Markets get jittery again with Cyprus' Popular Bank restricting ATM withdrawals to €260/customer, according to Reuters. The bank has enough liquidity to cover the next few hours, reports Bloomberg, citing an unnamed government official. The country's central bank chief is set to make a statement soon. S&P 500 -0.7%, Nasdaq -1%. [View news story]
I would not want to be involved in stealing a few billion dollars from the Russian mob. Not even.
3 Reasons Why Cyprus Will Not Hurt The Euro [View article]
Eventually, with some kind of deal, the banks in Cyprus will reopen. If you had money in one of the big Cypriot banks would you leave it there under the theory that the damage has been done or would you move your money out of Cyprus to somewhere safer?
I will be surprised if a large percentage of depositors do not withdraw their deposits. At home under the mattress or buried in the garden sounds good for the local plebes. If I am right the mass withdrawal of funds will then create a new crisis in Cyprus and the band will play on.
3 Reasons Why Cyprus Will Not Hurt The Euro [View article]
My apologies Mr. Lester, wondering if you have ever fallen for a Nigerian scam is indeed a low blow.
However, relying on assurances of the Euro Group (whoever they are) makes one of the three legs of your article a wee bit wobbly. Since the financial crisis started in 08/09 time and again government officials in many countries have knowingly lied in public about what would and would not happen in the future.
I do consider the proposed action to be theft-by-government. You make a valid argument that the depositors will be better off if they accept the planned action than if they manage to stop it and the Cypriot banks go bankrupt. The President of Cyprus agrees with you, saying he hated the deal but accepting it was the lesser evil. Regardless, it is still theft.
In democracies a tax is something that is voted on by a legislature or parliament first, if passed then it starts at some future date. That has not happened here. A government official, acting alone, orders banks to set aside a portion of all deposits. He also orders a bank holiday. Then he asks the parliament of his country to approve of his actions at a later date. Why? Because a foreign organization has ordered him to.
A country could pass a law that two percent of the average annual balance in all deposits will be paid at the end of the year as a tax on deposits. This is a legal tax. I may not like it but it is a legally established tax. What is proposed in Cyprus is not a tax, it is theft. It may , in some minds, be for a noble purpose but it is still theft.
And then there is the matter of the smaller depositors who have been assured that their accounts are protected by a Euro-wide FDIC-like guarantee and that they will never have to worry about getting their principal and interest back whenever they want it. In my opinion a government which does this and then takes seven percent of the account is stealing. No one from the government may ever go to prison but the government is stealing.
Can President Obama decide to take half of all savings accounts in America and spend the money on projects he approves of? Obviously not. There are laws in America and judicial systems. Supposedly there are also laws and judicial systems in the Eurozone.
3 Reasons Why Cyprus Will Not Hurt The Euro [View article]
" In addition, the Euro Group has made it very clear that structure of the bail out (and the requirement for depositor participation) is the direct result of the unique circumstances in Cyprus, and is not a blueprint that will be repeated in other euro zone countries."
The author must be a citizen of a country called La La Land where the authorities never lie to the commoners. In the old Soviet Union the communists would have considered him to be a useful idiot. Does he really think that if the authorities are considering doing this theft elsewhere that they would admit it in public? Of course they say "Oh no. No way. This is a one-off caused by a special situation. Even if it turns out well we will never do it again." Does the author help Nigerian princes get their money out of banks?
I have zero in Euros and am glad I don't. In the future I will stop buying stock of any Eurozone company. There is no telling what the bankers in Europe will do next.
I would advise anyone with funds in the Eurozone to get them out and I am sure many will do so soon. Hello bank runs.
Google (GOOG) continues to build out a same-day delivery service called 'Google Shopping Express" to compete with Amazon Prime (AMZN), according to TechCrunch. The price of the service will reportedly be $10 to $15 less than Amazon Prime's $79 annual fee and will include same-day delivery from brick-and-mortar retail chains. [View news story]
At least they are trying to do something with their excess cash instead of "investing" it at almost zero percent like Apple. Try half a dozen off the wall things like this and hit a big winner with one and Google shareholders will be happy.
For one billion of Apple's 140 billion they could buy a thousand McDonalds stores, hire a hamburger man to run them, and put them on cruise control generating money for eternity. However, they is computer men, dude.
