. "I suspect you will see issuance at a variety of maturities." 
</p><p>
The deficit will likely widen to $650 billion in fiscal 2009 because of the U.S. rescue of Fannie and Freddie, analysts at JPMorgan Chase &#38; Co. wrote in a Sept. 12 report. 
</p><p>
Over the next decade, the gap between spending and receipts will swell to $5.3 trillion, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts wrote Sept. 10, revising a previous forecast of $3.6 trillion. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office forecast a record $438 billion deficit for 2009 on Sept. 9. 
</p><p>
"The deficit will soar to enormous proportions,'' said Lou Crandall, the chief economist at Wrightson ICAP LLC in Jersey City, New Jersey. ``Even before this week's events, estimates based on visible factors were pointing to a deficit above $500 billion next year, with the prospect of billions of mortgage- backed securities on top of that." 
</p></blockquote>
<p>See also <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&#38;sid=ab0U6Gr4nAfM">this Bloomberg article</a>.</p>

<p>Here, I want to return the issue I've brought up countless times before. We cut taxes, and we embarked upon a war of choice, and in addition to the opportunity and fiscal costs, this <a href="http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2006/10/the_us_macroeco.html">constrained our range of actions for the future</a>. Even if you thought the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 "benefitted" the US economy on net, we know that the war in Iraq has cost on the order of $653 billion nominal dollars from FY03-FY0-09 <a href="http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33110_20080714.pdf">[2]</a> -- in current dollars that's even more given inflation. Those dollars could have been spent fixing the financial system. Now, we'll have to either borrow or tax to to finance the operation.</p>

<p>So, if you wanted the <a href="http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2008/09/extending_jgtrr.html">McCain extension of the Bush tax cuts, and the <b><i>additional $1.3 trillion tax cuts</i></b></a>, then you might wonder about the impact on US borrowing rates. If you were hoping for more domestic initiatives, perhaps to give tax relief to the lower and middle income households, or to invest in infrastructure, the borrowing constraints will be more binding than they otherwise would have been.</p>
<p>Perhaps that's obvious, but sometimes in the midst of crisis, the obvious bears repeating. Here's a picture to illustrate the budget balance outlook <i>pre-intervention</i>....</p>

<img alt="crisis1.gif"/>



<br /><b>Figure 1:</b> US budget surplus to GDP ratio actual (blue), baseline under current law (dark blue), balance if EGTRRA and JGTRRA made permanent (green), balance if EGTRRA and JGTRRA made permanent and nominal discretionary spending except Iraq/Afghanistan grows with nominal GDP (red). Adding in $350[$700] billion borrowing (orange square [purple square]). Source: Author's calculations based upon <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/97xx/doc9706/09-08-Update.pdf">CBO, <i>The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update</i> (September 2008)</a>Table C-2 and <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/97xx/doc9706/selected_tables.xls">Table 1-8</a> [xls], and author's calculations.

<p>The purple square is just for illustrative purposes. If you think the Treasury will only have to borrow $350 billion in FY2009, then the orange square is relevant. Further, if we're lucky (and <a href="http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2008/09/thoughts-on-the.html">Brad Delong</a> is right), in future years we will recoup all and more of these outlays, so the deficit will be smaller than otherwise. But, in the short run, we'll have to take a hit (of unknown magnitude) now and hope for the best.</p>

