Financial News

[caulfield12]

More to Tex’s point...

 

 

AARP opposed the GOP tax plan for a variety of reasons, and coming cuts to Medicare were a big one. Despite Trump’s campaign promise to not cut senior health care, the tax law he pledged to sign will trigger $25 billion cuts to Medicare in 2018. These cuts come automatically from the “pay as you go” law (PAYGO). This law exists to keep the deficit in check. When a new law adds to the deficit, PAYGO prompts mandatory cuts to programs like Medicare.

 

....

 

 

You’ve heard about alternative facts, but are you ready for alternative inflation? Paul Ryan and others in the GOP conference have pushed for a new system for measuring inflation for years, and they finally got it in this tax law. (President Obama supported the idea, briefly, before getting pushback from Democrats in Congress.) Social Security benefits and other key spending items will now use “chained CPI” to measure cost of living.

 

What does all that mean? People can get deep in the weeds trying to understand it, but a helpful article in Bloomberg simplified it. Calling it “a stealthily growing tax hike,” the author cited a 2013 analysis on which tax brackets would be affected most. You guessed it: Folks earning between $25,000 and $50,000 would feel the biggest burn.

 

...

 

 

However, during the tax debate in December, GOP Senators Pat Toomey and Marco Rubio could not promise they would leave Social Security alone for future generations. After Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) pressed them on the issue, he translated for anyone listening. “[Toomey] just told you he’s going to cut Social Security,” Sanders said. When deficits run high — in this case, because of tax breaks — deficit hawks look to “entitlement” cuts for savings.

 

 

https://www.cheatsheet.com/money-career/old...ax-plan.html/9/

[caulfield12]

I think this is why our corporate overlords have given people the proverbial middle finger since then. They figured out that increasing salary only increases productivity so much, and so they are asking people to do more work with less benefits and salary, because they don't get anything out of it with the way things were working. The only people who seem to be "getting ahead" or even making ends meet these days are those who put their career above everything else in life. It is their way of taking control of the masses back. People were actually being happy, having fun while not working, being able to take nice vacations, being able to afford nice things, etc. They are saying "No. f*** You. You can't have those things. They are mine and you can't have them."

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sec-probing-...7--finance.html

 

But if you invest at least $500,000 from China into Jared Kushner’s struggling NJ real estate project, you’ll get preferential treatment to get a green card.

[Soxbadger]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/republicans-seem...-002307665.html

 

Woops, guess Republican's didnt think that states could figure out a way to get around the new rules on State and local tax deductions. Basic gist is that state will set up a "charity" where you can "donate" and it will count as a credit against the state's taxes.

 

Have to imagine that if any state starts writing these bills they will pass pretty easy.

[ptatc]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/republicans-seem...-002307665.html

 

Woops, guess Republican's didnt think that states could figure out a way to get around the new rules on State and local tax deductions. Basic gist is that state will set up a "charity" where you can "donate" and it will count as a credit against the state's taxes.

 

Have to imagine that if any state starts writing these bills they will pass pretty easy.

Another way to help the wealthy avoid taxes.

[Soxbadger]

Another way to help the wealthy avoid taxes.

 

You are right, it would disproportionately help people who make more money. That being said, I do think that state and local taxes should be deductible. I could be wrong, but I believe that the state doesnt tax you on the money that you pay to the fed, so it should be reciprocal.

[caulfield12]

You are right, it would disproportionately help people who make more money. That being said, I do think that state and local taxes should be deductible. I could be wrong, but I believe that the state doesnt tax you on the money that you pay to the fed, so it should be reciprocal.

 

Although they're different rates, you shouldn't get double-taxed.

 

Cue the Estate Tax argument (again).

[Soxbadger]

Estate tax technically isnt double tax on an individual. The first tax was paid by the deceased, the second tax was paid by the heir. The inheritance is income for the receiver and therefore its a taxable event.

