Turns out no one knows how Obamacare will work - not even the big-name insurers.

And now, we're starting to see the effects of uncertainty.

Today (Thursday), the Los Angeles Times reported that United Health, Aetna, and Cigna have opted out of the California insurance exchange.

UnitedHealth has adopted a wait-and-see policy: "We are simply taking the time to carefully evaluate and better understand how the exchanges will work to ensure we are best prepared to participate meaningfully in their development," explains a spokesman to the LA Times.

Cigna resolved to participate in exchanges in only half of the 10 states where it sells individual health policies, and California didn't make the cut.

Aetna referred LA Times' questions to Covered California, the state agency in charge of implementing Obamacare.

That means millions of Californians who will have to choose health insurance from exchanges or face a penalty will not be able to pick plans from those three big insurers - signaling limited options ahead thanks to Obamacare.

UnitedHealth, Aetna, and Cigna's response to the California exchange is just the beginning.

These three companies are but the first dominoes to fall to Obamacare's less-than-clear implementation.

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Wall Street woke up to grim news on Thursday morning (today) - overnight the Japanese stock market, as measured by the Nikkei index, lost a stunning 7.3%.

The sudden drop caught many investors by surprise, as the Japanese stock market had risen 50% - 5,277 points - so far in 2013. The Nikkei plummeted 1,143 points Thursday to close at 14,483.98.

The shock waves were felt in stock markets throughout Asia and Europe, and caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to shed 100 points in early trading.

Analysts blamed a combination of poor Chinese manufacturing data and mixed messages from the U.S Federal Reserve Wednesday about when it might slow its monetary easing, which caused Japanese 10-year bonds to briefly rise above 1% for the first time in a year.

But those factors "just added fuel to the fire," said Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald, explaining that there's far more lurking behind this plunge in the Japanese stock market.

"The rise in the Japanese stock market was unsustainable," Fitz-Gerald said. "It was a bug in search of a windshield."

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Investors who bought into uranium at the right time in the 1970s probably considers it one of the best investments they've ever made...

When the element entered a bull market in the '70s, the result was 10-fold gains for uranium prices, and 100-fold gains for related uranium stocks.

Now the stage is set for uranium's price to go on another tear...

To find out why uranium could be one of the best investments over the next few years, we turned to Rick Rule, founder and chairman of Sprott Global Resources Investments.

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As I wrote yesterday, government interventions in the marketplace and out of control cronyism have decimated Argentina, one of the most prolific economies of the early 20th century.

But after my week spent there, I can tell you the people of Argentina face an even more troubling problem. It's out of control inflation and it continues to grow worse.

And while it seems far removed, it provides a stern warning to anyone who thinks the U.S. is somehow immune to it all.

In fact, it's critical to understand what's behind it and how it is driving a massive gap between the rich and the poor there.

To tell you the truth what I found there was somewhat startling.

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More and more S&P 500 companies are turning into dividend stocks, as yield-producing investments are becoming the hottest attraction in 2013.

Collective dividends per share for Standard & Poor's 500 companies increased roughly 16% year-over-year in 2012. Meanwhile, the number of companies paying a dividend over that period reached a new 13-year high of 405, or roughly 81% of the S&P 500, data from Factset shows.

Some 60% of these dividend stocks yield more than the 10-year Treasury, according to BlackRock.

Yield-starved investors have flocked to these equities in this ZIRP (zero interest rate policy) environment. More companies are embracing the shift and have implemented, increased or paid special dividends as a way to appease shareholders and attract new capital.

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Innovation is the mother of lucrative investing, and nowhere is that truer than in biotech - which delivers some of the best investments you'll ever find.

Biotechnology provides breakthrough products and technologies to combat debilitating and rare ailments, it reduces rates of infectious disease, tailors treatments to individuals to minimize health risks and side effects, creates more precise tools for disease detection, and it reduces the odds of global life threatening conditions.

In short, biotech helps to heal the world.

"If you're looking to double your money, the biotech sector is one of the best hunting grounds that you'll find," writes Money Morning Tech Specialist Michael A. Robinson, who regularly follows the industry's best investments for his Strategic Tech Investor members.

Investors searching for how to invest in oil in 2013 should be focused on these latest developments from the Arctic.

In fact, countries are racing to get a piece of what could be the final frontier for oil...

As ice melts in the Arctic region, oil and gas trapped beneath the water becomes more accessible.

