Stock Market News & Stocks to Watch from StraightStocks » Harry Reid

A Tough Nut to Crack

Jeffrey Miller — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:18:00 +0000

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 [...]img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ElectionStocks/~4/E_nXcWd3tg8" height="1" width="1"/

Healthcare Reform Becoming Less Likely

Jeffrey Miller — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:39:59 +0000

A bill to freeze cuts to doctors#8217; Medicare payments #8211; one that should have been heavily bipartisan #8211; 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 [...]img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/ElectionStocks/~4/hXoAMsH2cN8" height="1" width="1"/

Home Sales Will Struggle to Rebound Without Tax Credit Extension

Contrarian Profits — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:27:27 +0000

pA rise in existing home sales last month shows things are getting better in the U.S. housing market, but the still-dire unemployment situation and the looming possibility of a a href="http://www.moneymorning.com/category/jobless-recovery/" target="_blank"jobless recovery/a may halt the rally by the end of the year. That makes the extension of an $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers imperative./p pa href="http://www.realtor.org/files/research/2c6627a8ebdeb5359da50bb99ea0c172/release.htm" target="_blank"Existing home sales rose 7.2% to a 5.24 million annual rate/a in July, the most since August 2007 and the fourth straight month the figure increased, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said Friday. Year-over-year sales grew 5%, the increase since September 2007, just before the markets came crashing down the following month./p p“The housing market has decisively turned for the better,” said NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun. “A combination#8230;/p

Housing Recovery Will Be Slow as Foreclosures Continue to Weigh on Housing Prices

Money Morning — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:39:00 +0000

Inflation-Proof Savings Account Could Pay 100% “Interest” this Year Euro Pacific Capital President Peter G. Schiff has identified a savings account that could yield 100% interest between now and the end of the year. It’s much safer than a regular account, and fully insured by Lloyd’s of London. Since every dollar of your savings is [...]

‘Cash for Clunkers’ to Continue – Analyst Blog

Dirk Van Dijk — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:27:57 +0000

It now looks like the wildly successful "Cash for Clunkers" program will get another $2 billion of funding after the initial $1 billion was used up in about a week. While to get the $4,500 or $3,500 subsidy the improvement in gas mileage only had to be 4 mile per gallon, the actual improvement for the new cars being sold vs. the clunkers being traded in has been 9 miles per gallon.

If we assume that the clunkers could have been on the road for three more years, and that they and the replacements would have been driven 12,000 miles a year, that adds up to a savings of 300 gallons of gas saved per car per year, or 900 gallons per car. With 250,000 cars sold under the first installment of the program, that works out to a cumulative savings of 225 million gallons of gas saved.

Not a complete answer to our dependency on imported oil, but not exactly a drop in the bucket, either. If the second installment works just as well, we up to a cumulative savings of 675 million gallons fewer of gasoline burned.

This is in addition to the benefit of actually putting auto workers (and suppliers) back to work, and car dealers being actually able to sell some cars and keep their employees. As a result, some of the spending will come back to the government in the form of the income taxes these workers pay.

Keep in mind that it will also result in smaller losses at General Motors and Chrysler, and we the taxpayers have rather substantial equity interests in those firms.

As a result of the program, Ford (F) actually posted a year-over-year increase in sales in July (2.2%) its first increase since 2007. Yes, three of the top five models sold under the program were made by Toyota (TM), but two of those are built in America, as are the other two -- one from Honda (HMC) and the other from Ford.

Traditionally, increased sales of durable goods like autos are one of the key engines to power the economy out of a recession (housing is the other traditional engine). The pick up in the sales rate to 11 million from down close to 9 million is a very significant move.

Granted, it is still well below the 16 million rate we were averaging a few years ago, but it is highly unlikely we will get back to those levels for a long, long time. The American consumer simply has far too much debt and needs to rebuild his or her balance sheet. The option of tapping the equity in the house to get a new SUV is simply no longer available.

Still, relative to the rest of the money that has been thrown around trying to stabilize the economy and the banking system, the $3 billion spent on the two installments of the plan is chump change. It is, for example, only 25% of what passed through American International Group (AIG) to pay in full the credit default swaps of Goldman Sachs (GS).

Despite the obvious success of the program, there are those who would like to see it killed, and since the House has already recessed for August, the bill has to pass the Senate without amendments. Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) has indicated that he has the votes to do this.