 

Its no different than gift tax, etc.

Edited January 11, 2018 by Soxbadger

[caulfield12]

Estate tax technically isnt double tax on an individual. The first tax was paid by the deceased, the second tax was paid by the heir. The inheritance is income for the receiver and therefore its a taxable event.

 

Its no different than gift tax, etc.

 

But it’s still a double tax on that same money that was originally earned and taxed by an individual. The money to pay the tax is likely coming from the same source, or borrowing against it (collateralizing).

 

Which is one of the reasons the tax basis of the original investment portfolio/trust is bumped up to day of death...or 30 days subsequent to that.

 

 

[Balta1701]

But it’s still a double tax on that same money that was originally earned and taxed by an individual. The money to pay the tax is likely coming from the same source, or borrowing against it (collateralizing).

 

Which is one of the reasons the tax basis of the original investment portfolio/trust is bumped up to day of death...or 30 days subsequent to that.

So is a sales tax.

[caulfield12]

So is a sales tax.

 

How many have a 37-55% rate?

[StrangeSox]

Everything is "double taxed" depending on how you want to look at it.

 

My payroll and income are both taxed, then I pay sales tax, and businesses pay tax on profits from my purchase, and use the revenues from my already-taxed dollars to pay their employees which includes payroll taxes again etc. etc.

 

[Balta1701]

2k5 you'll love this.

[caulfield12]

https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2018/...es-trump-000617

Is the GOP tax plan working already?

 

 

 

 

https://www.politico.com/agenda/story/2018/...homeless-000611

City of Houston attempting a controversial plan to save money on health care by providing housing for the homeless

 

Having the city pay someone's rent might seem like a costly way to address homelessness. But add health care to the mix and the equation starts to look different: Health care and housing experts have long known that keeping someone off the streets is often the most straightforward way to keep him or her out of the emergency room, one of the most expensive places to get health care.

 

For just as long, however, they’ve struggled to figure out just what to do with that knowledge. The problem, in a nutshell, is who will pay? How do you persuade governments to spend money on housing when the biggest payoff comes from money saved somewhere else in the system?

 

One reason health care in America is so expensive is that patients with some of the costliest cases require not only health care, but a roof over their heads and counseling to gain ordinary skills for living, like how to manage a bank account. But the agencies that manage health don't think much about housing, and vice versa — it's simply not their job. “The reason this is collectively hard is that you just have to pull resources from lots of different groups and think creatively about how you use these resources,” said Neal Rackleff, assistant secretary for community planning and development at HUD and formerly director of Houston’s housing and community development department. “Different groups have different ways of doing things.”

Edited January 15, 2018 by caulfield12

[StrangeSox]

Humana will share the wealth from tax cut with new incentive pay, boosted minimum wage

 

 

(they're also laying off 5% of their workforce)

[RockRaines]

Put a small chunk of change in Ethereum this morning after the bloody Tuesday and it's been up 15% since I've joined. I will never be able to luckily time something again.

Now is the time to buy for sure. Ethereum is the only one that was stil up since last month.

[RockRaines]

Since everything else was down I spread my money out the last few days. Waiting for that next peak and Im out.

 

My blockchain stocks are more longer term plays. I also am investing in hashgraph as well (which I think is better)

[ptatc]

What a great idea to raise the 401k match to get people to save more for their retirement instead of a cash bonus. I'm glad some companies are actually thinking ahead for the benefit of their employees.

 

 

Not sure how to post a link so I just copied the URL

 

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/col...0111-story.html

[caulfield12]

Democrats need to admit Trump is boosting the economy

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/democrats-ne...-202039049.html

 

[caulfield12]

https://www.engadget.com/2018/01/23/trump-3...ffs-job-losses/

Trump's new solar tariffs could kill 23,000 US jobs

 

 

There are two widely diverging scenarios (if you're on the left or right) to follow:

 

Point #1, With only 38,000 workers currently MANUFACTURING solar panels in the US (out of 374,000 in the total solar industry), how many new jobs will be added, and at what cost in terms of the final product delivered to consumers? Will the higher prices (due to US manufacturing) be offset by relatively higher quality? How quickly can US manufacturing ramp up and meet the demand?

