DaveBrit

The Hypocrisy and High Stakes of Healthcare Reform

I'm always interested in how the doctors get off so easily in this debate. They do too many tests and surgeries (40% of hysterectomies are unnecessary) then hide behind the excuse that its all because of lawsuits...NO ITS NOT!! Its because they make money at this game, they make so much money. And why would they not make money when their "customers" aren't paying the tab? So when the doc says you need an MRI for this and that, no patient has the motivation to say "no I don't!!" The docs are here as greedy as the insurance companies and the drug companies. I know because I have had the exact same surgery in Germany and in California. One cost 10 times more than the other, guess which? Quality was superb in Germany too, and I was a private patient. Lets face it Obama has opened a can of greedy worms, no wonder there is such a fuss about all this.

Cramer Hammers AIG Founder Hank Greenberg

"without naming names".....??? HE SAID THE WORD GREENBERG!!!!

ProShares: An All Out Defense of Leveraged ETFs

I fail to see the problem with a fund I am in: UYG. If I run a chart on Yahoo of UYG against its target, IYF, I see an almost exact 2:1 ratio, exactly as expected. With the expected run-up of financials in the next few years after their historic low, UYG should provide a great return.

finance.yahoo.com/echa...;range=1y;compare=iyf;...

Swiss Bank Accounts, the U.S. and Me

Bruce, your pitiful story notwithstanding, there is a huge amount of tax evasion going on with Swiss accounts, and the Swiss have been complicit in the past. They have only come around under enormous pressure. Helping people evade taxes was one of the reason for their existence, they knew it and rich US citizens knew it. Your story is not typical. Just as when their complicity in laundering Nazi gold and money came out about a dozen years ago, and a whistle-blower who had been asked to shred documents there had to leave the country because his life was in danger, these institutions are hardly innocent little things. Perhaps you are a bit defensive because you were born and raised there, I can understand that. But I cant imagine the IRS will back down, and UBS and Credit Suisse, with their huge US operations, are vulnerable in this area, just as the folks in Vaduz castle were when their time came to fess up about what they were doing.

In Defense of CNBC (Sort Of)

A lot of CNBC bashing right now is from Murdoch's lapdogs over at Fox Business News, the channel which no one watches. If you want to appreciate CNBC, force yourself to watch Fox for one day straight....you will run away, begging for CNBC, warts and all.

Eight Reasons Bank of America Is Going to $20

Dave I am VERY VERY HAPPY to read this optimistic article, first of all for the many employees of B of A who have been living under this cloud, then for the rest of us who don't want any part of bank nationalization. By the way, neither does Obama, Geithner, etc.....This is a rumor mill fueled by shorts, many of whom are probably Republicans..... :-)) Their strategy is simple: blame the Dems and deflect the fact that they are betting against, and trying to ruin, the US financial system.

Go BAC and all the financials.....the turn is coming soon, maybe this week.



On Feb 20 12:39 PM Dave Ferrara wrote:

> Jason,
>
> I was so happy to read this article. Finally a ray of light in this
> "Cloud of Uncertainty" as you so aptly wrote. I work for this
> great company and I have never been more proud to be a "Bank of American".
>
>
> This “Sea of Negativism” does nothing but play into the hands of
> the socialistic doctrine of the left. The President’s inaction is
> fueling this fire of Nationalism. I have never heard of anything
> more irresponsible. Can you name me the last profitable government-run
> financial entity? Where is Social Security and Fannie Mae/Freddie
> Mac! What do Christopher Dodd and Nancy Pelosi know about Commercial
> Banking?
>
> I am fully confident in Mr. Lewis’ leadership and I know he will
> lead us back to profitability. It has already begun. We just paid
> $480 Million back to the government but where is the press on this
> positive news? Just wait until you see the windfall from our mortgage
> refinancing.
>
> I would love to see a Preferred Stock Sale to our associates. I
> am confident we can rally around our leadership and raise enough
> money to pay off our TARP Loan and get the government off our necks.
>
>
> Dave Ferrara

Eight Reasons Bank of America Is Going to $20

You quote the Financial times as follows: "nationalization has long been regarded in the U.S. as a folly of Europeans..." then you say "Ok, I get it, Europe has been right all along"

Huh??? How do you go from that to your comment? I dont read it that way at all....I read it as saying that we in the US think the crazy Europeans do something this mad all the time (nationalize the banks).....which we do, and they do.....

DynCorp Could Gain on Blackwater's Loss

The US will be gone from Iraq soon anyway. There will be little to protect except the Embassy people. This is a non issue, hardly worth investment advice in an article like this. Glad Blackwater is getting its comeuppance though....

Could the LA Times Turn Off Its Presses?

Its a scary thought, to hand over Washington coverage to the Wall Street Journal and its right wing machine which feverishly supported everything which has gotten us into all this mess. No thanks Murdoch, the LA Times with its center viewpoint suits us Californians just fine.

Could the LA Times Turn Off Its Presses?

Its a scary thought, to hand over Washington coverage to the Wall Street Journal and its right wing editorial machine which supported everything which has now gotten us into all this mess. The LA Times has a nice center viewpoint suited to us Californians. No thanks WSJ!!

UltraShort ETFs: At a Tipping Point?

This is why I love TA: as the article says, the market might go up, but there again it might go down.

And you study how long to make such amazing pronouncements?

General Motors: Beginning the Endgame?

Question: it seems like we, the taxpayers, are now going to be asked to pick up the astronomical costs of this cushy healthcare plan that GM employees AND retirees have....no payment towards premiums, no co payments, top quality everything. And why? Please someone tell me. We don't have that for ourselves but we have to pay it for them???

If they want the bailout, bring wages and benefits down to the average of the rest of us....no more $50,000 UAW janitors (check it out).

10 Reasons I'm Glad To Be Doing Business in America

What an optimistic and at the same time realistic view. FANTASTIC and 100% backed by the facts!! Its good to be reminded, thank you Mark.

Energy Stocks Are Too Cheap to Ignore - Barron's

It is nonsense to say that life shuts down at $5 diesel or heating oil. Europe lives with prices double this and lives VERY well. I rent cars there that run on biodiesel and get 50+ mpg, and we could have been there YEARS ago. We in America have been living in a wasteful fantasy world of SUVs, Hummers, 6000 sq ft McMansions etc....and now we have to come down to earth. People in the Northeast should have been converting for years to alternative fuels; they are hardly victims now. Many in Europe burn wood stoves in winter, whats wrong with that? Plenty of wood in the Northeast, last time I flew over....come on America, stop whining and get with reality. Cheap oil is OVER.

Now's the Time to Buy Something

The continual reference to the "left leaning press" is tiresome. Such a sense of victimhood, which completely destroys the desire to read further. The "right leaning" radio waves are equally biased and tiresome, why don't you complain about them? They were gung-ho for this stupid and wasteful war that everyone now hates and which will destroy the GOP in the next election. No I am not "left leaning"....I read the Wall Street Journal, and work with business.

Stop whining and focus on the facts.