Judging by the seemingly unstoppable rise in the cost of bitcoin, it would appear no one even noticed that $70 million worth of the digital currency was stolen by hackers. The victim was the crypto-currency mining operation known as NiceHash. Steven Russolillo reports: Andrej P. Škraba, head of marketing at NiceHash, said to The Wall Street Journal that approximately 4,700 bitcoin had been stolen from a bitcoin wallet, an online account that stores the digital currency. Bitcoin wallets, like other online bank accounts, have been targets of hackers in the past. “It was a professional … [Read more...]
What Tax Reform Means for You: Part II
One of the big disappointments (among many) in the GOP tax-reform is that there was no reduction in dividend and capital gains tax rates. With the Obamacare investment tax add-on, the maximum dividend and capital gains rates are almost 25% today. That’s up from 15% during the Bush and early Obama years. Capital gains taxes are one of the easiest taxes to dodge. Investors simply hold their investment positions instead of selling them and paying taxes on the gain. The simplicity with which capital gains taxes can be avoided means there is almost no correlation between the maximum capital … [Read more...]
This Tax Bill Needs Better Messaging
My friend from the Cato Institute, Chris Edwards, outlines some of the areas where Republicans have failed to provide adequate messaging on what will be one of the largest federal tax overhauls in decades. Edwards writes that vague reporting on the bill from various groups who have analyzed it, the bill's "reforms are impressive and promise to lift all boats in coming years with a rising tide of growth." Edwards continues: The Democratic class warfare will continue even after President Trump signs the bill, and that will create two big problems. The first is that the Democrats will probably … [Read more...]
GOP Tax Reform Will Hit Many Wealthy Republicans in Blue States
Yesterday the New York Times published an article about how the elimination of the ability to deduct state and local taxes (SALT) from federal taxable income calculations will hurt many taxpayers in blue states. As the NYT notes, there are even some counties with high Republican affiliations that will take a major hit from the removal of the SALT deductions. Alicia Parlapiano and K.K. Rebecca Lai write: There are a handful of Republican counties, particularly in New York and New Jersey, that claim high amounts of SALT deductions. Many of the 13 Republican representatives who voted against … [Read more...]
USPS Still Does Things the Internet Cannot
Need some baby chicks delivered direct to your home? The USPS will get them there for you. It turns out there are some things that the Internet simply cannot deliver, and that includes livestock and other animals that can be shipped via the USPS. The postal service has a list of animals it will deliver, and the requirements for the packaging and handling. The Wall Street Journal reports that, despite best efforts, animals can sometimes escape their packaging. The USPS has been delivering live animals since at least 1918, according to post-office records. In the past three years, the … [Read more...]
Nestlé Expands its Nutrition Portfolio
Nestlé has been focused on the idea of food as nutrition for a long time now, and the company's new CEO Mark Schneider is continuing that vision. Nestlé just announced that it will buy Atrium Innovations, owner of the Garden of Life and Pure Encapsulations brands of health supplements. Nestlé is trying to keep up with fast changing Millennial tastes by innovating its own more nutritional foods and buying up smaller competitors who already service the market for healthier fare. Ben Dummett and Saabira Chaudhuri report: Packaged-food makers such as Nestlé and Kraft Heinz Co. are being buffeted … [Read more...]
Trust in Money, Store of Value, Part II: Bitcoin, Dollars and You
On a recent outing to the Mt. Washington Hotel, I was concerned my car wouldn’t get us home. You can read that story here. But I also had a chance to think about the Bretton Woods Agreement which was signed there in 1944 and another historic event, bitcoin, and what they mean to all of us. The Bretton Woods Agreement, by pegging the U.S. dollar to gold, created a store of value. The system worked well until the 1960s where high demand for reserve currency dollars dwindled the gold supply. The gold window was closed in 1971. The dollar and other fiat currency values have been floating … [Read more...]
Dollar General Has Cracked the Code to Rural America
Proper location and the right product mix has given Dollar General just what it needs to appeal to shoppers in rural America. They want smaller sizes than they get at giant big box stores, and the convenience of a store nearby. The Wall Street Journal's Sarah Nassauer notes that as rural America struggles, Dollar General's customer base grows. She writes: Dollar General is expanding because rural America is struggling. With its convenient locations for frugal shoppers, it has become one of the most profitable retailers in the U.S. and a lifeline for lower-income customers bypassed by other … [Read more...]
What does Tax Reform Mean for You? Part I
The Senate passed a historic tax-reform bill in the wee hours of the night on Friday. The tax overhaul slashes the corporate tax rate to 20% from 35%, reduces the rate on pass-through businesses, and simplifies and reduces rates for individuals. That’s the good, there is bad and ugly in the bill as well. To meet arcane Senate and budgetary rules, there were many sacrifices made starting with the expiration of a simplified individual income tax code in 2026. Lawmakers are saying publicly that they expect a future Congress to maintain the reformed tax-code, but with a bill that was passed … [Read more...]
Senate Republicans Pass Tax Reform
After months of immobility, the Senate passed its tax reform bill last week in a flurry of final edits and revisions. The bill is by no means perfect, but it does preserve the 20% corporate tax rate that was previously passed by the House of Representatives. Both houses' bills will now head to conference to be reconciled with one another, and the final bill will come back to be voted on once more by each house. Richard Rubin and Siobhan Hughes write of the bill's passage: The bill would overhaul much of the U.S. tax system in ways that tax experts are only beginning to understand. Mr. … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 410
- 411
- 412
- 413
- 414
- …
- 639
- Next Page »