Enough. Stop trying to track the global economy. It’s impossible. Just as it’s impossible to keep up with the U.S. economy. The best you can do is get most of the basic facts right. Trying to compete with Wall Street in knowing what’s going on “out there” is a sucker’s game. I’ve got a much better game for you. To get in it, all you need is a fraction of the information Wall Street has at its disposal. And you can start making much better investing choices and more money… with less work.

The trick is to select those sectors where the government is a big player. Like health care.

Face it. With its millions of moving parts, the economy is unfathomable. The more you pick it apart, the more questions you have. But this health bill has a couple of thousand moving parts. And that can be pared down to less than a 100 important ones. It takes some work, but it’s definitely decipherable.

That’s why I love it when the government sticks its big nose into the private sector. The complexity is dramatically scaled down. Instead of trying to paint a Rembrandt, you’re “painting by the numbers.”

What Can 30 Million Americans Do for You?

The elephant in the room is the country’s new health care system. It’s not gonna be quite as ambitious as Obama wants but it’s coming. And you can’t ignore it. Get in its way and you’re going down. So why not ride it instead? Because, love it or hate it, it’ll create some big winners and losers.

What can Obamacare do for you? Plenty.

Soon our health care system will be covering an additional 15-30 million Americans. That leaves out at least 20 million people in this country who don’t and won’t get health care coverage… still a lot of people jamming up our emergency rooms. But think about the jolt from the 15-30 million. For the first time, they’ll be buying prescription drugs, going for regular check-ups, and getting major surgeries.

Who’s gonna pay for it? Me and you, of course. It’s gonna cost us at least another $1 trillion. No, we can’t afford it. But that’s another subject for another day.

It’s coming regardless. So you might as well make a few bucks from the winners…

IDE’s Ted Peroulakis pegs three big ones…

1. Big pharma will have 30 million more people swallowing their pills.
2. Generics will be getting a big boost from a renewed emphasis on cost control.
3. The makers of medical devices and diagnostics will see sales pick up.

Ted’s not waiting for the health care reform bill to pass Congress. He just made 145% on a pharma company for his Options Power Trader subscribers. By the way, over the past seven months, Ted has 18 100%-plus winners.

He’s thinking about tapping into health care again with an option play. He says another big winner is hospitals. “They’ll see a boost in revenue once millions more Americans become insured. Uncle Sam has a history of paying his bills.”

A New Playbook for Investing in Nationalized Economies

Many sectors are gonna get a government makeover. Besides health care, here are three squarely in the government’s crosshairs…

1. Banks. The headlines are all about the bonuses, but the mainstream financial press has it wrong yet again. As obscene as they are, the bonuses are not the problem. It’s about competition – the lack of it. Let’s see if the government does anything to redress this.
2. Energy. Alternative energy is completely dependent on government tax breaks and grants. Wind and solar will ride government support – but if it fades, so will growth in these boutique sectors. And then the one true scalable alt energy will come to the fore: nuclear.
3. Autos. The government owns 60% of GM and 10% of Chrysler. It’s already clear that they’re steering these companies toward gas sippers and hybrids. But what kind of hybrids, batteries, and engines will win out? For better or for worse, the government will have a big say. Don’t worry. The government will leave a bunch of clues for anyone who cares to look for them.

You know the saying, “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” right? It could also be said that “what happens in Wall Street stays in Wall Street.” You just catch glimpses – and only of what Wall Street allows you to see. The good stuff goes unseen and unheard until it’s published two weeks later in The Wall Street Journal. Washington is different. Secrets don’t carry price tags worth millions of dollars. They’re more valuable in the telling than in the keeping. Compared to Wall Street, Washington is an open book.

In the financial, auto, health care, energy, and environmental sectors, you don’t have to kowtow to Wall Street. The playing field is level – and, let me tell you, Wall Street hates that.

We Said It First: Part I

With the 82-year-old former Fed chairman at his side, Obama introduced the nation to the “Volcker Rule” last week. He said that “banks will no longer be allowed to own, invest, or sponsor hedge funds, private equity funds, or proprietary trading operations for their own profit, unrelated to serving their customers.” And then said: “I’m also proposing that we prevent the further consolidation of our financial system.”

For the banks, getting to run their own hedge funds and play with outside hedge funds while our tax dollars covered their reckless behavior was ridiculous. But the Dems needed to get whacked in Massachusetts before welcoming “tall Paul” back into the fold. Took ‘em long enough. We were urging Obama to listen to Paul way back on December 10 in this very space. “We need more Paul Volckers,” I said. “As the Fed chief for Ronald Reagan, he reined in runaway inflation in the early 80s. He knows how to cut through all the Washington crap and get to the truth.”

But I won’t believe Obama “gets it” until he runs Timothy Geithner, the anti-Paul Geithner, outa town.

We Said It First: Part II

On Tuesday, Bloomberg quoted Pimco’s Bill Gross (who runs the world’s biggest mutual fund) on Canada: “Given enough liquidity and current yields,” Gross gushed, “I would prefer to invest money in Canada. Its conservative banks never did participate in the housing crisis and it moved toward and stayed closer to fiscal balance than any other country.”

But we were singing Canada’s praises back on December 3… “The U.S.’s recovery may be completely phony. Canada’s is the real deal. Canada’s economy was better off before the crisis. We just didn’t know it at the time. Its banks stayed away from toxic assets… its housing market never exploded… and Canadians saved more than Americans.”

Gross didn’t say the best way to invest in Canada. We did… “Canada has natural resources like Texas has oil. Canada has schools, institutions, markets, and vast financial resources, all dedicated to take advantage of their resource heritage. The companies with the most talent these days are the junior mining companies. They, and not the mining majors, are making the most resource discoveries.” IDE’s Rusty McDougal (who runs the popular Resource Windfall Speculator) has dozens of Junior mining companies from Canada in his portfolio. Overall, his 2009 recommendations rose 42%.

Invest Safely,

Andrew Gordon

Investor’s Daily Edge