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New Orleans & G.W. inefficiency 19 y
Maureen Dowd packs an ass kicking approach to the lower IQ ed leaders. It always looks easier on the outside, BUT THIS ONE is a real mess -How does one answer for this? And is New Orleans in competition with Texas OIL? But what has this to do with the populace stuck without food or water?
Op-Ed Columnist
United States of Shame
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By MAUREEN DOWD
Published: September 3, 2005
Stuff happens.
And when you combine limited government with incompetent government, lethal stuff happens.
America is once more plunged into a snake pit of anarchy, death, looting, raping, marauding thugs, suffering innocents, a shattered infrastructure, a gutted police force, insufficient troop levels and criminally negligent government planning. But this time it’s happening in America.
Forum: Maureen Dowd’s Columns
W. drove his budget-cutting Chevy to the levee, ... read more Excessive Compensation 19 y
Oh well, the only company I am not familiar with is the istar one of mention. All the rest are old standby's and Qualcomm is in San Diego- Irwin and Joan Jacobs do give to charities in the area...but...that really has little to do with the percentage of assets to executive compensation-It does say something about Irwin's character tho.
Hands Off My Dividends!
iStar Financial has been a steady market beater over the past five years, combining substantial long-term capital gains and a compelling dividend yield. But after recommending the stock to subscribers, Fool analyst Mathew Emmert has considered jumping off the iStar ship. The reason? Greedy executives.
By Tim Hanson (TMF Mmbop)
August 29, 2005
Jay Sugarman, CEO of iStar Financial (NYSE: SFI), earned nearly $33 million last year -- the beneficiary of a 1,500% raise that was tops among all publicly traded companies. According to Forbes, that makes him the world ... read more Notorious Leaders Quiz! 19 y
This is a smart quiz on the snafus and quotes by our most notorious CEO's. CFO's, and Boards. Take the quiz, if you score 80% or above -you're spending too much time reading the financial section!
The Five Dumbest Things on Wall Street This Week: Labor Day Quiz
By Colin Barr
Companies Editor
9/2/2005 7:14 AM EDT
Click here for more stories by Colin Barr
Summer is drawing to a close, and that means it’s time to sharpen those No. 2 pencils and take a whack at the Five Dumbest Things Labor Day quiz.
Answer the following 10 questions on Wall Street’s dumb and dumber goings-on this summer, and you’ll get a chance at an autographed copy of Jim Cramer’s RealMoney: Sane Investing in an Insane World.
Email your answers to this address by midnight Eastern time Monday to ... read more US lusts for OIL 19 y
We all know the truth, let's go get it-if we want it
History Will Show U.S. Lusted after Oil
by Linda McQuaig
Decades from now, historians will likely calmly discuss the war currently raging in Iraq, and identify oil as one of the key factors that led to it.
They will point to the growing U.S. dependence on foreign oil, the importance of oil in the rising competition between the U.S. and China, and the huge untapped store of oil lying unprotected under the Iraqi sand. It will all probably seem fairly obvious.
Just don’t expect to hear this sort of discussion now, however, when it might actually make a difference.
In fact, a year ... read more Selling a Business 19 y
If you have a nice sized business, and you intend selling-If you looka at the taxes on your appreciated value-you may well change your mind! Here's a private annuity that stretches your obligation and benefits your heirs! This was my specialty when i worked in the annuity market
“I would rather expire at my desk than to sell my business and pay Uncle Sam one dime in taxes.”
How many owners who have paid their fair share of taxes for 20 years of building their business feel this way? The tax bite is the single biggest factor in an owner’s reluctance to sell his company.
I have previously written articles discussing various aspects of transaction structures to minimize taxes. As a result, I am often contacted by a panicked seller who is a week from closing his business sale as he looks in disbelief at his accountant’s spreadsheet detailing the tax burden of hi ... read more Forbes, Best of the Web... 19 y
Accountingweb.com- like numbers? I worked for CCH in the estate planning department with some of the best and most knowledgeable tax attorneys in the U.S.. Lots of Private Letter stuff, and Gallo trusts, eh? If you are a skilled attorney and know your way around the IRS code, you can do many good deeds for the super wealthy...and make a handsome living. Funny , in these years-(when I worked in Estate Planning) "I kept saying I'd like to work with children, but I can't earn any money". Well, to some degree I was correct, but the yen to be around children and work for children was alive in me in 1993 and he took me over a decade to really do what it is I want to do and get paid for it. I spent 90% of my time in my head and 10% in my heart, Wanna know why? Cuz I was heart sick that I was not following my intention for this incarnation. I ignored my internal wisdom...
