Morning Journal-The potential impact of the upcoming French elections

Economics

This Week’s Data

Other

Bill Fleckenstein on gold and money (medium):
http://money.msn.com/investing/all-roads-lead-to-inflation-fleckenstein.aspx

More positive employment data (short):
http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2012/02/employment-trends-index-gains-in.html

And some not so positive employment data (charts):
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2012/02/employment-chart-palooza/

And this:
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-bringing-not-labor-force-mystery-light

The Fed has totally f**ked the savings class (medium):
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/bernanke-plan-exterminate-savers-unsustainable

Politics

Domestic

Here is another thoughtful piece on our economic problems from John Mauldin (long):
http://advisorperspectives.com/commentaries/millenium_020412.php

If you want to sick to your stomach thinking about our political class and the damage they have wrought, this is for you (medium, and my today’s must read):
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/guest-post-what-if-were-beyond-mere-policy-tweaks

International

A look at the issues and possible outcomes of the approaching French elections (medium and a must read if you want to get into the weeds on the EU debt crisis):
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/falls-sarkozy-so-falls-europe-full-story-behind-upcoming-french-election

News on Stocks in Our Portfolios

More earnings per share reports:

Reported Expected

Sysco $.46 $.45
Leggett & Platt .22 .21
Becton Dickinson 1.21 1.17
Coca Cola .79 .78

Steve Cook received his education in investments from Harvard, where he earned an MBA, New York University, where he did post graduate work in economics and financial analysis and the CFA Institute, where he earned the Chartered Financial Analysts designation in 1973. His 40 years of investment experience includes institutional portfolio management at Scudder, Stevens and Clark and Bear Stearns. Steve's goal at Strategic Stock Investments is to help other investors build wealth and benefit from the investing lessons he learned the hard way.