Today 2pm ET: Obama to answer questions about the Fiscal Cliff: Tweet Qs to @WhiteHouse with #My2k on twitter hashtag

Today 2pm ET: Obama to answer questions about the Fiscal Cliff: Tweet Qs to @WhiteHouse with #My2k hashtag Obama Is Taking Himself and #My2K to Twitter This Afternoon

Jim Cramer says Obama will win the electoral college by a landslide ?

Jim Cramer raised some eyebrows this weekend, with a prediction that Obama will win the electoral college 440-98, a scenario that seems virtually impossible.
So why is Cramer so far outside of consensus?
He just explained it brilliantly on Twitter:

Basically, he's thinking of the call not as a pundit trying to get the number "right" but as a trader buying a super-deep out of the money call that could A) pay off quite a bit if remotely correct and B) Could instantly add scads to his fame.
Like all far-out-of-the-money call options, there's very little cost to this bet (being wrong won't end up costing Cramer squat in terms of his career), so he's being very smart and strategic, capturing upside in the event of a big blowout, while really risking very little
Whereas most folks see Obama just moderately getting over the 270 mark, he sees Obama winning 440 electoral votes, with 55% of the vote.

Washington Post

UPDATE: We were wondering what a 440 to 98 map would even look like.
National Journal's Jim Tankersely came up with one using CNN's interactive map.

by: http://www.businessinsider.com/jim-cramer-obama-is-going-to-destroy-romney-in-a-historic-landslide-2012-11#ixzz2BMaEVBDJ


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/jim-cramer-explains-why-hes-calling-a-blowout-for-obama-2012-11#ixzz2BMa2JmOX

Markets on edge for election day Here's what to expect if Obama wins, if Romney wins or -- worst-case scenario

I think this week's market results have been illuminating. Out of commission Monday & Tuesday... it borrowed Wednesday but couldn't get legs. It got legs Thusday but lost them Friday. Obviously, the acivity isn't for activity, it's for positioning. There are two funny posts here today: If Obama wins, pull your money. If Romney wins, pull your money. What money? Ben Bernanke over-printed the Dollar by a longshot. Some blame Obama- why didn't you stop him? Because, there are three types of currency now-- cash, debt contracts and derivatives. The latter two far exceed the first. Bernanke blew it when he convinced the Fed Board to maintain rock bottom loan rates. They should be exceeding 12% now. If they did, the stock markets would be dismal (rightfully so because the business platforms have no assets). No major business would have debt and all would be using cash to cover operations or filing for bankruptcy potection. The holders of the debt contracts would be negotiating OUT of them to get a partial cash return. Romney says he'll fire Ben Bernanke. He didn't say who would replace him. A Democrat? TWO Republican Fed Princes in a row has ruined us. We literally have to crash the Dow to recover cash to Main Street. We need to shutter Goldman Sachs and JPM in order to restore opportunity to Main Street. Whining about Obama's job creation numbers? The stock market has been on a roller coaster for the last 3 weeks. Vote Romney and the stock market will take off, vote Obama and the stock market will be a clusterf*ck for the next year. The people who make the stock market swing, don't trust Obama. Small business doesn't trust Obama ... the white middle class and white upper class doesn't trust Obama. So ... a vote for Obama is another nail in the economy's coffin and the stock market will follow where the economy goes.
If Obama is elected .... put your money in your matress and buy a good tent to sleep in!!
Personally, I have done terrific under the Obama presidency as far as my IRA, 401K and stock investments have gone. In fact, I have never done as well as the last four years. That being said, I am also one that believes that when a system has a foundation based on greed or profit, it must be tightly regulated or it will go amok. Libertarians and many republicans will disagree, but then again, de-regulation, which allowed so called independent rating agencies such as Fitch, Moody's and S&P to deliberately lie, rate junk mortgages AAA and send the country off the cliff, needs to be tightened and regulated much more severely than it is. Romney doesn't want that. That scares me. John Corzine, a democrat, who used deregulation to lose over a billion dollars out of his company and have no idea where the money went is proof. Bernie Madoff could not have done what he did were it not for continual pressure to deregulate starting from the Reagan administration moving forward. Not being a big fan of Obama, I am also a realist. Right wing deregulation policies collapsed our economic system into nearly a full depression. This will not get fixed overnight, as it took FDR many government programs including WPA, tighter regulations on banks and brokerage firms, CCC, over 15 years and a World War to get us out of the depression. Nearly all jobs during WWII were govt. or govt. related jobs . 4 years is far too short of time to expect the economy to flu****elf of the deregulating damage that sent us into collapse in 2008. Credit defaut swaps are still everywhere. Few of the crooks got put into jail or indicted for their theft under Obama, but even less would be held accountable under republicans or Romney. It doesn't look pretty in the future. Tax rates are far far too low. I was at a senior seminar the other day showing old folks with $65K/year in SS and pension checks and federal taxes of only $2200. That is only 3% taxes. We can't operate with most of the people paying little to nothing in taxes and parties thinking we need further tax cuts. Under Eisenhower and Kennedy, the top tax rate was 90%, but the govt. was not creating such debt from lack of funding.Obama is a socialist out to ruin the USA and spread our wealth to third world countries He needs to be stopped any way possible this man has no idea how to improve our economy And he did not get Bin Laden the military and CIA did and that was put into motion by BUSH Obama has done nothing but increase our debt and cozy up to Muslim radicals maybe the Israeli's should deal with him as the enemy he is BETTER DEAD THAN RED
How many FAMILY-SUSTAINING jobs has the Business and Financial sectors created or recovered in FOUR years? ZERO. Monday is the big sell-off day. Election Day marks TWO YEARS under the dismal governing of Rick Snyder. He's the guy who said he was a great "job creator" but sold his Gateway computer company to a Asian firm and fired all 30,000 Americans. He got rich off the cumulative pile of effort those people put forth, not because he was particularly genius. SINCE governing... he signed a no-helmet law for motorcycles that has raised applicable insurance rates and legalized fireworks. Last 4th of July was pretty much as loud and lethal as any war zone in the 3rd world. MANY cities have banned that legalization because the cost to police what amounts to military-level ballistics isn't in the budget. Snyder is using State Tax monies to undermine businessman Manny Maroun who owns the Ambassador Bridge. Synder wants to build a new bridge without public approval. There is a Constitutional Amendment Proposal on the ballot attempting to thwart Synder's audacity. He says he's going to built it even if We the People say NO. Synder hasn't created ANY jobs. He has not RECOVERED any jobs. He stole MILLIONS due the City of Detroit and forced an Emergency Financial Manager on that city. Police work 12 hour shifts up to 7 days a week. There isn't any EMS vehicles and ALL Emergency Service Personnel took massive pay cuts.

