With tax reform working its way through the meat grinder, it appears that where you live will continue to impact your financial situation. It’s yet another indication that blue states, havens of liberal largesse, will leave their taxpayers footing the bill. As with any tax reform, politicians tell us there will be “tough” decisions. The individual deduction for state and local taxes is on the chopping block. If this is true, it will become increasingly more painful for residents of high tax states such as Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, and California to name a … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2017
Who’s Creating the Best Wearable Tech? Could be Google and Levi’s
Wearable technology has taken a lot of twists and turns. The Internet of Things has been trying to find a place on the human body for awhile now. Perhaps the best known attempt was Google Glass. The futuristic glasses allowed users to interact in new ways with the world around them, but mostly made them look obnoxious. Today the fitness world dominates wearable tech, with FitBits, Garmins and Apple Watches on many Americans' wrists. But it's possible Google has learned the lessons of the broad reaching Google Glass. Now the tech giant is trying something new in wearables; small, niche … [Read more...]
Amazon Speeds up Whole Foods Mainstream Evolution
Even before Amazon decide to purchase Whole Foods, the business was trying to adopt some of the norms in the grocery industry. But now that Jeff Bezos and his company have taken over, the push for using more mainstream tactics at stores for display, purchasing and other aspects of the day to day business has been accelerated. Heather Haddon and Annie Gasparro report: Whole Foods will change the way companies can sell and market their products in its stores beginning next year, one of the biggest moves yet in its push to operate more like a traditional market. Under the changes planned for … [Read more...]
Daimler to Go Electric in Alabama
Daimler will invest $1 billion in its Alabama manufacturing plant to begin production of a fully electric sport-utility vehicle there. Chester Dawson reports in The Wall Street Journal: Daimler said it would begin production of an electric SUV early next decade at the Tuscaloosa plant and in 2018 begin construction nearby of a facility to assemble battery systems for use in those and other vehicles. Combined, the new plans are expected to create as many as 600 jobs, it said. The new SUV will be sold under the Mercedes-Benz EQ electric vehicle subbrand, but the company didn’t specify its … [Read more...]
Consumer Goods Titan Looks to Asia for Expansion
In a search for new markets, Unilever is expanding in the South Korean skincare market via the acquisiton of Carver Korea. Carver makes masks and lotions and is currently owned by Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs. Carver is the country's third largest cosmetics company and has operations in China and Japan. Naomi Rovnick and Song Jung-a report in the FT: Paul Polman, Unilever’s chief executive, is looking to boost shareholder returns against lacklustre growth in developed economies, with a focus on new products and emerging markets. The Anglo-Dutch consumer goods group’s latest deal comes after … [Read more...]
Can One Man Manage all this Money?
Investing legend Ray Dalio runs Bridgewater Associates. He's been making the rounds, hawking his book, Principles, and controlling the fate of his hedge fund clients' $160 billion. Dalio practices a form of "radical transparency" at his firm, but Andy Kessler writes that the techniques Dalio uses to enforce transparency may be backfiring on him. The core of investing is quite simple: Determine what everyone else thinks, and then figure out in which direction they are wrong. That’s it. No one tells you what they think. You’ve got to feel it. That’s why Wall Streeters say things like, “We are … [Read more...]
Yellen Still Can’t Understand What the BIS has Known for Years About Inflation
Janet Yellen & Co. are puzzled by low inflation and low unemployment. The proper measurement of inflation is part of the Fed’s conundrum, but here the Bank for International Settlements points to another powerful factor dragging down inflation—globalization. Greater globalization creates greater supply and hurts pricing power. As the BIS points out, these are structural factors. Any aggressive effort to fight against structural factors holding down inflation is likely to do more harm than good in the long-run. Paul Hannon reports: Globalization is the most likely explanation for … [Read more...]
No Need to Invest with the Masses
You don't need to invest like the masses, in fact you should avoid such a lemming-like course of action. As I have written to you before (here and here), invest in the forlorn, the unloved, and the out-of-favor. Multi-millionaire investor Jim Rogers is encouraging "overlooked and hated markets." Barbara Kollmeyer writes of Rogers at MarketWatch: We’re diving right into our call of the day, which comes from Jim Rogers. In a sweeping interview with RealVision TV, the veteran investor warns another bear market is coming, and that it will be “horrendous, the worst.” It’s the level of debt across … [Read more...]
Unemployment is so Low There is a Battle Raging for Seasonal Workers
Companies are being forced to roll out the red carpet for seasonal employees this year. As retailers and shipping companies gear up to feed the holiday frenzy of purchases and deliveries, they are running into a problem hiring because unemployment is very low. Jennifer Smith explains the measures retailers are going to in order to attract the necessary workforce: “It’s the tightest labor market we’ve ever seen,” said Sean McCartney, executive vice president of operation services at Radial, which handles online orders for e-commerce companies and national chains such as Dick’s Sporting … [Read more...]
Is This the Beginning of the End for Fossil Fuel Energy?
Originally posted December 27, 2017. The World Economic Forum reports that new solar and wind capacity are now cheaper than new fossil fuel energy in 30 countries. Quartz has more of the details. The renewable energy future will arrive when installing new solar panels is cheaper than a comparable investment in coal, natural gas or other options. If you ask the World Economic Forum (WEF), the day has arrived. Solar and wind is now the same price or cheaper than new fossil fuel capacity in more than 30 countries, the WEF reported in December (pdf). As prices for solar and wind power … [Read more...]
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