DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING "Cost of Freedom Recap" CONTAINS STRONG OPINIONS WHICH ARE NOT A REFLECTION OF THE OPINIONS OF FOX NEWS AND SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS INVESTMENT ADVICE WHEN MAKING PERSONAL INVESTMENT DECISIONS. IT IS FOX NEWS' POLICY THAT CONTRIBUTORS DISCLOSE POSITIONS THEY HOLD IN STOCKS THEY DISCUSS, THOUGH POSITIONS MAY CHANGE. READERS OF "Cost of Freedom Recap" MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR OWN INVESTMENT DECISIONS.
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Bulls & Bears
This past week's Bulls & Bears: Gary B. Smith, Exemplar Capital managing partner; Pat Dorsey, Morningstar.com director of stock research; Tobin Smith, ChangeWave Research editor; Scott Bleier, HybridInvestors.com president, and Patricia Powell, Powell Financial Group president.
Trading Pit: National Health Care: Breeding Ground For Terrorists?
More horrifying revelations about the U.K. doctors behind that deadly terror plot. Apparently, they wanted to come here next!
Some say because Britain's socialized health care system pays so little, they had to bring in a flood of foreign doctors to support the system, allowing these MD's into the country?
Would America expose itself to the same kind of plot if we adopted socialized medicine?
TOBIN: State run health care makes physicians civil servants. Who in this country would want to come out of medical school three hundred thousand dollars in debt to become a "civil servant"! This would make us import our physicians. Islamic cultures are outstanding at producing physicians. But don't kid yourself, national health care would never happen here because it would be a financial disaster.
SCOTT: One out of four doctors is foreign born. Almost 45 percent of all health care workers are foreign born. Terrorists have squandered the use of doctors. We now know that terrorists are recruiting doctors. The real worry about socialized medicine is that the quality of health care goes way down.
GARY B.: A lot of people working in the medical profession have come from outside the country. This was before al Qaeda was targeting professionals. Almost 50 percent of the UK's medical personnel have come from other countries. I don't see how this can't be a breeding ground for terrorists.
PATRICIA: Terrorism is one thing and national health care is something else. When you fuse the two arguments, you become counterproductive. The British have the same problem we have! They have a careless and confused immigration policy. If they were letting in ditch diggers, Al Qaeda would be recruiting ditch diggers. The problem is not doctors, the problem is Al Qaeda.
PAT: At the moment, we spend two times per capita on health care relative to Canada or the UK. Yet we have higher infant mortality rates, lower life expectancy, and a much higher prevalence of diabetes and heart disease. We are more unhealthy, yet we spend more. Socialized health care may not be the answer, but it doesn't look like it's the problem.
Will Bill Clinton Win Over Wall Street for Hillary?
Bill Clinton joining Hillary on the campaign trail. He was a rock star to corporate America. Could this be Hillary's bid to win over Wall Street?
PATRICIA: Absolutely! The stock market was spectacular during the 90s and people are going to remember that. Hillary has a guy that can talk to Wall Street and also raise money there. After all, this election is going to be a lot about money!
GARY B.: Voters are smart enough to know that they are not electing Bill Clinton. Hillary is the biggest lefty since Sandy Koufax! She's going to be terrible for big business and Wall Street knows that. They could care less that Bill is married to her.
TOBIN: Bill Clinton's ties are in Wall Street. He's going to call in every favor! It's not so much his charm… it's payback!
SCOTT: Wall Street knows that Bill is charming, but it's not going to be him raising money for Hillary, it will be her. The market performance in the 90s was not due to Bill. It was Newt and tax cuts! You can say all you want about his charm, but he is not responsible for Wall Street's gains, and Wall Street knows that.
PAT: People have a visceral reaction to Hillary Clinton — both those who support her and those who don't support her. It's a pragmatic decision by Wall Street. She, by far, is not the most liberal in the Democratic field. She's actually the most centrist! And I would not be surprised if people on the street are hedging their bets, with thought that if a Democrat is going to get elected, she is the least liberal of the bunch.