Here's hoping you understand, America... Snyder is a rich college-educated administrator. He's not a wise or competent government Official. He is EXACTLY THE SAME kind of guy that Romney is. He talked a good enough game to snow a lot of Michiganders into voting for him. NONE are benefiting from his term. In Massachusetts, Romney trails Obama by 31%. That's the people in the state he governed... telling him they have no faith in him. It's not a game. They cannot rig the outcome and rake in profits that go offshore. They have to DEAL WITH today's issues. They are severe. All I ask for is a fair chance, I'll take it from there. I don't want a Party of NO in Congress or a rich manipulated divisive vindictive creature in the White House. Just a level playing field. I will be voting Obama a second term so I can keep my small business momentum going. I have decades of corporate experience but am blockaded from my own career field by- Republicans who gave to Super PACs but NOT to American Families. The only GOOD Republican is out here earning it the same way the rest of us are. All others are Elitists. I am not a paid political poster or a card-carrying anything. I am an anti-Republican tired of getting tread on. The entire GOP just spent 4 years suppressing President Obama and he STILL made Progress. Imagine what he can do with our support and a cooperative Congress? That's what I AM voting for!!!. Selling off gives regular people the best chance to recover some portion of their savings and retirement. The nation cannot exist with administrators, paper and button pushers earning outrageous pay and the labor class living out of dumpsters. Tuesday's election was determined a long time ago. America is wholly polarized. If there isn't a flush out of stonewallers in Congress, then we crash. Simple as that. President... whichever. Congressional cooperation. It's our only hope.

Stock Markets will likely be on edge leading up to Tuesday's election Romney wins the election clearly, the stock market may jump-- and volatile the day after and for the remainder of next week. Emotions about the election are high and often bitter. The trench warfare of the campaign is intense.

