President-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.

Briefings for top congressional Democrats were to start either over the weekend or today (Monday), a senior transition-team official told The Associated Press 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 economic recovery package.

It’s time to look forward, not back. The 111th Congress meets tomorrow (Tuesday), and a comprehensive economic stimulus package is at the top of its agenda.  Hopefully, the lawmakers can put partisan bickering aside (fat chance) and have a bill in place for President-elect Barack

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“Airshow China,” the huge aerospace trade show that’s known officially as the “China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition,” ended Sunday in the southern-coast city of Zhuhai. It was the seventh time the event has been held.

But it’s the first time China’s commercial airplane sector has a long-term flight plan to follow.

Roughly $4 billion deals involving 102 aircraft were signed during the six-day event, which was attended by representatives of 600 aviation companies from 35 countries, officials from the Airshow China Organizing Committee told the People’s Daily newspaper.

But the real news was that China has set a timetable for its proposed “jumbo” jet, a passenger aircraft China plans to design and build domestically to compete directly with commercial jetliners built by industry heavyweights Airbus SAS of Europe and The Boeing Co. (BA), the U.S.-based airliner industry pioneer that’s America’s biggest exporter.

China

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For The Boeing Co. (BA), the strike may be over, but the fallout continues. Just days after resolving an eight-week strike by 27,000 unionized machinist workers, the Chicago-based aerospace giant announced that the job action will force it to delay the first test flight of its problem-plagued 787 Dreamliner passenger jet until next year.

Boeing was planning to make the inaugural flight of the next-generation jetliner – already delayed four times – during the fourth quarter. But company spokesman Jim Proulx said the strike – which started Sept. 6 and forced Boeing to temporarily shutter its commercial aircraft business – forced the firm to push the test flight into next year.

Boeing is conducting a special assessment to determine just how much the strike affected its production schedule. The company will revise the Dreamliner’s schedule – including a new date for that first test flight – based

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The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union will vote this Saturday on whether to end its two-month strike against The Boeing Co. (BA). A tentative agreement to end the strike was reached Monday.

Boeing’s shares soared $6.55 each, or 15.5%, to close at $48.91. They are still down 50% from their 12-month high of $98.71 and are down 45% for the year.

It was the longest strike in 13 years: The union walked out for 28 days in 2005 and 69 days in 1995.

Both sides claimed victory this time around.The union said that it “won the battle and made some significant gains,” while Boeing claimed it had “retained the flexibility necessary” to manage its business, Reuters reported.

Saturday will be the 57th day of the walkout by unionized machinist workers, who have shut down Boeing’s commercial-jetliner-assembly business since they left their jobs on Sept. 6., in a dispute over contract

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The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union will vote this Saturday on whether to end its two-month strike against The Boeing Co. (BA). A tentative agreement to end the strike was reached Monday. Boeing’s shares soared $6.55 each, or 15.5%, to close at $48.91. They are still down 50% from their 12-month high of $98.71 and are down 45% for the year. It was the longest strike in 13 years: The union walked out for 28 days in 2005 and 69 days in 1995. Both sides claimed victory this time around. Sign up below… and we’ll send you a new investment report for free: “Credit Crisis Report.” ...

By William Patalon III Executive Editor Money Morning/The Money Map Report The Boeing Co. (BA) doesn’t believe it can win the controversial competition for a $35 billion U.S Air Force tanker contract without a six-month extension, and now has threatened to pull out of the competition altogether. The Chicago-based Boeing said it wants the extension to incorporate what the aerospace giant contends are essentially new requirements calling for a bigger tanker with a larger fuel-carrying capacity. The Pentagon has told the bidders it will grant two months for the bidders to assemble and submit their new proposals, a Boeing official told the Atlanta Business Chronicle. “If we’re unable to secure sufficient time to prepare a competitive proposal, there’s little option for Boeing other than not to submit a bid,” Boeing spokesman Dan Beck told the Georgia-based business journal. This latest development in the ...

By Martin Hutchinson Contributing Editor Like it or not, with the invasion of Georgia, we have a new Cold War – as well as the profit opportunities that accompany such a conflict. International investors were able to make a lot of money during the “first” Cold War, so if any more politicians or TV commentators tell me they don’t want a return to those halcyon days, I shall scream. And since the situation in Georgia has effectively created a new Cold War status, it’s worth reviewing where the profit opportunities will be this time, and which countries the sensible, geo-strategically conscious investor will avoid – especially since Vladimir Putin looks a lot more dangerous than the sluggardly Leonid Brezhnev. Danger on the Inside You probably didn’t have much money in Georgia, Ukraine, or Kazakhstan, the three countries most immediately ...