The question is: why do some want to kill the program?
Read the full analyst report on "F"
Read the full analyst report on "TM"
Read the full analyst report on "HMC"
Read the full analyst report on "AIG"
Read the full analyst report on "GS"
Zacks Investment Research

How Boone Might Boost Energtek, Inc. (EGTK.PK)

QualityStocks — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:03:30 +0000

The domestic natural gas industry has fallen on hard times due to a supply glut and a sharp fall in commodity prices over the course of the last year, but with last week’s latest news things are beginning to look up again. T. Boone Pickens, the long time crude oil bull turned alternative energy maven, [...]

Healthcare, Congress & WellPoint – Analyst Blog

Zacks Market Commentaries — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:37:41 +0000

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has set a target of month's end to enact health care legislation, while in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid hopes to complete legislation by the end of the first week in August.

However, progress towards clarifying the way forward remains cloudy with yet another setback in Congress on Thursday, when a key group of House Democrats demanded changes in legislation, claiming the emerging bill "lacks a number of elements essential to preserving what works and fixing what is broken." This followed concerns about a proposed new tax on generous health insurance benefits provided by some employers raised earlier in the week.

On a positive note for the government, leaders from hospital industry trade groups were expected to appear with Vice President Joe Biden to announce that hospitals are ready to give up about $155 billion over 10 years in government payments, with the money being allocated towards helping pay for covering millions of uninsured Americans. It remains to be seen whether the government will take a position by enacting the "public plan" option, however this week’s events suggest that given the complexity of issues being considered, legislation will not meet Pelosi’s targeted deadline for enactment.

We retain our neutral stance on managed care at this time, given the associated uncertainties. However, believe WellPoint (WLP) remains attractive at current levels given its size and relatively diversified payor mix and maintain our Buy recommendation.
Read the full analyst report on "WLP"
Zacks Investment Research

Jobs Rundown, Market Records, Coming Megatrend, a Special Announcement and More!

Addison Wiggin — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:07:24 +0000

pMore tough news for U.S. jobs… what you need to know in today’s BLS employment report#8230;Dow setting records left and right… two historic looks at just how lousy 2009 has been#8230;a href="http://www.contrarianprofits.com/articles/author/chris-mayer/" class="alinks_links"Chris Mayer/a on the next megatrend… far bigger than the current crisis#8230;Chuck Butler explores “a strange thing happening in currencies”#8230;Plus, a reader exposes our “simple-minded,” “right-wing babbling” for what it is… at last#8230;/p p strongEmployment will make or break this depression./strong Today, it’s not looking so good. 12.5 million Americans are out of work, and counting. Here’s the quick and dirty on the rest of the employment numbers this morning:/p ul liThe economy shed 651,000 jobs in February, right in line with Wall Street’s expectations. That’s the 14th month in a row of net job losses/li liJanuary#8230;/li/ul

Stimulus Bill Closer to Fruition, TARP 2.0, and More!

Contrarian Profits — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:00:18 +0000

pGhost of stimulus past warns… government spending “does not work”#8230;Obama champions bill, nevertheless… Lew Rockwell provides voice of opposition#8230;Geithner unveils TALF, TARP 2.0, whatever you want to call it… another $1 trillion-plus on the line#8230;Time to go back to school, right? Maybe not…. MBA recruiting at record low#8230;.Not all market sectors in the drink, one high-end market still showing signs of life#8230;/p pbr / /p p class="BodyCopy" align="left" strong“We have tried spending money,”/strong begins our mystery politician today. “We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work. I say after eight years of this administration, we have just as much unemployment as when we started… /p p class="BodyCopy" align="left"“And an enormous debt to boot!#8221;/p p class="BodyCopy" align="left"The mystery man? Henry Morgenthau Jr., Treasury secretary to then-President Franklin Delano#8230;/p

New-Look Bank Bailout Plan Set to Debut this Week

Contrarian Profits — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:22:52 +0000

pAs the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression continues to worsen, decades of deregulation and the growing independence at the state level are being reversed as a deteriorating national economy forces the federal government to increasingly take on responsibilities that no other institution has the power or resources to handle./p pThis dismantling of the so-called “a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Federalism" target="_blank"New Federalism/a” will be readily apparent again this week as the federal government is once again at the forefront of the most-closely watched crisis-fighting initiatives at hand: With Congress pushing forward on an $827 billion stimulus plan and the Treasury Department a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103#38;sid=ag2bBDsXHd0M#38;refer=us" target="_blank"planning to unveil its new banking bailout blueprint on Tuesday/a, economists and other experts say the federal government is taking its biggest role in#8230;/p

