by anderson
Yeah, those numbers. The only numbers that get any attention in the political economy of America: stock prices.
If you wanted some clear sign, some unmistakable indication, as to what to expect from Obama's efforts at health care reform and what those efforts will yield, you need only look at the response of one small and highly influential group of well-connected people: Wall Street.
HMO shares rise after Obama health reform speech
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of U.S. health insurers climbed on Thursday as analysts said President Barack Obama's highly anticipated speech urging Congress to act on health reform revealed no "game changers."Analysts also deemed the possibility of a public plan that would seriously undermine the companies as unlikely following the speech.
...
But the speech contained nothing unexpected, said Steve Shubitz, an analyst with Edward Jones.
"There wasn't anything said that is drastically changing the outlook as to what might come out of Congress," Shubitz said.
Analysts expressed not so much relief as confidence that, after Obama's talk, nothing would change.
"There wasn't anything said that is drastically changing the outlook as to what might come out of Congress,"
"Overall we view the speech as neutral to insurers." Wells Fargo analyst Matt Perry.
Sanford Bernstein analyst, Ana Gupte, said she was "even more confident after the Obama speech that the legislative outcomes will be moderate with no threat of a Medicare-like public plan."
"While we understand the negotiating logic of keeping it on the table for now, we still don't see any higher/better odds that a full fledged public plan can ever make it into a final piece of legislation," JP Morgan analyst John Rex.
So, there you have it. Wall Street is confident that the Obama administration will continue along the dead-end, "no threat" path of continuity in US health care policy.
But then, you voted for that, right?
And Wall Street has never been wrong, certainly not recently.
ReplyDeleteDo you honestly believe that the financial meltdown was something that went horribly wrong for them? They are connected to this White House in ways obvious and not; the likelihood that Wall Street could be surprised by anything Obama might do is extremely low.
ReplyDeleteIt ain't over til it's over. And it may not be over yet. I came across this from one of "Dr. Doom's" links and posted it this morning.
ReplyDelete"About six months following the nadir of the Dow Jones Industrial Average�s roughly 50% decline from its bubble-era highs, it rose to 48% off its lows. Speculation that another bull market was in the offing, brought anxious capital back in from previously frightened traders. Unemployment threatened to define the economic picture in a way that hadn't been seen in decades. The Federal Reserve and banks were lowering the cost of money to borrowers still able to borrow. Brokerage firms were re-hiring workers that had been let go in mass layoffs. Investment trust pools were all the rage � investing in assets at supposedly depressed prices. Favored stocks were being bid up, while talk abounded of ample cash on the sidelines. Corporate earnings were down, but the Street was pouring over any sign of the slight industrial improvement that had prevailed in the prior quarter, and ignoring any discouraging news. You may have guessed that, by our use of the past tense, the foregoing refers to the �hope� rally of 1930.
"To say it is eerily on par with a description of the condition of today�s market (up until this week) is an understatement...."
We may be observing a "hope rally."
http://www.westwoodcapital.com/opinion/images/stories/research/research-opinion/havent_we_been_to_this_show_before-alpert-090209.pdf