| Acceleron (XLRN) | Celgene | BO | 666,667 | 10,000,005 | | Pimco DC (PCI) | Gross William H | O | 100,000 | 2,236,750 |
Search Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" trading recommendations using our exclusive "Mad Money" Stock Screener. NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Here are some of the hot stocks Jim Cramer talked about on Wednesday's "Mad Money" on CNBC:  AAPL data by YCharts
Apple (AAPL), Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) and Amazon.com (AMZN): Cramer said these three stocks have not been blaming Washington for ailing sales. They've just been delivering for shareholders.  RHT data by YCharts
Red Hat (RHT): Are the analysts focused on the wrong metrics? Cramer said investors need to do their homework and decide for themselves about this company.  LEN data by YCharts
Lennar (LEN): Home sales are not as bad as many expected given the sharp rise in interest rates, and that's good news for Lennar once the wrangling in Washington is done.  TIBX data by YCharts
Tibco Software (TIBX): Cramer said he's been waiting for a breakout quarter from Tibco and this quarter the company finally delivered. To read a full recap of "Mad Money" on CNBC, click here. To sign up for Jim Cramer's free Booyah! newsletter with all of his latest articles and videos please click here. To watch replays of Cramer's video segments, visit the Mad Money page on CNBC. -- Written by Scott Rutt in Washington, D.C. To email Scott about this article, click here: Scott Rutt Follow Scott on Twitter @ScottRutt or get updates on Facebook, ScottRuttDC At the time of publication, Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS had no position in stocks mentioned. Jim Cramer, host of the CNBC television program "Mad Money," is a Markets Commentator for TheStreet.com, Inc., and CNBC, and a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. All opinions expressed by Mr. Cramer on "Mad Money" are his own and do not reflect the opinions of TheStreet.com or its affiliates, or CNBC, NBC Universal or their parent company or affiliates. Mr. Cramer's opinions are based upon information he considers to be reliable, but neither TheStreet.com, nor CNBC, nor either of their affiliates and/or subsidiaries warrant its completeness or accuracy, and it should not be relied upon as such. Mr. Cramer's statements are based on his opinions at the time statements are made, and are subject to change without notice. No part of Mr. Cramer's compensation from CNBC or TheStreet.com is related to the specific opinions expressed by him on "Mad Money." None of the information contained in "Mad Money" constitutes a recommendation by Mr. Cramer, TheStreet.com or CNBC that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. You must make your own independent decisions regarding any security, portfolio of securities, transaction, or investment strategy mentioned on the program. Mr. Cramer's past results are not necessarily indicative of future performance. Neither Mr. Cramer, nor TheStreet.com, nor CNBC guarantees any specific outcome or profit, and you should be aware of the real risk of loss in following any strategy or investments discussed on the program. The strategy or investments discussed may fluctuate in price or value and you may get back less than you invested. Before acting on any information contained in the program, you should consider whether it is suitable for your particular circumstances and strongly consider seeking advice from your own financial or investment adviser. Some of the stocks mentioned by Mr. Cramer on "Mad Money" are held in Mr. Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio. When that is the case, appropriate disclosure is made on the program and in the "Mad Money" recap available on TheStreet.com. The Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio contains all of Mr. Cramer's personal investments in publicly-traded equity securities only, and does not include any mutual fund holdings or other institutionally managed assets, private equity investments, or his holdings in TheStreet.com, Inc. Since March 2005, the Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio has been held by a Trust, the realized profits from which have been pledged to charity. Mr. Cramer retains full investment discretion with respect to all securities contained in the Trust. Mr. Cramer is subject to certain trading restrictions, and must hold all securities in the Action Alerts PLUS Portfolio for at least one month, and is not permitted to buy or sell any security he has spoken about on television or on his radio program for five days following the broadcast.
