There are a number of health care reform plans on the drawing boards right now, and they all seem to come with mind-numbing sticker shock. The administration’s new plan and Senator Kennedy’s plan are both estimated to cost $1 trillion over 10 years.

Both President Obama’s and Senator Kennedy’s healthcare plans are estimated to cost $1 trillion over 10 years.  I’ll believe it when I see it. When was the last time the government completed any project on budget?

It’s bold. It’s ambitious. And if it works, it should make America a healthier nation. Reform plans are a dime a dozen in Washington – many of which get stuck in political gridlock without ever reaching a satisfactory resolution. And healthcare reform is no different, with multiple presidents trying – and failing – to pass a plan that would see every American covered by healthcare insurance.

Back in February, I wrote about an impending crisis in Eastern Europe. In my column, I mentioned that if Eastern Europe begins to head downhill, we could see a domino effect, with the contagion spreading very quickly. Yesterday, the first domino may have fallen, courtesy of debt-laden Latvia. The country attempted to raise $100 million by selling debt securities. But there were no takers. Let me repeat that. Latvia didn’t raise one measly dollar. That is staggering.

This weekend, I’ll be speaking at the Mt. Vernon Research/Investor’s Daily Edge “Boom & Doom” conference in South Florida. During my presentations, I’ll offer the attendees my top five stocks that I believe will fare well, no matter whether we’re in a depression or expansion. Now, it wouldn’t be fair to the paying customers if I give you those top five stocks here. But what I can do is provide you with the stockpicking method to my (some say considerable) madness…

My five-year old daughter has a thick mane of chestnut colored hair on her head. By the time she goes to school, it always looks perfect – but few people know about the work involved beforehand. My wife or I usually have to spend 15 minutes untangling the knots in what invariably starts out as a post-sleep bird’s nest.

Here in South Florida, we’ve had torrents of badly needed rain recently. But after an already long week, the last thing I needed on top of it was a booming thunderstorm in the middle of the night.

If you’re looking for a direct, non-wavering opinion, you’ve come to the right place… While some of my financial commentary counterparts like to sit on the fence and hedge their bets, I’m offering you this: Sell your stocks now.

I’m used to explosive gains in the biotech world, but I’ve never seen a moonshot quite like this…  As I write (TIME), shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: VNDA) are up 712% today. 

While swine flu is spreading and certainly has potential to become a very serious situation (as does any flu outbreak) if it continues, comparatively speaking, that isn’t the case at the moment.