- Economic fears prompt risk takers to take day off. “With investors and traders suddenly looking for shelter, the old standby – the dollar – is the day’s big winner,” Tom Petruno says.
- “News that is good (but not great) is sold in an overbought market while news that is bad (but not horrible) is bought in an oversold tape,” Minyanville’s Todd Harrison notes. It’s the reaction that counts.
- Apple (AAPL) speculation is running rampant ahead of its special event. The much-hyped tablet is expected to be unveiled, but could Apple announce a new phone compatible on Verizon Wireless?
- While we’re talking about Apple speculation, don’t expect a deal between Time Warner’s (TWX) Time Inc and Apple by next week when Apple’s expected to launch the tablet, MediaMemo blogger Peter Kafka says. But Time still remains “intensely interested” in the device.
- Scott Brown’s Senate victory in Massachusetts should be viewed as another indicator of increasing outrage over the state of the economy, the Pragmatic Capitalist says.
- Inflation fears aren’t warranted in the short-term. “But what we need is a convincing commitment from the government to both near-term stimulus and longer-term fiscal responsibility in order to be assured that it’s not a concern over the next decade,” James Hamilton says. “And that’s not what I’m seeing from the US Congress.”
- Sirius XM (SIRI) looks to be heading in the right direction. Between positive free cash flow for 2009 and a higher-than expected subscriber count in 4Q, “the winter holidays were particularly kind to Sirius,” John Paczkowski says.
- Stocks return to normalcy after the Massachusetts election rally. “It’s back to economic reality and an earnings season that is mediocre so far relative to expectations,” writes Miller Tabak equity strategist Peter Boockvar.
- Obama slows the health bill, telling lawmakers not to attempt to pass it until Massachusett’s new GOP senator takes office.
- BofA and Wells Fargo posted improved 4Q results, joining some of their other banking peers that have also performed better a year after the depths of the financial crisis.
- Oracle of Omaha isn’t a fan of Obama’s bank tax. ““I don’t see any reason why they should be paying a special tax,” said Warren Buffett. Supporters of the plan to tax the banks “are trying to punish people,” he said. “I don’t see the rationale for it.”
Okay, we’re gonna get a little political here this morning. Don’t worry, I’ll be brief.
The surprise election of Scott Brown in Massachusetts to the US Senate has been widely viewed as a repudiation of President Obama and his healthcare reform plan, and possibly as a foreshadowing of this fall’s midterm Congressional elections.
I always thought, and I don’t care what anybody says, that the Democrats’ focus on healthcare in 2009 was based solely on politics. They knew they controlled the White House and Congress, had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and could cram through just about anything. But they had to get it done in 2009. They might not survive the midterms, and nobody wants to be running for reelection amid a cantankerous healthcare debate anyway. No, it had to be 2009.
Not only did they not get it done, but the Dem’s wake up today like the Romans after the Visogoths sacked the Eternal City. How could they lose as safe a bastion of power as Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat? It’s a disaster, right? The GOP is probably already planning the balls for after the 2012 Presidential election (“congratulations, Madame President.”) But that would be premature, because an awful lot can happen in two years, or one year, or 10 months.
The conventional wisdom is that 2010 could be a replay of 1994, when President Clinton lost his Democratic majority in Congress to a resurgent Republican party. The upset forced him to move politically to the center, from which he actually achieved a great deal. The problem with that scenario for the Republicans is this: they just gave President Obama his second chance, 10 months before they can make him pay for his mistakes.
US stocks rally, led by healthcare stocks, amid a hotly contested fight in Massachusetts for Ted Kennedy’s Senate seat that could upend the political calculus for just about everything.
DJIA jumps 116 (1.1%) to 10725, S&P 500 rises 14 (1.3%) to 1150, Nasdaq Comp gains 32 (1.4%) to 2320. Every sector gains. Citi posts big 4Q loss, but 2009 proves better than 2008, so there’s something.Kraft finally satisfies its chocolate craving.
But it’s healthcare that leads the way, on hopes that GOP will be able to block healthcare reform bill. Apparently, to Wall Street, even if Scott Brown doesn’t actually win the Senate seat, the fact that the GOP’s put such a big scare into the Democrats — and especially Martha Coakley, who’s taken flak for everything from calling Curt Shilling a Yankee fan to have a Kennedy get her name wrong — is enough to upend the political calculus.
And if he does win, and the Democrats try to rush a final bill to President Obama’s desk before Brown can take his seat, well, that just won’t look very kosher, no matter how they characterize it. This is the downside to trying to push through a healthcare bill, even though there were more pressing matters to attend to.
I’ve long thought the Democratic party pushed healthcare because it knew it had a iron-clad majority to get any bill through, something that might not last past the 2010 midterms elections. As it turns out, it might not last past tonight.
(Correction: an earlier version of this post, as noted by Dow Jones colleague and Red Sox fanatic Geoffrey Rogow, misspelled Curt Shilling’s name. It has been corrected. (Good thing we’re not running for higher office in Massachusetts.))
J.P. Morgan reported some strong earnings today. But what this bloggers eye were some of the sub-numbers in the earnings report. The bank booked $1.8 billion in investment banking fees. But don’t be fooled – that wasn’t from big M&A advising. But $429 million was in advisory fees. Instead, that $1.3 billion + remaining fees […]
I am not going to apply online to be lululemon’s next CEO because I don’t want my application getting lost in the pile. The slightly troubled yoga clothing retailer is taking applications from anyone on its website. Click here if you would like to apply. And click here to read more details from The Associated […]
