A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article titled “8 Stocks to Buy if McCain Wins”. In the spirit of balance, I want to give the same treatment if Obama should win.

To date, the Obama camp has promised more taxes on the rich, windfall profit taxes on oil companies, higher corporate taxes, higher payroll taxes, national health care and energy independence in 10 years. As these policies are attempted to be enacted, they will have very profound impacts on certain sectors. Corporate spending will be driven in very predictable directions.

One of the first things we will see is a movement away from full-time employees to more flexible temporary staffing. As employment costs and corporate taxes increase, you will actually see more reliance on outside consultants. Professional services firms like Accenture (ACN) - trading at $38.92 - should do very well.

One of the big beneficiaries of a higher corporate tax rate will be the nation of Ireland. Ireland enjoys some of the lowest corporate tax rates in the world (12.50%) and a highly educated workforce. If U.S. corporate tax rates do in fact go higher, watch for some big moves out of some Irish stocks as U.S. companies start moving to Ireland. One in particular to put on your radar is ICON (ICLR) - trading at $39.49 - which provides outsourcing services to the pharmaceutical, and biotechnology industries and the stock has been on fire.

To meet the lofty goal of energy independence within 10 years without the use of expanded domestic drilling, coal or nuclear energy will require an enormous allocation of capital to the alternative energy space. Everything from power generation to power delivery will have to be revamped. There will be some obvious companies that will benefit from this spending spree.

Energy Conversion Devices (ENER) - trading at $55.27 - makes thin-film solar cell products, nickel metal hydride batteries, and phase-change memory devices. While the stock has been roughed up of late, an Obama win could have this one in the stratosphere.

Another player in t

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Zignals blog: S&P Moving Average Behaviour revisited

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Back in June I did a study on the relationship between the S&P to its 20-, 50-, and 200-day MAs.
The take home lesson is for the next month or two further downside is not just likely but probable
As of Friday's close the S&P was 9% off its 20-day MA, 13% from its 50-day MA, and 21% from its 200-day MA. Have there been situations in the past which closely mirrored this - and if so, what happened next?

There were five periods since 1951 which matched this set-up in the S&P

How did markets perform after these periods?
The greatest number of matches came in 2001. This time the relationship between the moving averages and the S&P came within a week of the lows, although the attempted retest failed and new lows were posted in 2002. It was in 2002 that another matched relationship was made between the MAs and a positive retest was posted 3 months later. This eventually led to the cyclical bull market completed in 2007:
- We are likely a couple of weeks from a bottom, but it is not impossible for this to take longer
- During this period the market will see sharp losses, perhaps trimming 10-20% off where the markets lie now (Monday will be the start)
- The subsequent rally will be short lived and will morph into a retest of the low
- The retest will be the time to buy heavy
- A significant bull market has a good chance of emerging from the quagmire - remember markets lead economic news.

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Bloomberg.com: Senator Bunning Says Paulson Acts Like Socialist

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Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Senator Jim Bunning said Treasury
Secretary Henry Paulson, by rescuing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,
is acting like China's finance minister and both Paulson and
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke should step down.
Paulson and the federal regulator for Fannie and Freddie
placed the two largest U.S. mortgage-finance companies in a
government-operated conservatorship on Sept. 7, ousting their
chief executives and eliminating their dividends. Treasury also
may purchase up to $200 billion of stock in the firms to keep
them solvent.
We no longer have a free market in the United States, we
have a government controlled free market,'' Bunning said in an
interview.
``When I picked up my newspaper yesterday, I thought I woke
up in France. But no, it turned out it was socialism here in the
United States,'' he told Paulson at a July 15 Senate Banking
Committee hearing.
Bunning accused Paulson of deception when he told Congress
in July that the Treasury's plan would instill such confidence
among investors that it would never have to be used.
When asked if he expects more multibillion dollar rescues by
Treasury, Bunning said, ``You bet I do.''