Much has been written about crowd and group behavior in the investment industry, but one aspect that has received little attention is emotional contagion. As the term suggests, people can infect each other behaviorally. And in the field of investment, this can cost everyone a lot of money. The term contagion has a negative connotation from its customarily application in the field of medicine and disease. Still, the term is very apt in the context of investment, because contagion frequently leads to irrational or imprudent behavior. It prevents "healthy" evaluations of investment opportunities, and gets in the way of sound judgment in decision-making. Contagion leads to the classic blunders associated with following the crowd - buying into the market when prices are high, and fleeing in panic when they drop. Contrarian behavior, generally the best (or even, arguably, the only) way to really make money, is, by definition, undermined by emotional contagion. How Does Contagion Infect the Investor's Mind? As an example, let's assume that Ivan leads a placid life, earning a good living and putting his money into a secure retirement fund that does ok, but does not "shoot out the lights." Some of his friends are investing money in foreign bonds, and making double the return that Ivan receives from his conservative fund. Ivan's resistance is strong at this point, and he follows his gut feeling that these bonds are too risky. However, out of a mixture of curiosity and envy, Ivan the investor starts asking his friends how well the bonds are doing. They tell him that the returns are excellent, and are sure to stay that way. Ivan's resistance slowly weakens, as he hears repeatedly how much he is losing out on and eventually, he gives in, buying bonds when they are nearing their peak. Soon afterwards, some crisis occurs overseas, and his friends start to panic - as do many other investors. Once again, Ivan is contaminated and thinks he should also sell out before it is too late. A! fter all, that is what his friends are doing. Two months later, when the price is half of what it was when Ivan bought in, he is disillusioned and still recovering from his losses. Under normal circumstances, this would be the ideal time to make an initial investment, to get back in to the market or to top up existing holdings, but the emotions of contagion always work in the wrong direction, and Ivan retreats to recover. Subconscious Contagion Emotional contagion is relatively automatic, and inevitably entails the suppression of conventional rationality and caution. In the investment industry, the heady mixture of media reports of money to be made, and seeing others capitalize without much effort, leads to emotional pressure to charge ahead and share in the gains. It is very tempting to go into an investment that is doing strikingly well, and people tend to suppress any warnings of overheating or information to the contrary.
Downward Pressure Is More Powerful Than Upward Negative events tend to elicit stronger and quicker emotional, behavioral and cognitive responses than positive events. Hence, when markets and investments go sour, the contagion of panic is even worse than the pressure to buy when markets are booming and overheated. This explains why investments can lose their value so fast. The sheer blind panic, as people desperately try to avoid losses, is an irresistible and disastrous force. Why Is Emotional Contagion Common? On the one level, people tend to imitate those who seem to be successful. Envy and greed invariably attract others into the same activities. Evolutionists have another explanation, as well. In some instances, emotions help people to adapt to the circumstances, and contagion can thus aid survival. For instance, if people see others work hard to earn a living and the results are there to be seen, the mimicry is a purely positive reaction. Similarly, where there is danger of fire, for instance, if the emotional contagion leads to precautionary measures being taken in order to prevent fires, the positive aspects are obvious. But if people only react when the town is already on fire, and trample each other to death in a belated attempt to escape, the contagion is too late and only exacerbates the loss of life and limb. This is exactly what tends to happen in investment markets. By the time contagion sets in and most ordinary people buy, it is too late in the cycle to make money. Prices and the risks of a crash are too high by that stage. In other words, contagion is a natural emotional process that can be advantageous. But in the investment industry, it is frequently the exact opposite. Over-the-top emotions lead people to charge into investments at precisely the time when they should be getting out of them and into something on the ground floor. Solutions Emotional neutrality is the key. Only invest for coldly rational reasons, and never because other people are ! buying in droves and making money right now. Heated emotions, euphoria, excitement and similar sentiments are the enemy of prudent and profitable investing. Make sure that you do not get carried away with the crowd. In fact, it is generally best to do the diametrical opposite. When the crowd is cheering, leering and buying, look to sell; when it is moaning, groaning, panicking and selling, it is generally time to make your move. Having a good, neutral advisor is a great help. Before taking the plunge - either in or out - ask informed friends or brokers who can be trusted for their advice. Objective third parties are invaluable in ensuring that you don't get carried away or become imprudent in the face of peer pressure and temptingly high, but unreliable and unstable, returns. Indeed, if you have a broker, his or her job - either ethically or even legally - is to ensure that you never join the proverbial queue of lemmings at the edge of a cliff. The Bottom Line Not only your body, but also your mind, is susceptible to infection. If you get constantly bombarded with reports of spectacular returns that seem destined to continue, the temptation may eventually become irresistible. Such investments are, all too often, has-beens that are approaching or are even past their peak, and are now risk-laden and likely to plummet. Emotional contagion may lead the unwary or self-deluding into such disasters in the making. Get inoculated by neutral third parties, or simply make sure that you are not investing only because the euphoric masses are pushing up market values to unsustainable levels.
