Northwest Indiana Discussion

The FDIC is solvent...LOL! I bet if everyone went to take their money out of the bank we'd find out they weren't solvent at all. I don't know how you trust these pigs at the trough after all thats been said and done. Buy gold or silver and sit on it for awhile...it will pay off.

we gotta get outta this place, if its the last thing we ever do...

- The Foundry - http://blog.heritage.org -

Bush Deficit vs. Obama Deficit in Pictures

Posted By Conn Carroll On March 24, 2009 @ 10:20 am In Ongoing Priorities | 148 Comments


President Barack Obama has repeatedly claimed that his budget would cut the deficit by half [1] by the end of his term. But as Heritage analyst Brian Riedl has pointed out, given that Obama has already helped quadruple the deficit with his stimulus package, pledging to halve it by 2013 is hardly ambitious. [2] The Washington Post [3] has a great graphic which helps put President Obama’s budget deficits in context of President Bush’s.

What’s driving Obama’s unprecedented massive deficits? Spending. Riedl details:

President Bush expanded the federal budget by a historic $700 billion through 2008. President Obama would add another $1 trillion. [4]
President Bush began a string of expensive finan­cial bailouts. President Obama is accelerating that course. [5]
President Bush created a Medicare drug entitle­ment that will cost an estimated $800 billion in its first decade. President Obama has proposed a $634 billion down payment on a new govern­ment health care fund. [6]
President Bush increased federal education spending 58 percent faster than inflation. Presi­dent Obama would double it. [7]
President Bush became the first President to spend 3 percent of GDP on federal antipoverty programs. President Obama has already in­creased this spending by 20 percent. [8]
President Bush tilted the income tax burden more toward upper-income taxpayers. President Obama would continue that trend. [9]

President Bush presided over a $2.5 trillion increase in the public debt through 2008. Setting aside 2009 (for which Presidents Bush and Obama share responsibility for an additional $2.6 trillion in public debt), President Obama’s budget would add $4.9 trillion in public debt from the beginning of 2010 through 2016. [10]
UPDATE: Many Obama defenders in the comments are claiming that the numbers above do not include spending on Iraq and Afghanistan during the Bush years. They most certainly do. While Bush did fund the wars through emergency supplementals (not the regular budget process), that spending did not simply vanish. It is included in the numbers above. Also, some Obama defenders are claiming the graphic above represents biased Heritage Foundation numbers. While we stand behind the numbers we put out 100%, the numbers, and the graphic itself, above are from the Washington Post. We originally left out the link to WaPo. It has been now been added.

CLARIFICATION: Of course, this Washington Post graphic does not perfectly delineate budget surpluses and deficits by administration. President Bush took office in January 2001, and therefore played a lead role in crafting the FY 2002-2008 budgets. Presidents Bush and Obama share responsibility for the FY 2009 budget deficit that overlaps their administrations, before President Obama assumes full budgetary responsibility beginning in FY 2010. Overall, President Obama’s budget would add twice as much debt as President Bush over the same number of years.


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

Article printed from The Foundry: http://blog.heritage.org

URL to article: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/03/24/bus ... -pictures/

URLs in this post:

[1] his budget would cut the deficit by half: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/19124.html

[2] given that Obama has already helped quadruple the deficit with his stimulus package, pledging to halve it by 2013 is hardly ambitious.: http://blog.heritage.org/2009/02/26/qui ... 9s-budget/

[3] Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00104.html

[4] President Obama would add another $1 trillion.: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/wm1829.cfm

[5] President Obama is accelerating that course.: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget ... m#_ftnref4

[6] President Obama has proposed a $634 billion down payment on a new govern­ment health care fund.: http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/02/25/ ... ealthcare/

[7] Presi­dent Obama would double it.: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget ... m#_ftnref5

[8] President Obama has already in­creased this spending by 20 percent.: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Economy/wm2276.cfm

[9] President Obama would continue that trend.: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget ... m#_ftnref7

[10] President Obama’s budget would add $4.9 trillion in public debt from the beginning of 2010 through 2016.: http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget ... #_ftnref14

It's impossible. All of Obama's taxes are going to be going for programs...not to cut the budget.

According to eyewitnesses, Jamie Dimon, CEO and Chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co., put a $25 billion check on the table during the bankers meeting with Obama and Geithner in the Oval Office to pay back 100% of their bailout funds. He was summarily told: “You will pay it back when and how we tell you to.”

Let's hope Obama does not go down as the worst President since Jimmy Carter.

Let's hope Obama does not wind up wringing his hands in the rose garden while inflation and interest rates go through the roof and Iran holds our hostages.

I see troubling similarities.

As Obama's approval ratings plummet and the chances drop of his socialist programs being approved - the stock market is rising.

