This image released by Russian advertising agency Voskhod shows a smiling, cartoonish black man flashing a V-for-Victory sign in front of the US Capitol building, along with the Russian slogan: “Everyone’s talking about it: dark inside white!”

President Obama making his first public steps towards New World Order

President Obama may have gone on Jay Leno last night to reach out to the everyday American, but this week the Administration has been quietly reaching out to the rest of the world and, at least ceremonially, starting the U.S. on a path toward rejoining the world community.




This morning the New York Times reports that Obama recorded a video message talking directly to the people of Iran, offering to move the two countries' relationship in a new direction after decades of hostility and mistrust, and 30 years after the U.S. broke off diplomatic relations.



Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad made waves when he visited New York in 2007 and laughably asserted that there were no gay people in Iran. But while his ongoing persecution of homosexuals is more bark than bite, the Obama Administration has at least moved America's policy into the 21st century. On Wednesday the United States formally endorsed the United Nations resolution that homosexuality should be universally decriminalized, something our evangelical-pandering former President refused to do.



And while the United States has lagged behind our peers in climate science, censoring scientists' findings and refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protcol, that might be changing too, at least symbolically. The muzzle is now off our government scientific agencies, and this week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a host of other organizations released Climate Literacy: The Essential Principles of Climate Science , a pamphlet explaining the ins and outs of climate science and why it can be so complicated.



Certainly videos, declarations and pamphlets are only first steps. But at least we're walking in the right direction again.

U.S. will own 40% of Citi

Nationalization, at least a partial one, seems inevitable for Citigroup. As Washington prepares to tighten its grip on the struggling company, the implications — for the troubled financial giant and the rest of the industry — are starting to sink in.
Under a plan federal regulators were discussing on Monday, the government may end up owning as much as 40 percent of Citigroup, which has already grabbed two multibillion-dollar lifelines from Washington.

The question is, what happens then? Perhaps not all that much, at least for now.

Even before rescue No. 3 — which will not involve additional taxpayer money — federal regulators were clamping down on the company. The government has ordered Citigroup to sell businesses, shake up its board, cut its dividend and reduce risky trading. It has also moved to curb bonuses and perks like corporate jets.

Moreover, Citigroup already relies on the government to finance its operations and insure hundreds of billions of risky assets. It has bowed to Democratic lawmakers on bankruptcy legislation that the financial industry had long opposed, and is now required to fill out a public report card on its lending activities monthly.

“What is the big deal?” said Charles R. Geisst, a financial historian. “They are wards of the state anyway.”

The Obama administration says it has no plan to nationalize banks outright, and government officials say they want to avoid taking a big stake in Citigroup. The hope is that more equity capital from the government, supplied through the conversion of preferred stock, will help Citigroup pass a new “stress test” that federal regulators are preparing to administer to 20 or so large banks. The administration’s strategy seems to point in the direction of stopping short of outright nationalization — where the government takes control — and stepping up regulatory scrutiny.

But with greater ownership, there is always the risk that the government might try to exert a lot more influence over Citigroup. The entire banking industry, after all, remains under acute stress. JPMorgan Chase, widely regarded as one of the healthier big banks, announced on Monday that it would sharply reduce its dividend to stockholders to conserve cash in case the economy deteriorates further.

Citigroup, with operations in more than 100 countries, encapsulates many of the ills plaguing the global banking industry. In the future, the company will almost certainly be smaller and less profitable than it was in the past, analysts say.

“A year from now, it will be more like a large financial utility,” said Michael Mayo, a Deutsche Bank analyst. “Less risk, less leverage, less growth.” Analysts say the worst-case situation is that the government eventually steps in, breaks up Citigroup and sells off the pieces. Citigroup, they said, could end up half of its current size.

A big question is whether the government will press to replace Vikram S. Pandit, Citigroup’s chief executive. Citigroup insiders insist that Mr. Pandit, who inherited many of the problems at the company when he became chief executive in late 2007, has the government’s backing. Analysts say it would be hard to find someone willing to take his job.

In many ways, Mr. Pandit is already grappling with the same problems that the government would face if it took control.