MIAMI — In a sunny, roomy office overlooking a vibrant bustling Miami Avenue below, Freddie Laker is putting the finishing touches on a potentially groundbreaking app that turns written text into video. He's not shepherding his Gui.de in Silicon Valley, or even in one of the top start-up cities like New York, Boston or the Denver/Boulder area, but way far away at the extreme southeastern part of the country. Miami? Home to hot temps, leggy South Beach models, a bustling Latin America scene and thousands of retirees? "There's more talent here than people give us credit for," says Laker, son of the late British airline mogul of the same name. "Because it's Miami, people assume everyone will be by the pool. They forget that nerds are nerds and they're happy to be inside anywhere." Great weather, cheaper real estate and labor and being the gateway to Latin America doesn't hurt either. "You're lucky if you can carve out a corner for yourself in San Francisco or New York, but in Miami it's wide open," says Daniel Lafuente, co-founder of The Lab Miami, a tech-geared shared workspace in the Wynwood area. The Lab this year expanded from its original 700 square foot location to a 10,000 square feet facility, due to demand for space. On a recent visit, Wynwood was bustling with colorful factories awash in purples, greens and yellows. Just a few miles away from pricey South Beach, Wynwood is known for the hosting the well-attended Art Basel event in December and frequent weekend art walks. Why settle in Miami? "You might enjoy its gorgeous winters, warm oceans, Latin American edge, world-class cultural happenings, art scene, Eastern time zone, pace, more manageable cost of living," says David Notik, a Miami-based developer who runs the Woven community website. "There are lots of great places to start, grow or invest in a company. Miami's one of them, and it might be right for you." What Miami has yet to produce is a big success story. The San Francis! co area is known for Google and Apple, while New York has Kickstarter and AOL, and Boston has Trip Advisor. The biggest tech names to come from Miami so far are gaming PC manufacturer Alienware — a unit of Dell — and Open English, a website that teaches English in tutorial videos. But things are brewing. The company .CO (go.co) is based here. It sells domain names to companies that want to use .co in their URL. Twitter's Vine app, which offer six second video clips, uses .co, as does Brit Moran's Brit.co household tips help site. LiveNinja, an online learning site, raised $500,000 in seed funding and is working on its second round of capital. Miami hasn't attracted the big-pocketed venture capitalists who pour millions into start-ups our west and elsewhere. But LiveNinja CEO Will Weinraub says Latin America money is a welcome alternative. About half of his investment has come from Latin America investors. Laker says Miami needs to see a "PayPal Mafia" of sorts "to graduate and start investing in others." The term refers to PayPal founders and early employees who are serial entrepreneurs and investors. They include Elon Musk, who went on to found the Tesla electric car, and Peter Thiel, an early investor in Facebook. Refresh Miami, a local tech support group, organizes many tech meetups. The Knight Foundation is a big financial supporter of the Miami tech scene, investing in the Lab and helping fund other projects. The organization — an outgrowth of the newspapers once owned by the Knight brothers, including the Miami Herald — has invested over $4 million locally this year. The goal is to keep talented young people in Miami. "If you look at 25- to 40-year-olds with college degrees, they want to go to San Francisco, Boston, Washington D.C., the research triangle in North Carolina or Austin," says Matt Haggman, Knight's Miami pro! gram dire! ctor. "We want to be on that list." The bottom line: Miami's a great place to live and work, and now, with a tech scene that's organized and united, the future can only hold promise.  Local street ion the Wynwood area of Miami(Photo: Jefferson Graham, USA TODAY) "Our community is just now starting to see the growth and support it needed," says Michael McCord, CEO of LearnerNation, a video e-learning site. "It needed someone to turn around and say we're more than just hotels and coconuts. We're a community where there's actually business being done."