Sounds good to me. Get a work-from-home job with Yahoo, then find another work-from-home job with another company and collect two paychecks. Maybe even three paychecks. If several thousand employees were working from home you know a certain percentage of them were doing it.
How do you build unit cohesion if the members of the unit don't even see each other ?
Thailand: Taking A Stake In A Changing Economy [View article]
I have been retired and living in Thailand for seven years. Had no trouble opening an account with Bualuang Securities, the brokerage arm of Bangkok Bank. Thailand taxes dividends 15 percent as they are paid out. The remaining 85 percent is deposited to your Thai bank account. No paperwork or forms required from you. No tax on capital gains, long or short term.
You can use the internet to buy and sell or call in orders. Commissions top out around 300 baht/10 dollars on internet orders.
Amazon: When Will This Bubble Burst? [View article]
Macro Investor, the author's last five words are "better yet, avoid it altogether." In other words he says short it if you do anything but the best thing is just to stand back and watch the action. A lot of people lost a ton shorting dotcom stocks with silly prices only to see them run up to five times silly before eventually going bankrupt.
Ford And General Motors Are Driving The Auto Recovery [View article]
"The company is reducing its debt, but still has a pretty high debt to equity ratio of 5.34"
This is technically true about Ford but only technically. The vast majority of the debt is in FMC. The debt of the section of Ford that actually produces and sells cars and trucks is less than Ford's cash on hand and not a problem.
The Better Burger Threat To McDonald's [View article]
Those nice folks who live in the "Upper East Side" of New Yawk and their lifestyles have little to do with a typical Mickey D's customer around the world. I live in Thailand and the McDonalds here are doing just fine. In a country with a minimum wage of about ten dollars for a 12 hour day I think selling a nine dollar quality burger might be a slight problem but McDonalds doesn't try to do that.
Markets get jittery again with Cyprus' Popular Bank restricting ATM withdrawals to €260/customer, according to Reuters. The bank has enough liquidity to cover the next few hours, reports Bloomberg, citing an unnamed government official. The country's central bank chief is set to make a statement soon. S&P 500 -0.7%, Nasdaq -1%. [View news story]
I would not want to be involved in stealing a few billion dollars from the Russian mob. Not even.
3 Reasons Why Cyprus Will Not Hurt The Euro [View article]
Eventually, with some kind of deal, the banks in Cyprus will reopen. If you had money in one of the big Cypriot banks would you leave it there under the theory that the damage has been done or would you move your money out of Cyprus to somewhere safer?
I will be surprised if a large percentage of depositors do not withdraw their deposits. At home under the mattress or buried in the garden sounds good for the local plebes. If I am right the mass withdrawal of funds will then create a new crisis in Cyprus and the band will play on.
3 Reasons Why Cyprus Will Not Hurt The Euro [View article]
However, relying on assurances of the Euro Group (whoever they are) makes one of the three legs of your article a wee bit wobbly. Since the financial crisis started in 08/09 time and again government officials in many countries have knowingly lied in public about what would and would not happen in the future.
I do consider the proposed action to be theft-by-government. You make a valid argument that the depositors will be better off if they accept the planned action than if they manage to stop it and the Cypriot banks go bankrupt. The President of Cyprus agrees with you, saying he hated the deal but accepting it was the lesser evil. Regardless, it is still theft.
In democracies a tax is something that is voted on by a legislature or parliament first, if passed then it starts at some future date. That has not happened here. A government official, acting alone, orders banks to set aside a portion of all deposits. He also orders a bank holiday. Then he asks the parliament of his country to approve of his actions at a later date. Why? Because a foreign organization has ordered him to.
A country could pass a law that two percent of the average annual balance in all deposits will be paid at the end of the year as a tax on deposits. This is a legal tax. I may not like it but it is a legally established tax. What is proposed in Cyprus is not a tax, it is theft. It may , in some minds, be for a noble purpose but it is still theft.
And then there is the matter of the smaller depositors who have been assured that their accounts are protected by a Euro-wide FDIC-like guarantee and that they will never have to worry about getting their principal and interest back whenever they want it. In my opinion a government which does this and then takes seven percent of the account is stealing. No one from the government may ever go to prison but the government is stealing.
Can President Obama decide to take half of all savings accounts in America and spend the money on projects he approves of? Obviously not. There are laws in America and judicial systems. Supposedly there are also laws and judicial systems in the Eurozone.
