In a strongly worded letter to Switzerland, U.S. Deputy AG James Cole demands - by Tuesday - detailed information on citizens using Swiss bank accounts to dodge taxes, or possibly see Credit Suisse (CS) and 9 other banks face criminal charges. [View news story]
Agreed. However if the US screws up and fails to enforce its own tax laws, how is it Switzerland's problem? This isn't quite like closing the barn door after the horses are gone, it's more like failing to close the door and then getting angry at all the other ranchers who found free horses on their properties ... and not knowing who they are, strong-arming some third party to reveal their names.
The possible next PM of Canada, Jack Layton ventures into monetary policy, telling Reuters the BoC should hold off hiking rates due to sluggish employment and a strong currency. The loonie is unperturbed, erasing early losses and continuing to threaten multi-decade highs. FXC +0.3%. [View news story]
I didn't know there were so many SA people who knew anything about Canada. I'm still laughing at the Fred Flintstone reference.
Layton and his party are a sideshow attraction at best and if they do manage to win: 1. it will NOT be a majority, 2. Canadians will have proven themselves to be the dumbest people on the planet, 3. we (Canadians) are doomed. The NDP surge is primarily the result of Liberal Party incompetence (Michael Ignatieff is an academic, and his lieutenant Bob Rae is a sniveling opportunist, and Iggy's entire platform is that he's not Stephen Harper) combined with a general mistrust of Harper, the Conservative party leader. I don't trust Harper either but he's the best candidate for the job.
"Purchases are really dropping off by the end of the month," says Wal-Mart (WMT) CEO Mike Duke, blaming higher fuel costs for his customers running out of dough. With his position perhaps giving him a better view of the economy than the FOMC, Duke also recently warned to expect much higher inflation. [View news story]
With so many tax breaks, a lot of people have become adept at paying as little tax as possible. One think tank estimates that 45% of households will pay no federal income tax for 2010, while IRS data shows that the top 400 highest earners pay a lot less proportionally than they did in the early 1990s. Tax filing deadline is tomorrow. [View news story]
As a point of order, I think mowjo's point was to repeal the Bush tax cuts (i.e. "reinstate" the taxes themselves).
The question is worth raising again: “Why, in the aftermath of a financial mess that generated hundreds of billions in losses, have no high-profile participants in the disaster been prosecuted?” Gretchen Morgensen's take suggests that the FBI, SEC and Treasury Department may have quashed attempts to be more aggressive. (earlier) [View news story]
You clearly don't have any idea what capitalism is. Capitalism implies both reward AND risk. These banks have privatized excess and obscene profits and dumped excess and obscene losses on the taxpayer. That's not capitalism, that's criminal.
Republican Congressman Ron Paul plans to hold a hearing in May on the Fed's emergency loans from its discount window to non-U.S. banks. The "staggering amount" lent to these banks "provided no benefit to American taxpayers, the American economy, or even directly to American banks," Paul says. [View news story]
I don't care that you are a Bernanke lapdog but the thing I really don't understand is why you continually mock Ron Paul's medical training. Seriously WTF is your problem? You think that because he went to med school he doesn't understand economics? Trained economists are correct about as often as meteorologists so what difference does it make what Ron Paul studied at the college level?
You may not see it when you look at your paycheck, but you just took a pay cut, as wages remain stagnant while inflation surges. "Bernanke has created an environment of high corporate profits and falling wages, which makes it cheaper to hire and, voila, the unemployment rate goes down [but] if companies do not hire before inflation takes hold, then the entire experiment fails." [View news story]
I don't think banks learned any lessons aside from the one that says regardless of how badly they screw up, their losses will be socialized, profits will be privatized, and executive compensation + year-end bonuses will be intact.
You may not see it when you look at your paycheck, but you just took a pay cut, as wages remain stagnant while inflation surges. "Bernanke has created an environment of high corporate profits and falling wages, which makes it cheaper to hire and, voila, the unemployment rate goes down [but] if companies do not hire before inflation takes hold, then the entire experiment fails." [View news story]
"Or there's another option. That he is doing the right thing, and all of you are wrong." He's doing the right thing in the same way he was 'right' in his assessment of how contained the subprime mortgage problem was?
You may not see it when you look at your paycheck, but you just took a pay cut, as wages remain stagnant while inflation surges. "Bernanke has created an environment of high corporate profits and falling wages, which makes it cheaper to hire and, voila, the unemployment rate goes down [but] if companies do not hire before inflation takes hold, then the entire experiment fails." [View news story]
It's easy to prove a point when you get to create all the definitions to suit your objective. Want sub-2.0% inflation? Minimize or exclude items exhibiting >2% inflation. These guys are complete college eggheads and I'm not slamming formal education, I actually believe strongly in it. The difference is these clowns are completely disconnected from the real world where people buy gas and food and heat their homes on their own dime, not an expense account. The only thing I haven't figured out is this: 1. it may be that Bernanke is oblivious to the consequences of his actions but actually thinks he's doing the right thing, 2. it may be that he is fully aware of the consequences, but he's a Wall Street big bank hand puppet, or 3. he's a deer in the headlights and he only had one trick, which was to open the liquidity floodgates because he thinks that would have prevented the first Depression, but now he's stuck because the entire stock market is addicted and when you withdraw the stimulant from an addict, you get a crash.
