Stock Preacher

US President Barack Obama warned credit-card issuers they will face new regulations and scrutiny to keep consumers from being hit by “unfair” rate increases and abusive fees and penalties. Obama said he told 13 executives from the industry, including representatives from Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America Corp. and New York-based American Express Co. that while credit cards are an important source of finance for families and small businesses, consumers too often must negotiate confusing terms that end up costing them more money than they expected. “The days of any time, any reason rate hikes and late fee traps have to end,” Obama said after meeting with the executives yesterday at the White House. “No more fine print, no more confusing terms and conditions.” Card issuers are under fire for policies that impose large late fees and boost interest rates on delinquent customers amid higher unemployment and a recession. The Federal Reserve already has issued new rules, due to take effect in 2010. Lawmakers in the US House and Senate also are considering legislation to provide more consumer protections. American Bankers Association President Ed Yingling, who was among those at the meeting, said afterward that Obama was “very clear” about his desire to make disclosures easier to understand and about the practices he wants ended.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Barack Obama is poised to sign an executive order on Monday lifting restrictions on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. The move comes almost eight years after George W. Bush, the former president, imposed strict limits that critics said hindered medical research and hurt US science.

Stem cell research is fiercely opposed by some religious groups because it involves the destruction of human embryos. But scientists and health activists argue it could reveal treatments for conditions ranging from diabetes to Parkinson’s disease. Under Mr. Bush’s restrictions, funding was allowed only for a relatively small number of existing cell lines to prevent taxpayer money being used to destroy additional embryos.

The announcement marks the latest in a series of early steps by the president to roll back his predecessor’s legacy. Some science advocates had grown nervous about why the stem cell research ban was not overturned in the first wave of announcements but the White House issued assurances that it was coming soon. Mr. Obama has already thrilled the science community by appointing Steven Chu, a Nobel prize-winning physicist, as energy secretary, and reversing the Bush administration’s skeptical attitude towards climate change.

However, the stem cell ruling threatens to alienate evangelical Christians at a time when Mr. Obama is facing mounting partisan opposition from the right.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Chinese President Hu Jintao said here Saturday that the current international financial crisis, despite its severe impact on China’s economy, also means an opportunity for the country.

China should take the opportunity to change its development pattern and realize structural adjustment so as to maintain a steady and relatively fast economic growth, Hu said when joining a panel discussion with deputies of the National People’s Congress (NPC) from south China’s Guangdong Province.

“Challenge and opportunity always come together. Under certain conditions, one could be transformed into the other,” Hu said. Hu went on to say that China should make full use of its advantages to break the bottlenecks of development.

He also called for efforts to promptly and creatively implement the policies and plans of the central government to create conditions for solid and rapid development in the future. In face of impacts of global financial crisis, China should seek both a temporary solution and a permanent cure, and make efforts to upgrade its industry and improve competitiveness of Chinese enterprises, said Wu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee.

Popularity: 5% [?]

What the Financial Times of London described as “combative” US President Barack Obama warned last Saturday he was bracing for a fight against powerful lobbyists and special interests who sought to pick apart the US$3,550B (or US$3.55T) budget he wants to advance his agenda of reform.

Mr. Obama’s spending blueprint, with its massive US$1,170B (or US$1.17T) deficit and tax hikes on the wealthy, seeks to squeeze billions of US4s in savings out of current spending through competitive bidding among health insurers and ending subsidies and tax breaks for banks, agribusiness and oil companies. ”These steps won’t sit well with the special interests and lobbyists who are invested in the old way of doing business,” the president said in his weekly radio address.”I know they’re gearing up for a fight as we speak,” he said. ”My message to them is this: So am I.”

Popularity: 6% [?]

Over the weekend US President Obama ordered the US Treasury on Saturday to implement tax cuts for 95% of Americans, fulfilling a campaign pledge he hopes will help jolt the economy out of recession. The tax cuts are part of a US $787B economic recovery plan passed by the Congress. The aim is to put more money in the pockets of Americans and stimulate the economy by increasing consumer spending.”I’m pleased to announce that this morning the Treasury Department began directing employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks, meaning that by April 1st , a typical family will begin taking home at least US$65 more every month,” Obama said in his radio address.

Popularity: 5% [?]

President-elect Barack Obama recently stated that his stimulus proposal could save or create as many as 4 MM US jobs by 2010, nearly 90% of them in the private sector. Obama previously estimated that his estimated US$800B strategy to pull the US economy out of its year-long recession could save or create 3 MM jobs, but his new study has found that the actual number would range between 3 million and 4 million. The analysis was submitted by Christina Romer, head of Obama’s council of economic advisors, and Jared Bernstein, the economic adviser to Vice President-elect Joe Biden. The analysis directly follows an official government report showing that US employers slashed more than 500K jobs in December 2008, pushing the US unemployment rate to 7.2% and bringing the number of jobs lost in the US last year to 2.6MM, the worst since 1945. “The jobs we create will be in businesses large and small across a wide range of industries,” President-elect Obama said on his weekly radio and Internet address. “And they’ll be the kind of jobs that don’t just put people to work in the short term, but position our economy to lead the world in the long term.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the stimulus package being crafted by President-elect Barack Obama and Congress could provide a “significant boost” to the sinking economy. But he warned that such a recovery won’t last unless other steps are taken to stabilize the shaky financial system.

Although Bernanke has previously endorsed the notion for a fresh round of government stimulus to lift the country out of a recession, it marked the first time the Fed chief has referenced the roughly US$800B recovery plan now being worked on by Obama, who takes office next week. Obama envisions a blend of tax cuts and increased government spending, including on big public works projects, to make up the stimulus plan.

Bernanke, who didn’t weigh in on the details of the evolving package, made clear that such a recovery plan was needed as part of a broader, multi-pronged government response to combat the worst financial crisis to hit the U.S. and the global economy since the 1930s.

The world view: President-elect Barack Obama has unveiled his recovery plan for the US Economy as if the policies of the rest of the world had no bearing on the fate of the US. His POV is that a large US fiscal stimulus policy will be enough to restore prosperity. The world’s economy needs more that a US stimulus, as the problems are much deeper and global than the US alone.

Popularity: 5% [?]