And the market yawns to the next iteration of printing
Gotta love them using the farse UE fig as a measure for when to change their printing stance
All they need is for a good chunk of those currently labeled as UE to give up and stop looking and/or get on some assistance program of some sort and we'd be at 6.5% in a jiffy
Wages to GDP has been a straight line down since 2000 and has continued down even after the 2007 market bounce/"recovery" having trouble finding the chart
Gotta love them using the farse UE fig as a measure for when to change their printing stance
All they need is for a good chunk of those currently labeled as UE to give up and stop looking and/or get on some assistance program of some sort and we'd be at 6.5% in a jiffy
Wages to GDP has been a straight line down since 2000 and has continued down even after the 2007 market bounce/"recovery" having trouble finding the chart
[h=1]Buffett, Soros Join List of Billionaires Calling for Tax Hikes They Won’t Pay[/h]
By Matt Nesto | Breakout – 5 hours ago
Since Warren Buffett has once again entered the current debate over tax increases by calling for the federal estate tax to go up, it only seems fair to see how his latest round of proposed changes would actually impact him. Buffett is among America's super rich, and his fortune, at $46 billion, is second only to Microsoft founder Bill Gates'.
Prior to his latest call for the upward revision of the estate tax, the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman has also recently called for income, capital gains and dividend taxes to go up too, explaining in a widely discussed op-ed in The New York Times ("A Minimum Tax For The Wealthy") that higher tax rates over the years have had no bearing on investors like him.
As much as this may sound like selfless advice from a renowned financier who simply wants what's best for America, in reality he's immune from almost all of it. As I discuss with Aaron Brown, Risk Manager at AQR, in the attached video, Buffett's do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do proposals seem to fit the criteria needed to be a patriotic millionaire.
"I just got fed up. It wasn't just Warren Buffett. There's been a half dozen of these things lately, and what I noticed is everyone is asking for taxes to be raised except the taxes they actually pay," Brown told me on the sidelines of theMinyanville Festivus event.
So in that light, let's look at the gap that exists between proposed tax hikes and actual impact.
For more information on Minyanville's Festivus charity event benefiting The Ruby Peck Foundation please click here.
By Matt Nesto | Breakout – 5 hours ago
Since Warren Buffett has once again entered the current debate over tax increases by calling for the federal estate tax to go up, it only seems fair to see how his latest round of proposed changes would actually impact him. Buffett is among America's super rich, and his fortune, at $46 billion, is second only to Microsoft founder Bill Gates'.
Prior to his latest call for the upward revision of the estate tax, the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman has also recently called for income, capital gains and dividend taxes to go up too, explaining in a widely discussed op-ed in The New York Times ("A Minimum Tax For The Wealthy") that higher tax rates over the years have had no bearing on investors like him.
As much as this may sound like selfless advice from a renowned financier who simply wants what's best for America, in reality he's immune from almost all of it. As I discuss with Aaron Brown, Risk Manager at AQR, in the attached video, Buffett's do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do proposals seem to fit the criteria needed to be a patriotic millionaire.
"I just got fed up. It wasn't just Warren Buffett. There's been a half dozen of these things lately, and what I noticed is everyone is asking for taxes to be raised except the taxes they actually pay," Brown told me on the sidelines of theMinyanville Festivus event.
So in that light, let's look at the gap that exists between proposed tax hikes and actual impact.
- The proposed income tax increase on couples earning more than $250,000 year: Buffett's $100,000 a year salary is well known - as is the complaint that his poor, lowly secretary has a higher tax rate.
- Then, there's his support for the recommended adjustment to tax dividends and capital gains as ordinary income instead of at the current 15% rate: Berkshire doesn't pay a dividend and Buffett never sells stocks.
- And finally, we have his newest pitch to raise estate taxes: He's already pledged most of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and said the rest will go to the tax-sheltered philanthropies his children run. The Wall Street Journal nailed the Oracle of Omaha earlier this year, saying Buffett would not only avoid the so-called Buffett Rule, but he actually told the throngs who flock to his annual meeting to "follow my tax dodging example" and give their money away.
For more information on Minyanville's Festivus charity event benefiting The Ruby Peck Foundation please click here.