3 Reasons Why Cyprus Will Not Hurt The Euro [View article]
" In addition, the Euro Group has made it very clear that structure of the bail out (and the requirement for depositor participation) is the direct result of the unique circumstances in Cyprus, and is not a blueprint that will be repeated in other euro zone countries."
The author must be a citizen of a country called La La Land where the authorities never lie to the commoners. In the old Soviet Union the communists would have considered him to be a useful idiot. Does he really think that if the authorities are considering doing this theft elsewhere that they would admit it in public? Of course they say "Oh no. No way. This is a one-off caused by a special situation. Even if it turns out well we will never do it again." Does the author help Nigerian princes get their money out of banks?
Willie Suttonomics [View article]
I would advise anyone with funds in the Eurozone to get them out and I am sure many will do so soon. Hello bank runs.
The Eurozone meets Argentina.
Carl Icahn discloses the purchase of about another 2M shares of Herbalife (HLF), upping his stake to 15.5% from 13.6%. Shares +1.6% AH. [View news story]
Google (GOOG) continues to build out a same-day delivery service called 'Google Shopping Express" to compete with Amazon Prime (AMZN), according to TechCrunch. The price of the service will reportedly be $10 to $15 less than Amazon Prime's $79 annual fee and will include same-day delivery from brick-and-mortar retail chains. [View news story]
At least they are trying to do something with their excess cash instead of "investing" it at almost zero percent like Apple. Try half a dozen off the wall things like this and hit a big winner with one and Google shareholders will be happy.
For one billion of Apple's 140 billion they could buy a thousand McDonalds stores, hire a hamburger man to run them, and put them on cruise control generating money for eternity. However, they is computer men, dude.
Yahoo Stock Is Too Cheap [View article]
Sounds good to me. Get a work-from-home job with Yahoo, then find another work-from-home job with another company and collect two paychecks. Maybe even three paychecks. If several thousand employees were working from home you know a certain percentage of them were doing it.
How do you build unit cohesion if the members of the unit don't even see each other ?
Is The 4% Rule Becoming The 3% Rule? [View article]
What is MPT ?
Thailand: Taking A Stake In A Changing Economy [View article]
You can use the internet to buy and sell or call in orders. Commissions top out around 300 baht/10 dollars on internet orders.
Herbalife: Icahn Cometh - Could The Stock Be Worth $103.93 Per Share? [View article]
" HLF Announced it will commence it's Share Buy-Back Program of 428 Million Shares "
That will indeed be a super buyback program. There are only 108 million shares outstanding according to Yahoo finance.
Amazon: When Will This Bubble Burst? [View article]
Macro Investor, the author's last five words are "better yet, avoid it altogether." In other words he says short it if you do anything but the best thing is just to stand back and watch the action. A lot of people lost a ton shorting dotcom stocks with silly prices only to see them run up to five times silly before eventually going bankrupt.
2 Brand New REITs That Have Strong Dividend Potential [View article]
Rent a 100,000 dollar house to a respectable looking renter who is fronting for a biker gang.
Bikers proceed to make it a temporary clubhouse or crackhouse.
Your local manager complains to the bikers about damages and no rent.
Bikers beat the crap out of the local manager and destroy his car for good measure.
Police do nothing because local manager has been told that if he goes to the police his children will vanish.
Neighbors sell and move out of fear of the bikers.
After a couple of years the bikers move on to a new house somewhere.
House unfit for human habitation. Health department says tear it down.
Rinse and repeat.
This business model is interesting.
Ford And General Motors Are Driving The Auto Recovery [View article]
"The company is reducing its debt, but still has a pretty high debt to equity ratio of 5.34"
This is technically true about Ford but only technically. The vast majority of the debt is in FMC. The debt of the section of Ford that actually produces and sells cars and trucks is less than Ford's cash on hand and not a problem.
The Better Burger Threat To McDonald's [View article]
Those nice folks who live in the "Upper East Side" of New Yawk and their lifestyles have little to do with a typical Mickey D's customer around the world. I live in Thailand and the McDonalds here are doing just fine. In a country with a minimum wage of about ten dollars for a 12 hour day I think selling a nine dollar quality burger might be a slight problem but McDonalds doesn't try to do that.