Forbes “Best of the Web”: Tax Planning
AccountingWEB.com - August 29, 2005 - There are many resources available on the Internet to help you and your clients with tax planning. Two of the best, according to Forbes’ Best of the Web: Tax Planning are the Financial Planning Toolkit from CCH and AccountantsWorld Tax and Accounting Directory.
CCH’s Financial Planning Toolkit offers an excellent Basic Tax Guide and animated calculators with detailed explanations and printable reports. Here users will find top tax stories in the news and sections including:
Personal Financial Advisor
... read more $67 a barrel 19 y
There is only one outcome for fossil fuel, we know the ending to this story already...the amazing part of the whole scenario is that we have our proverbial head in the sand
Updated from 3:15 p.m. EDT
Oil prices closed at an all-time high Wednesday as gasoline inventories fell for the eighth consecutive week and a tropical storm forming in the Atlantic Ocean stoked concerns about possible supply disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico.
Crude for October delivery closed up $1.61 at a record high of $67.32 a barrel on Nymex. Gasoline futures rose 6 cents to $1.92 a gallon. Meanwhile, natural gas prices reached $10 per thousand cubic feet for the first time in more than two years.
The Energy Department said in its latest inventory report that for the week ende ... read more Hurricanes + Energy prices 19 y
Hurricane and energy prices, So futures are spiking due to the upset in weather
Energy Futures Skyrocket on Katrina
By Elinor Arbel
Staff Reporter
8/29/2005 10:06 AM EDT
Energy prices went haywire Monday as Hurricane Katrina brought its wrath to the nation’s primary oil and gas infrastructure along the Gulf Coast.
After topping $70 overnight, crude for October delivery was recently up $2.72 to $69.85 a barrel in electronic Nymex trading. Natural gas futures rose $1.48, or 15%, to $11.27 per thousand cubic feet, while unleaded gasoline added about 20 cents to $2.13 a gallon.
The storm, weakening slightly to Category 4 overnight, made landfall in southeaster ... read more What If...? 19 y
What if the Oil is closer to be Gone than the estimated 10-15 years that the Saudi's estimate??Why aren't we prepared...Anyone from California remeber the 70's ~stagflation~ Odd even days for gas fillup?
COMMENT: Hiding An Oil Panic In Plain Sight.
Dear A-Letter Reader:
The Saudis are the ”central bank of oil,” right? So how come this
central bank is scrounging for loose change under the couch cushions?
Earlier this month came news that Saudi Arabia hired five Rowan jack up
oil rigs for drilling offshore oil wells on a three year contract.
Those rigs are currently under contract in the Gulf of Mexico, so that
means Saudi Arabia outbid somebody to get those rigs ? and rig rates
have already run up to obscenely high levels ? 30% to 50% more than a
year ago.
Drilling for oil u ... read more IRA Annuity/Roth Conversion 19 y
I converted my IRA to a Roth during the year we had the window to do so without penalty- so I was not responsible for this calculation. I'd bet even the insurance companies had to get up to speed on this calculation
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United States: Valuing IRA Annuities in Roth IRA Conversions
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Would you like to be kept informed about similar articles? Signup read more Green Speak 19 y
Green Speak- the game of the land. I remember his absolute disastrous call in 2000, and the over exuberant economy...so he raised rates and (crashed)cooled the market-He has made a few other calls that were way to conservative and not very creative.
His greatness lies in the fact he know's how to speak to Congress; while each of the political hacks trys to angle the economic information to benefit his district or himself! Questions that I could answer, and believe me when you elect a representative, some know very little about whence they speak . Or, perhaps, their bias is such that every question they ask is to prove a point- their POV. Greenspan is the Master of answering with the right answer rather than the one the particular representative wants to elict. His name tends to inspire confidence since he has made some good calls, but God when he goes bad he does it unabashedly.It is time for him to go, but who will be able to reassure Congress while giving answers that a school ch
The Doctrine Was Not to Have One
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
Published: August 26, 2005
JACKSON HOLE, Wyo., Aug. 25 - Alan Greenspan was at the height of his success as chairman of the Federal Reserve in November 1999: the economy was booming, inflation was negligible and people at all levels were becoming wealthier.
Matt Staver/Bloomberg News
Alan Greenspan, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, walking to the Federal Reserve meeting today in Jackson Hole, Wyo.
