2012 Optimism

As we bid a not-so-fond farewell to 2011, we must look at our champagne glasses as being half-full, not half-empty. The New Year promises some improvement over the old. For those of us whose mailboxes and telephone answering machines are normally empty, Election Year 2012 will fill them with mailed campaign material and robo-calls. Senior citizens will be safe from social security or medicare cuts. What incumbent dares facing attack ads stating "He voted for Death Panels for Grandma!"? For those hoping to strike it rich, Kim Kardashian is single again. By the time her next groom is done counting his slice of 2012's $20 million wedding, the marriage will be annulled. It's better than the lottery.

Of course 2011 paid off for some. CEOs at Fortune 500 firms enjoyed a 36.5% jump in compensation last year. The most lucrative sector for CEO pay was health care. John Hammergren of McKesson Corp. which distributes drugs and health & beauty aids to pharmacies hauled in a cool $145 million.

This may seem like a lot of money, but what business has emjoyed more growth over the past decade than retail pharmacies? Every national chain store (Wal-Mart, Target) has a pharmacy. Every major grocery store (Wegman's, Giant) has a pharmacy. You can't throw a rock in any strip mall without hitting a CVS or a Walgreen's. Apparently, McKesson supplies all these outfits. If Mr Hammergren was smart enough to dominate this market, he deserves whatever he can get.

McKesson's days of glory may be short-lived though. Once the 2012 elections are over and Obamacare kicks in in 2013 and 2014, everyone will be on a mail-in drug plan. Corner pharmacies will go the way of corner grocery stores. "Hammer" Hammergren may want to think about investing some of that $145 million in a few well-placed campaign contributions or "scare tactic" SuperPAC commercials. "Thanks to Obamacare's mail-in pharmacy plan, Josh had to move back in to his parent's basement because he needed a permanent address to receive his prescriptions. His trash metal bandmates moved in as well. Now Clarence and Joyce get no sleep and their cat Snowball ran away. Vote 'No' on Obamacare."

2012 shopuld be interesting indeed.