Bush Stops Short of Mentioning Enron by Name, Doesn't Even Hint at Rumored Plans for Asbestos Litigation Reform

Wall Street and the asbestos bar were both watching, but he didn't say it.

In fact, despite days of rumor that had up until the hour of his introduction even morphed into confident speculation, President George W. Bush didn't even allude to asbestos.

The previous week, Washington, as well as Wall Street, was abuzz with rumor that aside from addressing Osama and Enron, the president would be reading the word 'Asbestos' off his teleprompter Jan. 29 when he presented his State of the Union.

As a result of the talk, asbestos stocks (as they've become known recently) recorded impressive gains …