Money Morning Global Energy Strategist Dr. Kent Moors recently explained to Money Morning members about the search for Arctic oil and gas.

He spoke about the years-in-the-making U.S. Geological Survey's Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal. The study found that 84% of the total undiscovered oil and gas left on the planet is located above the Arctic Circle, mainly offshore and in three huge basins that lie under shallow seas.

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Samuel Johnson once said, "The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are."

Although penned by an 18th century English writer, the idea holds true in today's highly connected world of search bars, tweets and breaking news. Our portfolio managers' research trips to foreign countries authenticates the data from a Bloomberg terminal or an earnings report. Treks add tacit knowledge to our wealth of explicit facts.

Last week, I was in Peru and Colombia with former president Bill Clinton and Frank Giustra in conjunction with the Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership.

I've been involved with this impressive organization since its inception. I love how it brings together private companies, government and communities in developing regions of the world to eradicate poverty by growing jobs and training local workers.

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Drive the streets of Buenos Aires, and you will see regal architecture that rivals wealthy European enclaves in Monaco or London.

And along tree-lined walkways, you will witness monuments that speak of the legacy of Argentina's finest moments.

But all of it is just a façade-a reminder of what used to be.

Despite having one of the most educated and entrepreneurial populations in the world, an abundance of natural resources, and a dynamic agricultural sector, Argentina has been in steep decline now for eighty years.

And things are only getting worse.

Without a doubt there's a lesson here-- even though I recognize U.S. businesses have it comparatively easy when it comes to government mismanagement.

Even still, after spending the week immersed in Argentina's business culture, it's hard to argue the U.S. isn't on the same unsustainable path.

With the U.S. debt and obligations reaching new heights, new arbitrary regulations making it increasingly harder to conduct business, and examples of ruthless big government gone array in the AP and IRS targeting scandals, the parallels are too great to ignore.

This is far different from the recent comparisons to Greece--and actually much worse.

The truth is the United States is in danger of becoming the next Argentina.

Here's why: It's about business, always business.

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That's because the way the country's gross domestic product, or U.S. GDP, is measured will change significantly come July 31, enough to boost the closely watched economic barometer by 3%, or $400 billion.

That translates to the equivalent of about $1,500 more worth of goods and services per person in the United States.

The U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis claims the changes will allow for more consistent comparisons with data for the economies of other nations.

What the revised U.S. GDP, which will apply retroactively to 1929, will really do is make the country look healthier than it actually is.

What it speaks to in my mind is the oldest of all games: It's administrative whitewash, Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald said. If reality doesn't fit your statistics, you adjust your statistics and say, 'Let's make everybody feel good about what we're doing by readjusting the calculations.'

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Would the last person leaving California please turn out the lights...

Whether by coincidence or design there is a mass exodus of business and upper management from the golden state.

Here's a guess why: California is the highest taxed state in the nation.

Its top income tax rate is 13.3%, and its property tax per capita is $1,450. California also has the highest sales tax at 7.5% and is the proud bearer of the country's highest gas tax according to the Petroleum Institute.

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As usual, the markets were hanging on every word of the Bernanke testimony to Congress today (Wednesday).

By now, everyone should know better.

In the years that U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has been a member of the Fed - both as a member of the Board of Governors from 2002 to 2005, and in his two terms as chairman beginning in 2006 - he has been stupendously wrong time and time again.

Bernanke gave the markets what they wanted by hinting that his monetary easing policies won't change any time soon, pushing both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index up more than 0.5% in midday trading.

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If you want an investment priced at a bargain with huge growth potential, it's a great time to hunt for cheap stocks to buy now.

So far this year the stock market has put in a solid performance with the S&P 500 up a little more than 17% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising a bit more than 18%.

It has been a very broad advance with the aggressive U.S. Federal Reserve policy pushing money into a wide range of securities.

About 470 of the S&P 500 constituents have risen so far this year and 29 of 30 Dow issues are higher in 2013. There is a strong opinion among major market strategists that as long as the Federal Reserve keeps interest rates at or near zero, money will continue to flow into equities.

If this is the case, then the lagging issues may well be bargains with high profit potential.

The key to identifying to bargain issues is to apply some measure of valuation to identify those stocks that are mispriced by the market and may move higher.

Many of the stocks that are down including former tech darlings like Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC) are struggling to provide the type of earnings and sales that will get growth enthusiasts excited enough to begin buying the shares again.

