Time if of the Essence; The Second $350 Billion

President-elect Obama today asked Congress for the Second $350 Billion from the Tarp(officially President Bush had to ask for it). Congress has fifteen days to reject the Obama administrations demand for the funds. Will this Congress stand in Obama's way during the first few days of his new government? This answer is most probably yes. It seems that Nancy Pelosi & Barney Frank want Barack Obama to understand that they will be participating in the final decision. The first $350 Billion was invested in the Banking system to prevent a depression. It is time to deal with the housing crisis by dealing with foreclosures. I believe that Obama will focus on this issue immediately. Time is of the essence!

Random thoughts- Will Citi & Morgan Stanley merge their brokerage units?...yes , look for the announcement within 24 hours....Morgan Stanley will be the Firm with the most retail stockbrokers....all dividends on banking stocks are in question...look for the elimination of dividends within months....2009 starts out with the best actor at the Golden Globes being a WRESTLER....no wonder the market was down today..where is the Obama rally? any day...

Fast Foward Sixty Days

On February 9, 2009, President Obama will be entering his third week as Commander in Chief of our military and CEO of our economy. What will have changed? The most important change will be consumer optimism about the future. The new President will probably get a six month honeymoon from the public. We will all be looking for immediate change. We will see a unified government as Congress will pass new laws and the President will immediately sign them. The fiscal package that will be signed on January 20, 2009 will probably spend over $500 Billion to create new jobs in the next two years. I expect consumer spending to increase as more people feel secure about the prospect for better times ahead. What about the financial markets?
I believe that we will probably see signs of an easing credit crunch. Corporate profit reports for 2008 will be terrible, but in the past. All of this sounds like a much higher Dow Jones. The key to this will be the performance of our new President and how he changes the negative psychology in the world. We will have to wait.

Random thoughts...President Bush just bought a mansion in Dallas....I wonder if Jeb Bush will be running for Senate in Florida...We have such high expectations for the new President....Is Depression talk and Deflation off the table now?...the market has been up for seven of nine days....this is the Christmas rally....remember that the first five days of January indicate performance for the year...Will GM have a new CEO in 2009?...what other CEO's will be gone next year?...how did Sam Zell make a mistake on the Tribune Company?