Stock X-Change
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" hits theaters this week. But our guys are the real wizards when it comes to your bottom line.
If you want to see what everyone had to say about these stocks, click here.
GARY B: Standard Microsystems (SMSC)
PAT: MannKind Corp. (MNKD)
SCOTT: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM)
PATRICIA: Walt Disney (DIS)
TOBIN: ARM Holdings (ARMHY)
Predictions
Patricia's prediction: Gas prices keep going higher and hit $6/gallon in 2 years!
Scott's prediction: Fed raises rates & wipes out all of 2007 market gains
Tobin's prediction: "Lucky 7" Weddings lucky for The Knot (KNOT): up 25 percent by fall
Pat's prediction: Discover... Discover (DFS)! Gains 30 percent in 1 year
Gary B's prediction: Hotels are hot! Marriott (MAR) gains 20 percent by end of this year
Bulls & Bears | Cavuto on Business | Forbes on FOX | Cashin' In
Cavuto on Business
On Saturday, July 7th, Neil Cavuto was joined by Charles Payne, "Be Smart, Act Fact, Get Rich" author; Laura Schwartz, laura.gather.com; Ben Ferguson, The Ben Ferguson Show; Stuart Varney, FOX Business correspondent; Leigh Gallagher, Fortune Magazine senior editor; and Tracy Byrnes, New York Post Business writer.
Bottom Line: Cameras on Every Corner in America: Worth the Money?
• Click here to watch the segment
Neil Cavuto: A camera on every corner in America. Would it be worth the money? Countless surveillance cameras are now helping to round up terrorists in London. But would it be worth the money to have them installed here?
Charles Payne: I think an extensive camera system would be fantastic. When they first put those things in place, arrests went up ten times. That's amazing. The cameras would help with crime, but also with terrorism. At this stage of the game, the terrorist criminals have access to the best equipment out there. We have to arm our police in the same way.
Ben Ferguson: I agree with Charles. I'm the one that's always nervous about the whole "Big Brother effect," but everywhere you go in America there are cameras. Whether it's getting food, paying for gas at the gas pump or getting money from the ATM, you're on camera. If you look at how Washington D.C. did it, they put the cameras up in neighborhoods. Not only do the cameras help keep our streets safe for people here in America, but if they can stop terrorism, you have to do it.
Leigh Gallagher: I'm surprised you guys are in favor of this. You know how much money this would cost and it is a waste because you catch everything, but invariably things slip through the cracks. There's been all this uproar about Google Earth, which can zoom in on a place to see what's happening. This is a country that will not stand for something like cameras on every street corner.
Charles Payne: The irony though, is that the people who are for Google Earth are the ones who are against the policemen having the ability to chase down criminals and terrorists. That's what confuses me. Don't you want the law enforcement to be able to find the villains?
Leigh Gallagher: I want it to be done the right way. I want an FBI and a CIA that's connected on the ground with old-fashioned intelligence.
Neil Cavuto: Stuart, what do you think?
Stuart Varney: I think there's a huge difference in scale between the United States and the United Kingdom. Britain is a very small, compact place. It's easier and much cheaper to put in surveillance cameras everywhere. These are two Muslim doctor bombers who drove from London to Glasgow. That's the length of the country. That's only 400 miles. If you drive 400 miles from New York City, you're still in New York state. Can you imagine trying to wire an entire continent like America? That is extremely expensive.
Neil Cavuto: Laura, what do you think of this?
Laura Schwartz: I think a new age of terror calls for a new age of technology for our intelligence agencies and our recruitment agencies. The cameras are an incredible tool for solving crimes, as we saw this week for work at MI5 and Scotland Yard. It's amazing how they tracked down the cell. The cameras help prevent crime. It's great to have those eyes on the street, and if we're worried about Big Brother, between our cell phones and our credit card statements, there's enough information out there. I think this would be a great improvement. It's at work here in Chicago and it's going well.