Others like J.C. Penney Company Inc. (NYSE: JCP) are experiencing severe operational and financial issues that may preclude them from a strong price recovery anytime soon.

One measure of value used by many value investors is the price-to-book-value ratio. This is simply an accounting measure similar to a net worth statement. When companies fall out of favor and trade for less than book value they can be considered a bargain.

The shares may be out of favor for many reasons. It could be part of a sector that's going through the down portion of its economic cycle, but eventually the undervaluation attracts investors and invites takeover offers that more closely reflect the asset value.

Look for those underperforming S&P 500 stocks that trade for less than book value as potential bargain issues with strong recovery potential.

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Jamie Dimon is the 57-year old banking mogul whose been running JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) since 2005, and he decisively won a shareholder vote yesterday to keep both his chairmanship and chief executive officer (CEO) titles at the nation's largest bank.

But don't celebrate yet.

Sure, only 32.2% of shareholders voted for a proposed resolution to split the company's two top jobs. And that may sound like great news (for him) but the winner wasn't Jamie Dimon, it was the Cult of the CEO.

The losers in the vote? You, me and the American public at large.

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The purveyors of doom and gloom were all still hawking their services there. But the primary solution they offer - a cure-all elixir for everything that ails markets - was beginning to wear thin.

The usual conviction that this one asset is the remedy was gone. And the seats at these sessions were only half-filled.

Indeed, gold is beginning to lose its luster.

The erstwhile commodity fix has been under pressure of late as well. Yet, even while most eyes have been on declining commodities - especially gold, silver, and platinum - something else has been happening.

Crude oil is emerging as a new replacement to reflect stored market value.

That is good for folks like us who invest in the energy sector, because it will provide a floor to downward pressures in oil prices. It will not counter all forces reducing the price of oil, but it is likely to temper such movements, allowing us some leverage.

Take a look...

For too long we've been held hostage by our local cable companies. Their monopoly-like status has left us chained to spotty service, inexplicable rate hikes and laughable customer service.

But a new product is about to trigger a revolution - or, evolution - that could end the cable company reign.

Today (Tuesday), Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) revealed its next-gen Xbox, called the Xbox One, a device which may prove capable of replacing your cable box.

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The Apple tax strategy is similar to many other major U.S. companies: shift billions of dollars to low-tax international jurisdictions to avoid paying taxes on that income.

But now Congress is accusing Apple of creating "a highly developed tax avoidance system" that cost the United States billions of dollars, economic growth and jobs. A Senate investigation found that Apple avoided paying taxes on $74 billion in overseas profits over four years.

Apple CEO Tim Cook will face Congress today to defend the Apple tax strategy, which Sen. John McCain, R-AZ, called "unpatriotic."

That's why Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald joined FOX Business' "Varney & Co." Tuesday morning to talk about the Apple tax strategy.

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The search was still on in Florida Tuesday for the winner of the largest Powerball jackpot in history.

The winning ticket is worth $590.5 million. The winner could claim a lump sum of about $371 million and after the lottery withholds 25% to pay federal taxes, would be left with nearly $280 million after taxes.

That means the winner will be able to decide how to invest $280 million - likely more money than they've ever had before - if, of course, it's not spent in a frivolous splurge.

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It's been a tumultuous couple of months for the yellow metal, which has investors asking: Are gold prices near a bottom?

There's hope this price plunge is ending.

Year-to-date, gold is lower by 17%. But after seven trading sessions where gold prices slumped, on Monday June gold futures gained 1.4%, or $19.40, to $1,384.10. Contract prices bounced as much as 2.4% after sliding 2.1%.

Now technical analysis points to a rebound in the yellow metal to $1,500 in June, following the "double bottom" hit Monday.

A double bottom involves three moves: a drop, a rebound, and another drop to the previous low. Chart watchers deem the pattern as bullish. A classic double bottom reversal typically marks an intermediate or long term change in trend.

"This shows that gold is probably ready to climb," Matthew Schilling, a commodity broker at Chicago based R.J. O'Brien told Bloomberg News. "The reversal was proof that we have found a bottom."

In just 10 minutes Monday, in the wake of gold's rally, holdings in exchange-traded products backed by gold soared by $1.7 billion.

Fueling the buying were comments from Moody's that a downgrade of U.S. debt is likely if the government fails to get its finances in order in 2013.