He was forced to split off Citigroup’s prized Smith Barney brokerage unit, for instance, to raise capital. He is also scaling back the company’s mortgage and proprietary trading operations. He has created a “bad bank” structure to hold Citi’s money-losing businesses, like private label credit cards and Primerica insurance, and tens of billions of dollars’ worth of toxic assets. While the government might demand that Mr. Pandit accelerate plans to sell bad assets, buyers are scarce. The government has also not yet revealed details of its plans for a so-called aggregator bank that might buy some of these assets.

Nationalizing Citigroup outright would be a huge challenge, given the company’s size and international sweep. In countries like Mexico, for instance, a state-controlled bank might run afoul of local ownership regulations.

Analysts also wonder whether a full government takeover of Citigroup would place its rivals at a disadvantage. Customers, for example, might prefer to park their money at a bank backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, rather than a smaller bank that has federal insurance on deposits up to $250,000. Traders might prefer to trade with a bank backed by the federal government.

Shares of Citigroup rallied on Monday in the hope that the government’s plan would stabilize the company. Shares rose 19 cents, to $2.14. The stock was still down 68 percent for the year.

Gerard Cassidy, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said it could take years for Citigroup to right itself, even with the government’s help. “I don’t think they can do it in a short time,” he said.

Pfizer close to making huge drug deal!

Pfizer Inc, the world's largest drugmaker, is in talks to buy Wyeth, sources familiar with the situation said on Friday, and one source put the possible value of the deal at about $67 billion.

Pfizer may pay about $50 per share for Wyeth, but the price may change as negotiations continue throughout the weekend, the source said. At $50 per share, Wyeth would fetch roughly $66.6 billion.

Such an acquisition, which sources said could come within days, would help Pfizer cope with a major gap in revenue in 2011 when its blockbuster Lipitor cholesterol treatment will begin to face U.S. generic competition.

Spokesmen for Pfizer and Wyeth declined to comment.

It would diversify Pfizer into vaccines and injectable biologic medicines by adding Wyeth's big-selling Prevnar vaccine for childhood infections and Enbrel rheumatoid arthritis treatment. Pfizer would realize major cost savings by streamlining areas that overlap.

But the deal also raises questions about whether another huge acquisition is the right medicine for Pfizer, which has struggled after digesting two huge deals in the past decade. And it threatens to spark another round of layoffs in the drug industry at a time the U.S. economy is already on its knees.

"I think it's eminently doable," said Barbara Ryan, an analyst with Deutsche Bank. "The question is whether others enter the fray. It's going to come down to price. The deal is attractive at this price, it's not attractive at any price."

Ryan said Pfizer could pursue Bristol-Myers Squibb or biotech giant Amgen Inc if a Wyeth deal falls through. Biogen Idec has also been mentioned as a possible Pfizer target, Credit Suisse analyst Catherine Arnold said.

Pfizer has secured roughly $25 billion in funding for the Wyeth deal, one source close to the talks said. Getting financing for the deal helps Pfizer surpass one of the biggest hurdles amid tight credit markets. Pfizer would pay more cash than stock in the deal, but final details have yet to be nailed down, the source said.

Pfizer would pay two-thirds of the cost in cash and a third in stock for Madison, New Jersey-based Wyeth, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Talks were accelerating on Friday and a deal could be announced in the near term, one source said, while cautioning that negotiations could still fall apart.

New York-based Pfizer had $26 billion in cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments on its balance sheet, as of its latest quarterly filing. It had $16.3 billion in short-term borrowings and long-term debt.

One complication to the financing is that some of the cash on Pfizer's balance sheet is overseas and it would have to repatriate those funds to purchase Wyeth, one source explained.

Pfizer may be able to purchase Wyeth's international assets separately and thus avoid the tax and foreign-exchange complications of repatriating funds, the source said.

Wyeth shares closed up $4.91, or 12.6 percent, at $43.74 on the New York Stock Exchange. Pfizer rose 24 cents, or 1.4 percent, to close at $17.45.

Wyeth has been in talks to buy Dutch vaccine firm Crucell, whose shares fell 9.6 percent on Friday on fears that deal might now be in doubt.

But sources told Reuters the Pfizer-Wyeth talks will not necessarily scuttle Wyeth's Crucell deal. Wyeth has been holding talks with both Pfizer and Crucell in recent weeks, sources said.