Gold Leads Precious Metals Slide on Firmer Dollar

Contrarian Profits — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 20:30:02 +0000

pDollar rises to 3-week high vs euro on stimulus hopes#8230; Oil prices fail to hold gains above $48 a barrel#8230; Abu Dhabi Dec gold sales fall 40 pct month on month. /p pGold slid more than 3 percent in Europe on Monday as the strengthening dollar knocked the metal#8217;s appeal as a currency hedge, and oil prices retreated from highs. /p pOther precious metals tumbled in gold#8217;s wake, with silver falling 8 percent, platinum 3 percent and palladium 6 percent. /p p Spot gold was quoted at $851.65/853.65 an ounce at 1445 GMT, down from $873.20 an ounce late in New York on Friday, having touched a session low of $843.50. /p p U.S. gold futures for February delivery on the COMEX division of the New#8230;/p

Obama Stimulus and January Effect, this Week’s Top Stories

Contrarian Profits — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 16:20:48 +0000

pPresident-elect Barack Obama’s transition team is reportedly putting the finishing touches on an economic recovery plan that could run from $675 billion to $1 trillion, though many experts believe the program will most like range between $700 billion and $800 billion./p pBriefings for top congressional Democrats were to start either over the weekend or today (Monday), a senior transition-team official told strongemThe Associated Press/em/strong late last week. President-elect Obama is slated to meet today with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., in a Democratic strategy session that is likely to focus on the a href="http://www.moneymorning.com/2008/12/18/economic-stimulus/" target="_blank"economic recovery package/a./p pIt’s time to look forward, not back.strongem /em/strongThe 111th Congress meets tomorrow (Tuesday), and a comprehensive economic stimulus package is at the#8230;/p

Forget Zero-Yield Bonds… Here’s 6 Ways To Make A Profit

Contrarian Profits — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:38:56 +0000

tr HIDDEN VALUE /tr tr pDear Value Seeker, /p pWelcome to the 100th edition of Hidden Value. /p pThe financial world was a far more tranquil place when we started this daily newsletter on July 25. But we knew a storm was brewing#8230; /p p“Automakers bailout falls apart in Senate” reads a Marketwatch headline today. /p pRepublican Senators blocked the passage of a $14 billion loan to Detroit ‘bad boys’ GM and Chrysler. A refusal of the United Auto Workers, headed by Ron Gettelfinger, to agree to lower wages and benefits by a certain point in 2009 was reportedly the key sticking point. /p p“Bankruptcy is the best possible result. I am sick and tired of taxpayer money funding corporate ineptitude,” says Mike Shedlock on his Global Economic#8230;/p/tr

White House Opens TARP to Auto Industry after Congress Fails to Approve Loans

Money Morning — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:22:02 +0000

By Jason Simpkins Associate Editor Money Morning The Bush administration Friday dropped its opposition to using the $700 billion bank bailout fund to provide financing for U.S. automakers... Money Morning is here to help investors profit hands...

I’m Back — Did I Miss Anything?

