Wachovia

A Billion Here And A Billion There

Although it may surprise you to learn that there is actually no evidence that Everett Dirksen ever uttered the now famous phrase, “A billion here and a billion there, and soon you’re talking about real money,” the senator from Illinois would certainly be impressed with the coin that is being tossed around the globe these days. And it’s a good thing too, because without the trillions of dollars that are being lent, spent, invested, and created in order to battle the credit crisis, there’s no telling what type of mess we’d be in.

The latest big spender to come along, President-Elect Obama, joins Messer’s Bernanke and Paulson in a concerted effort to stave off financial Armageddon. And it was the newcomer to the big-spender club’s plan to embark on the largest public-works spending package since the creation of the interstate highway system 50 ...

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

Here's a link to listen to an Audio Version of the report:

In short, Friday's session was full of surprises, most of which wound up being positive for the bulls. First, our heroes in horns were able to overcome a surprisingly disappointing report on job creation for January. Although the bears were screaming about recession the very moment the report was released, traders were able to shrug off the data as old news and focus instead on the positive things happening.

Another big surprise was Mr. Softie's (MSFT) hostile bid for Yahoo! (YHOO), which spoke volumes about the current decline in stock prices and the outlook for the business landscape. Apparently Microsoft had already done the deal dance with Yahoo last February, with Yahoo’s stock trading in the $32 range. So, with the stock closing Thursday’s session 40% below last February’s level, the boys ...