Topeka Capital reported on Monday that it is cut its rating on oil and gas company Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD   ). The firm has downgraded PXD from “Buy” to “Hold,” due to a valuation call. Topeka Capital has also lowered the company’s price target from $200 to $195. This price target suggests a 5% upside from Friday’s closing price of $184.83. Analyst Gabriele Sorbara commented: “Following the recent outperformance, we believe PXD is sufficiently valued on 2014/2015 EBITDA generation and relative to RNAV. While we believe PXD stands alone as the premier player with more than 700,000 net acres prospective for the Wolfcamp shale in the Midland Basin, the current valuation awards a paramount premium to the group.” “Further, the numerous catalyst wells with 3Q13 results add no incremental value to our RNAV and growth upside, given our production and RNAV valuation model factor in a ramp to 50 horizontal rigs in the Midland Basin by 2018 – also presenting execution risk, in our view,” the analyst added. Pioneer Natural Resources shares were mostly flat during pre-market trading Monday. The stock is up 73% YTD.
Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis. What: Shares of Canadian Solar (NASDAQ: CSIQ ) were flaring up today, falling as much as 14% after the company found itself implicated in an SEC fraud investigation. So what: Though called Canadian Solar, the company has several subsidiaries in China, where many companies have been implicated in fraud in recent years. Last night, an SEC official said during a hearing that the accounting firm Deloitte had refused to turn over audit records from a 2010 probe. The hearing is expected to last several months, and centers around Chinese secrecy laws, which prohibit them from disclosing certain documents the SEC would need to determine if fraud took place. Now what: It's impossible to say what the consequences of the SEC investigation will be, but the event serves as another reminder of the risk of investing in Chinese companies, particularly in solar, which were subject to their own subset of risks as Chinese solar companies has been accused of anticompetitive pricing and dumping on foreign markets. Other Chinese solar stocks have fallen as well as the news threatens the industry as a whole. Given the smoke screens in investing in Chinese solar, all but the most risk-seeking or informed investors would be mindful to stay away. 5 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014: Panhandle Royalty Company(PHX) Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. engages in the acquisition, management, and development of oil and natural gas properties. The company?s mineral and leasehold properties are located primarily in Arkansas, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Texas. As of September 30, 2011, it owned 255,857 net mineral acres; leased 17,480 net acres; held working and royalty interests in 5,107 producing oil and natural gas wells; and operated 48 wells in the process of being drilled. It serves pipeline and marketing companies. Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. was founded in 1926 and is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 5 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014: Gildan Activewear Inc.(GIL) Gildan Activewear Inc. engages in the manufacture and sale of apparel products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It sells T-shirts, fleece, and sport shirts to wholesale distributors under the Gildan brand name. The company also provides its activewear products for work and school uniforms and athletic team wear, and other purposes to convey individual, group, and team identity. In addition, it offers undecorated products to branded apparel companies and retailers; and underwear products. Further, the company markets its sock products under the various brands, including Gold Toe, PowerSox, SilverToe, Auro, All Pro, GT, and the Gildan brand. The company was formerly known as Textiles Gildan Inc. and changed its name to Gildan Activewear Inc. in March 1995. Gildan Activewear Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Advisors' Opinion: - [By Tom Stoukas]
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHA) and Allianz SE (ALV) led airlines and insurers lower, retreating at least 1.5 percent. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) slid 1.6 percent. Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) rose after JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its recommendation on the shares. Gildemeister AG (GIL) added 3.4 percent after Deutsche Bank upgraded the maker of cutting tools. - [By Eric Volkman]
Gildan Activewear (NYSE: GIL ) just bought itself a new wardrobe. The company announced it has acquired "substantially all of the assets" of privately held screen printing and apparel decoration specialist New Buffalo Shirt Factory for around $7 million.
