Clinton 2.0: Obama adds to his team

Today's Financial News - Posted November 24, 2008

This is one of the most pivotal times in the nation’s history, yet it is politics as usual in Washington. Obama promised change but is delivering Clinton 2.0. Is he making the right decisions or are we all in serious trouble?

By Andrew Snyder, TodaysFinancialNews.com

Baltimore – (TFN): The Bush administration threw its third pitch at a bailout this weekend. Now all we can do is sit back and wait to see if this will be strike three or a shot across the centerfield wall.

Will another $20 billion investment into the banking industry and a large stake in Citigroup (NYSE:C) by the federal government ultimately prove successful? Or will it be just another costly swing and a miss using taxpayer dollars?

While Paulson and Bernanke sluggishly work to diagnose and treat each of the individual causes of the Wall Street crisis, President-elect Obama is heading in his own direction. His goal is treat the symptoms of the meltdown by forcing the victim to swallow one monstrous bill.

Obama told us during his Saturday-morning radio address that he is working on a plan that would unleash more than $500 billion in tax cuts and infrastructure spending. His goal is to fiscally shock the economy back into a normal rhythm. There are even rumors Obama will back off on one of his campaign promises (the first of many, I am sure) and will keep Bush’s tax cuts in place until they expire in 2010.

Whether Obama’s plans will jumpstart consumer and corporate spending or permanently short circuit the nation’s economy is yet to be seen. But I have a feeling we will see the answer soon enough.

Play nice, boys

So far, however, Wall Street seems to like the bones Obama is tossing our way. When news leaked that Tim Geithner would be nominated for the top position in the Treasury Department on Friday, the equities market soared from what surely looked like a sizeable loss on the day to an impressive 500-point rally.

Wall Street is also glad to see Larry Summers, the other top finalist for the Secretary of the Treasury position, keep his ego in check and settle for a lesser White House position. He will be leading the National Economic Council.

Of course, there is plenty of speculation that Summers will take over the top seat at the Federal Reserve in 2010 when Ben Bernanke’s current term expires. Few egos are big enough to keep a man from pursuing that coveted position. But from what I can tell, Summers’ ego is real close.

The next two months until Obama moves into the Oval Office will be quite interesting. Already, the new administration is looking like Clinton 2.0. So far, there has not been a lot of “change” on Pennsylvania Avenue.

On a long-term perspective, that is not good news for investors. But for the next few weeks, Wall Street will rally on any news. After all, even bad news is better than the guessing game that is taking place on the Street these days.

For now, investors need to keep an eye on the companies that will benefit from Obama’s huge stimulus plan. Infrastructure plays, green-energy companies and even Detroit automakers are worth investigating. Later this week, I will unveil my latest pick, a major manufacturing that is sure to profit from Obama’s plans.