<p>Technorati Tags: <a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/budget+deficit"></a>, <a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/subprime">subprime</a>, 
<a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/Fannie+Mae">Fannie Mae</a>, <a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/Freddie+Mac">Freddie+Mac</a>, 
and
<a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/deregulation">deregulation</a>, <a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/Office+of+Thrift+Supervision">Office of Thrift Supervision</a>, and <a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tax+cuts">tax cuts</a>.</p>
]]></description>
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		<title>Some Observations on the Ongoing Crisis: Causes and Opportunity Cost Again</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/global-economics/some-observations-on-the-ongoing-crisis-causes-and-opportunity-cost-again/</link>
		<comments>http://www.straightstocks.com/global-economics/some-observations-on-the-ongoing-crisis-causes-and-opportunity-cost-again/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:15:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Menzie Chinn</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Economics]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2008/09/some_observatio_1.html</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>There's a lot of commentary -- more comprehensive and up to date than I can provide -- on the crisis and the attempts to resolve the logjam in the financial markets.<a href="http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2008/09/understanding-t.html">[0]</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/opinion/19krugman.html">[1]</a> But I stilll have a couple of thoughts about the causes, and the implications, of the process that has resulted in so much turmoil this week.</p>
<p><b>First, what is the source of the crisis?</b> Is it as is asserted here in this statement from <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122182989114256587.html">John McCain</a> today?</p>


<blockquote><p>....</p><p>
There are certainly plenty of places to point fingers, and it may be hard to pinpoint the original event that set it all in motion. But let me give you an educated guess. The financial crisis we're living through today started with the corruption and manipulation of our home mortgage system. At the center of the problem were the lobbyists, politicians, and bureaucrats who succeeded in persuading Congress and the administration to ignore the festering problems at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
</p><p>

These quasi-public corporations lead our housing system down a path where quick profit was placed before sound finance. They institutionalized a system that rewarded forcing mortgages on people who couldn't afford them, while turning around and selling those bad mortgages to the banks that are now going bankrupt. Using money and influence, they prevented reforms that would have curbed their power and limited their ability to damage our economy. And now, as ever, the American taxpayers are left to pay the price for Washington's failure.

</p><p>...</p></blockquote>

<p>I certainly concur with the first sentence. But I do wonder about the assertion that the problem <i>started with</i> and is fundamentally driven by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. After all, neither of these two institutions were at the heart of the massive surge in subprime mortgages that are the most toxic component of these asset backed securities. Smarter people than me (<a href="http://time-blog.com/curious_capitalist/2008/09/is_mccain_right_about_fannie_a.html">Justin Fox</a>, <a href="http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/07/krugman-on-gses.html">Tanta at CR</a> h/t <a href="http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2008/09/why-is-mccain-p.html">Mark Thoma</a>) have been similarly dubious.</p><p>

Moreover, the originating entities for these subprime mortgages were not Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, by large, but rather the banks that the Federal government refused to let state agencies regulate. Or  the ones the Treasury's OTS itself failed to regulate. To refresh memories, consider this article from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/18/business/18subprime.html">December 18, 2007 <i>NYT</i></a>:</p>

<blockquote><p>WASHINGTON-- Until the boom in subprime mortgages turned into a national nightmare this summer, the few people who tried to warn federal banking officials might as well have been talking to themselves.
</p><p>
Edward M. Gramlich, a Federal Reserve governor who died in September, warned nearly seven years ago that a fast-growing new breed of lenders was luring many people into risky mortgages they could not afford. 
</p><p>
But when Mr. Gramlich privately urged Fed examiners to investigate mortgage lenders affiliated with national banks, he was rebuffed by Alan Greenspan, the Fed chairman.
</p><p>
In 2001, a senior Treasury official, Sheila C. Bair, tried to persuade subprime lenders to adopt a code of "best practices" and to let outside monitors verify their compliance. None of the lenders would agree to the monitors, and many rejected the code itself. Even those who did adopt those practices, Ms. Bair recalled recently, soon let them slip.
</p><p>
And leaders of a housing advocacy group in California, meeting with Mr. Greenspan in 2004, warned that deception was increasing and unscrupulous practices were spreading.
</p><p>
John C. Gamboa and Robert L. Gnaizda of the Greenlining Institute implored Mr. Greenspan to use his bully pulpit and press for a voluntary code of conduct.
</p><p>
"He never gave us a good reason, but he didn't want to do it," Mr. Gnaizda said last week. "He just wasn't interested."
</p><p>
Today, as the mortgage crisis of 2007 worsens and threatens to tip the economy into a recession, many are asking: where was Washington?
</p><p>
An examination of regulatory decisions shows that the Federal Reserve and other agencies waited until it was too late before trying to tame the industry's excesses. Both the Fed and the Bush administration placed a higher priority on promoting "financial innovation" and what President Bush has called the "ownership society." 