Forget the printing it's all about one word debt
2007 was the peak to a super cycle in debt expansion
Government rushed into pick up the slack and yes Ben "printing" makes it cheap to borrow
Government now hitting its wall ... Private sector is not healed ... Wage earners still hurting ... And government now in debt up tto its eyballs ... And got little bang for its buck long term as expected .... Wasted money to put off pain now to concentrate it for later
2007 was the peak to a super cycle in debt expansion
Government rushed into pick up the slack and yes Ben "printing" makes it cheap to borrow
Government now hitting its wall ... Private sector is not healed ... Wage earners still hurting ... And government now in debt up tto its eyballs ... And got little bang for its buck long term as expected .... Wasted money to put off pain now to concentrate it for later
Big Brother is using the internet to keep an eye on you if you are unemployed
This is the first time I have ever seen the government use the internet to directly monitor citizens from their homes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20799963
This is the first time I have ever seen the government use the internet to directly monitor citizens from their homes
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20799963
Massive government debting only thing holding economy (errrr... I mean stock market) together that has to end at some point
Maybe we go cliff diving at least for a bit .... Futures off big after boehners plan b fails... Based on history usually takes some market turmoil for these guys to go ok ... We will give uwhat u want more debt and problems for later down the road
The short sidedness of outr leaders is absolutely astounding
Also on the printing front a big part of the reason to print is to make your currency cheap vs others as a boon to exports but when everybody doing it ... It don't work
Maybe we go cliff diving at least for a bit .... Futures off big after boehners plan b fails... Based on history usually takes some market turmoil for these guys to go ok ... We will give uwhat u want more debt and problems for later down the road
The short sidedness of outr leaders is absolutely astounding
Also on the printing front a big part of the reason to print is to make your currency cheap vs others as a boon to exports but when everybody doing it ... It don't work
He's just a pure lunatic
As Einstein said ... Insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results
QE1/TARP etc made some sense as we were staring financial Armageddon in the face
After that just leave it alone unless things start to get really bad on that front ... Take our hard hot ... Allow the system to cleanse and purge .... So we can get past this mess rather than drag it out for decades which is the path they chose instead
Keynesians just gonna have to learn the hard way I guess ...
The list of long term imbalances/unsustainable things allowed to fester and grow these horrific policies is massive
As Einstein said ... Insanity doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results
QE1/TARP etc made some sense as we were staring financial Armageddon in the face
After that just leave it alone unless things start to get really bad on that front ... Take our hard hot ... Allow the system to cleanse and purge .... So we can get past this mess rather than drag it out for decades which is the path they chose instead
Keynesians just gonna have to learn the hard way I guess ...
The list of long term imbalances/unsustainable things allowed to fester and grow these horrific policies is massive
Abe Calls for Weaker Yen
By TATSUO ITO And WILLIAM MALLARD
TOKYO—Japan's incoming prime minister fired a volley in what market watchers warn could become a global currency war, saying the country had to defend itself against currency devaluations by other governments by making sure the yen weakens as well.
Shinzo Abe, on a television talk show Sunday, called on Japan's central bank to resist what he described as moves by the U.S. and Europe to cheapen their currencies, and noted that a yen level of around ¥90 to the dollar—it was at ¥84.26 late Friday—would support the profits of Japan's own exporters.
"Central banks around the world are printing money, supporting their economies and increasing exports. America is the prime example," said Mr. Abe, referring to the Federal Reserve's policy of flooding the market with dollars by purchasing massive amounts of Treasury bonds and other assets. "If it goes on like this, the yen will inevitably strengthen. It's vital to resist this," he said.
It's "completely different" for Japanese companies if the dollar is in the 80-yen range, as it is now, as opposed to the ¥90s, Mr. Abe continued. If the dollar "is above ¥85, companies that haven't been paying taxes until now [because they don't have profits]...can pay taxes."
Mr. Abe's comments, his most explicit yet on the level of the yen, come as a host of countries are taking steps that end up weakening the values of their currencies or stopping them from rising. Some, like the U.S., are trying to bolster weak economies with aggressive monetary easing; others are intervening directly in the markets to keep their currencies from strengthening.
South Korea's central bank last month sold won and bought at least $1 billion in the currency market to curb a steep rise in its currency, according to traders, and its officials warned against "excessive" moves that would hurt the nation's exporters.
Bank of England Gov. Mervyn King told The Wall Street Journal this month he fears that "2013 could be a challenging year in which we will, in fact, see a number of countries trying to push down their exchange rates. That does lead to concerns."
Japan has reined in its own currency interventions this year, following an unusual criticism of its forays into the market by the U.S. Treasury a year ago. Mr. Abe himself takes a dim view of intervention, saying in a November interview with the Journal that it is "hardly effective."
Instead, he is ramping up pressure on the Bank of Japan for aggressive steps including "unlimited easing" to whip the country's chronic deflation and keep the yen's strength in check. On Sunday, Mr. Abe repeated calls for the bank to set a firm 2% target for price inflation at its January policy-board meeting, and threatened to take legislative action to force the bank's hand if it doesn't act on its own.
