Hot Links for Weekend Reading… “They can’t pay what they owe!” Joe Nocera looks at the shamelessness of the banks. (NYT) Mustache growth can speed the economic recovery. Seriously. (CuriousCapitalist) The ATT&T – iPhone exclusive partnership ends next year. Can Apple sell double the phones with other carriers? (GigaOM) Dunkin’ Donuts Franchisees: “Ding Dong, the…
Seven Things You Should Know 10/9/2009
Seven Things You Should Know October 9th 2009 1. The last time the IRS raised its top marginal tax bracket paid by individual taxpayers was in 1993. The top marginal tax bracket of 31% from 1992 was raised to 39.6% in 1993. The top bracket has been 35% since 2003 (source: IRS). 2. The S&P…
The Gallagher Stimulus Plan: NASA Slams $79 Million Into the Moon
Can someone please explain what the purpose of this morning’s NASA mission is to me? Did we really need to slam two rockets, supposedly worth 79 million dollars, into the side of the moon? Are you guys f@$%in’ kidding me? What’s next? Should we drop a million bucks worth of flat screen TV’s off a…
An American Fail: The Eastman Kodak Tragedy
Remember that girl from high school who was so hot and so out of your league back then that you would’ve jumped out of a plane without a parachute just to get her attention? Yeah, me neither. But now imagine that this girl walks by you on the street and you barely recognize her. That…
Hot Links: Defacing the Dollar
Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… PAY ATTENTION: The debate inside the Fed on when to raise rates. (NYT) Several high profile money managers on why China is their favorite BRIC. (Bloomberg) Charlie Gasparino on why Sally Krawcheck would be a big mistake for the Bank of America CEO slot. (Clusterstock) The new dichotomy: Asset allocation…
In Search of Mythic Beasts
The figure they’re going with these days is $4 trillion on the sidelines. Okey Dokey.
The Retirement Account Death Threat
This one’s interesting. Normally, you hear about clients threatening their brokers for giving them the wrong advice. In this case, a man’s advisor tried to talk him out of tapping his IRA early in order to be spared from the early withdrawal penalty. Was the client pleased with this advice? Actually, no, he became homicidal….
Sparring With the Cult of Ayn Rand
I recently posted an interview I did with the ghost of Ayn Rand and, as expected, a few Randian ideologues came out of the woodwork to challenge the points I sought to get across in my post. I do these faux-interviews because I believe that my strong suit as a writer and financial commentator is…
Hot Links: Ackman, Leno & Goldman's BRIC Picks
Stuff I’m Reading this Morning… Goldman Sachs is recommending the BRIC-related stocks going into earnings season, here are their 50 favorite plays: (PragCap) The most important news of the day. (Clusterstock) Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman has a new short position. (DealBook) Classic: NBC wants Jay Leno to have an affair! (BorowitzReport) Pessimism Porn takes a…
Uh Oh…The Analysts Are Bullish
Many will call this the ultimate contrarian tell, in fact, most will. But then doesn’t that mean that the real contrarian would take this as a positive? I’m talking myself in circles here. From Bespoke Investment Group: Analysts are more bullish heading into the current earnings season than they have been at the start of…