Check out this great MSN video - Presidential Leadership in the Storm?

Markets will likely be on edge leading up to Tuesday's election -- and volatile the day after and for the remainder of next week. Emotions about the election are high and often bitter. The trench warfare of the campaign is intense. Obama winsIf Obama wins relatively clearly -- that is, the results aren't disputed and end up in the courts -- the stock market may well tumble on Wednesday. It did after he was elected in 2008: The Dow Jones industrials ($INDU -1.05%) were off 7.1% by the end of the week, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Index ($INX 0.00%) off 7.4% and the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX 0.00%) down 7.5%.

Yes, those are real numbers, but they may have had less to do with the president-elect than with the ongoing financial crash of 2008.

Obama and Wall Street have an edgy relationship, even though one of the great stock market rallies in history began in March 2009 after he took office. Many on Wall Street have spent millions of dollars trying to push Obama out.

There is a chance for a different outcome. If Obama wins, it means Ben Bernanke will probably stay on as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board until his term expires in 2014. And the Fed's accommodative monetary policy -- the promise of low interest rates into 2015 -- will continue.

Moreover, the odds for a solution to the fiscal cliff -- the combination of tax increases and spending cuts -- will increase. To do nothing won't help Republicans. That will be bullish for stocks.

The first scenario is more likely, but the second is worth thinking about.

Romney winsIf Romney wins the election clearly, the stock market may jump. He himself predicted it would when he made his now-famous comment about 47% of the population seeing themselves as victims.

Our conjecture here is based on the market's reaction to George W. Bush's re-election in 2004. The major indexes jumped about 3% that week.

That return was about all the Dow did for that year; the S&P 500 and Nasdaq ended the year up more than 8%.

Wall Street will be delighted in a Romney win because, the theory goes, regulation will be rolled back and Obamacare will be repealed. And there is the prospect that Romney's vows to fix the tax code will mean lower taxes for the wealthy.

It is possible -- if unlikely -- that a Romney win won't cheer the Street. One issue is Bernanke, who would be pressured by many in Congress to quit and go back to Princeton. Two issues will go through investors' minds: Who will replace Bernanke and when would a new Fed leadership then start raising interest rates? Rising rates are death to stocks.

There's a third issue. Romney is an experienced and successful business executive. But what is not clear is whether he has the political subtlety to convince a tea party-dominated Republican majority in the House of Representatives (and maybe the Senate as well) to trim government spending carefully without tipping the economy into recession. He insists he can lead, but Congress is not a business. There are lots and lots of agendas and scores to be settled publicly and privately.

The tea party scares Wall Street. Look at the reaction in the debt-extension crisis in the summer and fall of 2011. The Dow fell as much as 6.9% before stabilizing in early October; the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were off about 8%.


The polls -- and the analyses of the polls -- give the nod for a very narrow win to President Barack Obama, especially after a relatively decent jobs report on Friday. Mitt Romney's camp says he's going to be the clear winner.

Futures fall as Greece is concerned w/ Money

LONDON—Wall Street was set to open sharply lower Monday, as concerns escalated over the possibility of a Greek debt default, while the spotlight in the U.S. will be on President Barack Obama's plan to reduce the federal deficit.

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Associated Press

A trader at the New York Stock Exchange.

Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 166 points to 11280 and those on the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index fell 21.40 points to 1190.60. Nasdaq 100 futures declined 36.50 points to 2270.70.
The declines came after U.S. stocks rose for five consecutive sessions to mark their best week since July. The blue-chip Dow index rallied 4.7% last week, snapping a two-week losing streak.
Asian stocks dropped Monday and European equity markets also fell sharply, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 index down 2% in midday trade. The ASE Composite index in Athens fared even worse, slumping 3.2%.
In Greece, the cabinet of Prime Minister George Papandreou met on Sunday to discuss growing concerns over the nation's ability to meet its fiscal targets. The so-called "troika" of international lenders—the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission—are withholding the next disbursement of aid to Greece until the government comes up with a credible plan to meet its deficit-reduction commitments.
In a sharply worded statement released after the cabinet meeting Sunday, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the government takes full responsibility for the implementation of the agreed program, but also warned that Greece shouldn't be the "scapegoat" used by European institutions to hide their inability to manage the euro-zone crisis.
Mr. Venizelos is due Monday to hold a teleconference with representatives from the troika.
In the U.S. on Monday, President Obama is expected to unveil his plan to reduce the federal deficit by more than $3 trillion over ten years. He is due to speak at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time in the White House.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the president's plan includes $1.5 trillion in tax increases, mostly on wealthy individuals and corporations. The call for tax hikes is likely to be met with stiff resistance from Republican lawmakers.
On the economic calendar, the NAHB Housing Market Index for September is due shortly after the U.S. stock market opens.
In currency markets, the dollar rose Monday, as worries about the euro-zone debt crisis spurred demand for assets perceived as safe havens. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the U.S. currency against a basket of major rivals, rallied 0.9% to 77.233.
The euro dropped 0.3% to $1.3642.
In corporate news, Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings said in a blog post on Sunday that the firm will separate its DVD-by-mail service—to be renamed Qwikster—from its video-streaming business. Mr. Hastings also apologized to customers about the way the company communicated recent price changes, saying "I messed up."
BY:
Write to P. Lesova                

