Booyah Breakdown

Booyah Breakdown: Donkey Distress

 

Of course, oil prices are strong these days and the winter is coming, which tends to push prices up even higher, reminds Fred Ruffy, an analyst at Optionetics, an investor-education Web site. Not to mention there's a huge demand for oil in China. There is also the ever-present OPEC wild card. The Democrats aren't the only force controlling the energy sector -- so don't let them scare you too much.

The Democrats also will attempt to revamp health care.

They believe the drug companies make too much money, so they'll likely demand that the government use its bargaining power to buy drugs, and thereby push drug prices down.

This could really hurt the drug companies because they'll have little negotiating power against the government, says Ashok Ahuja of Icor, a Westport, Conn., firm that operates a technology hedge fund.

On the flipside, biotech stocks may come out on top, especially those involved in stem cells, cancer and multiple sclerosis research, since the Dems are big supporters. That's why you saw stem cell stocks such as Aastrom Biosciences(ASTM), Stemcells (STEM) and Geron (GERN) move higher on Wednesday.

Sometimes, Slow is Good

Keep in mind, President Bush can veto anything he doesn't like, so all we really might see in Congress is gridlock.

So, for now, remember that in the short-term, there won't be a big change in the economy, says Ruffy. And as long as there were no fundamental changes in the companies you hold in your portfolio, there's probably no need to jump the gun and reallocate.

But you do need to start paying attention to what goes on in Washington, as Cramer noted in his post-election column. We didn't really need to over the last six years, as far as the market is concerned, because things were pretty predictable. Well, now they're not. And no one, especially the market, likes uncertainty.

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Tracy Byrnes is an award-winning writer specializing in tax and accounting issues. As a freelancer, she has written columns for wsj.com and the New York Post and her work has appeared in SmartMoney and on CBS MarketWatch. Prior to freelancing, she spent four years as a senior writer for TheStreet.com. Before that, she was an accountant with Ernst & Young. She has a B.A. in English and economics from Lehigh University and an M.B.A. in accounting from Rutgers University. Byrnes appreciates your feedback; click here to send her an email.

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Dow Jones S&P 500 NASDAQ 10-Year Note
12,393.45 1,310.33 2,827.34 15.81
Oil *
101.78
DOWN
26.41
DOWN
2.99
DOWN
10.02
DOWN
0.44
10 Yr
1.58%
SPDR Gold
151.62
-0.21%
-0.23%
-0.35%
-2.71%
Data delayed 20 minutes

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