Obama's disasterous speech last night was just what the markets needed.

Rush was right.

We need to see Obama's programs fail I guess.

MARKET UP PAST 9,000 OBAMA UP IN THE POLL 20 POINTS RECORD PROFITS COMING IN GLOBALLY !!!!





EW YORK (MarketWatch) -- U.S. stocks rallied in morning trade Thursday, sending the Dow industrials above 9,000 for the first time since January, helped by upbeat earnings and news that U.S. sales of existing homes rose for a third straight month in June. The Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed (INDU 9,085, +204.05, +2.30%) was up 151 points, or 1.7%, at 9,030. It last stood above 9,000 on Jan. 6. The S&P 500 index /quotes/comstock/21z!i1:in\x (SPX 978.56, +24.49, +2.57%) rose 17 points, or 1.8%, to 971, while the Nasdaq Composite /quotes/comstock/10y!i:comp (COMP 1,978, +51.20, +2.66%) gained 34 points, or 1.8%, to 1,960.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dow-to ... 2009-07-23

buying up foreclosures doesn't count...

The market-volatility measure VIX is below 30, hinting that investors believe the worst is over, but above 20, leaving bulls some room.
• Milestone mania on Wall St., with Nasdaq and Dow in focus
• Battipaglia: Recovery may come, but you'll hardly know it
• Currency hits McDonald's | AT&T touts iPhone | Slimmer 3M net

Bristol-Myers to buy Medarex for $16 a share cash
Deal values Medarex at almost double its Wednesday close


LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. has signed a deal to buy biopharmaceutical firm Medarex Inc. for $16 a share in cash, resulting in an aggregate purchase price of about $2.4 billion, the two companies said in a statement late Wednesday.

The price is almost double Medarex's Wednesday close.

Medarex's projected $300 million in net cash and marketable securities at the close of the deal would knock the final price down to $2.1 billion.

Among the properties acquired in the merger is ipilimumab, a novel immunotherapy currently in Phase III development for the treatment of metastatic melanoma, which Bristol-Myers said could be "an important contributor to [its] future growth."

"Medarex's technology platform, people and pipeline provide a strong complement to our company's biologics strategy," Bristol-Myers Chairman and Chief Executive James Cornelius said in a statement. "This acquisition is another important step in our BioPharma transformation."

The tender for the shares will begin on or about July 27, with the deal expected to close 30 days later, pending regulatory approval.

Shares of Bristol-Myers /quotes/comstock/13*!bmy/quotes/nls/bmy (BMY 20.88, +0.59, +2.92%) closed up 0.9% at $20.29 Wednesday, while those of Medarex /quotes/comstock/15*!medx/quotes/nls/medx (MEDX 15.86, +7.46, +88.81%) were up 1.45% at $8.40.

The announcement came one day before Bristol-Myers was slated to announce its financial results for the second quarter. The company is projected to post earnings of 47 cents a share.

A mix of good news about profits and housing sparked a broad-based stock rally in the U.S. Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up nearly 200 points and crossing above 9000 for the first time since January.

The blue-chip average was recently up 172 points, or 2%, at 9054. AT&T rose more than 3% and 3M was up 6%. Both announced declines in second-quarter profits that were smaller than analysts expected. Microsoft was up 2.8% and American Express was up 2.7%. They are due to report after the closing bell.

Earnings have largely been at the crux of the Dow's more than week-long crusade back above 9000. While the index snapped a 7-day winning streak on Wednesday, it is up more than 5% this month and has tacked on nearly 1000 points in two weeks. Should the Dow close at its current level it would mark a new high for 2009.

"The early part of this rally was clearly short covering going into earnings season. The market was big-time held short and with the lack of bad news, the path of least resistance has been up," said Kevin Kruszenski, director of equity trading for KeyBanc Capital Markets. "People have been so trained to buy weakness but now they're being forced to chase their long ideas."

Kruszenski notes that the market didn't retest its lows from early March during an earlier slide in June and early July has also helped. Technical-based traders have cited that higher low as a sign to buy through long-held resistance levels. So, while some were questioning whether the S&P 500 could break through 950, technical traders used that move as a signal to buy even more.

Overall, the S&P 500 recently rose 22 points, or 2.3%, to 976, helped by gains in every sector.

Further helping Thursday's trade, the National Association of Realtors said existing-home sales rose again in June, but prices are still down sharply compared to last year. Home resales rose by 3.6% to a 4.89 million annual rate from a revised 4.72 million in May.

An exchange-traded fund tracking the S&P 500's homebuilders rose 3.7% following the report. KB Home was up 8.3%, Pulte Homes was up 5.3%, and Toll Brothers was up 5.8%.

