Reprinted with permission from Israelnewsletter.com

Many reasons have been thrown around to the continued rout in global stocks. After all with 24/7 media, they need to have something to talk about. Bank failures, plugged up credit markets, as well as a general panic among investors are just some of the reasons given for the market slide. But what about the fact that Wall-Street may be on edge regarding a potential Obama presidency. Could it be that investors are worried that a Democratic president and Democratic controlled congress is a recipe for disaster?

Much has been made over the years about gridlock in Washington. Many of us believe that gridlock is good because nothing ends up getting done in Washington, which means that nothing can get screwed up. With a potential Democratic sweep, investors may be fretting about increased spending, increased taxes and increased intrusion into the lives of each and every one of us. After all the Obama policy of hope and change is innocent enough, but if it’s backed up by Nancy Pelosi et al. running with a majority in both houses, things could interesting.

Here is a chicken/egg one for you. Common wisdom has Obama surging ( I guess this is one surge he supports!) due to the current economic crisis. But could the market crash be a result of Obama’s poll surge, and the fact that investors are scared of a Democratic sweep?

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Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

I spent a lot of time over the last day or two watching cable news and the feeling I got was that it’s over. Close up the shop because the US economy is about to enter a recession or even a depression. Even congressmen were using the dreaded ‘D” word, irresponsibly I may add. But is it really time to throw in the towel and declare the end of America as we know it? Is this just a ploy by the media to scare Americans into voting for a Messiah, who will then save the country from itself?

There is no question that the economy has some problems, namely a credit crunch, but Sec. Paulson’s plan will help relieve the crunch and open up credit flow. If you examine the economic data, we aren’t even close to the average recession. The amount of job loss pales in comparison to average job loss in recessionary times. the amount of banks that close is negligible compared to the hundreds that close during recessions. And I could go on and on. So why isn’t ‘main-street’ getting this information? Anyone notice that the usage of ‘main-street’ has taken on a life of its own?

What’s scary is the Democratic plan to save humanity. Capping salaries of private company CEO’s is not only illegal, but will scare them off from trying to purchase ‘toxic’ assets. Larry Kudlow had a brilliant point on the matter. He said, “And then there’s the ownership question. Some Democrats want Uncle Sam to take an ownership position in all the selling and purchasing banks. This is nuts. In America, this is nothing but property confiscation. It also will sharply curb buyers of the distressed assets.
You think Henry Kravis or Steve Schwarzman are gonna take a salary cap and lose an ownership share of the private-equity funds they themselves created and built? They shouldn’t and they won’t. And these funds are crucial to the new process. The only banks that will sell in this over-regulatory environment are the absolute, near-bankruptcy turkeys.”

Right on! He goes on to say that in the case of Fannie and Freddie and other companies bailed out by the government that in those cases you can feel free to pay the CEO along the lines of a high salary bureaucrat, but not the CEO of private company.

I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and get a bit of perspective. Things aren’t as bad as they are being made out to be. Pass Paulson’s plan, and allow the market to work the problems. My gut feeling is that if we do that, we are going to be in fro a bigtime economic boom.

Please see our Disclaimer HERE.

Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com or call 1-888-327-6179, or email aaron@profile-financial.com.

I find the whole argument about whether a ‘mom can be a VP’ to be quite obnoxious and sexist, and I am a man! There is no question that opening up a national dialogue about the role of a mother in society is very important, but so far most of arguments have been made with a political agenda at the forefront. Let’s forget about what I think, let’s take a look at a few blogs and see what other are saying.

Matt Lewis at Townhall.com says, “I’m honestly surprised that the media is questioning whether or not being a mom should disqualify someone from being vice president.  I wonder what Hillary Clinton thinks of how this story has turned.  She obviously felt the media were sexist — particularly MSNBC.  It also reminds me of Shirley Chisholm, who famously believed that her presidential chances were harmed more by being a woman than by being African-American.”

Over at Huffington Post, Hanna Ingber Win has an interesting take. She believes that women should be able pursue any career that they want to but she questions what kind of mother can work around the clock and still be a mother. She says, ” But running on a national ticket months after your child was born? Let alone a son who has Downs Syndrome and therefore under the best of circumstances is going to need every last bit of attention. How can one possibly be an involved and nurturing parent while campaigning in such a heated race? You can be a great mother and work. But you can’t be a great mother and work 80 hours a week. There is no way you are a great mother if you are not there.”

BTW- She also goes after Obama, who rightly preaches on the importance of father involvement with raising kids, on how he can be an involved father running for and hoping to be president.

OpMom keeps it simple. She says, “She is 44, the mother of five, her youngest is 4 months old and has down syndrome.  I am thinking this woman has better things to do with her time than campaign 24/7!”

Clearly the choice to have Gov. Palin as the republican VP candidate, has opened up a dialogue about a mother’s career choice. Let’s hope that sexism plays a lesser role and the dialogue can focus on the real issues.