</p><p>...</p><p>On Tuesday, under a new chairman, the Federal Reserve will try to make up for lost ground by proposing new restrictions on subprime mortgages, invoking its authority under the 13-year-old Home Ownership Equity and Protection Act. Fed officials are expected to demand that lenders document a person’s income and ability to repay the loan, and they may well restrict practices that make it hard for borrowers to see hidden fees or refinance with cheaper mortgages.
</p><p>
It is an action that people like Mr. Gramlich and Ms. Bair advocated for years with little success. But it will have little impact on many existing subprime lenders, because most have either gone out of business or stopped making subprime loans months ago.

</p><p>...</p><p>
The Fed was hardly alone in not pressing to clean up the mortgage industry. When states like Georgia and North Carolina started to pass tougher laws against abusive lending practices, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency successfully prohibited them from investigating local subsidiaries of nationally chartered banks. 
</p><p>
Virtually every federal bank regulator was loathe to impose speed limits on a booming industry. But the regulators were also fragmented among an alphabet soup of agencies with splintered and confusing jurisdictions. Perhaps the biggest complication was that many mortgage lenders did not fall under any agency's authority at all.

</p><p>...</p></blockquote>

<p>And for some more concrete examples of how deregulatory zeal had an effect, consider this account from the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117449440555444249.html">WSJ</a> (March 22, 200<b>7</b>):</p>
<blockquote><p>Regulators appointed by President Bush often have been more sympathetic to industry concerns about red tape than their Clinton administration predecessors. When James Gilleran, a former California banker and bank supervisor, took over the OTS in December 2001, he became known for his deregulatory zeal. At one press event in 2003, several bank regulators held gardening shears to represent their commitment to cut red tape for the industry. Mr. Gilleran brought a chain saw. 
</p><p>
He also early on announced plans to slash expenses to resolve the agency's deficit; 20% of its work force eventually left. When he left in 2005, Mr. Gilleran declared that the OTS had "exercised increased diligence in its review of abusive consumer practices" while reducing thrifts' regulatory burden. But his successor, Mr. Reich, a former community banker, has reversed many of Mr. Gilleran's cuts. Citing "understaffing," he hired 80 examiners last year and plans to add 40 more this year. A spokeswoman for Mr. Gilleran, now chief executive of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle, said he wasn't available to comment. 
</p></blockquote>

<p>So, from my perspective, locating the source of the current crisis in corruption/influence peddling surrounding Fannie and Freddie exhibits a misreading of recent history. (More important might have been lax monetary policy and the saving glut, and exemptions from capital requirements for certain investment banks... [see <a href="http://www.rgemonitor.com/us-monitor/253651/how_sec_regulatory_exemptions_helped_lead_to_collapse">Ritholtz</a>])</p> 

<p><b>Second, how hard will the rescue be given the reckless decisions of the past?</b> It seems that whatever entity is established to purchase these bad assets will require some fiscal outlay. Estimates are all over the place, given that there is so much uncertainty over how much the assets will be bought for and eventually sold; here is <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&#38;sid=a.kAXACVdHTI">one account</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>