You may not see it when you look at your paycheck, but you just took a pay cut, as wages remain stagnant while inflation surges. "Bernanke has created an environment of high corporate profits and falling wages, which makes it cheaper to hire and, voila, the unemployment rate goes down [but] if companies do not hire before inflation takes hold, then the entire experiment fails." [View news story]
I would give this multiple thumbs down if I could. Bernanke is so fixated on the Depression he has completely missed the part where the rest of the world developed around the US. Evidently the phrase "unintended consequences" doesn't exist within the walls of Princeton.
The situation in Canada appears to be horribly misunderstood. I generally enjoy this column but the flippant reference to what happened is inexcusable.
First of all, "Canadians" did not oust the government, meaning there were no demonstrations or protests or what-have-you. Rather, Canada has had a minority government for quite some time meaning that the combined votes of the opposition outnumber the votes of the governing party. All that is required for the government to fall is a combined vote against the government which technically means that the government has lost the confidence of the House of Commons. Since every Member of Parliament represents a riding, by extension that means that the government has lost the confidence of Canadians. It's semantics here, whereas it's violent protests in many other parts of the world.
Second, the situation is similar to Portugal in only one way, that there was a budget somewhat involved - but the government did NOT fall because of the budget. The government was found to be in contempt of Parliament because it did not sufficiently release information about the costs of some programs. Thus a non-confidence motion was tabled by the Opposition and enough votes were obtained to cause the Prime Minister to seek dissolution of Parliament and trigger an election. The fact that the government presented its budget around the same time is coincidental.
Today in Commodities: Booking Profits [View article]
"This week's lesson was: when in a profitable trade, take it ... because in a volatile environment a winner can quickly turn into a loser."
Truer words never spoken. When I started playing this game and I was in the black I would let it ride and inevitably the tide would turn and reduce or erase my gains. If I was in the red I wouldn't be willing to cut my losses because "it'll come back up". Cutting losses is still difficult to do but I've learned that it is never a mistake a take a profit, even if it's a single dollar.
A bullish call on BofA (BAC) from Barron's, which thinks the stock could rise more than 40% in the next two years as the bank's credit portfolio improves and as CEO Brian Moynihan works to improve earnings. Potential investors may want to see what Monday brings before jumping in. [View news story]
Two doctors? That's convenient. Why didn't you use an example where there's an unemployed person with delinquent payments?
Bernanke gets an earful from Ron Paul: "Congress and the Fed are symbiotic because the Congress spends and they know there is a moral hazard involved because they know that if interest rates go up, the Fed accommodates them. So the Fed really facilitates this spending... the Fed is involved with our deficit and encourages it as well as the Congress." [View news story]
I would have agreed with you once upon a time but here's the problem - the ultra-elite, who need it least, have completely fleeced the system. Capitalism is one thing but what these parasites have done is privatize their gains while offloading losses to the taxpayers. So you tell me why the masses shouldn't fight for their piece of the pie.
Bernanke thinks inflation is tame: "The rate of pass-through from commodity price increases to broad indexes of U.S. consumer prices has been quite low" because those factors are “relatively small” weights in his measurements. But with prices for gasoline and food ripping higher, the world view of those not in the ivory tower seems very different from his. [View news story]
LOL, you're talking about the same guy who stated that the subprime crisis was contained.
You're putting a lot of faith and a lot of stock in Bernanke's academic credentials. He is highly intelligent but I'm concerned with what he's actually doing, not how much theory he understands.
Furthermore, I don't know if posting this link will work but I invite you to read this article about a doctor here in Canada:
In a strongly worded letter to Switzerland, U.S. Deputy AG James Cole demands - by Tuesday - detailed information on citizens using Swiss bank accounts to dodge taxes, or possibly see Credit Suisse (CS) and 9 other banks face criminal charges. [View news story]
The possible next PM of Canada, Jack Layton ventures into monetary policy, telling Reuters the BoC should hold off hiking rates due to sluggish employment and a strong currency. The loonie is unperturbed, erasing early losses and continuing to threaten multi-decade highs. FXC +0.3%. [View news story]
Layton and his party are a sideshow attraction at best and if they do manage to win: 1. it will NOT be a majority, 2. Canadians will have proven themselves to be the dumbest people on the planet, 3. we (Canadians) are doomed. The NDP surge is primarily the result of Liberal Party incompetence (Michael Ignatieff is an academic, and his lieutenant Bob Rae is a sniveling opportunist, and Iggy's entire platform is that he's not Stephen Harper) combined with a general mistrust of Harper, the Conservative party leader. I don't trust Harper either but he's the best candidate for the job.
