- Market Commentary -

January 21, 2010 (FinancialWire) (By Bob Farley) — The chart for health plan provider Humana (NYSE: HUM) has gone up dramatically over the past six months, with a long plateau in mid-September through mid-December. Drug maker Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) shows the same kind of path, but different numbers. Meanwhile hospital operator Tenet Healthcare (NYSE: THC) shows growth during the plateau period of Humana and Pfizer, and a precipitous drop coinciding with Democrats’ loss of control of the U.S. Senate.

Insurance companies and drug makers have been enjoying recent plans for health care reform. With no plan for a public insurance option after House and Senate plans drifted away from it, those companies saw no real change in their operations. Hospital operators saw the opposite. Tenet rode his through last fall, falling off a bit when the public option fell away, but coming up as long as proposed plans forced everyone to have insurance.

Now, with the gridlock promised by an ineffectual Senate, Tenet can count on a continuation of bad debt and lower-paying Medicaid patients.

It’s ironic that a state which took the lead with universal health care has given the same the kiss of death.

For investors, the road is clear: invest in big drug and insurance companies. The bigger the better. They will be able to grow and compete around the world, especially in lands with lots of people living in economies that are growing.

For the uninsured, the news isn’t that great. Two choices, maybe three. Don’t get sick, get a job that provides health care, marry a rich person.

[Go to http://www.financialwire.net/?s=bob+farley to see more commentaries and articles by Bob Farley.]

The FirstAlert(tm) Economics Calendar lists Initial Jobless Claims (8:30 a.m.), Leading Indicators for December (10 a.m.), Philadelphia Fed Index for January (10 a.m.), Treasury announces 3, 5, & 7-year note auctions (11 a.m.).

FirstAlert(tm) Website of the Day: http://www.miniclip.com/games/sky-golf/en/

Quote of the Day: “Just because nobody complains doesn’t mean all parachutes are perfect.” Benny Hill

Today is: National Hugging Day.

Happy Birthday: John C. Frémont, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, Christian Dior, Karl Wallenda, Telly Savalas, Paul Scofield, Benny Hill, Wolfman Jack, Jack Nicklaus, Plácido Domingo, Richie Havens, Mac Davis, Billy Ocean, Paul Allen, Geena Davis.

Today in History: In 1643, Abel Tasman was the first European to reach Tonga. After being found guilty of treason by the French Convention in 1793, Louis XVI of France was executed by guillotine. Opel manufactured its first automobile in 1899. Kiwanis International was founded in Detroit, Michigan, in 1915. The first nuclear-powered submarine, the U.S.S Nautilus, was launched in 1954 from Groton, Connecticut by Mamie Eisenhower, then the First Lady of the United States. In 1977, President Jimmy Carter pardoned nearly all American Vietnam War draft evaders, some of whom had emigrated to Canada. The Eyak language in Alaska became extinct as its last native speaker died in 2008.

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