Sean Brodrick — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:34:30 +0000

Man, you guys had fun while I was away. And look at this welcome-home party! Stocks cratered at the open, as Republican senators A href=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/business/12auto.htmlSTRONGrefuse to go along /STRONG/Awith the Detroit bailout package.brbr On the other hand, we probably would have had sell-the-news stock dump even if the bailout package did pass. The economic environment is terrible. As Calculated Risk explains, weekly unemployment claims are at A href=http://calculatedrisk.blogspot.com/2008/12/initial-unemployment-claims-increases.htmlSTRONGmulti-year highs:/STRONG/Abrimg style=WIDTH: 480px alt= src=http://local.content.compendiumblog.com/uploads/user/7e88b461-578b-47f3-88ec-038e212ad053/aa0ff38d-9bb9-44a5-bba5-8be30d8f6977/ContinuedClaimsDec2008.jpg _width=75 _height=75br PIt's not just jobs -- A href=http://www.census.gov/marts/www/marts_current.htmlSTRONGretail sales collapsed in November/STRONG/A, and other indicators are negative across the board. In case you haven't guessed, I am a reluctant supporter of the bail-out. I think letting a US car company go bankrupt in the current economic environment is like pouring gasoline on a fire. I didn't think Congress would be this stupid. After all, they don't raise a peep when Citibank got $300 billion. But some in Congress are apparently more interested in pursuing long-held ideological dreams -- like breaking unions -- than they care about this nation's well-being and health./P PSo is there hope? Well, if GM and Chrysler can hang on until the next Congress, sure. The final vote was 52 to 35 (12 didn't vote). A href=http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110session=2amp;vote=00215STRONGFour Democrats did not vote, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid voted with Republicans/STRONG/A (as a procedural matter). With 10 Republicans defecting, seven of whom will be around in 2009, new legislation will easily pass in January upon the arrival of at least seven new Democratic votes, unless Reid allows a filibuster. Reid is a total wimp, so car makers shouldn't hang their hopes on him suddenly growing a spine./P PMeanwhile, everyone should read A href=http://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/2009/01/stiglitz200901 target=_blankSTRONGthis Joseph Stiglitz piece/STRONG/A. He's a Nobel-prize winning economist, and he identifies five key mistakes—under Reagan, Clinton, and Bush II — that laid the groundwork for financial apocalypse./P PSo what does this mean for gold? Gold is keying on the US dollar which has run into major problems over the past week.brimg style=WIDTH: 480px alt= src=http://local.content.compendiumblog.com/uploads/user/7e88b461-578b-47f3-88ec-038e212ad053/aa0ff38d-9bb9-44a5-bba5-8be30d8f6977/dollar1.png _width=75 _height=75br/P PThe dollar has some final support at 83.75. If that fails, we could see the US dollar fall to 81. And that would be bullish for gold. Let's see how things develop today./P PNow, how about my trip? I'll be telling my Red-Hot Global Small-Caps subscribers about it pretty soon, and I expect I'll make it my MoneyandMarkets piece for next week./P

Surprise! Coal Nuclear Power are Keys to Obama’s Energy Plan

Contrarian Profits — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:24:41 +0000

pPresident-elect Barack Obama has made no bones about wanting to jump-start the renewable energy markets – pledging $150 billion for the development of biofuels, solar and wind power, other alternative energy sources during his first term./p pBut what might the new administration mean for more traditional – and more reliable –energy sources?/p pOil is always the first energy source to spring to mind. But it’s hardly a solo act – coal and nuclear make up the other two-thirds of the top fuel trio. Coal delivers 50% of U.S. electricity needs, and nuclear power brings another 20% to the table./p pThe cold truth is that demand for energy of all types – and especially electricity – is going to keep advancing, domestically and worldwide.#8230;/p

GM Ford Still A Buy

Daniel Shepard — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:50:49 +0000

Thursday December 4, 2008 Navivest General Motors (GM), Ford (F) and Chrysler executives will today, be back in front of Congress, which will be holding hearings on the $34 billion in aid that the automakers are seeking from the government. The automakers will be presenting their plans on how they plan to use the money, in response to [...]

Congress Debates Another Bailout, GM, Ford (F) and Chrysler Chiefs Push for Action

Contrarian Profits — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:08:00 +0000

Executives from Detroit’s “Big Three” auto companies – General Motors Corp. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F), and Chrysler LLC – yesterday (Tuesday) joined Congressional Democrats on Capitol Hill to make the case for an industry-wide bailout that could spare their troubled companies from totally collapsing. Detroit’s bigwigs have been met with considerable resistance so far, but will continue to make their case today and into the New Year.

Ford, GM and Chrysler are all in danger of folding into bankruptcy after a complete lack of innovation and outmoded business models combined with the current financial crisis and a lack of credit to drain the American icons of profitability.

Ford posted a $2.98 billion operating loss for the quarter ended Sept. 30, while GM…

GM, Ford, and Chrysler Chiefs Push for Action in Washington as Congress Debates Another Bailout

Money Morning — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 08:30:30 +0000

By Jason Simpkins Associate Editor Money Morning Executives from Detroit’s “Big Three” auto companies – General Motors Corp. (GM), Ford Motor Co. (F), and Chrysler... Money Morning is here to help investors profit h...

Stay Short Detroit As Big Three Buckle

Contrarian Profits — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:21:13 +0000

The ‘Big Three’ automakers in Detroit are begging for a government rescue. Adam Lass says these companies are just too risky to raise capital themselves. A bailout may be coming, but shareholders won’t be saved. That’s why Adam says investors should short GM (NYSE:GM) and Ford (NYSE:F).

