Smaller Obamacare
Stocks tanked today as a result of President Obama blasting the banks, and wanting strict guidelines on what they cannot invest in.
Bond lowered in interest rates, and the Dollar moved sideways.
Gold fell to below $1100/ounce. This is the first buy range for those of you who want to buy gold. The “buy” signal for significant buying is $1050 or lower, and I am waiting for that to happen. If Gold goes below $1000/ounce, it will be a “buy with both hands” signal.
Oil and gasoline fell, and that’s good news for us all.
In the news today…..
Initial jobless Claims – rose last week and were counted at 482,000. This number is way too large for a recovering economy, so it is a poke in the eye to all who say that we are coming out of the recession. This also means that the national unemployment rate will undoubtedly rise when it is next calculated. The 3rd Q of 2009 showed a significant slowing in the jobless claims number, as companies slowed their layoffs. Many economists thought this meant that companies were poised to start hiring. This isn’t proving to be true. Companies slowed their layoffs because they had made all the layoffs that they wanted to make, so they could make their profit numbers. However, as the economy isn’t picking up, so the companies aren’t hiring.
Congress and the Max Deficit – Congress proposed to increased the cap on spending at $14.3TRILLION, and increase of $1.9TRILLION. The spending is still out of control, and the message from Mass was clearly to shut down the spending, and get it under control. Congress isn’t doing this, and that’s why I say “Throw all the scumbags out!!!”
Interesting Tidbit – you can buy an app for your Iphone that translates a baby’s cry – any baby – into one of five distinct categories – hungry, annoyed, tired, stressed, bored.
Russia’s Central Bank – is busy buying Canadian Dollars and Gold to diversify itself away from US Dollars. Is this a political move, or an economic move? I believe it is the latter, and they are pointing the way for future Dollar values.
US Mortgage Rates – fell to 4.99% for a 30 Year fixed rate loan. This is 3 weeks of falling mortgage rates which follow the falling bond market interest rates. The recent all time low for 30 year fixed rate loans was 4.71% in early December. The FED has fed $1.25TRILLION into buying mortgage back securities in play to lower mortgage interest rates. Now, that’s a lot of money.
GM Dealers – are fighting to get back their franchises that were cancelled by either GM or Chrysler last year. 700 dealers are going for binding arbitration to try to get back their dealerships. GM Chairman says that hundreds of them will get their franchises back through this process. Huh??? Why did GM and Chrysler cancel them in the first place if there is a valid case for them to remain a franchise. Is this just another sign of lousy management in these companies? I think so.
Tonight’s Dinner Conversation…..
A smaller Obamacare Bill is being proposed by the Administration and the Democratics in Congress. This has been caused by the Mass (home of the original Tea Party) election and the “Scott heard round the world.” The idea being proposed is to drop out some of the proposals in the existing bill, and then get some Republican support, and pass it.
I fear that the Democrats missed the message from Mass. The message was “throw that bill away, and start over.” They don’t want to start over; they want to just slightly amend (reduce?) the bill, but keep the government control pieces in place.
Here is the topic for tonight’s discussion. Is this a government control health care bill? It doesn’t have the “public option” in it, so it isn’t government control – right? I heard this argument on the radio, and it really got me thinking. What makes the proposed legislation to be a “government control” takeover of the health care industry?
My answer is that there are many, many, many government committees and regulators being legislated inside this bill, and those bureaucrats are the ones who will determine what REALLY happens with health care – whether its the public option, or the current insurance company versions. Those bureaucrats work for who??? The government, of course. They rule!!!! That tells me that the legislation is a government control mechanism, AND I believe the Democrats won’t touch that aspect of the bill.
What is being proposed by the Tea Party crowd? Start again. They aren’t saying that health care doesn’t need reform. They are saying that health care shouldn’t be destroyed by government control methods. The Republicans have made dozens of legitimate, cost saving proposals for health care, but the Democrats have ignored all of them. The next few months should be interesting.
Here are the last numbers for today:
Dow Jones 30 Industrial – 10,390 (down 213)
10 Year Treasury Bond – 3.61% (down 0.05%)
Euro – $1.4095
Gold – $1094 (down $18)
Oil – $76.04 (down $1.70)
Gasoline – $1.98 (down $0.06)