U.S. Debt May Grow $1 Trillion on Rescue, Barclays' Pond Says 
</p><p>
By Sandra Hernandez
</p><p>
Sept. 19 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. may have to borrow an extra $700 billion to $1 trillion to fund the biggest rescue of the financial system since the Great Depression, according to Barclays Capital Inc.'s Michael Pond. 
</p><p>
Federal takeovers of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and American International Group Inc.; the central bank's expansion of lending to financial firms; and a slowing economy will add $455 billion to the Treasury's borrowing needs, the New York-based interest-rate strategist estimated. Pond said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan to rid banks of "hundreds of billions" of troubled assets would bring the amount to $700 billion assuming the plan costs $200 billion. 
</p><p>
"We could easily add up to an additional trillion to the outstanding Treasury debt just from the initiatives announced over the past couple of weeks," said Pond, ranked the best Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities analyst in 2008 by Institutional Investor magazine. 
</p><p>
The government's liabilities swelled in past weeks as policy makers sought to arrest a growing financial crisis by taking over financial institutions threatened by a shortage of capital. 
</p><p>
The Treasury on Sept. 7 took over mortgage-finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and said it would buy mortgage-backed debt in the open market. The Fed this week boosted its Treasury auctions to bond dealers by $25 billion, loaned $85 billion to the insurer AIG, and quadrupled the amount of dollars foreign central banks can auction to $247 billion. Paulson today said the government will buy illiquid assets from banks' balance sheets and insure money-market mutual fund holdings. 
</p><p>
Deficit Widens 
</p><p>
"The odds of the deficit becoming enormous are certainly there," said Nils Overdahl, a bond fund manager in Bethesda, Maryland, at New Century Advisors, which oversees $500 million. "I suspect you will see issuance at a variety of maturities." 
</p><p>
The deficit will likely widen to $650 billion in fiscal 2009 because of the U.S. rescue of Fannie and Freddie, analysts at JPMorgan Chase &#38; Co. wrote in a Sept. 12 report. 
</p><p>
Over the next decade, the gap between spending and receipts will swell to $5.3 trillion, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts wrote Sept. 10, revising a previous forecast of $3.6 trillion. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office forecast a record $438 billion deficit for 2009 on Sept. 9. 
</p><p>
"The deficit will soar to enormous proportions,'' said Lou Crandall, the chief economist at Wrightson ICAP LLC in Jersey City, New Jersey. ``Even before this week's events, estimates based on visible factors were pointing to a deficit above $500 billion next year, with the prospect of billions of mortgage- backed securities on top of that." 
</p></blockquote>
<p>See also <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&#38;sid=ab0U6Gr4nAfM">this Bloomberg article</a>.</p>

<p>Here, I want to return the issue I've brought up countless times before. We cut taxes, and we embarked upon a war of choice, and in addition to the opportunity and fiscal costs, this <a href="http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2006/10/the_us_macroeco.html">constrained our range of actions for the future</a>. Even if you thought the Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 "benefitted" the US economy on net, we know that the war in Iraq has cost on the order of $653 billion nominal dollars from FY03-FY0-09 <a href="http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33110_20080714.pdf">[2]</a> -- in current dollars that's even more given inflation. Those dollars could have been spent fixing the financial system. Now, we'll have to either borrow or tax to to finance the operation.</p>

<p>So, if you wanted the <a href="http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2008/09/extending_jgtrr.html">McCain extension of the Bush tax cuts, and the <b><i>additional $1.3 trillion tax cuts</i></b></a>, then you might wonder about the impact on US borrowing rates. If you were hoping for more domestic initiatives, perhaps to give tax relief to the lower and middle income households, or to invest in infrastructure, the borrowing constraints will be more binding than they otherwise would have been.</p>
<p>Perhaps that's obvious, but sometimes in the midst of crisis, the obvious bears repeating. Here's a picture to illustrate the budget balance outlook <i>pre-intervention</i>....</p>

<img alt="crisis1.gif"/>



<br /><b>Figure 1:</b> US budget surplus to GDP ratio actual (blue), baseline under current law (dark blue), balance if EGTRRA and JGTRRA made permanent (green), balance if EGTRRA and JGTRRA made permanent and nominal discretionary spending except Iraq/Afghanistan grows with nominal GDP (red). Adding in $350[$700] billion borrowing (orange square [purple square]). Source: Author's calculations based upon <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/97xx/doc9706/09-08-Update.pdf">CBO, <i>The Budget and Economic Outlook: An Update</i> (September 2008)</a>Table C-2 and <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/97xx/doc9706/selected_tables.xls">Table 1-8</a> [xls], and author's calculations.

