Rikiki

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Herr Klaus,

You are on a slippery slope Freund. Do you remember the AMT...Alternative Minimum Tax... meant to snare a few hundred non tax payers. The folly is that raw numbers, as opposted to percentage based calculated numbers, do not allow for INFLATION. And once congress has tasted blood with this program they will be just as loathe to fix it as the have the AMT.

However, I totaly agree that the NY financial instutions are totally out of whack with the rest of the world in that peple get paid way more than virtually all other industries. Better just tax income and not distinguish the source.

Rikiki


On Feb 11 10:37 AM [e-mail] wrote:

> I think they should relegislate the 91% Fedral Income Tax on all
> bonuses exceeding $1mil, no exceptions, no deductions and no exemptions
> - stick that up their craw - take the incentive out of these items
> of corporate squalor

To What Extent Is Alternative Energy Performance Linked to Fossil Energy Prices?

>The Hand

I totaly concur with your points above.

As long as the congress and president act again as if the oil spike is an aberration, we are condemned to the repeat of history as you suggested. Congress and President have never had the guts to put forth a true "alternative energy" program. They have repeatedly reneged on CAFE (especially for light trucks) standards and buried heads in sand as to an increase in federal tax on gasoline and diesel fuels which would make european size vehicles the norm here. Heavens, they stand the chance of not getting reelected by the mindless mobs who want cheap now and the hell with the future. We americans are guilty of "more for us now" and less for our kids and grandkids. Almost sounds unionesque.

We have F150 and F250 pickups getting an average of 12 MPG. Who really needs that big of a truck .... I know .. Dallas, TX commuters. Right... I pick on Ford because the F150 is the most popular vehicle throughout the US (especially Texas, my former abode) . Yes, I had a F150 for my business 10 years ago. And, I got at best 16 MPG on the highway.

Another area where the government is way behind on is the new clean diesel cars and trucks. Diesel vehicles get at least 20% better mileage than injected gasoline options. My F150 only got 16 at best... my neighbor's F250 (bigger truck) claims as much as 24 on the highway. Why is it that VW, Mercedes and other imports meet our stiff standards for emissions and there is no american car that can?

The congress and the mob that continually reelects them apparently do not believe in long term solutions. I guess that we here are all victims of our culture of " I want now". Is there hope? People tend to believe their elected officials who depend on the lobby wonks to provide them with information on our votes... their way, of course.

To move to alternatives to liquid fuels, a very long, high price spike in petroleum is needed to get the attention of the mobs an the elected "servants". A gasoline and diesel tax increase could do a lot, in the mean time, to forestall the inevitable disaster of extreem fuel shortages and the crippling effect on the economy of the US.

Rikiki
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Paul Krugman + Al Gore = The Way Forward

Folks, this is just plain silliness spilling over into a formerly great "Seeking Alpha". Just like the cable news, they have to keep something "interesting", "provacative", "polarizing" to keep the eyeballs on this site. Getting to be like the "Yahoo" sites' caustic slug fests... except without the filthy descriptors.
Many people on this site now just shout palaver from the right and left over and over. No basis in fact... just assertions and shoutdowns.

AGW is a theory debated by the EARTH SCIENTISTS, a relatively small and select group of MSs and Phds. Let them collectively debate the issues without interference form polititians and writers. I venture that if there were as much interest in the "Theory of Relativity" as there is in the "Theory of Anthropogenic Global Warming" we might be less distracted by "SCIENTIFIC THEORIES".
Maybe we could concentrate on human basic needs right now..... like getting rid of air pollution, assuring a minimal level of medical care for those who are in greatest need, caring for the young disowned street kids and unowned orphans, here and around the world.

Such displaced energy. What a waste of human resource.

Rikiki

Using History to Plan Near-Term Investing

Smartstops;

I like your timely ads... Er, I mean comments.
Rikiki

5 Reasons Stocks Will Keep Falling

1. What is nonsense is that you are too clueless about doing research. Suggest you read the chronology in Monday Investors Business Daily for a start.

2. MBS Creation
"MBS are issued by Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA or Ginnie Mae), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC or Freddie Mac), and Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or Fannie Mae). Mortgage-backed securities typically carry some of the highest yields of any government or agency security" Look it up,VB!

3. Vote for what you think is best for your grand kids... not because you happen to Pi$$ed at nearly everyone off today. Both sides are equally evil in lectioneering. Has pretty well always been so... likely to always be. Hard to believe you are in your 60s.

(: > ))

Rikiki (Democrat, Republican and now Libertarian)

5 Reasons Stocks Will Keep Falling

Accountant:
George H. W. Bush was completely flummoxed during his reelection campaign by "It's the economy, stupid". In actuality the economy was showing improvement by summer of his final year. Economists and financial types knew this. But, the "great unwashed" (including th liberal press) are easily bamboozled by trite cliches and swallowed in Goebbels fashion.
Clinton inherited a growing economy and luckily did nothing major to derail it.

Most people today would agree that at the very base of the credit meltdown is Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) which was inherent in the rush to create "Homeowners" at any cost. This has been a largely DEMOCRATIC progam for decades. And indeed, home ownership has increased... with little regard for the ability of the buyers to repay the loans.

If you are really honest with yourself you will arrive at the conclusion that I did decades ago running my nascent business..... Make sure your debtors have the ability to pay for your gods and services you provided to them.

Unfortunately, political agendas trump common sense and good business practices. Polititians alway deny their mistakes which are dumped onto the future generations.

( ;<( )
Rikiki
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