For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – August 27, 2009 – 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: United Heathcare Group (UNH), Aetna (AET), Wet Seal Inc. (WTSLA), VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) and Syniverse Holdings Inc. (SVR).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Wednesday’s Analyst Blog:

CBO Overstates Healthcare Costs

Some of the more outrageous types of misconduct by the likes of United Heathcare Group (UNH) and Aetna (AET) might be curbed, such as the cancelling of policies as soon as someone gets sick and puts in a substantial

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From our business news partner.

Deficit surges at agency that insures pensions

By DEB RIECHMANN Associated Press Writer

(AP:WASHINGTON) In an ominous setback, the government agency that insures the pensions of 44 million Americans has amassed a record $33.5 billion deficit _ triple what it was just six months ago.

The bleak financial snapshot, in a report obtained by The Associated Press, raises new fears that a federal bailout eventually will be needed for the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. The beleaguered agency is being saddled with the underfunded pension plans of companies going bankrupt in the worst economic slump since the Great Depression.

A rare midyear financial update requested by Congress shows the $11.1 billion deficit the agency posted at the end of its fiscal year on Sept. 30 has swelled by $22.5 billion to its highest level in the agency’s 35-year history.

The agency’s acting director says, however, that the more than 640,000 people

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This story hasn't caught a lot of media attention, and its surely hasn't caught the market's attention, and I have been wondering why. The story I'm talking about is a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087amp;sid=aFzDnxkw.984amp;refer=home"President Obama's plan to close corporate tax loopholes for corporations doing business overseas/a. It is facing strong opposition from memebers of his own party. A couple of quick highlights:br /br /ulliPresident Barack Obama’s plan to end tax breaks for U.S.-based multinational companies drew a skeptical response from fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill, indicating that his proposal may face obstacles in Congress. /liliSenate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, called for “further study” of Obama’s proposals within minutes of the president’s announcement yesterday. Joseph Crowley, a Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, said he doesn’t want any tax changes to “harm” Citigroup, his New York district’s largest private-sector employer. /liliObama proposed outlawing three ...

Negotiators from the House of Representatives and the Senate reached a compromise on the proposed economic stimulus bill today (Wednesday) and could have a bill on President Barack Obama’s desk by the end of the week, CNN reported.

“The bills were really quite similar, and I’m please to announce that we’ve been able to bridge those differences,” said Reid, the Senate majority leader. “Like any negotiation, this involved give and take, and if you don’t mind my saying so, that’s an understatement.”

The package has been reduced, however, from the $838 billion in spending approved by the Senate Tuesday to $789 billion.

Multiple Democratic sources had offered details on topics that had to be worked out CNN said.

35 percent of the bill would be tax cuts; 65 percent would be spending. Tax breaks for workers that had been set at $1,000 per family or $500 per individual ...

U.S. Treasury Secretary-nominee Timothy Geithner told the Senate Finance Committee yesterday (Wednesday) that drastic measures are needed to combat the U.S. recession and promised to overhaul the beleaguered $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP).

Testifying after former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, Geithner told the committee the United States is facing “the mother of all financial crises.” Geithner also urged Congress to quickly pass a robust stimulus plan, Bloomberg News reported.

“If our policy response is tentative and incrementalist, if we do not demonstrate by our actions a clear and consistent commitment to do what is necessary to solve the problem, then we risk greater damage to living standards, to the economy’s productive potential, and to the fabric of our financial system,” he told the committee at a hearing on his nomination.

The credit crunch and housing market collapse require a “comprehensive plan” that must be

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