All types of cyclical sectors were leading the market's trading on the session as has been the case for much of the recent activity.

Technology has paced that trend, with the Nasdaq Composite on pace to mark its 12th straight day of gains, something that has happened in more than a decade, even during the dot-com bubble. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite was recently up 2.4%, helped by gains in two of its high-profile components following their quarterly reports. EBay was up 8.5% after the online auctioneer said current-quarter results would top analyst estimates. Rival online retailer Amazon.com gained 6.1% after posting a surprising profit increase and striking a deal to acquire online shoe retailer Zappos.com.

On a more downbeat note, shares of SanDisk plunged 12% after the chipmaker issued strong profits but a disappointing outlook.

Broadpoint AmTech analyst Dinesh Moorjani Wednesday downgraded SanDisk to a neutral rating from a buy, saying in a research note, "Top-line weakness raises concerns about the demand environment and we believe partially reflects weaker consumer spending."

Among other decliners, McDonald's, which reported falling earnings and revenue, fell 4.8%.

The health-care sector was also a big winner Thursday as Bristol-Myers announced better-than-expected results and said it plans to buy Medarex for $2.4 billion. Bristol-Myers shares were up 2.8%, while Medarex was up 89%. Wyeth's earnings beat expectations, sending the drugmaker's shares up 1%.

Investors also responded to President Barack Obama's press conference Wednesday evening regarding proposed health-care legislation. Traders have been placing bets lately that the package will be delayed and may not effectively control costs, leaving ample room for health maintenance organizations and other providers to make solid profits.

"The sector has been really sensitive to the policy news for about six months or so," said trader Todd Leone, of Cowen & Co. "But it's been acting a lot better the longer they seem to be pushing the thing off."

Elsewhere, shares of Ford Motor rose 10% after it said that it had returned to profitability in its second quarter and slowed its cash burn.

The dollar strengthened against the euro and Japanese yen. The U.S. Dollar Index was up 0.2% in recent action.

Treasury prices sank. The two-year note was down to yield 1.03%. The 10-year note fell to yield 3.65%.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-sto ... 2009-07-23

medical supplies...

secret meetings in the White House. with the health industry executives...

....go figure

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures rose above $67 a barrel Thursday, climbing to the highest level in three weeks as mostly upbeat company earnings and U.S. home sales data lifted stock markets and raised hopes for an economic recovery.

The Nasdaq Composite index is poised for the longest winning streak in 17 years, while the Dow Jones Industry Average topped 9,000 for the first time in six months. U.S. June existing home sales rose for a third straight month to the highest level since last October.

September crude futures gained $1.85, or 2.8%, to $67.25 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It surged to $69.50 earlier, the highest level for a front-month contract since July 1.

"Home sales blew the market away," said Phil Flynn, vice president at futures trading and research firm PFG BEST Research. "Oil wants to go lower but the surge in stocks pushed it up."

"Demand is still weak and supplies still high yet the market keeps driving us higher," he added.

Resales of U.S. single-family homes and condos rose 3.6% in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.89 million, the National Association of Realtors reported Thursday.

On Wall Street, the Nasdaq index gained more than 2% to above 1,970, rising for a 12th straight session, the longest winning streak since early 1992, when the index was trading at around 600.

There was bearish economic news Thursday too. First-time claims for state unemployment benefits bounced back in the latest week, rising by 30,000 to 554,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

Crude has risen in six of the recent seven sessions. The rally came even after petroleum data continued to show weak demand and rising inventories.

Total inventories of crude, gasoline and other petroleum products in the U.S. rose 1.9 million barrels in the week ended July 17, up for a sixth straight week to the highest level since September 1990, data released by the Energy Information Administration showed. See full story.

Also on the Nymex, August reformulated gasoline rose 8.3 cents, or 4.5, to $1.9216 a gallon and August heating oil gained 5.67 cents, or 3.3%, to $1.7679 a gallon.

Bucking the trend, August natural gas futures fell 23.1 cents, or 1.1%, to $3.562 per million British thermal units.

U.S. natural gas inventories rose 66 billion cubic feet in the week ended July 17, the EIA reported Thursday. Analysts surveyed by Platts had expected an increase of 65 to 69 billion cubic feet.

At 2,952 billion cubic feet, stocks were 568 billion cubic feet higher than last year at this time and 458 billion cubic feet above the five-year average.

Separately, crude oil imports in Japan, the third largest oil consumer worldwide, plummeted by 19% in June year-on-year to the lowest level in 18 years, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing official data. The steep decline rekindled concerns over weak global demand for crude.

Yep just like Haliburton & Chaney who are still raking in tax payer dollars rebuilding Iraq