Earmarks and Vows

By Markos N. Kaminis - Economy & Markets:

Visit the front pages of Wall Street Greek and Market Moving News to see our current coverage of economic reports and financial markets.

Senate Passes Spending Bill

Despite $8 billion in earmarks, the Senate passed the spending bill that keeps the government operating through September. Ignoring the inevitable controversy it was sure to spawn, the President signed the legislation as well. John McCain stayed true to his message though, as he proposed an amendment that would have taken the earmarks away. His proposal was killed, as all but four Senators had their hands dirty with selfish spending requests.

Surprisingly (or not), it is President Obama who backed away from campaign promises to end wasteful spending (earmarks anyway). Instead, the Administration is disappointing Independents like me and even Democrats by spinning the President's signing of this bill as another Bush problem. The bill was the last in Bush's budget legacy. Even so, the opportunity was there to kill the earmarks if the President wanted to send a message loud and clear. You can only blame Bush for so long though fellas.

Since its passing, the President held a press conference to clear the air. He was somewhat effective in doing so too, until he said he would not completely abolish earmarks because some of them served good purpose. With regard to controlling Congressmen, you cannot police this group of constituency driven, vote hungry men (for lack of a better word). You cannot limit earmarks in a half-way manner. I'm sorry, and I voted for Obama, but this is "spinning" plain and simple. Let's call a spade a spade! Actions speak louder than words.

Geithner Vows to Get it Done

Timothy Geithner appeared on PBS' Charlie Rose, and said he would "do what is necessary" to restore the nation's economy. Geithner also reverberated a message first offered by Larry Summers and recently echoed by the President as well. It's the message of equal effort, and the push for it will be the focus of the United States at this weekend's Group of 20 gathering. However, this was an idea you first read about at Wall Street Greek way back in mid-February in our article, "Protectionism and Hypocrisy." It's not the first time we've led thought, and it will not be the last.

Geithner also alluded to his toxic asset plan, and noted his deliberate effort in its preparation was meant to ensure the best use of taxpayer funds. From what I garnered last evening at a presentation by Dr. Charles Calomiris, Geithner is deliberating on the subject with a group of academics, and it seems there's a chance a productive plan might result. A follow up question posed to Mr. Calomiris referred to the consulted academics as "a bunch" of them, which led to a comedic response from the renowned professor. He said, "Well, when you put it that way, it doesn't sound so good..." (paraphrasing).

Greenspan Denies Blame

It seems like Alan Greenspan is spending far too much of his retirement defending his actions during his tenure as the Federal Reserve Chairman. Today he published an Op Ed piece in the Wall Street Journal as a counter to recent claims by Professor John Taylor.

The remainder of this commentary can be seen at the article, also published today, "Greenspan Rebukes Taylor's Housing Bubble Blame."

Mortgage Activity

Solely tethered to mortgage rate action of late, mortgage activity bounced last week on a steep drop in 30-year fixed mortgage rates. You'll recall that in each of the past two weeks, mortgage activity had backtracked on the heels of long-rate rise. The MBA's Market Composite Index jumped 11.3% in the week ended March 6, after seasonal adjustment, as 30-year fixed mortgage rates declined 18 basis points to 4.96%. Purchase applications improved 7.1%, driven by a 10.4% increase in the Government Purchase Index (mostly FHA). Mortgage refinancing activity improved by 13.3% week-to-week.

Sorry folks, that's all for today due to busy evenings both yesterday and today...

EPS Schedule

Wednesday's earnings schedule highlights news from A/S Dampskibsselskabet Torm (Nasdaq: TRMD), AAON, Inc. (Nasdaq: AAON), Aeterna Zentaris (Nasdaq: AEZS), AFC Enterprises (Nasdaq: AFCE), Altair Nanotechnologies (Nasdaq: ALTI), Altus Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALTU), American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO), Aurizon Mines (AMEX: AZK), Bon-Ton Stores (Nasdaq: BONT), Brigham Exploration (Nasdaq: BEXP), Bronco Drilling (Nasdaq: BRNC), Clarient (Nasdaq: CLRT), CVR Energy (NYSE: CVI), D&E Communications (Nasdaq: DECC), Danaos (NYSE: DAC), Diamond Foods (Nasdaq: DMND), DUSA Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: DUSA), Elbit Systems (Nasdaq: ESLT), ExlService (Nasdaq: EXLS), General Communication (Nasdaq: GNCMA), Granite City Food & Brewery (Nasdaq: GCFB), Hi-Tech Pharmacal (Nasdaq: HITK), Hot Topic (Nasdaq: HOTT), Icagen (Nasdaq: ICGN), ICF Int'l (Nasdaq: ICFI), Innodata Isogen (Nasdaq: INOD), Insmed (Nasdaq: INSM), Inter Parfums (Nasdaq: IPAR), Jo-Ann Stores (NYSE: JAS), Kodiak Oil & Gas (AMEX: KOG), Korn Ferry (NYSE: KFY), LDK Solar (NYSE: LDK), LMI Aerospace (Nasdaq: LMIA), Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL), Main Street Capital (Nasdaq: MAIN), Majesco Entertainment (Nasdaq: COOL), Mannatech (Nasdaq: MTEX), Men's Wearhouse (NYSE: MW), Meruello Maddux (Nasdaq: MMPI), Metabolix (Nasdaq: MBLX), Middlesex Water (Nasdaq: MSEX), Mobile Telesystems (NYSE: MBT), Nabi Biopharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: NABI), National Semiconductor (NYSE: NSM), Navistar Int'l (NYSE: NAV), Neenah Paper (NYSE: NP), OceanFreight (Nasdaq: OCNF), OMNI Energy Services (Nasdaq: OMNI), OncoGenex Technologies (Nasdaq: OGXI), Optimer Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: OPTR), Pall Corp. (NYSE: PLL), Park-Ohio (Nasdaq: PKOH), PDI, Inc. (Nasdaq: PDII), Pennichuck (Nasdaq: PNNW), Permian Basin (NYSE: PBT), Quiksilver (NYSE: ZQK), Saga Communications (AMEX: SGA), SCOLR Pharma (AMEX: DDD), Speedway Motorsports (NYSE: TRK), Standard Parking (Nasdaq: STAN), Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS), Superconductor Technologies (Nasdaq: SCON), TBS Int'l (Nasdaq: TBSI), The Buckle (NYSE: BKE), The Descartes System (Nasdaq: DSGX), Ultrapar Holdings (NYSE: UGP), Uranerz Energy (AMEX: URZ), Vail Resorts (NYSE: MTN), WCA Waste (Nasdaq: WCAA), WSP Holdings (NYSE: WH), Xerium Technologies (NYSE: XRM) and XOMA Ltd. (Nasdaq: XOMA).


Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. (Article interests: AMEX: DIA, AMEX: SPY, Nasdaq: QQQQ, NYSE: NYX, AMEX: DOG, AMEX: SDS, AMEX: QLD, AMEX: XLF, AMEX: IWM, AMEX: TWM, AMEX: IWD, AMEX: SDK).