<p>The purple square is just for illustrative purposes. If you think the Treasury will only have to borrow $350 billion in FY2009, then the orange square is relevant. Further, if we're lucky (and <a href="http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2008/09/thoughts-on-the.html">Brad Delong</a> is right), in future years we will recoup all and more of these outlays, so the deficit will be smaller than otherwise. But, in the short run, we'll have to take a hit (of unknown magnitude) now and hope for the best.</p>

<p>Technorati Tags: <a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/budget+deficit"></a>, <a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/subprime">subprime</a>, 
<a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/Fannie+Mae">Fannie Mae</a>, <a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/Freddie+Mac">Freddie+Mac</a>, 
and
<a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/deregulation">deregulation</a>, <a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/Office+of+Thrift+Supervision">Office of Thrift Supervision</a>, and <a rel="tag" href="http://www.technorati.com/tags/tax+cuts">tax cuts</a>.</p>
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		<title>Trading In SKF</title>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brian Shannon</dc:creator>
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		<title>Trading In SKF</title>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brian Shannon</dc:creator>
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		<title>Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc.</title>
		<link>http://www.straightstocks.com/stock-watch/hanger-orthopedic-group-inc/</link>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Michael Vodicka</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.zacks.com/commentary/8336/Hanger+Orthopedic+Group+Inc.</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<b>Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc.</b> (<a href="http://www.zacks.com/stock/quote/HGR">HGR</a>) has been posting steady gains since its stock price bottomed out in late April. The company is fresh off the heels of a great second quarter, and analysts have been boosting their earnings estimates in anticipation of robust earnings. 
<p ALIGN="left">
Hanger Orthopedic Group Inc. owns and operates orthotic and prosthetic patient-care centers in the United States. The company has a market cap. of $435 million and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. 
</p><p ALIGN="left">
<table align="right"><tr><td></td></tr></table>
<b>A Great Quarter</b>
</p><p ALIGN="left">
Shares of HGR have been on a nice rally over the last two weeks, assisted by the company's excellent second-quarter results, reported on July 29. Sales were up 13% from the same period last year to $181.2 million. Net income jumped ahead 57.2% from last year to $8.0 million. This produced earnings of 25 cents per share, well ahead of analyst estimates of 20 cents per share. 
</p><p ALIGN="left">
<b>Consistent Results</b>
</p><p ALIGN="left">
This is the fourth time in four quarters that Hanger has either beaten or matched analyst estimates, having done so by an average of 3 cents, or 20%. 
</p><p ALIGN="left">
Hanger reported strong growth from both if its primary segments, with the company's largest segment in patient care posting a 6.7% increase in same-center sales. Hanger's distribution segment, smaller by sales volume, posted a 23.5% increase in sales. 
</p><p ALIGN="left">
<b>Earnings Guidance</b>
</p><p ALIGN="left">
After the solid quarter, Hanger confirmed its previous guidance for the rest of the fiscal year, but proceeded to boost its full-year revenue guidance to a range between $680 million and $690 million. Hanger also raised its earnings target to between 80 and 82 cents per share. Analysts have the next-year estimate pegged at 94 cents per share, a 13% earnings growth projection.  
</p><p ALIGN="left">
<b>Valuations</b>
</p><p ALIGN="left">
Based upon the current-year earnings estimate, this is not a cheap stock, trading with a forward P/E multiple of 22X, a sharp premium to the overall market. 
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<b>The Chart</b>
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Shares of HGR have been rallying since finding a bottom below $11 in late April. Since then this stock has advanced beyond the $18.50 mark, establishing a new 52-week and all-time high in the process. Take a look at the chart below. 
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<img src="http://www.zacks.com/images/upload_dir/1219078067.jpg"/>
<br /><a href="http://register.zacks.com/ucd/step1.php?ALERT=YAHOO_ZR&#38;d_alert=rd_final_rank&#38;ADID=YAHOO_content_ZRANK&#38;t=#HOG">"#HOG" Free Stock Analysis: Buy? Sell? Hold?</a><br /><a href="http://www.zacks.com">Zacks Investment Research</a><br /></p>]]></description>
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