Economic Reduction

Posted on December 4, 2012 by MN Gordon

One of the more aggravating things about the forthcoming tax hikes is the proposed increase to dividend income.  Since 2003 the top tax rate for dividends has been 15 percent.  Under President Obama’s proposed plan dividends will be taxed as ordinary income.  Top income earners will pay 39.6 percent tax on stock dividends.

Unfortunately, this is coming at a time when dividends have never been more essential to capital management and preservation.  The Federal Reserve’s zero interest rate and quantitative easing policies have pushed the yield on the 10-Year Treasury Note down to 1.61 percent…that’s less than the rate of inflation reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  This makes government debt, as an investment option, a guaranteed wealth dissipater.

Thus, over the last several years, high dividend yielding stocks have become indispensable to those saving and investing for retirement.  Regrettably, President Obama wants to strangle this reliable means of investment income…and for what? Continue reading →

Posted in MN Gordon, Stock Market | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Facing the Facts of Financial Doom

Posted on November 30, 2012 by MN Gordon

Our politicians’ appetite to spend money they don’t have will never be satisfied.  There’s always a boondoggle or meritless program in need of pork.  Likewise, there’s always a politician or representative in need of votes.

Spending other people’s money brings a senator flattery from their constituents.  The voters reward congressmen that deliver federal funds with another term in office.  For the voter believes that, through the ballot box, they can get something for nothing.

Take this whole fiscal cliff debate.  From what we can tell the debate is limited to how much taxes will increase and who will pay them.  We’ve yet to hear much in the way of real spending cuts…the type that would take federal spending from 25 percent of GDP, where it is today, back to 18 percent of GDP, where it was in the 1990s.

But even that seems too high.  Why not cut government down to just 5 percent of GDP?  No doubt, there’d be a lot less paperwork to contend with.

The point is government spending is the real problem.  That’s why raising taxes is not the solution. Continue reading →

Posted in Government Debt, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Jerry’s Definitive Moonshot

Posted on November 27, 2012 by MN Gordon

Southern California has wonderful weather.  Within the coastal zone it’s especially wonderful.  The sun shines bright every day, there’s low humidity, and a cool breeze wafts off the Pacific Ocean making things perfectly pleasant.  You just can’t beat it.

But for every sweet smelling rose there’s a stem full of jagged thorns…for every yang there’s always a yin.  Whether we like it or not, that’s how the world works.  In Southern California, the traffic, cost of living, and the large swaths of urban blight fall far short of perfection.

Still, it really isn’t all that bad…there are plenty of things that are plenty worse.  The state government, state taxes, and the collective will of the voter, for example, are categorically abysmal.  They penalize the financial rewards of hard work by taking money from those who’ve earned it.  Then they spend it on money losing enterprises – like bullet trains and public pensions – that vaporize wealth from existence.

There’s no place in the world we can think of, with the possible exception of France, where the scum suckers’ suck with such voracious frenzy. Continue reading →

Posted in Government Debt, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Obama: The Carbon Tax Hero

Posted on November 23, 2012 by MN Gordon

Is a Carbon Tax a Done Deal for the US?
By Marin Katusa, Casey Research

We know Obamarama is going to tax the rich, but I bet many didn’t think he would weasel in the carbon tax as quickly as he is going to now.  A Romney win would have been bullish for coal producers in the US – but Romney lost, and now so has coal, at least in the near term.  The biggest winner from Obamarama?  Natural gas.

Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) is now supporting Obama in bringing a carbon tax to the US.

Why would Exxon – and other big energy companies – join forces to bring on the carbon tax?

The answer is simple: profits.

Exxon has made significant purchases, buying unconventional North American gas companies.  For example, it recent bought Canadian firm Celtic Exploration for over C$2.5 billion.  Let’s not forget that a couple of years back, Exxon bought out XTO Energy for over US$30 billion. Continue reading →

Posted in Marin Katusa, Politics | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment