Archives for February 2013

February 2013 - Page 12 of 17 - Money Morning - Only the News You Can Profit From

The Real Cost of Obamacare

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Like it or not, in less than a year – January 2014 – the core of U.S. President Barack Obama's healthcare reform goes into effect – and recent data show the cost of Obamacare will be quite high.

The statistics are startling, seeing as the intent of Obamacare was to reduce overall medical costs in the country – one big reason government spending is running wild – by improving access to treatment for Americans. An additional 30 million Americans are expected to be covered under Obamacare.

But new reports estimate the new healthcare system could cost about $1.3 trillion over the next 10 years.

That means the original outcome – which President Obama said would be to "cut the cost of a typical family's premium by up to $2,500 a year" – is far from reality.

Here's a breakdown of what Obamacare will really cost you – and your job could be included.

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Berlusconi is Back, and So Is the Eurozone Debt Crisis

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Since the beginning of the year, the markets have been behaving as if the Eurozone debt crisis has been magically solved.

Yields on Spanish and Italian debt are trading more than 1% lower than at their peak, while world stock markets have soared close to all-time highs.

Unfortunately, you can expect that all of this euphoria will fade when the Italian elections take place on February 23-24.

Why?…It's summed up in two words: Silvio Berlusconi.

That's because until recently a win by the former Prime Minister wasn't seen as very likely. Not long ago, The EU establishment believed they had the Italian elections completely wired.

The socialist "Democratic party" led by Pier Luigi Bersani was expected to win and be supported by a coalition of center parties led by the EU's favorite, Mario Monti, imposed as prime minister in November 2011.

Both of these candidates were safely pro-euro, and prepared to put Italy through a fair amount of "austerity" to keep it, provided the handouts kept flowing from Germany and the European Central Bank. The status quo wouldn't be threatened.

Meanwhile, the two anti-euro candidates were supposed to be comedians.  

One is an actual comedian named Beppe Grillo, leading an eccentric "Five Star Movement," while the other  is the aforementioned Silvio Berlusconi, who is currently under indictment for sex with under-age prostitutes and therefore (in the eyes of the EU bureaucracy) not seen as a serious threat.

At best it was thought Berlusconi and Grillo might get as much as 30% of the vote between them, but it wouldn't give them any significant power. 

Well, let's just say things have changed.

A Defeat for the Eurozone?

According to the latest polls, Berlusconi's party would get 30% of the vote on its own, while Grillo's would earn a solid 15%.  Not bad for a couple of comedians.

As for the establishment picks, Bersani's party still leads with about 34%, while Monti's supporters trail with around 12%.

That suggests a very close vote, or possibly (if as sometimes happens, voters are falsely claiming to opinion pollsters that they support the "respectable" parties) even a Berlusconi victory, provided he could come to a satisfactory arrangement with Grillo.

But here's where it gets slippery for the EU: Anything but a solid Bersani/Monti majority is bad news for the euro, or at least for Italy's participation in it.

Here's why…

Italy's budget is in fact quite close to balanced (Berlusconi had repaired much of the damage done by his leftist predecessors) which means an Italian exit from the euro — getting cut off from EU handouts and austerity programs — would be pretty painless.

However, if Italy left the euro, it's likely that Spain, Greece, Portugal and very likely France would also be forced out.

But a Berlusconi return to power is not the threat faced by the euro these days.

Can "Perceptual Computing" Help Intel Get Its Groove Back?

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When you peruse the tech-dominated headlines these days, a lot of the talk is about how smartphones and tablets are taking over for notebooks and laptops – which had taken over for desktop PCs.

But with the confusing mix of keyboards, track pads, touch-screens, and even voice and gesture commands that are in use today, there are at least as many different ways to interact with all those computing devices as there are different devices themselves.

But Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) is pioneering a new type of technology the chip-giant says will bring order to this interface confusion.

And it refers to this invention as "perceptual computing."

No doubt, this is Intel's latest attempt to regain its relevance in a world that is going mobile at an accelerating rate – a transition that has transformed the once-dominant firm into a veritable also-ran. And most of these earlier attempts amounted to almost nothing at all.

But I believe perceptual computing is different – and, in fact, could have two important results.

What You Absolutely Need to Know About "Their Paper Money"

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Chapter One, on how money came into being, ended with, "Governments made legal tender laws to make it illegal not to use their paper money – backed by nothing but promises."

There's a partial truth in that sentence. Can you spot it?

Don't worry if you can't. You're not supposed to. It's part of an orchestrated deception.

It's the part about "their paper money." The truth is that governments, and by extension, the countries they govern, don't issue their own money.

The twist is, while government agencies print their currency's bills and stamp their coins, it's not always "their" money.

Countries throughout the free world don't actually own their money.

Guess who does?