Obama's day: Talking jobs on CNBC Obama will discuss the state of the economy and answer questions during a live town hall event at 12 p.m. on CNBC "Investing in America"

When President Barack Obama takes the stage at Monday’s Town Hall event, many on Wall Street will be watching to see if he keeps up his attacks on banking executives as "fat cats" or adopts a more conciliatory tone.








President Barack Obama

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





For most of this year, Wall Street has felt it has been under siege by the White House. The Obama administration has positioned itself against Wall Street on the level of policy and with heated rhetoric.



But in recent weeks, the White House has been reaching out to Wall Street behind the scenes. White House officials have placed calls to top executives at major financial firms with the message that the administration does not view Wall Street as an antagonist, according to several sources familiar with the conversations.



The big question Wall Street is wondering is which Obama will appear at the Town Hall: the conciliator or the fat-cat-bashing populist?



Wall Street and the administration have been at odds over bonuses and the Volcker Rule. But it is the fiery rhetoric that seems to have most alienated Wall Street from the president.



"The president tried to deflect attention from his inability to get the economy rolling by bashing Wall Street. That’s just cheap politics," one Wall Street executive recently told CNBC.



No one expects a major pro-Wall Street change of policy from Obama on Monday. But they would like to hear less of an “us-versus-them” tone from the president.



"While I'd like to get the sense that Obama is calling a truce in his war against Wall Street, I'm not exactly sure I can keep that particular hope alive," said David Katona of Abundance Partners, a New York based hedge fund.It's day of policy and politics for President Obama, who noon hosts a town hall meeting on jobs that is sponsored by the CNBC financial news network. As Obama speaks, some unemployed Americans in their 50s wonder if they will ever work again.




Late this afternoon, Obama flies to Philadelphia to raise money for the Democratic Party and Senate candidate Joe Sestak.



In other news:



Fundraising for the mid-term elections as a whole are breaking all sorts of records, writes Fredreka Schouten of USA TODAY. Meanwhile, our Kathy Kiely reports on the internal battle between Tea Party backers and establishment Republicans.







Meanwhile, some Obama aides are reportedly considering ads seeking to tie all Republicans to alleged Tea Party extremism. This while some House Democrats appear to be distancing themselves from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.



One of the big Republican stars is Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio, and Susan Page of USA TODAY reports on his race.



Losses are mounting in the Gulf Coast region thanks to the months-long oil spill, USA TODAY's Rick Jervis reports.



There are new proposals to crack down on Medicare and Medicaid fraud, reports Alison Young of USA TODAY.



Later this week Obama heads to New York for meetings at the United Nations, which is struggling to prove its relevance.



We'll be here all day at The Oval, reporting on Obama's jobs town hall and other activities. Please check us out and have a good day.