This from Taipan Daily:

Last week, I wrote to you as to how our local hausfraus had found a convenient way to raise funds without the trouble of visiting such sordid places as pawnshops. Their solution: gold-selling parties wherein nice men would come to the house and relieve them of their excess jewelry.

Apparently the need to convert baubles to dollars is not limited to the Maryland upper middle class these days. According to Bloomberg, the pawn business is…

World Leaders to Convene in Washington

QualityStocks — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:06:48 +0000

In order to address the financial crisis now blanketing the planet, world leaders will converge on Washington this November 15th for a number of meetings aimed at devising a unilateral global response, as well as divining the root causes of the crisis itself. Political and economic leaders from Japan, the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Canada, [...]

It’s All Political

Michael E. Brisky — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 13:47:00 +0000

Yesterday's market plunge was an overreaction to uncertainty. The market hates uncertainty. Here's my thoughts on the bailout. Its a flawed bill, but its a flawed system. Wall Street is flawed, and Washington is flawed. But we have to deal with what we've got, and we have to get out of this mess. So some version of the bill will be passed to shore up confidence. Do I think the bailout will make money for taxpayers? No. Washington politicians are experts at ripping off taxpayers, and they do most damage when people aren't paying attention. Now that their every move is scrutinized, we can see how poor they really are at accomplishing things. Hearing about Pelosi's political speech just before the vote made me sick. Of all the times to try and get a leg up in the election, that was not one of them. They don't get it, pure and simple. We all heard Harry Reid's "no one knows what to do" quote.

That's all this is is politics. Its too close to an election. Obama and McCain won't even talk about it for fear of alienating voters. That's not what a leader does. A leader puts his country's need first.

The Dems. could have easily passed this bill yesterday, as they have a majority, but were too afraid politically. If the bailout was a failure, they needed Republicans to be on board so there would be equal blame.

Quit the blame game. Quit the politics. Get something done for a change.

Credit Crisis Update: U.S. Stocks Skid as Bailout Bogs Down, President to Address the Nation

Money Morning — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:35:56 +0000

By Jennifer Yousfi Managing Editor U.S. stocks dropped for the third straight day yesterday (Wednesday) on worries that increasingly rancorous debates will squelch a proposed $700 billion... Money Morning is here to help investors profit handsom...

Life in a Post-Bailout World

Michael E. Brisky — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:34:00 +0000

So bailouts are coming one after another. What a wonderful job being done by our representatives in Washington on this. Neither candidate has taken any sort of position on what to do. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said it best with his classic quote "no one knows what to do." Quite true. I get the sense that they're basically handing the checkbook to Paulson saying "do what you have to do." I don't think anyone else knows what to do.

So what happens once the bailouts are done? Okay, we've "saved" the financial system. But was it a system worth saving? Its quite possible that these bailouts won't bring needed reform that is necessary. We might just be happy that we survived and move on.

But the truth is that we need change. But its not a matter of needing more regulation across the board. Banning short sales isn't the answer. That only prohibits markets from performing as they should. And quite truthfully, it can't stop stocks from declining further. If a company is doing poorly, it can be discounted heavily because there won't be buyers for the stock. Simple supply and demand. Bailouts are also a negative because they basically condone the behavior that got us into this mess. If management gets a company into a horrible position, they deserve to be fired. They deserve to have consequences. If I mismanage my small business, and take on way too much risk, and it backfires, its tough luck. When companies know that there is a backstop, they will take more and more risk, pushing the envelope. This will continue the pattern of bigger and bigger bubbles, and each popping causing bigger problems.

You can't be excited about investing in anything that depends on the strength of the dollar. The actions in the past week have given that a weak outlook. I'm a believer that commodities will bounce back a bit, and those have the best chance in a scenario like this. After that, I'd only look at deep value plays.

It could get tough here for awhile, and there's nothing wrong in sitting it out for a bit.

The United States May Be The Next Banana Republic

Alex Stanczyk — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:19:23 +0000

With this announcement, the US has stepped into a realm formerly reserved for such lofty icons of global financial dominance as the Wiemar Republic, Argentina, and Zimbabwe. We are now officially directly monetizing debt, and creating money out of thin air. God forgive us for what we are about to do to our children. September 17, 2008 HP-1144 Treasury Announces [...]