ANOTHER DEAL FOR PFIZER?

Pfizer became the world's largest drugmaker with its purchase in 2000 of Warner-Lambert and the $60 billion acquisition three years later of Pharmacia.

The question for investors, many of whom continue to hold the stock largely because of its industry-topping dividend, is whether another acquisition of that scale will revive Pfizer over the long term, or only temporarily boost results.

Ultimately, a huge acquisition could make it harder for the merged company to grow from its larger revenue base and to prevent bureaucracy from stifling innovation.

Pfizer exemplifies the overriding problem for many large drugmakers, which have struggled to produce new blockbusters to replace those on which they lose exclusivity.

"We have, for many quarters now, said that Pfizer essentially has no realistic way of replacing the many drugs that are scheduled to go generic apart from doing a mega-merger," Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson said in a research note.

The global economic downturn has created a buyer's market for cash-rich drugmakers, prompting several deals.

Wyeth's market capitalization as of Thursday was about $52 billion, so at $60 billion, the deal would represent a 15 percent premium. Pfizer was valued at about $118 billion.

COST SAVINGS

Aside from Enbrel, for which Wyeth shares rights with Amgen, and Prevnar, Wyeth also is developing experimental Alzheimer's disease drugs, which could be a major opportunity although some believe such drugs are a longshot.

Pfizer would also gain Wyeth's large consumer health division that includes Advil painkillers more than two years after it sold off its own consumer health business to Johnson & Johnson.

Pfizer's fortunes rose initially after its Warner-Lambert and Pharmacia deals thanks to huge merger-related cost savings, and outright ownership of Lipitor from Warner-Lambert.

Recently its performance flagged and shares dropped to more than 10-year lows in late 2008, after savings dried up and its $7 billion-a-year research budget failed to bear much fruit.

Pfizer, which reports fourth-quarter earnings next week, has said it expects 2008 revenue to be roughly similar to its 2007 revenue of $48 billion. It expects decent profit growth thanks to deep cost cuts.

Diversified stocks for the upcoming year! My Fave 5

Don’t waste time trading the new Obama presidency.I say that, in a market this tough, investors want a diversified portfolio full of dividend-paying stocks.


My five favorite Dow stocks for 2009: Johnson & Johnson [JNJ], Caterpillar [CAT], Hewlett-Packard [HPQ], Verizon Communications [VZ] and Home Depot [HD].

My fave 5 have been down 3% since i start recommending these stocks, during the week of Jan. ? But the Dow’s dropped 8% over the same period, while the S&P 500 has slipped 9%. That’s relative outperformance by the fave 5. And if they held up well during this downturn, there’s a good chance they’ll rebound first when the market turns up.

Consider the dividends, too, which are a big reason I picked these stocks in the first place. Other than Hewlett-Packard, all of these companies pay more than 3%, Verizon as much as 6%. Once you factor in the quarterly dividends, the All-Star portfolio is down only 2.1%. With the returns from the annual dividends, the portfolio’s actually up a half percent.

Dividends account for about 50% of a stock’s appreciation. They offer much-needed protection during volatile markets, and they boost your return. Plus, other investors are attracted to the increasing yields as the share price drops, further buoying the stock. This is at least partly why my fave 5, have the Dow and S&P.

"Can I kick it" Obama tee

In response to popular demand, the Mick Boogie X Motivation X Leaders X Dope Couture collab tees are now available in a patriotic color way, released just in time for Inauguration Weekend. Limited to 44 pieces in each colorway. Get one while you can, they won’t last long! Obama apparel has become a fashion statement, make our statement, exclusively!


Obama tee

My Tribute to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

History is indeed made up of significant events which shape our future and outstanding leaders who influence our destiny.


Martin Luther King's contributions to our history place him in this inimitable position. In his short life, Martin Luther King was instrumental in helping us realize and rectify those unspeakable flaws which were tarnishing the name of America. The events which took place in and around his life were earth shattering, for they represented an America which was hostile and quite different from America as we see it today.

