Here’s what’s going in stocks:

Stocks were higher at midday Thursday as the Obama administration increased efforts to aid browbeaten banks in the weary financial sector.

At 11:51 am ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) is up 1.96, or 0.49%, to 403.40, while the Dow is up 0.78% to 7,327.68 and the S&P 500 is up 0.55% to 770.67.

Though Congress has already set aside $700 billion for embattled banks, President Obama has now proposed a $3.55 trillion budget that will allot $750 billion more to struggling financial firms. The plan, which is being sent to Congress today for approval, predicts that the U.S. government’s 2009 deficit will be $1.75 trillion.

Earlier today, investors analyzed tepid news out on the data front. This morning the Commerce Department released a consumer report that showed orders for big-ticket goods plunged by a larger-than-expected 5.2% in January as global economic troubles continue to cut into demand from U.S. and global customers. The report showed that orders have fallen for six straight months, and that orders for autos, metal products, machinery, computers and electrical equipment and household appliances predominantly posted declines.

The Commerce Department also released new-home sales numbers, which fell to a record low pace — 10.2% — in January to 309,000. This is the worst number on record since 1963. Prior to the release, the all-time low had been set in September 1981.

In other data out this morning, the Labor Department said continuing jobless claims hit a new record in the second week of February, increasing 114,000 to 5.113 million, over the forecast for 5 million.

SXC Health Systems

While Bernanke’s testimony before Congress on Monday was far more significant than any specifics Obama mentioned Wednesday night, neither event seems to be affecting stocks much. Except for HMO stocks. They’ve been killed this week as Obama makes a push for healthcare reform.

Medical insurers could be hurt by healthcare reform, though I doubt anyone feels particularly bad for these companies. I do think, though, that regardless of potential reform, there’s still some phenomenal upside for certain healthcare and biotech stocks.

My current favorite is SXC Health Systems (Nasdaq:SXCI). This small cap helps process prescription transactions. And its technology was involved in nearly 25% of the 3.5 billion prescriptions processed last year. Obama’s push to digitize . . .

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