Obama will discuss the state of the economy and answer questions during a live town hall event at 12 p.m. on CNBC "Investing in America"



 

All - Star Stocks

1. RTN 42.68 a share / target price 55.00

Raytheon Company designs, develops, manufactures, integrates, supports and provides a range of products, services and solutions for principally governmental customers in the United States and worldwide. The Company operates in six business segments: Integrated Defense Systems (IDS), Intelligence and Information Systems (ibis'), Missile Systems (MS), Network Centric Systems (NCS), Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) and Technical Services (TS). In April 2008, the Company acquired SI Government Solutions. In July 2008, Raytheon Company acquired Telemus Solutions, Inc., a provider of information security, intelligence and technical services to defense, intelligence and other federal customers.Raytheon's bread and butter has been advanced weapon systems (specifically advance missile targetting systems). As the US government tries to continue to utilize remote precision strike capability, more and more contracts roll Raytheon's way. Additionally, with a burgeoning cybersecurity unit, Raytheon is very well positioned to capitalize on the strategic shift of the Obama administration.Fear will keep RTN going because it is the leading provider of missile defense technology, and North Korea has been doing a lot of saber rattling lately.With the government working on modernizing the military, the technology that Raytheon constantly develops makes it a go-to company for the government when the government is looking for new and innovative military solutions.
Solid earnings growth. Increases in spending should help this company and also debt is being paid back. This isn't a buy and hold, but a buy and take profits.Even if military/defense spending declines under the new administration, this company is well positioned compared to its competitors in the civil satellite/environmental monitoring areas, and stands to benefit from increasing interest in climate change and natural disaster prediction/tracking. This is a great long term play !

2. DCM 15.13 / target price 24.00 a share

NTT DoCoMo, Inc. is a mobile telecommunication services provider belonging to NTT group, whose parent company is Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT). The Company focuses on the development of mobile multimedia services, such as i-mode service (Internet access service for mobile terminals). In addition to offering music and video services and mobile credit payment services, the Company offer services and functions to match customers’ lifestyles and needs and providing services that make use of the characteristics of mobile phones, such as services tailored to use scenarios through collaboration with mobile phones and customer lifestyle support tools. The Company also provide handsets adapted for this range of services and contents, offering a handset lineup that has been tailored to customer values and lifestyles.Picking this one up while it's down.Japanese cell phone carrier. Largest carrier in the world in terms of subscribers. Good long term value... Seriously undervalued stock right now, strong customer base and innovative products. Demand for video on cell phones in Japan will fuel above average growth.

I asked Jim Cramer About Clean Energy ( CLNE ) live at his 1000 show ( Check it out )

( Quote From Jim Cramer )“I take great pride in having tried to make Mad Money the most interactive show on TV,” Cramer told his live studio audience Wednesday night. “I actually talk to real people.”
In this spirit, Cramer took questions town-hall style as part of his 1,000th episode special. Watch video for his take on the waning influence of Berkshire Hathaway's [BRK.B 3051.00 136.00 (+4.67%) ] Warren Buffett, retirement accounts, President Obama’s affect on Clean Energy Fuels [CLNE 7.22 0.16 (+2.27%) ] and other natural gas stocks, biotechs and more.

The audience tests Cramer’s 30 years of Wall Street experience with questions about Berkshire Hathaway’s legendary leader, 401(k)s versus Roth IRAs, alternative energy and more....



I asked Jim Cramer about Clean Energy ( CLNE )@ the 3 Min. Mark ! The 1000 Mad money show was great !!

Your Thoughts??

Will Monday be the day to Revive U.S. Banks and the stock market ?

The Obama administration put the finishing touches on a plan to remove troubled assets from banks’ balance sheets that will be unveiled early next week.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner intends to expand the Federal Reserve’s new $1 trillion Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility to buy frozen assets, according to people familiar with the proposal. The revamped Fed program will sit alongside the Treasury’s planned public-private investment funds, while the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s role will probably involve buying distressed loans, the people said.

“We’re going to move quickly to lay out a new financing program to deal with these legacy assets,” Geithner said in an interview with Bloomberg television at a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers in Horsham, England, last weekend. “We have and expect to see a lot of support for this program.”

Geithner’s next step to cleanse banks’ balance sheets so they can start lending again will be crucial after the lack of detail in a rescue he outlined last month caused a sell-off in financial stocks. The initiative’s success will depend on the participation of financial institutions, some of whose leaders yesterday criticized congressional proposals to tax Wall Street bonuses.

Private investment managers would run the Treasury funds that purchase the toxic securities. The rollout of details on the toxic-asset plan slipped into next week as the Treasury Department grapples with the outcry over bonuses awarded by insurer American International Group Inc. AIG has received more than $170 billion in government aid.

