Alfredo Martinez

Fannie's Tax Credit Sale to Goldman: No Deal

Don't you love all of Warren Buffet's grandstanding about how the government should raise taxes, and here's Warren trying to cut a shady deal in order to lower Berkshire's taxes.

Do as I say, not as I do.

How Apple's Market Share Will Propel Stock to $500, Part 2

When someone proclaims that a company is going to become the most valuable company on planet Earth, it makes sense to be a bit skeptical.

That's not to say it can't be a company like Apple, it's just an amazing feat for any company.

There's a lot of Apple fan-boys (and I'm one of them), but many can't separate their love for the products from being levelheaded about assessing an accurate value of the company's stock.


On Nov 06 03:44 PM Dialectical Materialist wrote:

> I've heard this argument before. I'm not sure why Exxon Mobil is
> the only company that gets to be the biggest but the "That would
> be bigger than Exxon" is thrown around a lot. I think the worlds
> largest company could be any company with a global footprint, a huge
> brand recognition, and a product line that is essential to the way
> of life for much of the world's population. Great margins don't
> hurt. So when I think world's largest company, I have no problem
> with it being a large tech firm instead of an oil company. It does
> not surprise me that it is Exxon, but if it were Apple, I don't think
> were stretching the imagination too far. It's not like we're talking
> about facebook or travelocity. Apple is a legitimate world class
> company with a very desirable and very profitable line of products.
> There are arguments against a $500 stock price, but I think "that
> would mean it was the biggest company on earth" is not one of them.
>

Cramer's Mad Money - Apple's Unbelievable Price Target (10/20/09)

Once again, Cramer completely embarrasses himself. A $300 "conservative" target for AAPL, and it "should" be at $390?

Whatever you say Cramer. Just keep pushing your worthless books.

Private Equity, Business Flipping and Asymmetrical Outcomes

The New York Times article was great, and I agree what Private Equity firms are doing is often times incredibly destructive. The problem is, what do you do about it?

At the end of the day, these are voluntary transactions by two parties that want to make an exchange. When PE buys the company and sells the debt, it's completely voluntary for both the buyer and seller.

I'm all for free-market solutions to curbing this abuse, but it's very difficult to effectively regulate. My guess is PE excess will be reigned in simply because many investors have become much more cautious.

Why Higher Deficits Don't Mean Higher Income Tax Rates

This article is incredibly stupid.

Have you ever looked at the tax rates during WWII?

The top marginal rates were 94%, and the rate stayed at above 90% for 15 years afterwards! The debt nearly sank the US, that's why in addition to incredibly high tax rates, average citizens were CONSTANTLY told to buy war bonds.

It took Democrat JFK to lower marginal tax rates, and surprise, federal revenues went up dramatically.

All debt has to either be paid or inflated away. The fact that our debt has reached where we were in WW2 when our entire nation's economy and manufacturing was converted into a war effort is incredibly troubling; and that's not even taking in consideration the coming tsunami of baby-boomer entitlements.

Doug Kass: A Self-Sustaining Recovery?

Kass went from being an Obama cheerleader to finally recognizing his policies are destroying the economy.

Kass said in this interview if he were President, he he would stop Obama's stimulus package and all further stimulus legislation, which is the centerpiece of Obama's plan to "fix" the economy.

I agree with Kass's assessment, but I can't take someone seriously who has done a complete 180, from being a Cramer-Bull when Obama was first elected to telling people the sky is falling.

Obama Is Wrong to Impose Punitive Tariffs on Chinese-Made Tires

I hope this angers China enough that they retaliate by stop buying our debt.

If China stopped buying our treasuries, that would put a stop to the printing presses, and we would have to start living within our means.

Investing in Natural Gas: It's Time

Are you kidding?

The deficits "big spender" Bush ran are miniscule compared to Obama, and we're only in Obama's first year.

Here's a chart comparing the two:

blog.heritage.org/wp-c...


On Aug 27 08:22 PM naturallight wrote:

> ^^^ Are you kidding? Bush took a huge surplus and left with a huge
> deficit.
>
> Read this for more:
> freakonomics.blogs.nyt.../

The Feds and UBS Reach a Squeal of a Deal

How many hundreds of billions of dollars are now going to go elsewhere because of this deal? If wealthy Americans want to have offshore accounts, they're not going anywhere near Switzerland. This deal will also spook other potential clients abroad.

Switzerland isn't the only game in town, other countries will be more than happy to take up the slack.

The Swiss have nothing to gain from this deal, they should have told the IRS to shove it. Switzerland has been getting threats from other country's tax authorities since taxes were invented.

The Swiss are shooting themselves in the foot. The number one reason for Switzerland's prosperity and high standard of living is their secretive banking. Once that goes, all that's left is chocolate and overpriced watches.

FHA: Growth Is the Problem

Our politicians have decided it's a constitutional right to own a home.

The federal government subsidizing someone buying a $700,000 house is criminal.

Despite What Cramer Said, Housing Has Not Bottomed

I can't believe what an idiot Cramer would be to set himself up for failure like that. He must really believe his own press clippings if he thinks he can call the actual DAY of the housing bottom. I'm not a Cramer hater, but he's becoming more and more of an embarrassment, and his opinions about the current state of the economy are absolutely delusional.

Cramer likes to brag about his record as a hedge fund manager, but any idiot could have been a successful hedge fund in the 1990's, a dart-throwing chimp could do the same thing.

Until real estate prices come down to where they were about eight years ago, they haven't bottomed.

Fannie Mae Needs $1.7 Billion in New Treasury Capital

Even the current Democrat Vice President Joe Biden voted for the Iraq war. I love how all the Democrats that voted in Congress to go to war in Iraq want to blame someone else for the decision. that THEY MADE.

Those Democrats sure are easy to fool if Bush was able to trick so many of them!


On Aug 08 12:47 PM Bob 123 wrote:


> Also -- those Democrats you mentioned as supporting the Iraq war
> have since recanted and apologized for being duped by Bushco. Would
> that there were more decent Republicans who could be so honest and
> forthright.
>
> On Aug 08 11:31 AM Brad Johnson wrote:

Cash for Clunkers May Cost Up to $45,354 Per Vehicle

I have a great idea on how to fix the housing market.

How about we pay people $250,000 if they burn down their house?

It will decrease excess inventory, and it will create all sorts of new buyers in the market. Also, the new houses will probably be more energy efficient.

Cash for Clunkers May Cost Up to $45,354 Per Vehicle

100% of cars aren't able to be recycled, and much of the scrap will end up in landfills.

www.reuters.com/articl...


On Jul 31 11:41 PM Fitz919 wrote:

> Cars don't end up in landfills, it's not allowed. Since they have
> a cash value as scrap metal, they get recycled, just like tuna cans
> and pop cans.

Cash for Clunkers May Cost Up to $45,354 Per Vehicle

I never thought that this country would get so far off track that we would start using tax dollars to pay for people to buy a brand new car, then turn around and destroy the traded used cars and dump them in a landfill.

This country is so screwed.