a) Goldman Sachs has given Obama over 200 million at last report.

b) Crude Oil and stocks have been moving higher together, but today, oil was up, and stocks were down, so blame it on oil.

c) The Israeli Defense minister, running for Olmert's position, promised to bomb Iran, (romored cause for oil spike today) but the story is buried on the back page.

d) Jobs report came in weak, (blame it on the teenagers)... So there's a recession, is anyone shocked?

e) Apple stock was up briefly this morning, and appeared to be running counter to the general market, which was up 200 points the day before. Art Cashin called yesterdays move 'classic reallocation', out of treasuries, and into stocks because interest rates are probably heading higher. (Today's jobs report may have put that rumor to rest. Wall Street loves that easy money, why weren't they celebrating?)

f) The VIX has been steadily falling, and that means only one thing really, the anticipation of volatility in the markets is much lower. WRONG!

Bernanke made an idiotic speech at Harvard, he said some things that just don't square. And he has been enlisted by the Bushies to jawbone the dollar higher, even though he swore under testimony that the dollar is not his responsibility.

There are some rumors of intervention, and here's something to chew on, the world can live with a weak dollar, and the world can do fine on a strong dollar, but if the dollar starts flying around no one knows what to do. If the Bushies get busy putting their fingers in the global currency markets, look out.

see http://www.opensecrets.org. The Securities and Investment Industry has given Obama almost 8B$, twice what they have given McCain. This was reported on the MSM some time back.

Over 600K for Obama, and 8 million for Obama from the Securities and Investment group, and nearly the same amount for Hillary. Still a ton of money. And they probably aren't done yet?

The one thing that stands out about the Ice-Road Truckers and the rest of this tough job medley, is that they aren't that much different from truck drivers everywhere. I know I used to drive truck. Drew and Hugh have a real beef, Hugh offered him a chance to make some bucks if he could drive harder and longer than any of the other drivers, but Hugh was supposed to keep his rig on the road. Sorry Hugh, you brought him in here, laid out the deal, and you then you complained that he was beating up the equipment. Either you tell him the score, or your put the wheels under him.

I plan to write a novel about my time behind the wheel, and all this just flows together.

...both Presidential candidates favor a cap and trade system of carbon emissions permits, the less market-oriented of the two available means of controlling carbon emissions, with John McCain’s proposal, in which the government hands out free emissions permits rather than selling them, being significantly less market-oriented than Barack Obama’s.

On public spending, Obama would introduce a national health system, albeit one without a full mandate, which is estimated to add $100 billion to annual Federal spending. McCain on the other hand would build up US military capability and prolong the occupation of Iraq, thus preventing a reduction in spending that might otherwise be possible. Both candidates would repeal almost entirely the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. Obama has promised to do so, and has further tax increases planned for the unfortunate “wealthy” without good tax lawyers, while budget balancing is a key element in McCain’s economic policy and the budget is currently almost $500 billion out of balance. Thus by 2013 the state will take a considerably larger slice of the economy than in 2008, with Federal spending probably moving decisively above the 20% of Gross Domestic Product that has been its limit since the last great increase under Lyndon Johnson forty years ago.

Internationally, the trend towards renewed statism also seems to be gathering momentum.....

The statist policies of McCain and Obama are not random fluctuations in candidates chosen though an eccentric primary process; they accurately reflect the current views of the voting populace. The Bear's Lair, by Martin Hutchinson

Maybe Tax Cuts are a red herring. As far as I am concerned these billion dollar Healthcare plans are corporate welfare which won't do anything to reform the system, or improve our national health figures. Maybe they should put a tax on MD's services? Centrally planned economies have never worked, and evidently both candidates are moving in this direction.

http://www.prudentbear.com

The human passenger has an unrefined need to be bounced around a little. The invention of the roller coaster and the automobile are pretty much parallel in human development. The Cadillac was probably the biggest threat to the Low Life in all of us. I know we waste a lot of gas, what if you put some hydraulics in that Prius?