Can you imagine a world without the United States in it?

The latest headlines would have you believe that we are moments away from such an eventuality. But while history has taught us that all empires must end, America shall continue to endure far longer than the nay sayers would have us believe.

Part of being a good trader involves game planning possible market outcomes based upon external events. I picked up this investing habit at the tender age of 18 after reading about it in the book, Liars Poker. In the book, the traders would go back and forth with different external scenarios and would quiz each other on the best trading strategies to profit from them.

The world is always changing, and having at least a loose idea of what areas will be affected by certain predictable changes, helps to clear the investment fog tremendously. The military engages in similar exercises, game planning their response and the enemy's counter response based upon any number of scenarios.

Talk about a case of mania! How are we down 7% one day and up almost 5% the next? Aren’t emerging markets supposed to act like this? Right now it’s the Wild, Wild West out there. Wall Street is running around like the proverbial chicken without a head.

There are some astute players though that were making moves Wednesday that will position their companies for success today. Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC) are making their play through Wachovia (WB) and Merrill Lynch (MER), but the smartest guy in the room appears to be the CEO of JP Morgan Chase (JPM), Jamie Dimon.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article titled “8 Stocks to Buy if McCain Wins”. In the spirit of balance, I want to give the same treatment if Obama should win.

To date, the Obama camp has promised more taxes on the rich, windfall profit taxes on oil companies, higher corporate taxes, higher payroll taxes, national health care and energy independence in 10 years. As these policies are attempted to be enacted, they will have very profound impacts on certain sectors. Corporate spending will be driven in very predictable directions.

This week's article will be short and to the point. I’m at the Republican National Convention and so far there is not a whole lot to report on. To date, Hurricane Gustav has had everybody focused on issues bigger than politics. However, as the Gulf Coast appears to have been spared the worst of Gustav’s wrath, the talk once again is returning to the political issues.

One of the big issues being bandied about this week centers around expanding domestic drilling for oil and natural gas. While many Americans support enlarging domestic oil and gas exploration, the Democrats have been more lukewarm to the idea.

The pain in housing continues unabated. Fannie (FNM) and Freddie (FRE) are knee deep in the muck and are tightening lending standards at the absolute wrong time in the cycle. Even with explicit government guarantees these guys are wrapped in a cloak of fear and doubt.

One of the top indicators that I look at is the Case-Schiller index. I like it because it tracks housing prices in the top metropolitan areas. These are the sections of the country that had the biggest gains and are now experiencing the biggest losses. This is where the real pain is taking place and, when the dust settles, where a killing can be made during the next boom.

Over the last week or so we’ve seen many major Wall Street firms take huge hits on Auction Rate Securities. UBS, Lehman (LEH), Merrill (MER) and Morgan Stanley (MS) have all agreed to buy back tens of billions of dollars worth of these securities from their clients.

So what are Auction Rate Securities, and what’s the big fuss all about?

Just last week while I was in Northern California, I had my first ever Whole Foods (WFMI) experience.

Having heard so many people gush on about Whole Foods, I was a little underwhelmed.  For those of you from my neck of the woods it’s very similar to Wegmans --essentially an upscale, “all natural” (whatever that means) gourmet super market. (I think that gourmet bit means that they get to charge you a 30% premium above and beyond your friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart or Albertsons.)

Today’s article will be short and sweet, and essentially an affirmation of what both Chris Rowe and I are seeing in the U.S. markets.

The beat goes on.  After a little scare to the bulls, the market roared back Tuesday on the back of weak oil prices ... or so the popular press would have us believe.  It’s amazing how each day the financial press seeks out reasons behind market moves.  Sometimes they get it right, and other times they like to fit the facts to their opinions.

Boy oh boy, crude oil sure did an about face didn’t it?  We’ve seen spot market oil collapse from $147 to $128 in a heartbeat.  And it's these declining crude oil prices -- along with the Fannie (FNM) and Freddie (FRE) bail out plan -- that appear to be fueling this nascent move higher.

Sentiment has changed dramatically over the last few days, and a very tradeable rally appears to be in the offing.

With much fanfare, eBay (EBAY) announced Tuesday that they will be lowering their listing fees, shoring up online security and boosting final value fees that they charge successful sellers. All of this is being done with the hope of stopping the ongoing slide that the stock has been experiencing since peaking just shy of $60 back in 2005.

Part of the problem facing eBay has been a marked increase in auction frauds and strong competition from the likes of Amazon (AMZN). Amazon has gone a different route from eBay though. They’ve really empowered more of the Mom and Pop sellers out there with great tools to offer their products through Amazon's world class order system, and with the peace of mind of Amazon’s money back guarantee.

Part of our job here is to call “Shenanigans” when we see them. Earlier this week, Citigroup (C) announced that they had cut a deal with the Abu Dhabi state-sponsored fund, AIDA, to pump $7.5 billion into the company. This has since been widely hailed by the media as the reason that the market has begun to rebound.

Balderdash!

Washington Mutual (WM) joins the growing ranks of financial companies caught up in the web of subprime lies.

It seems that its appraisal company, First American Corp (FAF), is being sued by the NY Attorney General for inflating home values. The NY AG also alleges that First American Corp colluded with Washington Mutual to use a list of preferred “proven appraisers” that would provide inflated appraisals on homes.

Some of you might have caught me on the new Fox Business Network Friday morning. Among other things, I was discussing the state of Countrywide Financial (CFC). I wanted to alert investors to this looming financial threat hanging over our credit markets. There was a lot more I wanted to say about it, but I didn’t have the time to get into all of the gory details.

Countrywide Financial, for those of you who don’t know, is THE 800-lb. gorilla in the mortgage lending space. These guys have made billions off the backs of mortgage payers all across America. The pitch was simple: offer artificially low adjustable rate mortgages, give a mortgage to anyone with a heartbeat, and watch the profits roll in.

In every long-term bull market, there is always a sector that underperforms.

But you know what? Every dog has its day!