My father-in law Dick Young wrote this timeless issue in May 2006 in his monthly strategy report: Richard C. Young’s Intelligence Report. Check back in a week or so for more on one of my favorite investing lessons. As you can see I have a somewhat vested interest in the results. Read more of Dick Young's investment strategy here. Simple Is Sophisticated Debbie and I recently made the pilgrimage to Vermont’s Authentic Designs (www.authentic-designs.com) to order much of the inside and outside lighting for a New England home we are renovating. At a most bucolic setting, skilled craftsmen … [Read more...]
Gimme Shelter: Gold vs. Apple
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Dan Mitchell: Lessons from State Tax Policy
Here Dan Mitchell of the Cato Institute discusses why some states deserve kudos for their tax policies, and some states deserve mockery. Just like with nations, there are many factors that determine whether a state is hindering or enabling economic growth. But I’m very drawn to one variable, which is whether there’s a state income tax. If the answer is no, then it’s quite likely that it will enjoy better-than-average economic performance (and if a state makes the mistake of having an income tax, then a flat tax will be considerably less destructive than a so-called progressive tax). Which … [Read more...]
Millennials, Lattes and Student Debt
It turns out lifestyle is important to millennials at the cost of not paying down student debt or saving for retirement. In a recent survey by Providence, RI based Citizens Bank, as reported by Reuters and picked up by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Fewer than half (47 percent) of millennials, those in the 18-35 age group, who are college graduates, would be willing to limit their online food delivery in return for reducing their student loans. Other priorities? Concerts, sporting events and lattes, as well as travel and vacations. The prospect of limiting any of these luxuries got the “no … [Read more...]
The Death of Money
Is this what the death of money looks like? Whatever your thoughts on Harriet Tubman vs. Andrew Jackson, is futzing with currency portraits the priority of the Treasury Dept.? With negative rates the world over, cash is becoming a luxury. Government wants your cash. Bureaucrats will never be satiated no matter how many of your hard earned tax dollars government destroys. It doesn’t respect money. It doesn’t respect the moral high ground that exists between buyer and seller. As far as government is concerned, it is the buyer and the seller. If you don’t like it, tough. The end goal of … [Read more...]
Rogers: U.S. Recession Within a Year
Billionaire investor Sam Zell is predicting global economic turmoil will push the U.S. into recession. Janet Morissey writes at The Wall Street Journal: Billionaire investor Sam Zell, who correctly called the top of the last commercial real-estate cycle, is predicting global problems will likely push the U.S. into a recession in the next year. While the U.S. is humming along fine at the moment, Mr. Zell warned that it isn’t immune to problems in the world economy. Those problems include low oil prices, falling import demand from emerging economies, volatile financial markets, deflation, … [Read more...]
Silver at 10-month High
With interest rates negative around the world Silver jumps to a 10 month high. Silver prices jumped to their highest levels in 10 months during trading in Asia. The price of silver rose 3 per cent to $16.73 a troy ounce, the highest level since June. It is now trading down at $16.63, writes Henry Sanderson. Silver prices rallied on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, rising as much as 4.3 per cent to 3,595 yuan per kilogram, according to Reuters. Silver prices have lagged gold this year, even though traditionally, gold rallies lead to higher silver prices. Prices started to rise at the beginning of … [Read more...]
3 Million Tax Army Zombies
Happy April 15th. Another dreadful tax filing is behind us. What an energy sapping, demoralizing process. You’re literally penalized for your success. “[F]ederal tax-code compliance overall consumes more than 6 billion hours of time each year, which is like having a “tax army” of 3 million people just filling out tax returns year-round,” writes my friend Chris Edwards, the director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute. Edwards continues: The problem is getting worse. Federal tax rules span about 75,000 pages today, which is three times more than when President Jimmy Carter called the … [Read more...]
Follow the Moving Van
Follow the money or the moving van to see which states are open for business and which one’s are not. From the United Van Lines "United National Movers Study": United has tracked migration patterns annually on a state-by-state basis since 1977. For 2015, the study is based on household moves handled by United within the 48 contiguous states and Washington, D.C. United classifies states as “high inbound” if 55 percent or more of the moves are going into a state, “high outbound” if 55 percent or more moves were coming out of a state or “balanced” if the difference between inbound and outbound … [Read more...]
Pensions in a Load of Trouble
Pensions assume an average rate of return of 7.5%. That’s not the future we’re going to be living in, especially with a diversified portfolio. Read what Mr. Kim has to say at the end of this article and you can see how clueless leadership is about the problem. Having a front row seat to the pension mess in Rhode Island, I can tell you it’s simply a game of chicken—no side is ever going to give an inch. There will be pain. Here’s the article from the Financial Times: The US public pension system has developed a $3.4tn funding hole that will pile pressure on cities and states to cut spending or … [Read more...]
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