Dylan Rattigan on MSNBC recently gave Rep. Wassersman-Schulz (D-Fl) a hard time about the health care package. He disputed her contention the bill was a big win for consumers. He wanted to know why the stock prices for Big Insurers (e.g., Aetna, Cigna, Wellpoint, United Health) shot up if this was such a big loss for them.

Unfortunately, he was so exercised on the point, he didn’t give her a chance to address the question. It’s an important question. Asked another way, the question is “Why are stocks in this sector at a 52-week high if this legislation is such a blow to their profits?”

That’s worth investigating. Follow the money and things get real clear real fast

The validity of Rattigan’s point is clear even with this thumbnail of a stock chart. A lot of stocks are up over the last 52 weeks. This chart covers the last three months. It compares the S&P 500 to stock prices for some large health insurance companies. Each one is represented by a different color as follows:

Continue reading