 

What about the thousands of jobs in solar-related industries that will be hit by higher costs of doing business (hurting our domestic consumption and potentially export competitiveness)...how many job losses there (according to one study, 23,000)?

 

Point #2, why are we trying to start a trade war with South Korea over LG and Samsung appliances like washing machines when we need them as a partner against North Korea? Is this to have increased leverage over their president...?

 

Point 3#, how do China and South Korea retaliate in this trade war against the US in ways that pass on higher prices to consumers?

[caulfield12]

Trump’s failing war on green power

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/01/24/t...en-power-307281

 

 

Since solar cells and panels make up only a fraction of a new solar system's costs, analysts expect the tariffs to bump up overall installed prices by 6 percent for residential rooftops and about 10 percent for utility-scale plants. Rocky Mountain Institute's own analysis says that the ongoing decline in solar installation costs will wipe out the price increases from the tariff in 18 months.

 

...

 

The administration's most ambitious effort so far to tilt the scale in the direction of traditional fuels came from the Energy Department last fall, when Perry invoked a rarely used authority to press federal energy regulators to create a subsidy for a group of coal-fired and nuclear power plants in markets stretching from the Midwest to the East Coast. The move would have propped up plants that are struggling to survive in the face of rising natural gas and wind power.

 

But Perry's proposal was rejected by all five members of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, four of whom had been appointed by Trump. The independent agency said DOE's push for the rule wasn't justified by conditions in the power markets, though it agreed to study the issue.

 

Energy experts said the preservation of the popular renewable energy tax credits and FERC's rejection of Perry's proposal exposed the limitations of the White House to force through Trump's campaign promises.

 

"States have far more primacy over generation than the federal government does," said Timothy Fox, a vice president for ClearView Energy Partners. And with Monday's trade tariffs, "the president may have pulled on one of his few levers that influence renewable power build-out."

 

 

Our own Jen Rogers asked Ross (at Davos) about setting off a trade war. His response: “Trade wars are fought every day. The difference [now] is the U.S. troops are coming to the rampart.” Colorful. Mnuchin created a bit of a stir when he stated that the weak dollar is “good for the U.S.”

The dynamic duo—Mnuchin and Ross—promised a press conference every morning. Can’t wait.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/team-trump-p...-142442369.html

 

 

The 1% grabbed 82% of all global wealth created in 2017

http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/21/news/econo...alth/index.html

Edited January 25, 2018 by caulfield12

[bmags]

This is a good article from Conor Sen on tech sector outsourcing. He has been calling for a while that some good will come out of breaking the dominance of one region for tech infrastructure, but this outlines that it won't all go to other cities in the US:

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/201...ch-companies-do

 

From an American worker's perspective, there's some comfort that Apple and Amazon are considering additional campuses in the U.S. But nobody should expect this to be a permanent state of affairs. It didn't get as much attention, but last week Google also opened another office -- in Shenzhen, its third in China. We're likely past the high point for tech titans' operations being centered in their West Coast hometowns.

[StrangeSox]

Patricia Laya

@PattyLaya

IMF's new estimates: in 2018 Venezuela's economy will shrink 15% and inflation will reach 13,000%

 

Hannah Dreier @hannahdreier

5m

A sense of what this kind of inflation feels like: Over the summer, I was paying 500,000 bolivars a month to rent a nice apartment in Caracas. Today, that amount buys a single pack of toilet paper.

[caulfield12]

#socialism

 

 

Weimar Republic Germany=Socialism too?

 

Zimbabwe?

 

Argentina?

