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By Jim Cramer, TheStreet
We're lost in the miasma of the election, the Fed and the coming labor report, and no one can blame us. But right around the corner is an IPO that could ignite as much interest in the market as we have seen in years: that of General Motors.
The GM public offering is kind of like the U.S. Olympic team in 1980, the Miracle on Ice: a feel-good story, except that you get to make money from it. That's right, I believe the deal is going to be a smashing success. The key questions are who is going to get it and how can you get in.
It is not just pricing that matters, although I believe the government is going to throw it to the good guys, meaning the buyers. There's also actually a strong investment case out of China.
By Paul Ausick, InvestorPlace.com
Is there room in the marketplace for another netbook? Google Inc. (GOOG) seems to think so, as do partners Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) and Acer Inc. Just about everyone else thinks netbooks are heading for extinction as customers flock to the iPad and other manufacturers race to get their own tablets out the door.
Google apparently didn't get the memo. The company first talked about this smartbook -- Googlespeak for netbook -- over a year ago. Now DigiTimes reports that Google will launch it later in November, followed by similar products from HP and Acer in December.
People are jumping on the gold bandwagon just like they jumped on the dot-com bandwagon and the real-estate bandwagon and every other bandwagon before them. Is this time different? Never mind gold's 20%-plus rise this year. It still has a lot of overlooked weaknesses as an asset class. Goldbugs won't like this, but here are just a few.
By Jake Lynch, TheStreet
A Republican influx into the House and Senate would probably be cheered by investors hoping for political gridlock or a change in economic policy.
Stricter regulations in response to the subprime-mortgage crisis and the ensuing recession have painted Democratic leaders as anti-business. Further, ObamaCare and the threat of looming tax increases have aided a Republican resurgence. The GOP needs 39 seats to reclaim the House and oust Nancy Pelosi as speaker. Some analysts predict a 60-seat swing in Republicans' favor.
Jobs and the federal deficit are voters' top concerns, polls show. And fear of harsher regulations has made businesses hesitant to hire. Moody's (MCO) data indicate that S&P 500 ($INX) companies are sitting on $1 trillion in cash.
By Lauren Tara LaCapra, TheStreet
One of the most important tasks before the 112th Congress will be rewriting the rules of the American dream.
Since Fannie Mae (FNMA) and Freddie Mac (FMCC) were seized by the federal government in September 2008, lawmakers, with a few exceptions, have remained surprisingly mum about what will become of them. The Obama administration has promised to deliver a plan for the future of housing finance a few times but ultimately put it off until next year.
Restructuring Fannie and Freddie in any meaningful way would be difficult enough with one party dominating Capitol Hill. Now, with polls predicting that Republicans will at least split the legislative branch -- if not take it over -- it may be completely impossible to restructure the government-sponsored entities.
By Scott Moritz, TheStreet
Tablets are going to be on a few gift lists this season, and it's Apple's (AAPL) iPad that will be getting most of the ribbon-and-bow treatment.
There are, however a few challengers that may also end up under the tree, helping to keep Apple from collecting all the proceeds from the tablet giving season.
One would think that the market was teeming with tablets, given all the hype lately. But so far, the list of available tablets is short, though not unimpressive: Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ) Slate, Amazon's (AMZN) Kindle, Samsung's Galaxy Tab and the Apple iPad.
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