Democrats in Congress are writing up some of the biggest tax increases in history, but not before making sure they protect their friends with loopholes and carve-outs. If they really want to soak the rich, why isn’t taxing municipal bonds, which are the exclusive province of the wealthy, on the table? The tax rate on muni bond interest is 0%. The existing tax rate on capital gains for high-income investors is 23.4%. The Wall Street Journal examines Democrats' actions, writing: The House Ways and Means Committee section of the $3.5 trillion tax and spending bill includes myriad tax carve-outs … [Read more...]
The Time Peter Thiel Outsmarted Elon Musk
In The New York Post, Eric Spitznagel tells the story of PayPal founder, Peter Thiel, with an interesting vignette on Thiel's interactions with Tesla CEO Elon Musk, when the two were building PayPal. Spitznagel writes: Thiel, who turns 54 next month, is one of the most cutthroat financiers of his generation. With a fortune of $4.3 billion, according to Forbes, he’s difficult to pigeonhole — having gone from hedge-fund trader to Silicon Valley entrepreneur to data-mining surveillance capitalist — and almost impossible to understand. “He is self-created, a Silicon Valley Oz, who has, through … [Read more...]
PRECIOUS: Automakers to Treat Microchips like Platinum
In response to chip shortages that have plagued the auto industry, automakers will be creating new supply lines that treat chips more like platinum or palladium than just another part. Stephen Wilmot reports in The Wall Street Journal: The once-obscure world of automotive microchips will never be the same again. It has been a difficult month for the car industry. Manufacturers such as Toyota and General Motors have announced sweeping reductions to their fall production schedules for want of parts, particularly semiconductors. Consulting firm AlixPartners said Thursday that the chip … [Read more...]
BREAKING: Game Changer for ANNUITIES and Life Insurance
You know it’s no fun getting homework, especially on a Friday. But this is too important to let the weekend go by without thinking about what I’m about to write. Because every now and then, there’s a piece of research or an article that’s a game-changer, like this chart below, showing you the madness in the stock market and probably in your mutual funds and ETFs. But that’s not my focus today because this week, I read one of the most important articles I’ve ever read on annuities and life insurance, two areas Your Survival Guy eschews and treats like rat food, that the article deftly … [Read more...]
Lazy Cash Wandering Docks at Newport Boat Show
“Permission to board? Should we remove our shoes?” Becky and I asked. A polite way to board a brand-new boat on display at the Newport International Boat Show last weekend. With docks loaded with giddy, lazy cash looking for some fun next summer, you can imagine the challenge it is to keep the decks free and clear of excess debris. As Becky and I spoke with our local Grady White dealer and boatyard owner, we learned that if you want a new boat, you’ll have to get in line because dealer allocations are a fraction of what they were pre-Covid, thanks to a lot of things like a shortage of … [Read more...]
Facebook Complains Your Privacy Hurts Its Profits
Facebook Vice President Graham Mudd has complained in a blog post that new privacy enhancements on Apple products have impeded its advertising tools. Bowdeya Tweh reports for The Wall Street Journal: Facebook Inc. FB +1.03% said that Apple Inc.’s recent changes to enhance privacy for users of its mobile operating system are impeding tools that the social-media giant uses to help advertisers measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. In a blog post Wednesday, Graham Mudd, Facebook’s vice president of product marketing, said the company has heard from many advertisers that privacy changes … [Read more...]
Is the Fed Losing the Inflation Battle?
The Federal Reserve is sending signals it believes inflation will last longer than expected. Greg Ip reports for The Wall Street Journal: All year the Federal Reserve’s message on inflation has been consistent: This year’s surge is transitory, and inflation will soon return close to the central bank’s 2% target. Yet look more closely, and it is clear officials are turning less sanguine—and that explains growing eagerness to start raising interest rates. Last September, long before the supply bottlenecks emerged, the median forecast by Fed officials was for core inflation (which excludes … [Read more...]
This Chart Belongs on Your Fridge and More…
Have markets all gone mad? Take a look at this chart. It shows you how many stocks in the S&P 500 are trading at more than ten times sales. It’s a shocking display and may go down as the poster child chart for today’s madness. This chart needs to go on your fridge. Speaking of your fridge, how’s your lazy cash doing? Is it eating all your leftovers, drinking your milk, and not doing the dishes? Hey, I get it. We all have cash that’s lazy, and sometimes it needs a little tough love. But be warned, there’re plenty of scoundrels out there looking to "take the pressure off of you,” and … [Read more...]
An Inflation Warning
In the Financial Times, Robert Armstrong interviews Larry Summers and Nouriel Roubini about inflation. He writes: Summers does not buy the notion that current inflation is the result of temporary bottlenecks. Whenever demand exceeds supply, the inflation that results is made up of a series of bottlenecks, each apparently temporary: “If you thought demand was running hot relative to supply, you would expect there would be bottlenecks. You’d expect inflation to feed through selectively. And there is every reason to think we are going to see new bottlenecks. I read a story today that there is a … [Read more...]
Biden Doesn’t Understand Why Gasoline Prices Are So High
The Biden administration is worried about gasoline prices, and they don't understand why they're so high, or what to do about it. Perhaps setting the expectation that the administration would slowly be cracking down on all fossil fuels, thereby limiting investment in the fossil energy industry and future supply might have something to do with it. The Financial Times reports on Biden's confusion, writing: White House rankled by high gasoline prices It could be a headline from practically any presidency in recent decades. And the administration of Joe Biden — despite its green credentials … [Read more...]
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