Dennis Brack/Bloomberg News
Alan Greenspan, far left, presided at a Fed meeting in 2003. In 18 years as Fed chairman, ... read more p/e? 19 y
Most novice or even some not so novice investors are not aware of what P/E really means, and how does one decide what a value is? Well, since you asked multiples of the P/E...
How to Use the P/E
By Philip Durell (TMFAdmiral)
The price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) is probably the most widely used -- and thus misused -- investing metric. It’s easy to calculate, which explains its popularity. The two most common ways to calculate it are:
P/E = share price divided by earnings per share
P/E = market capitalization divided by net income
The share price is the market capitalization divided by the number of shares, so the results should be identical. Share price and market cap are easy to find in the quote section of any financial website. The earnings are usually t ... read more Homeland Insecurity 19 y
Homeland Insecurity, Bob Bauman, an old politico that is now an ex-pat or atleast dually citizened! THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
COMMENT: Homeland Insecurity
Dear A-Letter Reader:
As readers know, I recently returned from a trip to Vancouver, B.C.,
where I spoke at the annual Agora Wealth Symposium. On my return, a
plane change in Houston turned into hours in the air on hold and a
three hour delay in Texas, before I finally got back home to Florida
late at night. I thought I had a bad experience traveling until I saw
this editorial from Kevin Kerr, editor of Resource Trader Alert and
a contributor to Agora’s ”Daily Reckoning” e-newsletter.
What happened to Kevin at the hands of what are supposed to be ” ... read more Talk about a Bad Quarter 19 y
This is humorous and sad at the same time! K Mart CFO employed for one quarter and charged with misleading investors...gee this is a record
Talk About A Bad Quarter
This morning the SEC charged former KMart CFO John T. McDonald, and former CEO Chuck Conaway, with misleading investors in the months leading up to KMart’s bankruptcy.
At first glance, that’s a remarkable charge given that McDonald was CFO for only four months—barely more than a single quarter. As I reported at the time, he was promoted from treasurer in November 2001. Even at the time, it seemed clear that Conaway, charged with turning the ailing retailer around, had trouble finding a CFO that he liked.
Despite plenty of turnaround experience, CFO Martin We ... read more Shorting, Bull o Bear? 19 y
The contrarians feel the large short position is a sign that things are turning around...while investors "in the now" see trouble
Short Interest Sets Record
Most market observers suggest that this bearish sentiment signals a drop in the stock market, but not everyone agrees.
Stephen Taub, CFO.com
August 23, 2005
Are short-sellers signaling gloom for the stock market?
For the monthlong period ended August 15, short-selling surged to a record on the New York Stock Exchange, according to The Wall Street Journal. The number of open short-selling positions rose 2.7 percent from in mid-July, the paper noted, and the short ratio — the number of days’ average volume represented by the outstanding short positions ... read more Foolishness on Fuel 19 y
Was anyone that resides in Congress driving in 1973/74? Remember odd and even license plates for your turn to get gas-remember lines out to kingdom come? What the hell is going on here? Detroit has had 30 years to retool factories to build energy efficient cars~ they exist, we have the technology...Really I am flabbergasted at the stupidity of partisan politics when something this simple is at stake..???
Foolishness on Fuel
Published: August 21, 2005
There are few better illustrations of the disconnect between what lawmakers in Washington know and what they do than an incident that occurred during committee debate on the energy bill in May:
Skip to next paragraph
Forum: Today’s Editorials
Senator Dianne Feinstein offered an amendment to strengthen fuel economy standards for S.U.V.’s, minivans and pickups. When James Talent, a Missouri Republican, opposed the amendment with an argument about potential lost jobs, he drew a sharp response from Pete Domenici, the committee chairman. ... read more A Letter;Conspiracy 19 y
The Sovereign Society Ltd, and their idea on what intentions we are exuding as a Political power...The ways and means of self interest of the "like minded".
COMMENT: Conspiracies
Dear A-Letter Reader:
I’m a firm believer in conspiracies...in the sense that Adam Smith
described them. ”People of the same trade seldom meet together, even
for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy
against the public...”
What are the goals of the United States relative to the mid-East? Is it
part of a conspiracy to remove Israel’s enemies? Is it a conspiracy to
control mid-East oil supplies? Or, are Bush and the ”Neo-Cons” part of a
longer-term conspiracy to achieve US hegemony in the world?
Unfortunately, ”conspiracy” is ... read more |