Word: tobacco
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...funniness ranking went up without my having to do anything. Beck, after all, is known for ranting, and sometimes crying, to a massive audience about how our country is approaching the End of Days. This is less the stuff of comedy than the stuff the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives likes to keep tabs...
...Senate on Thursday struck the most devastating legislative blow in history to Big Tobacco, giving the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority over the industry. The new bill, which passed in the House in April, includes tough new restrictions on advertising like allowing only black-and-white text ads in magazines with substantial youth readerships, mandates that manufacturers prove or stop using claims like "light" and "low tar," bans flavored cigarettes (except menthol) and makes provisions for large, graphic warning labels. So why, then, is tobacco giant Philip Morris, unlike its industry brethren, celebrating the unprecedented oversight...
Another life insurer, TIAA-CREF, the largest U.S. education retirement fund, has long been criticized for its billion-dollar investments in tobacco stocks. It now allows clients to opt to avoid such equities through special socially conscious funds. This is an option nearly all insurers now include in their portfolios. "As a TIAA-CREF participant, you do not have to own shares in tobacco companies if you choose not to," says spokesman Chad Peterson...
Purely from an investor's standpoint, however, buying tobacco stocks is a solid long-term bet that historically pays regular dividends. "We ultimately have a fiduciary responsibility to our clients," says Towell, who puts about 5% of Northwestern's tobacco equities in index funds...
...health-insurance industry, by contrast, has largely divested tobacco holdings since the 1990s and has offered to compromise with lawmakers in the health-care debate. In a letter to Congress on March 24, several health insurers indicated they would be willing to stop charging higher premiums to people with a history of medical problems if all Americans were required to purchase health plans. Perhaps the next step will be for life and disability insurers to look at their tobacco stocks and, as they say, kick the habit...