"Purchases are really dropping off by the end of the month," says Wal-Mart (WMT) CEO Mike Duke, blaming higher fuel costs for his customers running out of dough. With his position perhaps giving him a better view of the economy than the FOMC, Duke also recently warned to expect much higher inflation. [View news story]
With so many tax breaks, a lot of people have become adept at paying as little tax as possible. One think tank estimates that 45% of households will pay no federal income tax for 2010, while IRS data shows that the top 400 highest earners pay a lot less proportionally than they did in the early 1990s. Tax filing deadline is tomorrow. [View news story]
The question is worth raising again: “Why, in the aftermath of a financial mess that generated hundreds of billions in losses, have no high-profile participants in the disaster been prosecuted?” Gretchen Morgensen's take suggests that the FBI, SEC and Treasury Department may have quashed attempts to be more aggressive. (earlier) [View news story]
Republican Congressman Ron Paul plans to hold a hearing in May on the Fed's emergency loans from its discount window to non-U.S. banks. The "staggering amount" lent to these banks "provided no benefit to American taxpayers, the American economy, or even directly to American banks," Paul says. [View news story]
You may not see it when you look at your paycheck, but you just took a pay cut, as wages remain stagnant while inflation surges. "Bernanke has created an environment of high corporate profits and falling wages, which makes it cheaper to hire and, voila, the unemployment rate goes down [but] if companies do not hire before inflation takes hold, then the entire experiment fails." [View news story]
You may not see it when you look at your paycheck, but you just took a pay cut, as wages remain stagnant while inflation surges. "Bernanke has created an environment of high corporate profits and falling wages, which makes it cheaper to hire and, voila, the unemployment rate goes down [but] if companies do not hire before inflation takes hold, then the entire experiment fails." [View news story]
He's doing the right thing in the same way he was 'right' in his assessment of how contained the subprime mortgage problem was?
You may not see it when you look at your paycheck, but you just took a pay cut, as wages remain stagnant while inflation surges. "Bernanke has created an environment of high corporate profits and falling wages, which makes it cheaper to hire and, voila, the unemployment rate goes down [but] if companies do not hire before inflation takes hold, then the entire experiment fails." [View news story]
You may not see it when you look at your paycheck, but you just took a pay cut, as wages remain stagnant while inflation surges. "Bernanke has created an environment of high corporate profits and falling wages, which makes it cheaper to hire and, voila, the unemployment rate goes down [but] if companies do not hire before inflation takes hold, then the entire experiment fails." [View news story]
Black Swans Everywhere [View article]
First of all, "Canadians" did not oust the government, meaning there were no demonstrations or protests or what-have-you. Rather, Canada has had a minority government for quite some time meaning that the combined votes of the opposition outnumber the votes of the governing party. All that is required for the government to fall is a combined vote against the government which technically means that the government has lost the confidence of the House of Commons. Since every Member of Parliament represents a riding, by extension that means that the government has lost the confidence of Canadians. It's semantics here, whereas it's violent protests in many other parts of the world.
Second, the situation is similar to Portugal in only one way, that there was a budget somewhat involved - but the government did NOT fall because of the budget. The government was found to be in contempt of Parliament because it did not sufficiently release information about the costs of some programs. Thus a non-confidence motion was tabled by the Opposition and enough votes were obtained to cause the Prime Minister to seek dissolution of Parliament and trigger an election. The fact that the government presented its budget around the same time is coincidental.
Today in Commodities: Booking Profits [View article]
Truer words never spoken. When I started playing this game and I was in the black I would let it ride and inevitably the tide would turn and reduce or erase my gains. If I was in the red I wouldn't be willing to cut my losses because "it'll come back up". Cutting losses is still difficult to do but I've learned that it is never a mistake a take a profit, even if it's a single dollar.
I look forward to your columns every day Matthew.
A bullish call on BofA (BAC) from Barron's, which thinks the stock could rise more than 40% in the next two years as the bank's credit portfolio improves and as CEO Brian Moynihan works to improve earnings. Potential investors may want to see what Monday brings before jumping in. [View news story]
Bernanke gets an earful from Ron Paul: "Congress and the Fed are symbiotic because the Congress spends and they know there is a moral hazard involved because they know that if interest rates go up, the Fed accommodates them. So the Fed really facilitates this spending... the Fed is involved with our deficit and encourages it as well as the Congress." [View news story]
Bernanke thinks inflation is tame: "The rate of pass-through from commodity price increases to broad indexes of U.S. consumer prices has been quite low" because those factors are “relatively small” weights in his measurements. But with prices for gasoline and food ripping higher, the world view of those not in the ivory tower seems very different from his. [View news story]
You're putting a lot of faith and a lot of stock in Bernanke's academic credentials. He is highly intelligent but I'm concerned with what he's actually doing, not how much theory he understands.
Furthermore, I don't know if posting this link will work but I invite you to read this article about a doctor here in Canada:
www.cbc.ca/news/canada...
If the link doesn't work, please google "Dr. Charles Smith". I see what Bernanke's actions are doing and I don't care where he got his PhD.