February 17, 2009 (FinancialWire) (By Philip Holmes) -- Whoever thought that $787 billion wouldn't be enough for the government to spend on something? President Obama will soon put pen to paper to spend that amount on the nation's largest-ever stimulus bill, and some people think he's being cheap. According to the White House, the bill will result in three to 2.5 million more jobs by the end of 2010, fewer than the three million originally called for by the president. Maybe that's why the White House is also doing its collective best to dampen expectations. A report in the NY Times quotes White House senior adviser saying that "There will be signs of activity very quickly, but it's going to take time for that to show up in the statistics." Axelrod appeared on Fox News Sunday to deliver that cheering news. His colleague, Robert Gibbs, told CBS that, "The urgency to get something done was very important." Well it was, and if The Times' Paul Krugman had his way much more would have been done. Last Friday he said that, "The stimulus bill looks helpful but inadequate, especially when combined with a disappointing plan for rescuing the banks. And the politics of the stimulus fight have made nonsense of Mr. Obama's postpartisan dreams." We couldn't agree more about the last part: without a plan in place for fixing the banks any stimulus will be short-lived. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner hasn't exactly been reassuring on that score of late. The Times even took to comparing the outlined Geithner plan to the many failed efforts at fixing the Japanese banking system in the 90s. We all know how that malaise dragged on for years. But this isn't the nineties, with its robust, growing global economy. And, unlike Japan, the US doesn't have a robust trade surplus with big economies like China and, uh, the US to fall back on. Geithner had better come up with something better than Paulson II if we're going to get anything more than a few sputters from the Obama jumpstart.

The Investrend Earnings Calendar features Administaff (NYSE: ASF), expected at $0.43; Beckman Coulter (NYSE: BEC), expected at $1.22; Forward Air (NASDAQ: FWRD), expected at $0.29; Hasbro (NYSE: HAS), expected at $0.75.

The Investrend Economics Calendar lists Weekly Chain Store Sales (8:55 a.m.), Wholesale Sales for December (10 a.m.), Fed Chairman Bernanke speaks (1 p.m.), Treasury auctions 3-year notes (1 p.m.).

The Investrend Events Calendar showcases ALKS, CSKI, NUVA, VRX at Roth Capital Partners Annual OC Growth Stock Conference; AXAS, NGAS at Independent Petroleum Association of America OGIS Florida Conference; GIS, KFT, SLE, CAG, PM, ADM at Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference; POL, PCX, PX, SEE at Morgan Stanley Global Basic Materials Conference.

The Investrend Money Index is an indicator of the depth of market direction or indirection. While not always including the same stocks, the NYSE/NASDAQ 50 Most Actives indicate the direction in which the mass of money is flowing. Last session's trading showed 17 advancers versus 33 decliners. Advancers were led by Sprint Nxtel Cp (NYSE: S) up 12.80%, Ultrashort Financial (NYSE: SKF) up 7.69%. Decliners followed Geron Corporation (NASDAQ: GERN) down 17.89%, Us Bancorp (NYSE: USB) down 9.22%, Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB) down 9.09%, Financial Bull 3x (NYSE: FAS) down 8.87%, Ultra Financials Pro (NYSE: UYG) down 7.45%, Powershares Db Crude (NYSE: DXO) down 6.72%, Wells Fargo & Co New (NYSE: WFC) down 6.19%.

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Quote of the Day: "A good sermon should be like a woman's skirt: short enough to arouse interest but long enough to cover the essentials." Ronald Knox

Today is: World Human Spirit Day.

Happy Birthday: Aaron Montgomery Ward, Friedrich Alfred Krupp, Andre Norton, Hal Holbrook, Alan Bates, Mary Ann Mobley, Gene Pitney, Rene Russo, Lou Diamond Phillips, Michael Jordan, Billie Joe Armstrong, Denise Richards, Jerry O'Connell, Jason Ritter.

Today in History: Miles Standish was appointed as first commander of Plymouth colony in 1621. An electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr in 1801 was resolved when Jefferson was elected President of the United States and Burr Vice President by the United States House of Representatives. In Miami, Florida, Johnny Weissmuller set a new world record in the 100-yard freestyle swimming competition in 1924 with a time of 52-2/5 seconds. The Voice of America began to transmit radio broadcasts into the Soviet Union in 1947. Pope Pius XII declared Saint Clare of Assisi (1193~1253) the patron saint of television in 1958. In Wesberry v. Sanders the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in 1964 that congressional districts have to be approximately equal in population.

[FirstAlert" was created by Gayle Essary, founder of Investrend Communications, Inc., parent of Investrend Information (http://www.investrendinformation.com). The opinions expressed in FirstAlert" do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Investrend.]

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