Martin Luther King, Jr. catapulted to fame when he came to the assistance of Rosa Parks, the Montgomery, Alabama Black seamstress who refused to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus to a White passenger. In those days American Blacks were confined to positions of second class citizenship by restrictive laws and customs. To break these laws would mean subjugation and humiliation by the police and the legal system. Beatings, imprisonment and sometimes death were waiting for those who defied the System.

Black Americans needed a Martin Luther King, but above all America needed him. The significant qualities of this special man cannot be underestimated nor taken for granted. Within a span of 13 years from 1955 to his death in 1968 he was able to expound, expose, and extricate America from many wrongs. His tactics of protest involved non-violent passive resistance to racial injustice. It was the right prescription for our country, and it was right on time. Hope in America was waning on the part of many Black Americans, but Martin Luther King, Jr. provided a candle along with a light. He also provided this nation with a road map so that all people could locate and share together in the abundance of this great democracy.

We honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. because he showed us the way to mend those broken fences and to move on in building this land rather than destroying it. He led campaign after campaign in the streets of America and on to the governor's mansion - even to the White House - in an effort to secure change. Today Black Americans have federal legislation which provides access and legal protection in the areas of public accommodations, housing, voting rights, schools, and transportation. These rights were not easily won, nor readily accepted, but the good will and conscience of an enormous spectrum of our society both Black and White said "Move On."

Thank you Dr. King for being the drum major who was able and ready to lead our nation to greater heights through love and peace.

My stock pick for the upcoming Obama administration!

I say keep a close eye on Roche and Genentech.As you may know Genentech shares rose Friday after a published report said Swiss drugmaker Roche was preparing to sweeten its offer to buy the portion of the U.S. biotechnology giant it does not already own.

The Financial Times' Alphaville web site said Roche was preparing to offer about $95 per share, likely ahead of its release of its year-end financial report in early February.

If the deal happens, Roche could win billions of dollars in cancer drug revenue as well as strong R&D. And both are presenters at the conference.

The obama administration insiders say that he will lift the laws and regulations, on biotech research. With genentech leading this sector, i say that it will be up atleast 25% by the end of 2010. Jump now while its cheap.

President Barack Obama

I would like to take a little of your time to share something wonderful with you. Tomorrow, we are going to experience something that no one have ever imagine, a moment that we all have been raise in our culture, to think that it was impossible for black people to achieve; a moment that was only possible in our dreams, a moment that will make the History of the United States and of the Black community: the nomination of the 44th president of the United States, Mr. Barack Obama.


We started to hear about Mr. Obama at the Democratic Convention in 2004. But no one ever thought that this man could make the History of a country, of a continent, of a nation. Our President had a mission, a goal, and it was to change the course of History.

Our Black nation has suffered a lot during the last years; we were desperate because we thought that nothing was possible for Black people. We have to work 4 times harder to get the same rights of everybody else. We had the slavery, and we were targets of tease and mockery. But there were innovators and pioneers who drew the road for Barack Obama; there was Rosa Parks, a woman who protested against the seats that were reserved to White people only. Because of her bravery, she started the National Movement of the Civil Rights in the United States. There was also Dr. Martin Luther King, who had a Dream and this regardless the persecutions, that there will one day have a Black President for the United States, and his prediction has been realized today. There were many other people that drew the road for Obama such as Malcolm X and Ghandi.

A wind of change and hope has blow out on us when our President started to talk; he got us interested in politics with his charisma and his personality. The Americans voted in a manner that has never been use before. Obama's team used their imagination: they used internet and social networks such as Black Planet, YouTube, etc to promote his message of change and peace, to make us experiment something that we didn't have in us anymore: the power to dream, the power to believe in us, the power to believe that a change is possible, that nothing is impossible to the one who believe: "Yes we can!"

President Obama is a model for our generation: a model of perseverance, of creativity, and a model of hope by his attitude. We will be inspired by him to conquer every circle of the society, to overcome every barrier. He is a model of excellence and not of mediocrity. Our vision has changed and we now know that nothing is impossible to the one who believe that he can achieve his goals, fulfill his dreams, that we can be the head and not the rear, that the doors are wide open for us.

President Obama is not only the president of the United States, but he's also the President of the World!

We thank him for this powerful story of courage and perseverance that will allow us to surpass our limits and to go to the next level.

Do not miss the inauguration of our President Barack Obama!



God Bless You.

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