Thomson Reuters Corporation provides intelligent information for businesses and professionals worldwide. The company allows market participants to connect, access content, and trade in a secure environment through Thomson Reuters Eikon desktop, Thomson Reuters Elektron network, content integration and management technology, content feeds and databases, and transactions infrastructure solutions that support buy- and sell-side customers to trade in foreign exchange, fixed income and derivatives, equities, exchange-traded instruments, and commodities and energy markets. It also offers information, analytics, workflow, and technology solutions to buy-side and off-trading floor customers; access to liquidity in over-the-counter markets, trade execution, and connections for market participants and financial professionals? communities; and a suite of solutions offering informed outcomes to regulated industries and law firms. In addition, the company provides critical information , decision support tools, and software and services to legal, investigation, business, and government professionals; integrated tax compliance and accounting software and services for accounting and law firms, corporations, and government professionals; intellectual property and scientific resources that enable its customers to discover, develop, and deliver innovations; and data analytics, and performance benchmarking solutions and services to healthcare sector. Further, it offers coverage of global, regional, and national news in 20 languages covering politics, business, finance, entertainment, lifestyle, technology, health, science, and sports; and engages in advertising-supported direct-to-consumer publishing activities of Reuters.com and its network of Websites, mobile applications, and electronic out-of-home displays. The company was formerly known as The Thomson Corporation and changed its name to Thomson Reuters Corporation in April 2008. The company is headquartered in New York, New York. Advisors' Opinion: - [By Bill Smith]
FDS operates in a highly competitive industry, some with more resources. Their competitors include:
Thomson Reuters Corp. (TRI)BloombergInteractive (IDC)MSCI Inc. (MXB)Morningstar Inc. (MORN)Track Data Corp. (TRAC)Edgar Online (EDGR)McGraw-Hill (MHP ) - [By Associated Press]
Ron Brown, head of Elektron Analytics, a Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI ) unit that sells news feeds that computers can read, said that the words "explosions" or "Obama" alone wouldn't have triggered selling. But add "White House," and it's a combination even the slowest computer couldn't miss. - [By Jonas Elmerraji]
It's been a solid year for Thompson Reuters (TRI); since the calendar flipped over to January, this $30 billion financial media firm has rallied more than 22%. But don't worry if you've missed out on the move -- TRI looks well-positioned for higher levels thanks to the pattern that's been setting up in shares. Thompson Reuters is currently forming an ascending triangle pattern, a bullish setup that's formed by horizontal resistance above shares at the $35.50 level and uptrending support to the downside. Basically, as TRI bounces in between those two technically-important price levels, it's getting squeezed closer and closer to a confirmed breakout above that $35.50 price level. When the breakout happens, it's time to be a buyer. TRI closed above the $35.50 level in yesterday's session, but it's a little early to call it a breakout just yet. If shares can hold above that breakout level all through today's session, then the buy signal is worth heeding. - [By Rich Smith]
This series, brought to you by Yahoo! Finance, looks at which upgrades and downgrades make sense, and which ones investors should act on. Today, our headlines feature an upgrade for Thomson Reuters Reuters (NYSE: TRI ) , a new buy rating for Novavax (NASDAQ: NVAX ) -- but for Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP ) , a downgrade. Let's get that bad news out of the way first.
5 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014: Waste Management Inc.(WM) Waste Management, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides waste management services to residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers in North America. It offers collection, transfer, recycling, and disposal services. The company also owns, develops, and operates waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States. Its collection services involves in picking up and transporting waste and recyclable materials from where it was generated to a transfer station, material recovery facility, or disposal site; and recycling operations include collection and materials processing, plastics materials recycling, and commodities recycling. In addition, it provides recycling brokerage, which includes managing the marketing of recyclable materials for third parties; and electronic recycling services, such as collection, sorting, and disassembling of discarded computers, communications equipment, and other electronic equipment. Further, the company e ngages in renting and servicing portable restroom facilities to municipalities and commercial customers under the Port-o-Let name; and involves in landfill gas-to-energy operations comprising recovering and processing the methane gas produced naturally by landfills into a renewable energy source, as well as provides street and parking lot sweeping services. Additionally, it offers portable self-storage, fluorescent lamp recycling, and medical waste services for healthcare facilities, pharmacies, and individuals, as well as provides services on behalf of third parties to construct waste facilities. The company was formerly known as USA Waste Services, Inc. and changed its name to Waste Management, Inc. in 1998. Waste Management, Inc. was incorporated in 1987 and is based in Houston, Texas. Advisors' Opinion: - [By Laura Brodbeck]
Tuesday Earnings Expected From: Waste Management, Inc. (NYSE: WM), Johnson Controls, Inc. (NYSE: JCI), Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: EA), LinkedIn Corporation (NYSE: LNKD), Nokia Corporation (NYSE: NOK) Economic Releases Expected: �US consumer confidence, US PPI, Canadian PPI, British mortgage approvals and consumer credit, French consumer confidence Wednesday - [By John Persinos]
One dominant company in the handling, treatment, and disposal of solid waste is Waste Management (WM). With this industry leader, investors are paying for market dominance, relative predictability, good dividends, and high cash flow.
