This creates a problematic situation for Green Dot, which derives more than 60% of its revenue from a prepaid card offered at Wal-Mart stores.

FORBES: Red Light For Green Dot Investors On Wal-Mart, Amex Threat

By the same token, the yearning for government spending on "infrastructure" to stimulate economic activity creates an opening for the new president to push the kind of green projects that fit his call for a transition to alternative energy sources, including new kinds of mass-transit systems.

WSJ: In Crisis, Opportunity for Barack Obama