TFN eNews 09/18/2009: They’ve got it all wrong — and 5 solid options wins
Published via e-mail broadcast on September 18, 2009
In today’s TFN eNews:
* My pre-existing conditions
* Pennsylvania or bust!
* A stunning string of strategic gains
Dear TFN Reader,
I’ve been getting insurance quotes for a “pre-existing condition” of mine.
I’m familiar with the process: Two years ago, when I moved a term-life policy to another company, I got stuck with higher premiums: I had acquired a heart arrhythmia, which made me slightly more probable to die with all premiums paid up than my previous non-smoking, non-drinking, hard-flossing self without the heart condition.
This time around, it’s going to be more painful. The pre-existing condition is 16 years old, 6′5″ tall, and occasionally responds to the name “Maximilian.”
Max wants to get his driver’s license. He’s male. He’s young. And he fits the insurance company’s profile of “person more likely than others to wreck Daddy’s car.”
Insurance businesses are evil, we’re told. Their purpose is to end the year with more money in the tiller than they had on January 1.
To achieve this nefarious goal, they make a bet with you. (They’re perfectly Mephistophelian in that aspect!)
They take your money betting you won’t need them to pay for your wrecked car, your burned-down house, your funeral and your heirs’ yacht. You give them money just in case you do. The higher the perceived probability is that you’ll need them to pay out, the higher the amount is that you’re asked to chip in via premiums and deductibles.
It’s that bet on probabilities that makes it “insurance” — rather than an “emergency ATM” or “pot o’ gold at the end of the rainbow”.
If that probability for payout is a 100% certainty — you’ve already wrecked the car, burned down your house, or shuffled off your mortal coil — good luck talking an insurance company into writing a policy.
Everybody agrees that’s common sense.
They’ve got it all wrong!
Health insurance, the president tells us now, must be be different. If you have a pre-existing condition, you should not only get coverage. You should get it at no higher premium cost. And no co-pay! Ideally, you shouldn’t pay anything at all: No new taxes to pay for it, either — read his lips! The companies and your fellow citizens making more than $200,000 a year need to take care of your bills!
There is a term for this approach.
It’s called welfare. An unpopular word these days — but it is what it is.
There’s nothing wrong with welfare. It has its place in civilized societies. At least as long as you have the integrity and fortitude to call it by its proper name.
But if you take probabilities out of the health insurance business, you make individuals and corporations subsidize the healthcare of other individuals: “By relabeling welfare ‘insurance’ and claiming that only the rich will pay for his plan, Mr. Obama misleads the American people when he talks about health care. This is strange coming from someone who insists on honesty from his opponents,” writes Shedon Richman in yesterday’s Baltimore Sun.
Strange indeed. But maybe the placative dishonesty of the Presidents “guns and free butter” speeches promoting “insurance” reform have more far-reaching consequences for the entire insurance racket.
I for one, wouldn’t mind spending my term life insurance premiums on new fencing gear until I’m dead. (Then a seven-figure check made out to my estate will do, thank you very much.)
Or saving on the horrendous premium penalties that come with seeing the giant, lanky frame of my teenage son fold up behind the steering wheel of my car.
That would indeed be change I could believe in!
*** “Pennsylvania is in a desperate financial situation,” writes Pennsylvania home boy and TFN financial guru Andrew Snyder today.
“While politicians figure out how to dig themselves out of this hole, a handful of companies will prosper. Here’s your chance to get in on the action.
“You see, there’s only one state in the country that has yet to finalize its annual budget. The political situation in Pennsylvania is getting desperate. Without a spending plan in place, dozens of organizations are not getting the funding they need to survive. Across the state, angry citizens are sharpening their proverbial pitchforks.
“While the desperation in Harrisburg will slow the state’s economy, the fiasco is creating a profit opportunity for a handful of companies, most notably natural gas drillers and gambling operators:
“Buried beneath Pennsylvania’s rolling hills and ancient mountains is a massive stockpile of hard-to-reach natural gas. The Marcellus Shale formation has been a focus of the nation’s gas industry for the last decade. Pennsylvania’s budget woes are a boon for drillers as revenues-desperate legislators lease even more of the state’s forests in an attempt to drive closed a billion-dollar shortfall. With natural gas prices near multi-year lows, the companies signing those leases are likely getting a large bargain.”