5 Best Canadian Stocks For 2014: CNH Global N.V. (CNH) CNH Global N.V. manufactures, markets, and distributes a line of agricultural and construction equipment and parts worldwide. It operates in three segments: Agricultural Equipment, Construction Equipment, and Financial Services. The Agricultural Equipment segment provides tractors, combine harvesters, hay and forage equipment, seeding and planting equipment, tillage equipment, and sprayers, as well as cotton picker packagers, and sugar cane and grape harvesters primarily under the Case IH and New Holland brands. The Construction Equipment segment offers heavy construction equipment, such as crawler and wheeled excavators, wheel loaders, graders, dozers, and articulated haul trucks; and light construction equipment, including backhoe loaders, skid steer and tracked loaders, mini and midi excavators, compact wheel loaders, and telehandlers primarily under the Case and New Holland Construction brands. This segment serves construction companies, municipalities, local governmen ts, rental fleet owners, quarrying and aggregate mining companies, waste management companies, forestry-related concerns, contractors, residential builders, utilities, road construction companies, landscapers, logistics companies, and farmers. The Financial Services segment provides financial products and services, including retail financing for the purchase or lease of the company�s and other manufacturers� new and used products; and facilitates the sale of insurance products and other financing programs to retail customers. This segment also offers wholesale financing to its dealers and rental equipment operators, as well as financing options to dealers to finance working capital, real estate, and other fixed assets and maintenance equipment. CNH Global N.V. sells and distributes its products through dealers and distributors in approximately 170 countries. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. CNH Global N.V. is a subsidiary of Fiat Netherlands Holding N.V. Advisors' Opinion: - [By Dan Caplinger]
Kubota isn't the only company aggressively challenging Deere. AGCO (NYSE: AGCO ) has made aggressive expansion efforts in Africa, working with specialty agricultural lender Rabobank to try to help farmers on the continent buy more farming equipment. Moreover, both AGCO and CNH Global (NYSE: CNH ) have made emerging markets like Latin America a high priority, reaping benefits from the more rapidly expanding economies among Latin American nations. Deere has targeted Latin America as well, but it hasn't been as aggressive with its international efforts as its peers. Deere's stock price has reflected its lack of initiative in expanding globally: - [By Mike the PhD]
Historically the stock prices of Deere (DE) and other agricultural equipment firms and retailers like Case-New Holland (CNH), Titan Machinery (TITN), AGCO (AGCO), Tractor Supply (TSCO), Valmont (VAL), and Lindsay (LNN) have tended to closely track the price of corn. When corn prices go up, farmers tend to make more money, and they spend that money on new equipment from Deere and other firms. This relationship is especially strong for Deere and Corn, but it holds true for all of the stocks above to some extent. (Correlation coefficients between all of the stock prices above and corn are statistically significant to at least the 5% level, see my blog here for more details.)
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Factions within the GOP want to defund the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, and in the process they're dividing and weakening the GOP, especially the leadership. How can GOP elected officials make such an obvious miscalculation that has a massive downside and almost zero upside? Does anyone think that a piece of legislation that doesn't fund the ACA will make it through the Senate? Even if the Senate did somehow pass it, and it landed on Obama's desk, it would receive the fastest veto on record. You know it, I know it, and certainly the GOP calling for the removal of funding knows it. So why is it happening, and why is taxpayer money wasted on the issue? I have a theory, and it includes guns, chess and beer. This legislation is already on its way. In fact, parts of the law have already been implanted for a while now. Tanning salons pay higher taxes, and many young adults remain on their parents' insurance long after they otherwise would have left. For the government, so far so good. It legislated benefits without spending much of its own money. The next step of ACA is where the boots hit the ground: subsidies, penalties, and enough regulations to make any bureaucrat happy for a lifetime. Sure, the whole thing doesn't pass the smell test, but why would Republicans want to step between the public and the Democrat-owned ACA? Why give Democrats an out and the ability to say, "It would have worked great if only for the Republicans not giving it a chance." It's just utterly stupid to slow down what everyone that understands economics already knows: It's doomed to fail (at least in current form). In this particular case, the Republicans remind me when I was about 7 or 8 years old and