WASHINGTON, D.C. – Big events, such as the outbreak of war, prompt scribblers such as ourselves to prognosticate. Some of our calls are better than others. Take this gem of an observation, made at the outset of the Iraq War three years ago: “With Iraq out of the way,” we wrote, “the Bush Administration will be more likely to prioritize resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” Iraq, alas, has hardly fallen out of the way, and the Israelis and Palestinians sure don’t seem any closer to living in harmony than they did three years ago.

Better, however, were our calls on stocks in Iraq’s neighborhood–stocks which we thought would benefit from the still-elusive peace dividend. On average, those picks have risen 47% annualized since March 20, 2003, compared with a 16% gain for the S&P 500.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Search the exact phrase “National Computer Security Survey” on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Web site, and you won’t find a thing.

That’s surprising, because the Department of Homeland Security is a co-sponsor of a study titled “National Computer Security Survey.” At the end of next month, it will be sent by Rand to thousands of businesses in 37 sectors. A DHS rep says there are no plans to issue a press release on the subject until after the survey is completed.

Who’s more interested in getting the word out now? Lobbyists. “This is a pretty important survey,” explains Paul Kurtz, executive director of the Cyber Security Industry Alliance.

Full story at Forbes.com

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Last week, 25,000 conventioneers flocked to Washington for FOSE, an annual trade show on technology for the U.S. federal and defense market. A greeting from President George W. Bush adorned convention programs, and Lockheed Martin chief Robert Stevens kicked things off with a sweeping keynote on challenges facing the United States. “Access to information is central,” he said, “it has never been more important.”

One outfit hoping the government crowd will want more access to information is Symbol Technologies. The Holtsville, N.Y., maker of bar code scanners and other technology to track goods shows signs of competing vigorously in the government market, particularly regarding radio frequency identification (RFID). For the Beltway-minded investor, Symbol’s shares look interesting.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The homeland security business has been good to Washington’s Paladin Capital Group. The private equity shop closed its $235 million Homeland Security Fund in 2004. Michael Steed, Paladin’s founder and managing partner, says that once that fund is fully invested, the firm’s logical next step is to put together another one.

“This is not a passing fad,” says Steed, 57, noting that he sees pitches for around ten prospective investments each week.

What’s behind Paladin’s good fortunes? In a terror-obsessed world, having some marquee intelligence and ex-military names among the firm’s managing directors doesn’t hurt. One notable: R. James Woolsey, present partner at Booz Allen Hamilton and director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency from 1993 to 1995.

But Paladin also benefits from taking an expansive view of homeland security. Terrorists, Steed suggests, want to do two things: Kill people and attack infrastructure to wreak maximum economic havoc. Under the rubric of critical infrastructure, Steed includes transportation systems, food systems, pipelines, water, electricity, the Internet, financial networks and communications. “Anything that moves,” he says.

Full story at Forbes.com

Full story at Forbes.com

As the November elections loom, congressional priorities may lean more toward job security than lawmaking. But Stuart Sweet, president of Capitol Analysts Network, cautions that election-year politics will hardly bring Washington to a halt.

“It’s a beginner’s error to say, ‘Nothing will happen in an election year,’ ” says Sweet, whose Chevy Chase, Md.-based research group advises money managers on political risk.

Sure, Congress may put off tinkering with certain hot-button items, such as entitlements reform, until future sessions. But Sweet suggests plenty of issues impacting business will see significant action before election time. “All the committees are busy working on something,” he says. “And only a few of them end up on the front pages of the paper.”

Full story at Forbes.com