 

 

 

Big companies obviously earn a bit of goodwill by announcing moves that are good for workers. But there’s ordinarily a downside, since anything that raises labor costs alerts Wall Street analysts to the possibility of declining profits. And there are myriad instances of analysts dinging stocks when labor costs rise, which makes CEOs wary of ever raising pay unless business conditions require it.

 

The Trump tax cuts provide a unique opportunity for companies to boost pay without getting punished by Wall Street. Big companies are just now beginning to estimate the net effects of the tax cuts, and so far, the forecast is for a roughly 8% jump in after-tax profits in 2018, according to Credit Suisse. That’s a big boost, and it gives CEOs plenty of wiggle room to address labor shortages and concerns about workers bolting for better-paying jobs.

 

Even so, companies are being stingier than some of the cheerful PR suggests. A Yahoo Finance compilation of all the recently announced moves shows that most companies are offering one-time bonuses rather than permanent raises. That’s a lot cheaper than across-the-board pay hikes that permanently raise labor costs. “The bonuses are the most suspect because that’s a one-time hit, likely made up in the first year,” says David Nelson, chief strategist for investing firm Belpointe. “It’s different when you raise wages. You can’t take it back.”

 

Companies may also be giving workers a lift now, because they see moves coming later this year, such as stock buybacks, that will primarily benefit shareholders. So bonuses and raises could be an effort by companies to inoculate themselves from criticism that their response to the tax cuts primarily benefits the wealthy. “We do not expect corporate tax cuts to lead to a meaningful boost in business investment,” Moody’s says in a recent report. The debt-rating firm expects companies to “prioritize activities such as share buybacks, M&A and paying down existing debt” instead.

 

If Moody’s is right, then the Trump tax cuts won’t trickle down to workers over time in the form of sustained pay raises and broadly improving living standards. The biggest boon for workers could end up being the one-time windfall we’re seeing now. It’s better than nothing, but it doesn’t necessarily mean happy days are here again.

 

Rick Newman, Yahoo.com

Edited January 25, 2018 by caulfield12

[caulfield12]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/george-soros-say...-232153289.html

 

Soros argues that Google's and Facebook's days as growing global monopolies are numbered (makes some good points, others that can easily be countered)...2-3 years before growth slows dramatically for both companies.

 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/27/opinion/...col-left-region

New tax law giving the raise to bosses/shareholders

Edited January 28, 2018 by caulfield12

[StrangeSox]

Every One of the World’s Big Economies Is Now Growing

 

LONDON — A decade after the world descended into a devastating economic crisis, a key marker of revival has finally been achieved. Every major economy on earth is expanding at once, a synchronous wave of growth that is creating jobs, lifting fortunes and tempering fears of popular discontent.

 

No tidy, all-encompassing narrative explains how the world has finally escaped the global downturn. The United States has been propelled by government spending unleashed during the previous administration, plus a recent $1.5 trillion shot of tax cuts. Europe has finally felt the effects of cheap money pumped out by its central bank.

 

In general terms, improvement owes less to some newfound wellspring of wealth than the simple fact that many of the destructive forces that felled growth have finally exhausted their potency.

 

The long convalescence has yielded a global recovery that is far from blistering in pace, and geopolitical risks threaten its demise. Many economists are skeptical that the benefits of growth will reach beyond the educated, affluent, politically connected class that has captured most of the spoils in many countries and left behind working people whose wages have stagnated even as jobless rates have plunged.

 

And still the fact that every major swath of the globe is expanding is a source of optimism. There is no guarantee that this expansion will prove more equitable. Yet if growth were to evolve, bolstering wages while adding to the security of middle-class lives, the beginning would probably feel something like now.

 

“The world is less reliant on a few star performers,” said Barret Kupelian, senior economist in the London office of PwC, the global accounting and consulting company. “If something bad happens in one economy, the fact that global growth is spread gives you more assurance that this is more sustainable.”

 

Edited January 29, 2018 by StrangeSox