visited my grandparents. It was during the holidays, and like many grandfathers in Wisconsin, mine was enjoying a beer. I watched him and decided that I truly wanted to have a beer, too. My grandfather was my hero, so it's not a surprise I wanted to be like him, and after I gathered enough courage, I asked whether I could have one too. My grandmother quickly replied, "Absolutely not." My grandfather, on the other hand, had a different perspective, one that the GOP should consider. My grandfather decided to overrule my grandmother (something that rarely happened and made me nervous to watch), poured half a glass of beer and encouraged me to enjoy it. I took one taste and decided I hated it, but I took one more just to try to save face. My grandfather understood that if he said yes it would end my curiosity. For the same reasons, The GOP should fund the ACA and let the public get a true taste of it. The ACA will implode on its own when employees and employers realize they are receiving much smaller paychecks because they are paying much more in insurance premiums than they otherwise would. Back to why. The Republicans who are threatening to defund the continuing resolution understand theater much more than they understand the game of chess. In chess, the object of the game is to win by not allowing capturing of your king. In almost every game, you will sacrifice pawns, bishops and even your queen to win the game. Each piece is like a battle in a larger war. Instead of keeping their eye on the prize, many in the GOP are shooting at anything that moves because it makes for exciting TV. Along comes a bill and they want to shoot it with ACA defunding. The continuing budget resolution comes along, and they want to shoot that with ACA defunding, and so on, ad nauseum. All along, they fail to realize they have only so many bullets and risk not having any when the time comes when they will genuinely need them. If the GOP membership is smart, it will lose the theatrics and focus on what genuinely matters. Otherwise, the Democrats may figure out a way to place the ACA failure on the GOP, and that would be a failure the GOP doesn't want to own. Follow @RobertWeinstein This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage. Robert Weinstein is an active trader focusing on the psychological importance of risk mitigation, emotion and financial behavior of market participants. Robert co-founded the investing blog StockSaints, where he writes a journal about his trading activity and experiences. In addition to TheStreet, Robert also contributes to Real Money Pro, providing real-time trading ideas for stocks, options and futures.
Wall Street investors Friday pushed U.S. stock futures slightly higher ahead of the expected release of monthly jobs data due. The U.S. likely added 122,000 jobs last month, according to a survey of analysts, and the unemployment rate probably rose to 7.3% from 7.2%. The government shutdown may have distorted the pace of hiring. The Labor Dept. will release its report at 8:30 a.m. ET. Dow Jones industrial average index futures were up 0.1%, Standard & Poor's 500 index futures added 0.2% and Nasdaq index futures rose 0.3%. In the prior session, the Dow fell 0.1% to 15,727 while the broader S&P 500 shed 0.4% to 1,764. The Nasdaq composite plummeted 1.9% to 3,857.33. On Thursday, Twitter shares (TWTR) debuted and ended the day 73% above the offering price at $44.90. Markets are likely to pay close attention to how the stock fares on its second day of trading. The shares fell 2% in pre-market trades Friday. THURSDAY: Stocks tumble even as Twitter IPO soars Asian stocks on Friday followed Wall Street lower after the release of quarterly U.S. economic data that showed the U.S. economy grew 2.8% percent in the third quarter, nearly a percentage point faster than economists had predicted. That led many investors to believe the Fed would start pulling back, or tapering, its bond buying program, with some predicting it could happen as early as December. Investors in Asia were also hanging back on Friday ahead of a weekend meeting in Beijing where China's communist leaders are expected to lay out their long-term plan for the world's No. 2 economy. A report that showed strong growth in Chinese exports last month was not enough to counter investor caution. Japan's Nikkei 225 index closed down 1% at 14, 086.80. The Shanghai composite index fell by a similar amount to 2,106.13. European shares were digesting a cut to France's credit rating by the Standard & Poor's ratings firm by one notch to AA. In a statement Friday, the rating agency said it feared th! e French government will struggle to reduce its deficit and debt and make the necessary reforms to make its economy more competitive. France's CAC 40 index declined around 1%. On Thursday, the European Central Bank cut interest rates across the euro-area region by 25 basis points to 0.25%, a record low move that took markets by surprise. Contributing: Associated Press
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Exploring Compelling Investment Themes in an Atypical Market - Royce Funds Commentary
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