Stuart Varney: It does not prevent the crime from taking place. It does, perhaps, provide a solution that is easier and swifter.
Leigh Gallagher: It's really useful in catching pocket thieves and everything. The cameras are in bars and restaurants in the U.K.
Charles Payne: Here's the secret to security: it's not about necessarily stopping the terrorists; you want to deter them just like criminals. It's the same thing with the wall of Mexico. It would deter people from coming in.
Laura Schwartz: It's a proven deterrent.
Ben Ferguson: It connects terrorists to other terrorists. If you do this, it's going to connect one terrorist to another. Maybe one blows himself up, and then people are able to track that car, find out where he lives, go through his computer and connect him to the twenty other people that may do the next crimes. It's worth it. I'm not saying put up these cameras in North Dakota or Kentucky, but New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago, even other cities like that where there are major targets and we know they've "chattered" about blowing them up.
Neil Cavuto: You know, guys, I think we already have it. If you step outside this building, there are cameras all over the place. We probably just need to find a way to link them all.
Leigh Gallagher: But putting cameras on every corner is taking it a step too far.
Stuart Varney: Well, Charles, back to your point: It did not deter terrorists in England. You've got 25 ongoing terrorist trials in England, involving 100 people. It didn't deter them…
Charles Payne: I think that after what we saw last week, terrorists are definitely thinking, "You know what? We didn't take into consideration all those cameras that track things down that quickly." Also, another thing civil libertarians would be interested in is that when you have this type of stuff in place, it gets the police to act in a much more professional manner. When they started putting cameras in police cars, police started acting more professionally...
Neil Cavuto: But Charles, there were terrorist attacks two years ago this very week in London with all those cameras. And, two years later, the guys who pulled this stunt knew about the cameras.
Charles Payne: I don't think they really thought they were going to get caught by all those cameras. It's obvious that the cameras played a great roll. You'd be kind of nuts not to look into it for our cities in America.
Ben Ferguson: You can't downplay the fact that these people were caught last week because of the cameras. Without these cameras, we would not have these people.
Neil Cavuto: OK, I don't want to get crass and look at investment opportunities, but seeing as this could be a very big trend, are you looking at the camera companies, security? Who do you look at?
Charles Payne: Well, after 9/11 a lot of those were in place. Some of them have been scooped up by larger companies. But, you know, it's like the General Electrics. And the reality is, to fight terror, you bet on the contractors… the Raytheons, and the UTXs, because at the end of the day it's going to be a much bigger battle.
Neil Cavuto: But wouldn't you be the first one to whine, Mr. Capitalist, if those cameras were installed. Wouldn't you?
Charles Payne: (laughs) Not if law enforcement had them and used them in a responsible way. I think there's a distinct difference between allowing the law enforcement to do their job and invading my privacy. It's called "intelligence-led policing."
Neil Cavuto: It happens in the process of law enforcement, right?
Charles Payne: Well, law enforcement for instance has files on all of us. Anywhere from seven to fifteen files, depending on the hype you believe. We expect law enforcement to be responsible and to do the right thing with these things, and that's why it's different for the law enforcement to have it as opposed to anyone going on Google and tracking my everyday movements.
Leigh Gallagher: Well, there's no doubt that YouTube would be overflowing with clips if something like cameras on every corner was enforced. Think of all the silly things people would do on camera.
Laura Schwartz: The next step on this is really interesting. What they're trying to do now in London is take closed circuit television to the next level with video analytics. With video analytics, computers monitor television screens and detect if a bag was left without human contact. The computers can detect if people are going against the flow of traffic inside of a terminal or plane or tarmac, or if an unauthorized vehicle comes onto that tarmac. Then, the computers contacts emergency services immediately.
Head to Head: "President" Fred Thompson: Good for Stocks?
Neil Cavuto: Alright, well he is all but declared he is running, but would a "President" Fred Thompson be good news for the economy and stocks? Let's take a look in Head to Head. Tracy Burns is joining us now. Tracy, what do you think?