To get more info, we asked Morning Morning Global Resource Specialist Peter Krauth if he thought a gold-price bottom was near.

"I thing gold is somewhat oversold," Krauth said. "Yesterday's price action, when gold shot up by about $40 within four hours seems to reflect the thinking that it's due for a bounce."

Krauth said this year's gold price correction was expected.

"After a 12-year bull market with no true correction like that in 1974-1976 time frame, one more is due. I would not be surprised to see gold eventually correct a bit further before making a final bottom.

"That being said, if it were to turn up and stay above $1,550, then it's likely this correction would be over," he continued.

Those natural gas companies awaiting approval to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) got a hopeful sign last week.

The push toward the United States becoming a prominent LNG exporter moved forward Friday. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) approved only the second facility to export LNG to countries without a free trade agreement with the United States.

The Obama administration gave the thumbs up (a 20-year approval) to the Freeport LNG project in Texas. It is owned 50/50 by ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) and Michael Smith, the founder, chairman and CEO of Basin Exploration (later sold to Stone Energy).

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You're reading it right now.

I'm calling it WII (WHY?), which stands for Washington Insights & Indictments.

Enjoy it.

It's likely to be a single issue.

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The markets are tapping new highs and shell-shocked investors are doing two things:

1) Coming in off the sidelines; and,

2) looking for dividend stocks  in a zero-rate environment.

Unfortunately, many U.S. choices are "bid" up right now. Having run 144% off the March 2009 lows, the easy money's been made. U.S. Treasuries offer 1.77% over 10 years and the average S&P 500 stock is generating a mere 2.01%.

So look overseas.

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Last July, we warned you that oil prices could potentially be manipulated in similar fashion to the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor), and now a recent raid of major oil companies highlights this growing danger to the $3.4 trillion-a-year crude market.

The European Commission last week stormed the offices of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (NYSE ADR: RDS.A, RDS.B), BP PLC ( NYSE ADR: BP), and Statoil ASA (NYSE ADR: STO) as part of the ongoing investigation to find out whether companies are manipulating oil prices and, if so, how long it has been going on and the possible ramifications.

"The commission has concerns that the companies may have colluded in reporting distorted prices to a price reporting agency (PRA) to manipulate the published prices for a number of oil and biofuel products," the EC said in a statement.

Besides major oil companies, big banks are active in the energy market and would likely benefit from any manipulation, David Frenk, director of research at the financial reform group Better Markets and a former commodities analyst, told CNN.

The ordeal has brought back memories not only of last year's Libor scandal but also of the actions taken 12 years ago by Enron to control energy prices.

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The Yahoo-Tumblr deal is a $1.1 billion gamble aimed at rejuvenating a stagnating business, but is more likely to end up a costly mistake.

The deal, announced today (Monday), is by far Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's biggest - and riskiest - acquisition yet.

Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) wanted access to Tumblr's 117 million users, most of them teens and young adults, to give it a beachhead into the ever-more important world of social media.

Tumblr has grown rapidly by making it easy not only to create blogs, but for Tumblr users to follow and share one another's posts.

But Tumblr, like so many other social media companies, is not exactly a money machine. Analysts estimate the company's 2012 revenue was just $13 million, making it a pricey acquisition indeed.

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If you're wondering why silver prices fell sharply Monday, it looks like the answers lie in Asia.

Silver prices staged a sharp recovery Monday after volatile trading that took the white metal tumbling 9% in 10 minutes to $20.25 an ounce, a level not seen since 2010.

The steep selloff followed a spike in the Japanese yen against the dollar. Precious metals traders surmise investors were forced to sell silver to cover losses in the currency market. The result was a rash of automated sell orders.

Indeed, the effect has so extreme and rapid, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange halted silver futures trading four times to restrain volatility and rein in excessive price movements, a move known as Stop Logic. Because volumes for silver are lower than for gold, they are more prone to sharp swings, up and down.

Data shows more than 3,000 contracts in Comex silver futures sold in just 20 minutes during early Asian trading. Standard Bank in Tokyo confirmed an unidentified investor sold a sizable position of silver Monday morning.

"The drastic move lower happened pretty much after the CME's electronic platform Globex opening," Afshin Nabvi, MKS head of trading told Reuters.

"The move was exacerbated by the fact that it happened when liquidity was very thin in Asian trade," he continued. "If the same happened in London or New York hours, the size of the liquidation might have been cushioned by higher volumes."