Mobivity Adds to its Growing Client List - Analyst Blog

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Mobivity Adds to its Growing Client List In January 2013, Mobivity Holdings Corporation (OTC Markets:MFON)  the Phoenix, Arizona based developer of marketing solutions and platforms for mobile devices, announced a newly formed partnership with CASTMARK to maximize the acquisition of Stampt and mobile marketing merchants nationwide by promoting Stampt loyalty and mobile marketing programs. In […]

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Should Investors Dump Facebook Stock for LinkedIn?

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LinkedIn Corp. (Nasdaq: LNKD) just reported fourth-quarter earnings that blew away Wall Street estimates, a nice addition to its already impressive resume — and one that is making LNKD much more attractive than Facebook stock.

LinkedIn earned 35 cents a share, nearly triple the 12 cents earned in the same quarter a year ago. Net income soared 60% to $11.5 million, up from $6.9 million. Revenue jumped 81% to $304 million up from $168 million. Analysts were looking for 19 cents on revenue of $280 million.

U.S. markets accounted for 62%, or $189 million, of Q4 revenue. That was down 2% from the previous quarter. But international growth was robust, kicking in $114.6 million to LinkedIn's bottom-line.

CEO Jeff Weiner called 2012 a "transformative year."

"We have exceeded our own expectations by a wide margin," CFO Steve Sordello said during a conference call.

Shares surged $12.11, or some 10%, to $136.20 after hours Thursday following the report. The rally continued Friday with shares climbing another $26, or almost 21%, hitting an all-time high of $150.25 intraday.

Since its May 2011 initial public offering at $45, shares have more than tripled.

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Fed Hack Attack Highlights Growing Need for Cybersecurity

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Not even the ultra-secretive U.S. Federal Reserve has been spared from aggressive cyberattacks – making cybersecurity an even bigger concern in 2013 than before.

The central bank acknowledged this week it was the victim of a "hack attack" after the group Anonymous claimed responsibility in a Tweet on Super Bowl Sunday.

"The Federal Reserve system is aware that information was obtained by exploiting a temporary vulnerability in a website vendor product," the Fed said in a statement. "Exposure was fixed shortly after discovery and is no longer an issue. The incident did not affect critical operations of the Federal Reserve system."

Anonymous claimed it had compromised 4,000 bankers' credentials on a private computer system the Fed uses to communicate with bankers in emergencies such as natural disasters and potential acts of terrorism.

Hackers also are believed to have accessed private information including data on banks the government agency oversees as well as Fed forecasts for future economic policy actions.

The Fed said all those affected by the breach had been contacted.

The cyberattack underscores the importance of cybersecurity at a time when high-profile attacks have grown more common.

Just a few days after the Super Bowl Sunday attack, Internet security company McAfee reported a hacking operation spanning at least five years had targeted 72 governments, corporations and organizations, 49 of them in the United States.

What McAfee dubbed "Operation Shady Rat" hit government agencies at the federal, state and county level and compromised classified government information.

Reuters reported organizations hacked in the attack included the United Nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the International Olympic Committee.

Other targeted organizations included those in defense, electronics, computer security, information technology, news media, and communications technology sectors.

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The 7 Biggest Obamacare Lies

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As more of the 2009 healthcare reform law becomes reality, Americans are learning the hard way that many of the biggest Obamacare promises were Obamacare lies.

In retailing, they call this sort of thing "bait-and-switch," and it's against the law.

In Washington, it's called "business as usual."

During his first campaign for the highest elected office in the land, and later as he sought to push the Affordable Care Act (ACA) through Congress, U.S. President Barack Obama made a lot of enticing promises.

Some of these claims were true – under Obamacare, people can't be refused coverage for pre-existing conditions, for example – but many were assurances to the average American that no matter what, healthcare reform was almost all positive with few or no negatives.

Now we know that most of those assurances were Obamacare lies.

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Why Gas Prices Will Continue to Climb

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The average price of gas in the United States is still below the 2012 average of $3.63 for a gallon of regular, but that won't be true for long.

Gas prices have risen every day for three weeks, and motorists are starting to wonder when the surge will end.

Nationwide, the average price for a gallon of regular gas is up 26.3 cents, or about 8%, this year to $3.55, the highest level since the end of October.

And the 17.4-cent spike in the average price of gas between Jan. 28 and Feb. 4 was the largest weekly increase in almost two years.

Unfortunately, it's unlikely gas prices will drop anytime soon.

Here's why.

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Will The Surge in Homebuilder Stock Prices Last?

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Homebuilder stocks have taken off as the housing market has recovered. But the surge in the homebuilder stocks could prove short-lived. "I think [the stocks] moved on speculation – people just looking to get ahead of the thing," Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald said Friday on FOX Business Network's "Varney & Co." "I'm […]

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