Tracy Byrnes: What's not to like? He speaks clearly. He communicates well. He wants to cut taxes. He supports trade and globalization. There's not much to not like about him. Not to mention so many people are nostalgic for the Reagan Era and many people are equating him to Reagan in some ways, but not all. I don't think that Wall Street could go wrong with Thompson.
Neil Cavuto: Here's my theory on unannounced candidates: They look good from afar and then far from good once they're in.
Charles Payne: He's definitely up there. A lot of people's expectations of this guy are absolutely outrageous. He's got to be a little bit intimidated, but at the end of the day, I think this election poses the greatest threat to capitalism that this country has seen in a long time… since the Cold War. I am serious. You know, we have candidates on the Democratic side that are saying they are an anti-ownership society and want to raise taxes. I am so afraid of what could happen to corporate America, particularly when the rest of the world is much more competitive.
Neil Cavuto: Laura Schwartz, I want you to answer that.
Laura Schwartz: Well, I have to tell you, Thompson's been talking very broad conservative themes and he would be a supply-sider, a lot like how President Clinton was. Thompson's hired Bush's former economic advisor, Lawrence Lindsay. And he's talked about things such as taxing corporate cash flow, non-profits, proposing a flat tax, and keeping the tax cuts in place. I think those are all things that Wall Street would like. But again, until we see this guy on the field, not on the sidelines, and armed with an economic policy, we're not going to know for sure.
Neil Cavuto: But he plays a great commander-in-chief…
Leigh Gallagher: Yes, he does. I mean, he's 6'5", he's good looking, and he has a deep, booming voice. He is presidential and we know this country loves celebrities and actors. I think in terms of what Wall Street wants, though, Wall Street likes a known quantity. And I think he's just too much of an unknown at this point. I think Mitt Romney, founder of Bain Capital…
Ben Ferguson: The reason why Wall Street is going to like him is because he understands that it's better for the economy if American people have more of their hard-earned money in their own pockets. It's good for the government to stay out of my pocketbook. That's why Thompson's good for Wall Street. He understands the Bush tax cuts. He supports the Bush tax cuts. He understands that the economy needs money and it needs people to have that money. It's not the government's job to take care of everybody. That's why I think Wall Street will respond well to him. Regarding the whole idea that somehow he was an unknown entity, he was a Senator. He won twice when he was running for Senate. He's been in politics since Watergate.
Leigh Gallagher: But he never really did any legislation on his own. I mean, he's been in the Senate, but…
Ben Ferguson: The other thing that people don't talk about with Fred Thompson is the fact that he's from a small town and understands small towns, small farms, and small businesses. Most candidates, including Mitt Romney, can't claim that. Thompson's been to small town America. His family is still there.
Neil Cavuto: Well, I don't want to get too far off-field here. I want to get to something I interviewed him about. He had no entourage. Nobody. He's the only candidate I've interviewed, and I've interviewed them all from day one, and he had nobody!
Leigh Gallagher: Well he's not a candidate yet.
Neil Cavuto: (laughs) Well, you're right. But, I can see him going to and from the White House in a Pinto. The fact is he's different.
Charles Payne: Everyone agrees he's a down-to-earth kind of person. I think America has politician fatigue. And a guy like Thompson, a lot of folks will welcome with open arms. It even sounds like Laura wants to vote for him.
Laura Schwartz: And there's also lobbyist fatigue in Washington.
Tracy Byrnes: He's going to be the spark for people's fire. By the time he actually announces, people will be sick of the other candidates.
Neil Cavuto: The fatigue could swing either way. Laura, which way do you think it's going to swing?
Laura Schwartz: I got to tell you, we're talking about his stature and how he looks like a President. But, I think we're at a time now when people care more about leadership. After the last eight years and even though Fred Thompson is from a small town, he was a big lobbyist, and that's going to come out, too. When he's on the field, he can be attacked like everyone else, and that's then we will see a different Fred Thompson.
More for Your Money: All-$tar $tocks!