Who are those beneficiaries? Andrew lists them all in his lead article on TFN!
*** We’ve been trumpeting our 61 gainers for Hot Stock Confidential so loudly over the past few days, I almost forgot to mention the other set of profits fireworks that our options-trading service TFN Strategic Trader has bagged in the last few days.
Believe me, these gains are nothing to sneeze at! Andrew, who signs responsible for these truly strategic gains, had this to say:
“The markets have an uncanny ability to toy with investors. When I left for a relaxing jaunt through southeast Alaska two weeks ago, my TFN Strategic Trader portfolio was quietly stewing, awaiting the big moves options investors pray for. As I was preparing to leave Baltimore, I told my colleagues it wouldn’t take much to make the well-leveraged portfolio explode.
“Honestly, I was hoping the action would wait until I got back. But, as we all know, the markets often have a mind of their own.
“Before I was even settled into Alaska’s capital, our portfolio went flat-out bonkers. My colleagues jumped on the opportunity to lock in double- and triple-digit gains. It was a veritable selling frenzy. They even tried to sell something we didn’t own — the option portion of a lucrative covered call. (Did Amberger turn Democrat while I was gone??)
“When the smoke cleared, we had ourselves a major brace of gains to brag about. Check out these whoppers:
* 40% on Chesapeake Energy calls
* 80% on Cabelas puts
* 18% on Fuel-Tech calls
* 171% on NCS Building System calls
* 42% on Rio Tinto calls
“And the position they tried to sell, but couldn’t? Well, it’s back in the portfolio and currently good for 93% gain, with more than a month to watch it grow even larger.
“As I write, we are poised for yet another combo of big winners, with several positions threatening to pop into the ever-so-satisfying triple-digit gain territory. My latest recommendation, issued today, is a whopper. Be sure to take this opportunity to get in on the action!”
Now, a word of caution: While Andrew makes it easy to trade options, I’d really recommend his service to those of you with a smattering of options trading experience. Not that it isn’t a great place to learn… but I think you get most out of it if you’re already set up properly!
Follow this link and let Andy explain how he approaches things…
*** 61 double-digit gainers in 38 weeks!
Think making money in 2009 is something you’d be interested in, too? Read up on it right here…
Quote of the Day:
“Mr. Obama’s plan to force insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions, combined with his plan to force everyone to buy health insurance, would impose an implicit tax on all policyholders in the form of insurance premiums that are higher than they would have been without the program. (Some would have opted out of insurance and paid nothing.) The rich would not be the only ones taxed, no matter what Mr. Obama says.”
– Sheldon Richman, BaltimoreSun.com
Recommended Reading:
Put these four stocks on your watch list
Obama cancels missile shield: Curious timing?
The 3 Best Chinese Stocks Under $5!
Today’s Top 3 Financial News Stories:
MoneyNews.com – Chinese Pig Farmers Treat Copper Like Gold “Chinese pig farmers and other speculators may have accumulated more than 50,000 metric tons of copper, according to Bloomberg. That represents about half the supply registered by the Shanghai Futures Exchange last week, a two-year high of 97,396 tons.”
NPR.org — Most States See Job Losses In August “Forty-two states lost jobs last month, up from 29 in July, with the biggest payroll cuts coming in Texas, Michigan, Georgia and Ohio.”
Bloomberg.com — Stocks in U.S. Advance as Analysts Say Buy Shares of P&G, SanDisk, Chevron “U.S. stocks rose, extending the market’s second straight weekly advance, as analyst upgrades of companies from Procter & Gamble Co. to SanDisk Corp. and Chevron Corp. overshadowed concern equities have grown too expensive.”
Cordially yours,
J. Christoph Amberger
Executive Publisher, TodaysFinancialNews.com
Next Article: Looking forward: Two trades for next week
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