President-elect Barack Obama has promised the biggest infrastructure upgrade America has seen since the 1950s. This is great news for those in the nuts-and-bolts business of construction and repairs. Chris Mayer says Astec Industries (NASDAQ:ASTE) and Northwest Pipe (NASDAQ:NWPX) are two strong companies set to benefit from an Obama stimulus.

Daily Reckoning editor Bill Bonner says everything is going according to plan. An unsustainable credit-fuelled boom popped. And businesses, consumers and financial markets are left reeling. Bill says US stocks could fall much further before stabilising at a ‘normal’ level. Meanwhile, reckless money printing by the Fed will eventually take down the dollar, and light a fire a fire under gold prices.