Neil Cavuto: Before you take in Tuesday's (7/10) All-Star baseball game, you may want to check out our gang's all-star stocks! The stocks could make you can MVP at the bank.
Charles Payne: Las Vegas Sands (LVS)
*Charles owns shares of this stock.
Tracy Byrnes: Disney (DIS)
Leigh Gallagher: Citigroup (C)
FOX on the Spot
Stuart Varney: Europe will block Muslim immigrants; U.S. may follow
Ben Ferguson: Sorry John, $1,250 haircuts won't make you president!
Tracy Byrnes: Most "Lucky 7" marriages end in wealth-killing divorce!
Leigh Gallagher: Airline delays worsen; airline stocks will feel the pain
Charles Payne: NASDAQ about to soar! Buy Tellabs (TLAB)
Neil Cavuto: NASA's "Dawn" Asteroid spacecraft will enrich our lives
Bulls & Bears | Cavuto on Business | Forbes on FOX | Cashin' In
Forbes on FOX
In Focus: $top All Muslim Immigration to Protect America and Economy?
Bill Baldwin, editor: I think that citizenship is a privilege, not a right. It is entirely within the rights of countries like the U.S., Britain and France to be very picky. I think we should be much more accepting of immigrants from Asia, India and China and far less excepting of immigrants from countries with a history of violence.
Quentin Hardy, Silicon Valley bureau chief: The first amendment respects freedom of religion even before freedom of speech. So this is anti-American. Do we imprison people who believe that the Ten Commandments supersede civil law? No. We let them believe it.
Elizabeth MacDonald, senior editor: I'm for profiling, which is even harder to do now because we have to profile for doctors (due to the terror plot in the U.K. which included medical doctors). There is no greater violation of civil liberties than blowing up innocent people. We should support law enforcement who are profiling because terrorists are coming in from all over the world.
Michele Steele, Forbes.com reporter: I think this idea is impractical and hateful. It would damage our reputation and integrity as Americans.
Rich Karlgaard, publisher: We need to discriminate against people who put sharia law above the Constitution. Islam is a belief, it's not based on race or anything else. And that is the very reason that we should look at it skeptically. Is anyone in favor of bringing Nazis into this country? No, and couldn't we find a way to discriminate against Nazis without discriminating against Germans as a whole?
Steve Forbes, editor-in-chief: We do have to discriminate but that doesn't mean ban all Muslims. You don't say if you come from a certain country we're going to put profiles against you. After all in World War II one of our most shameful moments was arresting and turning on everyone on the west coast of Japanese decent. We did this without trying to find out if they were pro-American or pro-Japanese.
Flipside: Economy Keeps Booming If Congress Keeps Doing Nothing!
Michele Steele: Members of the U.S. House are likely to give themselves a raise very soon. But they haven't done anything! I say give them a raise. They should keep doing nothing because the markets love it!
John Rutledge, Forbes contributor: Congress could do a lot. They could pass extended tax cuts. They can make sure that the dividend tax becomes permanent. And they should stop doing protectionism! Technology is the source of the strength of the economy. They can also bolster education and telecom law.
Steve Forbes: Congress should make the tax cuts permanent and they should pass free trade agreements which would help us and the rest of the world. This Congress is incapable of doing anything positive. Send them on vacation for two years. Then after that we can get a guy in like Rudy Giuliani. (Full disclosure: Steve is a senior policy adviser for Giuliani campaign).
Quentin Hardy: We need Congress to pass laws and policies and things like fuel economy standards raised in order to cure this addiction to oil. This is definitely an improvement over the last Congress where we had bridges to nowhere and Jack Abramoff. But it could do better.
Victoria Barret, associate editor: I think a "do-nothing" Congress is great considering our current situation. The problem is you're going to see a lot of pork come out of a left leaning Congress, which is why it's good that they're not doing much. And look at Congress' approval rating, it's lower than President Bush.
