Tuesday, July 19, 2011 JNJ announces earnings Actual $1.28 vs expected $1.24.

. Profit fell as generic drug competitors and a recall of Tylenol, Motrin and other consumer brands eroded sales. Stock is flat in pre-market. Consumer Confidence: Survey 72.2 Actual 63.8 Prior 71.5

Bloomberg discusses how some prominent hedge funds are holding large amounts of cash given market uncertainty Bloomberg Debt ceiling quiet overnight; the House will vote on its deficit reduction plan today (that will include a spending cap and balanced budget amendment). The effort is expected to pass but wont see the light of day in the Senate (or if it does will wind up being vetoed by Obama). The McConnell Option appears to be the most credible path to a solution at the moment. Clinton says debt ceiling unconstitutional He says if he were still in office he would use the constitutional option to raise the debt ceiling and force the courts to stop me. I think the Constitution is clear and I think this idea that the Congress gets to vote twice on whether to pay for *expenditures+ it has appropriated is crazy. National Memo The Gang of 6 in the Senate (technically now only 5) will present their deficit reduction plan Tues morning. The proposal would slash spending $3.6T over 10 yrs. WSJ CALPERs the California pension said it earned ~21% net of fees for its fiscal year ended June, the best performance in 97. WSJ There is a growing sense of urgency throughout Europe w/Italian and Spanish bond yields approaching the point of no return zone at 7%. Some officials have been making encouraging comments about the Wed/Thurs gathering.