Revamping TALF

As it’s currently set up, the Fed’s TALF program may lend as much as $1 trillion to investors from hedge funds and pension funds to insurance companies to buy recently created securities backed by loans for car purchases, college education and real estate.

Broadening the TALF to include older, illiquid and lower- rated securities could allow the participants in the public- private investment funds to potentially repackage assets and sell them on to a wider group.

The Fed’s policy-making committee, which met this week in Washington, said in its March 18 statement that the range of eligible collateral for the TALF “is likely to be expanded to include other financial assets.” The Federal Open Market Committee also pledged $1.15 trillion of extra measures to lower borrowing costs, including purchases of long-term Treasuries.

The TALF is supported with money from the $700 billion bank-rescue fund passed by Congress in October. The Bush administration originally set aside $20 billion to seed $200 billion in loans; Geithner has proposed raising the government contribution to $100 billion. The facility could need additional money to address so-called legacy assets.

FDIC’s Role

The FDIC’s role will likely also expand to help finance the administration’s initiative, and may run an aggregator-type unit that would purchase whole loans -- those not packaged into other securities -- three people said. FDIC officials have extensive experience dealing with nonperforming loans from their role in taking over failed banks. Under one scenario discussed, the FDIC would attach a government guarantee to the assets and then sell them to investors.

Treasury spokesman Isaac Baker declined to comment. Details of the plan could still change. “The markets are just getting increasingly nervous, the longer they wait to announce the plan,” said Stephen Myrow, a former Treasury official in the Bush administration who helped create the TALF.

Recession Impact

American banks have suffered more than $800 billion in writedowns and credit losses since the market for subprime mortgages collapsed in 2007. The credit crisis that followed pushed the economy into the deepest recession since 1982. A surge in unemployment and collapse in house prices has added to bad loans and further discouraged banks from lending.

The crisis pushed the U.S. government into pouring billions of dollars into financial institutions, including Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and AIG.

President Barack Obama has ordered Geithner to “pursue every legal avenue” to recoup money distributed to employees in an AIG unit that sold credit-default swaps and whose bad bets helped touch off the financial crisis.

Bank of America Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lewis called a proposed tax on bonuses “unfair” in a memo to employees yesterday, while Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit said his bank is “working in every appropriate way with policymakers.” JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon held a conference call with about 200 executives, saying the firm is concerned about retention and is working with lawmakers.

Outcry in Congress

The banks are responding to an outcry in Congress over $165 million in bonuses paid by AIG after the insurer received $173 billion in federal bailout funds. The Senate will vote next week on levies on bonuses after the House of Representatives approved a 90 percent tax on bonuses at companies that received bailout funds.

“People are very anxious about this getting too widespread, this notion that no one on Wall Street or in banking deserves any money,” said Seamus McMahon, a consultant with Booz & Co. in New York, who works with financial firms.

The Treasury secretary disappointed markets and lawmakers when he didn’t provide many specifics about the distressed asset clean-up in his Feb. 10 unveiling of the administration’s approach.

Stock Rebound

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Financials Index slumped 11 percent that day. It has since advanced about 12 percent after statements from banks including Citigroup and Bank of America that earnings accelerated since the start of the year.

Still, the index has retreated the past two days as legislators worked to increase restrictions on executive pay. The Fed said earlier this month that existing pay limits wouldn’t apply under the TALF program.

Opening the TALF to legacy assets “is the most effective and efficient way to purge troubled assets from the financial system,” Myrow said. To guard against losses the Fed would take so-called haircuts, or discounts on the loans, for the collateral it accepts.

It’s not clear when Obama will need to ask Congress for more money to continue to fund the bank-rescue program. Most of the $700 billion has already been allocated to existing programs.

“We’re talking about big numbers here,” said Kevin Petrasic, a former official at the Office of Thrift Supervision, who is now a lawyer at the Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker law firm in Washington. Congress is still “smarting” from having to dole out for saving Wall Street, he said.
bloomberg.com