Bill Baldwin: I'm not happy with a "do-nothing" Congress. I'd like them to repeal all those fuel economy standards and open up off-shore drilling and put a big fat tax on carbon. And I'd like them to extend the income tax cuts.
Should We Thank Our Founding Fathers for Today's Bull Market?
Steve Forbes: In addition to giving us a government that has survived over 200 years they did some other things that don't get much attention. The Interstate Commerce clause which prevented protectionism between the states. 200 years later, Europe is still trying to achieve that goal. Also a common currency and an aversion to taxes. Put that together and we've beat the rest of the world.
Rich Karlgaard, publisher: James Madison had much to say about the link between morality and commerce. But if you go back to the very phrase "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" what you get from that is strong defense, rule of law that treats everyone fairly and minimal government intrusion in public and private affairs.
Elizabeth MacDonald: Madison and Jefferson were opposed to the Bank of the U.S. which was a brilliant idea of Alexander Hamilton. The Federal Reserve system today keeps the economy humming.
Quentin Hardy: People forget that America is the country that is structured most like a business. The Mayflower compact is a business document. Of the 55 framers of the Constitution, 43 were lawyers, who were like small business men, or merchants. These were people who believed in a marketplace of ideas and goods. Hope over fear, a very positive message that has resonated all over the world.
John Rutledge: My uber-great grandfather, John Rutledge, was the chairman of the Committee of Detail that actually drafted the Constitution. The founding fathers based America on one idea, the idea of freedom. This is the only country that people are trying to break into instead of out of. That includes freedom of religion! It's not about hate!
Informer: Stocks to Make You "Independently" Wealthy!
If you want to hear what each Forbes panelist had to say about their stock pick, click here.
Victoria Barret: Bruce Fund (BRUFX)
Elizabeth MacDonald: Valero Energy (VLO)
John Rutledge: iShares MSCI Pacific (EPP)
Bill Baldwin: S&P 500 ETF (SPY)
Bulls & Bears | Cavuto on Business | Forbes on FOX | Cashin' In
Cashin' In
Our Cashin' In crew this week: Wayne Rogers, Wayne Rogers & Co; Jonathan Hoenig, CapitalistPig Asset Management; Jonas Max Ferris, MaxFunds.com; Dagen McDowell, FOX Business News; Andrew Wilkow, host of "The Wilkow Majority"/Sirius Satellite Radio.
Stock Smarts: Is Wall Street Worried About The Dems' Silence On Terror?
A terror attack in the United Kingdom and Bin Laden's number two man calling for new attacks on America… Yet most of the Democratic candidates for President have been keeping fairly quiet on the issue. Is Wall Street worried?
Andrew: John Edwards and the far left think the War on Terror is a "bumper sticker" war. They see it just as a slogan and not a real war. Many Democrats voted for the war in the time that it was politically popular, but then turned their backs on their own votes. They should absolutely be talking about it. I would like to know where they actually stand on the War on Terror.
Jonathan: A lot worries the market these days. The long-term worry really is the growing threat of militant Islam. The President has been so weak on it and we've fought this ridiculous, compassionate war on terrorism. The Dems can't even say the words militant Islam and it makes me wonder who is actually going to fight the enemy and win.
Wayne: Timothy McVeigh was not a Muslim. Terrorists are everywhere. Any time you have radicals or extremists in any religion, you are going to have that kind of terrorist activity.
Dagen: It was militant Muslims in London who tried to blow up those two cars in Glasgow. Time and again, it is Muslims. The central threat to the market is terror. With silence from the Democrats on this, it does raise the issue. These attacks were planned for just after Gordon Brown took over as Prime Minister. It raises the issue among many in this country: what happens after the new President comes into office in 2009? Will that person be prepared and will the cabinet and those on the bench be prepared to handle that? This is something that will be talked about until the election.
Jonas: I don't think the market cares about the Democrats' supposed silence on terror. The market has been pretty strong since this horrid attack. The market probably thinks the Democrats might win. The Republican candidates haven't said that much on terror either.
