A Dirty Job
Research for Online Investors

by John Dalt

1/15/10

The news is full of items that beg to be commented on.  It is a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it.  I have clenched my teeth this week as we discussed investing ideas.  The world spins and the government (and others) seem bent on knocking a wobble into people’s lives.

A tragedy is occurring in Haiti.  Tuesday’s earthquake has devastated this poor country.  The death toll is estimated at 50 to 100 thousand.  The U.S. and other countries are rushing aid to the island, but distribution is slow reaching the people with basic needs like water and food.  Danny Glover blames the earthquake on lack of progress at the Confab in Copenhagen.  I don’t know why I liked his movies, must have been his co-star Mel Gibson.

Wednesday, the president met with Union Leaders in the White House concerning the national health care bill.  The Senate version places a 40% surcharge on “Cadillac health plans.”  These plans cost over $24,000 per year for a family.  Originally this was designed to hit the wealthy and high income white collar workers with gold plated benefit plans.  It seems that union members have negotiated similar high cost benefits, imagine.

Imagine, Maobama decided to exempt benefits that are part of a union contract until 2018.  This was a $60 billion tip-of-the-hat to his supporters.  Of course, white collar employees will still pay an extra $90 billion if their benefits fall under the provisions.  The Washington Post has the story how “Unions will dodge Obama’s Health Tax.”

Google has threatened to pull out of China, where it trails Baidu in search engine traffic.  Baidu owns 60% of the market.  Google announced Tuesday that they would stop censoring search results and may pull out of China, after their e-mail accounts were hacked by a sophisticated attack.  Google believes the hacking attack was done by the government as it targeted the accounts of dissidents, and human rights activists.  China filters internet searches.  Wang Chen, one of China’s top propaganda cabinet officials said, "Companies have to concretely increase the ability of Internet media to guide public opinion in order to uphold Internet safety."  It cannot be any plainer than that.  You can read how “China tells Web Companies to Obey Controls.”

Vice-President Biden met with the Chairman of the Recovery Act and Transparency and Accountability Board today.  The meeting was closed to the press.  The White House released a statement of accomplishments.

There is a special election next Tuesday in Massachusetts to replace Ted Kennedy in the Senate.  The Republican Scott Brown is leading the democrat by 2 points going into the weekend.  Maobama carried Mass. by 27 points in 2008  This could be a slap in the face of the world improvers, and make them run like rats in a dark room.  Don’t hold your breath; it seems too good to be true.  Just pray for bad weather in Massachusetts on Tuesday.  It is the 60th vote!   If you would like to read about the Democratic candidate, Martha Coakley, the Wall Street Journal has an excellent article detailing her actions as Mass. Attorney General, “Martha Coakley’s Convictions.”

Maobama has a new five-year plan to fund the budget deficit.  Assistant Labor Secretary Borzi and Assistant Treasury Secretary Iwry are spearheading an effort to ‘encourage’ Americans to buy treasury bonds or annuities in all IRA and 401K accounts.  Bloomberg reported this new initiative last Friday.  Why does all the good news come out on Friday?  Bloomberg broke the story and followed up with “Retiree Annuities May be Promoted by Obama Aides.”

Classify under the heading ‘Moths get to Close to Light bulb’, another group has discovered that dealing with politicians can be dangerous.  Yesterday Maobama proposed a $90 billion special tax on the nation’s banks with over $50 billion in assets, to cover the losses in the TARP program.  Never mind that most of the banks have repaid their loans, with interest, and warrants the government can exercise.  Never mind that the money was forced on some of the banks.  Hank Paulson locked them in a room with no option but to sign the documents requesting the bailout.

Maobama said, “We want our money back, and we’re going to get it!”  Why let facts get in the way of a populist rant?  The losses are caused by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GM, and Chrysler, who all belong to the government and unions now.  The 10-year assessment is called ‘The Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee.”

Tiger Woods has checked into the Pine Grove Behavioral Health Clinic for treatment of sex addiction.  These are sick, sick people.

Thanks to subscriber T.M. for alerting us to the plans for our retirement accounts.

Have a great weekend; markets will be closed Monday for MLK day.  We will be back in the saddle on Tuesday.

The information presented in this newsletter is based on generally available news releases, corporate filings, current events, interviews and the editor’s opinions.  It may contain errors and you should not make investment decisions based solely on what you believe you have read here.  Do your own research, it is your money.  If you lose it, it is your responsibility, not ours or your grandmothers!  The editor may or may not have a position in any securities discussed.  The editor may have held a position in a security earlier, or in the future.

MarketToday Home Page

Back to Top