In 2019, 1,016 new laws will take effect in California. How are businesses supposed to navigate such rapid fire law creation? With the nation's second highest minimum wage (tied with Massachusetts at $11.00/hour), its highest income tax rates at 13.3%, and a dead last ranking in the Small Business Policy Index for the least friendly laws for business, California is already a tough place to pursue the American dream. Now businesses and citizens of the Golden State will have an even greater regulatory burden to navigate. At The Hill, Timothy Snowball writes: The California Legislature’s … [Read more...]
Canadian Crypto-currency Debacle
“A Canadian cryptocurrency exchange says about $140 million worth of customers’ holdings are stuck in an electronic vault because the company’s founder, and sole employee, died without sharing the password,” reports Paul Vigna at the WSJ. On Jan. 15, the company announced on its website that Mr. Cotten had died on Dec. 9 from complications related to Crohn’s disease while building an orphanage in India. He was 30 years old. Two weeks later, the exchange filed for bankruptcy protection in a Nova Scotia court. Quadriga said its customers have accounts with a total balance of about C$250 … [Read more...]
Green Dreams and Gas Nightmares in the Northeast
There's an ocean of natural gas in Pennsylvania's Marcellus Shale formation, but you wouldn't know it based on the paltry natural gas infrastructure running from the area into the nearby population centers of the Northeast. Despite troves of cheap natural gas only a short way away over land, 20% of New England's natural gas is delivered via expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments to Boston's Everett LNG terminal. Freight Waves, an industry journal, reports that in Westchester County, New York, nearly on top of the Marcellus Shale play itself: Con Edison (ED: NYSE), a New York utility … [Read more...]
Did Crypto-currency or Bad Governance Beat These Investors?
Buyers using the QuadrigaCX exchange to invest in crypto-currencies are waking up to the possibility that their money may be gone forever. What happened, you ask? The system, like all crypto-currency systems presumably, was encrypted, but in the case of QuadrigaCX, only one man knew the password, and he's dead. Gerry Cotten, founder of QuadrigaCX took the password used to access customers' $145 million in digital assets with him to the grave. Without the password, it appears there is little the company can do to access customers' assets. Coin Telegraph reports: The exchange only has … [Read more...]
Underfunded Pensions and a Devil’s Bargain
In Pontiac, Michigan, pensions for public employees have been underfunded for years, and the city is going to raise taxes to help fund pension payments. This same predicament is playing out across America, with pensions in many states and cities woefully underfunded, and with pension boards who overestimate returns to paper over the problem. Like many pensions, those in Pontiac are restricted on the proportion of assets that may be invested in equities compared to fixed income and other securities. The current limit is 40% of assets may be invested in equities. These limits are in place … [Read more...]
Your Retirement Life: Looking for Tax Freedom? Here’s Where to Find It
With tax season here, it's helpful to examine your own tax situation and understand the alternatives. Read this post I wrote on July 5, 2018 for guidance. As Americans near retirement, they are always looking for ways to maximize their savings. At the top of the list of options is avoiding punitive taxation at all levels. There isn't much most people can do about federal taxes (other than vote), but Americans are gifted with a choice of 50 states and a handful of territories from which to choose where to live. I have been encouraging Americans to explore their options when it comes to … [Read more...]
The Silver Lining to Your Cash
I like having a little silver in my pocket especially when times are desperate. And I also like some in my portfolio. We may not see a rally in silver this year, but it’s coming off it’s best December in almost two years, up 9.1 percent, making me happy I own some. For me, silver is a counterbalance to my cash. And if the Fed’s going to sit tight on rates and silver is at its smallest output since 2013, it might be time to pay attention. Marvin Perez reports at Bloomberg: Think of it as a potential silver lining for investors. A deepening shortage is promising to help boost prices as … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy: Out of Gas in Newport, Now What?
Your Survival Guy: Out of Gas in Newport: 80% back on the Grid Your Survival Guy: Out of Gas in Newport Day 5 (and 5 to go) Your Survival Guy: Out of Gas in Newport Day 4 Your Survival Guy: Out of Gas in Newport Now that Newport, RI is back on the natural gas grid, I want to share with you a conversation I had with an owner of a successful natural gas operation. He said that the problem basically comes down to the fact that the green movement is spending the money and has politicians in its back-pocket. The utilities aren’t spending the money for political messaging. As a … [Read more...]
RAGE Gauge February: Is the Market Keeping You up at Night?
When the S&P 500 lost 9 percent in December it marked the worst December since the Great Depression year of 1931 when the index was down 14.5%. For all of 2018, the S&P 500 lost 6.2% compared to a loss of 47% in 1931. Now let’s not forget what the carnage looked like from the beginning of the Great Depression, signaled by the crash of Oct. 29, 1929, to its end in June 1932. The S&P 500 dropped 86 percent in less than three years, and did not regain its previous peak until 1954. America has already had two nasty peak to troughs this century, with the tech and banking busts of … [Read more...]
Your Survival Guy: Out of Gas in Newport: 80% back on the Grid
Happy Monday Morning, it’s good to be back on the grid with natural gas service restored to 80% of Newport customers. If you were at your home this weekend, then you had several opportunities to intercept a National Grid truck/crew to turn on your gas. I’m guessing the final 20% are vacation homes etc. and could take longer, but the worst is over. This was a unique outage. There are three towns comprising Aquidneck Island: Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth. Newport had 6,400 outages (not all homes/hotels were impacted because they pull from a different gas line), Middletown 350. If you … [Read more...]