Andrew: I see very few Republicans who just want to pull the troops out and pull back and want to play nice. How many Timothy McVeighs around the world enjoy the protection of civil rights groups? This political correctness nonsense is going to get us all killed.
Wayne: You only need one terrorist who will blow up anything. I'm not worried for the market. Muslim extremism is the target and it will remain that way for a long time.
Jonathan: I'm watching the market. The British Pound, even with an attack, hit a 26-year high against the dollar. The U.S. dollar is crumbling. The world is losing faith in our currency.
Dagen: As the campaigns wear on into next year, Democrats and Republicans are going to have to step up with what they think of militant Islam. They can't avoid it.
Airlines: More Important To Be Safe Or On Time?
Over 25 percent of U.S. flights were delayed in the first five months of 2007 and complaints are up nearly 50 percent! But only one U.S. jetliner has crashed in the last five years. Should we stop whining?
Andrew: Yes, we should stop whining! If you can get from point A to point B in once piece, that's the most important thing.
Jonathan: Think about how much more safe air travel is now. Air travel is cheap, but people get mad because traveling is annoying. Why? It is not the airlines' fault. It is the government's fault: the FAA and TSA. They are the ones that control the whole process. They control everything from how many planes can take off to how many airports can be built.
Dagen: I agree that FAA needs to desperately upgrade the air traffic control system in this country, but that will mean a lot more money. If you don't want the headache of all the delays and packed flights, are you willing to pay higher ticket prices? You either suck it up and enjoy the super low fares or don't fly.
Jonas: We get exactly what we pay for with planes. I don't buy this fact that we care about safety and that the government is the reason for the headache. When people fly, they always look for the lowest price and are getting low quality service because of it.
Wayne: I agree with Dagen. More money will have to be spent in order to update the control system. We are very fortunate in this country to have as many airlines as we do to get us where we need to go. If we are 1-2 hours late, it's not the end of the world. We used to travel by train and bus.
Dagen: Taking a flight is like taking the bus. That's the quality you are going to get.
Jonathan: Spending more money on taking my Diet Coke away doesn't make the flight any safer. Spending billions of dollars patting down grandma to see if she's got plastic explosives doesn't make the flight any safer.
Andrew: Security doesn't pat down everyone. If you want safety, you have to put up with this or we'll have to go to the "evil racial profiling." Once we do that, the lawsuits get filed and then costs go up again. Either way, you'll get screwed in the price.
"The Simpsons" Life Imitating Art: Good For Busine$$?
"The Simpsons Movie" with the ultimate promotion in turning 7-Eleven stores into fully functioning "Kwik-E Marts"! Is this fantasy turned reality good for business?
Jonathan: Great move for business. Ever since the Reese's Pieces promotion with E.T. where M&M's missed out on getting the advertising, companies realized they needed to be affiliated with a hot movie. The Simpsons Movie is going to be a big one. We've all been fans for decades. This is a great move for 7-Eleven.
Wayne: Until you find out how much it translates into earnings and revenue, it's a great promotion. There's no doubt about that. This move will get a lot of publicity, but will it translate into real dollars?
Dagen: "The Simpsons" is the longest running sitcom ever and has a big history in marketing. The show is still cool, funny, satirical, and genius. Remember Bart-mania with all the T-shirts and dolls? They somehow were able to marry commercialism and marketing with a very cool show and they've never lost any of that. This thing with The Simpsons Movie is that it makes you want to go out and visit one of the Kwik-E Marts. That's what makes this so unusual. I can't wait to have a Buzz cola!
Jonas: It is a new thing. Traditional advertising is losing out to the Internet, so we'll start to see more of this interactive advertising.
Best Bets: $tocks Making America Great!
To watch this segment in its entirety, please click here.
Wayne: Psychiatric Solutions (PSYS) (Friday's Close: $37.26.)
Jonas: PowerShares Listed Private Equity (PSP) (Friday's Close $27.97.)
Jonathan: MarketAxess (MKTX) (Friday's Close: $18.94.)
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