Your Obama-Proof Portfolio: Edison International By Jim Cramer

Utility stocks have always been staid and dependable recession plays. The business was steady and the dividend payouts solid. But that’s changed lately. Many companies are struggling with financing, and that’s caused a string of dividend cuts. President Obama’s cap-and-trade budget, Cramer said, will only make things worse.
This cap-and-trade initiative will limit U.S. carbon emissions and auction off permits to companies that can’t meet that limit. Basically it’s a tax on emissions. Utilities that burn coal and other fossil fuels will pay the bulk of those taxes. So if investors want a good utility play, they’ll need to find one with as little carbon exposure as possible.
Cramer likes Edison International
[EIX 24.84 -0.56 (-2.2%) ]
, which operates both a utility and a non-utility power-production division. The utility, Southern California Edison, accounts for 80% of sales and supplies energy to 50,000 square miles across central, coastal and Southern California, excluding Los Angeles. Edison Mission Group, the non-utility power producer, runs plants in Illinois and Pennsylvania that trade energy and related commodities and also invests in energy infrastructure projects.
But it’s SoCal Edison that’s important here. Coal, the big carbon emitter, accounts for only 13% of the utility’s generating capacity, which is great given Obama’s focus these days. And the company plans to spend $880 million between 2009 and 2013 on its solar power program. At the same time, Edison Mission Group will work with First Solar

[FSLR 110.44 6.47 (+6.22%) ]
on upcoming solar projects. Edison International might be the kind of utility, Cramer said, that Obama holds up as an example. The government might even be willing to subsidize the business.
EIX beat its fourth-quarter earnings estimates Monday, and the dividend yield is a healthy 4.9%. That payout’s safe because there are more than enough earnings and cash flows to back it up. Still, the stock took a hit today with the rest of the market, and Cramer thinks there could be an analyst downgrade on Tuesday. But that will just give investors a great entry point. EIX is actually trading at a discount to its peers, and according to the company’s net asset value estimations this $25 stock should fetch as high as $56. Even on the low end of analysts’ estimates EIX should be worth about $43 a share.
So how do you play it? The company is waiting to issue 2009 guidance until after the California Public Utility Commission meets on March 12 to vote on a rate increase. That increase would boost SoCal Edison’s compound annual growth rate to 16% from 2009 to 2012. The problem, though, is that this vote has already been deferred twice. But Cramer thinks it’s a good idea to be in ahead of that vote regardless. Even if the Commission defers again, investors can still buy more and slowly build a position. In this environment, that’s the best way to buy stocks – in increments as the share price declines and the yield gets bigger.

Obama-Proof Stocks?

Cramer has been a bit nervous since President Obama announced his budget plans this week. Changes to Medicare immediately took down the health-care sector, and now the Mad Money host is wondering who might be next. That’s why he’s looking for stocks that don’t answer to Washington. It’s one of the few ways investors can find profits right now.

Australia is definitely out of Obama’s reach, which is one reason Cramer likes BHP Billiton [BHP 36.42 -0.72 (-1.94%).Plus, the world’s largest diversified resources company is probably the best play on China’s $600 billion infrastructure stimulus plan. And China, Cramer said, will be engine of any global economic recovery, with BHP as its supplier.


BHP is the world’s second-largest producer of iron ore, third largest of copper and nickel and number one for seaborne traded coking coal, which is used in steel production. These are all key to China’s build-out. Twenty percent of BHP’s fiscal 2008 sales came from that country, so the new stimulus should means the number will rise this year. BHP also owns some oil properties, which is another commodity China can’t get enough of.

A projected slump in iron ore sales to China is now lesser than expected thanks to that stimulus. Chinese iron ore inventories in the week ending Feb. 23 were down 6% year-over-year, 2% from the previous week and 23% from the September high. Cramer thinks they’ll reverse direction and head higher now. Already Chinese imported iron ore prices are up 25% since October. Hot-rolled steel is up 25% since mid-November, and new-home sales in China have doubled year-over-year, another sign that copper and other raw materials are in demand.

BHP did miss earnings estimates last quarter, but cash flows increased 74% year-over-year, the dividend was up 41% from last year, and the company reduced its net debt by 51%. Those cash flows lend security to BHP’s 4.5% dividend yield, and the stronger balance sheet allows for spending even during the downturn. And that’s just what BHP is doing. The company’s putting money to work to better position itself for the market’s eventual turn up.

The stock’s down to $36 from $95, but that dividend is safe – BHP is even in position to raise it – the balance sheet’s solid, the company’s capable of taking market share and this is most likely the largest beneficiary of China’s stimulus plan. Best of all: Obama can’t touch it. That’s why Cramer thinks BHP is a buy
cnbc.com