The BOJ last week said it would consider a price target at its January meeting, and unveiled what it called an unprecedented program to provide cheap funds to commercial banks in return for an increase in their loans—including loans to finance acquisitions overseas.
The central bank's rare admission that it was targeting the value of the yen as well as attempting to boost economic growth has already prompted warnings from some currency experts.
"Monetary easing in itself won't be a problem. But if that is linked to a weaker currency, that will be viewed as a beggar-thy-neighbor policy," said Osamu Takashima, chief foreign-exchange strategist at Citibank.
Mr. Abe and other heavyweights in his Liberal Democratic Party appear to be favoring only a moderate weakening of the yen, since the country's import tab has shot up following the nuclear accident of March 2011. The accident effectively resulted in the idling of most of Japan's nuclear plants, and fossil-fuel purchases have surged as a result.
"Given Japan's industrial structure, it's not the case of the weaker the yen the better," said Shigeru Ishiba, the LDP's No. 2 ranked politician and a key Abe lieutenant, in a TV interview Friday, according to local media reports. "We need to think about how to maintain it around ¥85-¥90" to the dollar.
Yuji Saito, director of foreign exchange at Crédit Agricole ACA.FR -2.51% in Tokyo, said Abe's team is sending "a wise message that what they want is just to correct the extremely strong yen—not to pursue weakening the yen. The ¥85-¥90 range should be a comfortable zone for everyone including exporters, importers and banks as well as international partners such as South Korea and the U.S."
Were Mr. Abe targeting the dollar at ¥100, the incoming government might "press the BOJ too much," Mr. Saito said, potentially upsetting the Japanese government-bond market—which has remained steady despite Mr. Abe's reflationary campaign—and driving long-term interest rates up.
—Takashi Mochizuki and In-Soo Nam contributed to this article.
Write to Tatsuo Ito at tatsuo.ito@dowjones.com and William Mallard at billy.mallard@dowjones.com
By TATSUO ITO And WILLIAM MALLARD
TOKYO—Japan's incoming prime minister fired a volley in what market watchers warn could become a global currency war, saying the country had to defend itself against currency devaluations by other governments by making sure the yen weakens as well.
Shinzo Abe, on a television talk show Sunday, called on Japan's central bank to resist what he described as moves by the U.S. and Europe to cheapen their currencies, and noted that a yen level of around ¥90 to the dollar—it was at ¥84.26 late Friday—would support the profits of Japan's own exporters.
"Central banks around the world are printing money, supporting their economies and increasing exports. America is the prime example," said Mr. Abe, referring to the Federal Reserve's policy of flooding the market with dollars by purchasing massive amounts of Treasury bonds and other assets. "If it goes on like this, the yen will inevitably strengthen. It's vital to resist this," he said.
It's "completely different" for Japanese companies if the dollar is in the 80-yen range, as it is now, as opposed to the ¥90s, Mr. Abe continued. If the dollar "is above ¥85, companies that haven't been paying taxes until now [because they don't have profits]...can pay taxes."
Mr. Abe's comments, his most explicit yet on the level of the yen, come as a host of countries are taking steps that end up weakening the values of their currencies or stopping them from rising. Some, like the U.S., are trying to bolster weak economies with aggressive monetary easing; others are intervening directly in the markets to keep their currencies from strengthening.
South Korea's central bank last month sold won and bought at least $1 billion in the currency market to curb a steep rise in its currency, according to traders, and its officials warned against "excessive" moves that would hurt the nation's exporters.
Bank of England Gov. Mervyn King told The Wall Street Journal this month he fears that "2013 could be a challenging year in which we will, in fact, see a number of countries trying to push down their exchange rates. That does lead to concerns."
Japan has reined in its own currency interventions this year, following an unusual criticism of its forays into the market by the U.S. Treasury a year ago. Mr. Abe himself takes a dim view of intervention, saying in a November interview with the Journal that it is "hardly effective."
Instead, he is ramping up pressure on the Bank of Japan for aggressive steps including "unlimited easing" to whip the country's chronic deflation and keep the yen's strength in check. On Sunday, Mr. Abe repeated calls for the bank to set a firm 2% target for price inflation at its January policy-board meeting, and threatened to take legislative action to force the bank's hand if it doesn't act on its own.
The BOJ last week said it would consider a price target at its January meeting, and unveiled what it called an unprecedented program to provide cheap funds to commercial banks in return for an increase in their loans—including loans to finance acquisitions overseas.
The central bank's rare admission that it was targeting the value of the yen as well as attempting to boost economic growth has already prompted warnings from some currency experts.
"Monetary easing in itself won't be a problem. But if that is linked to a weaker currency, that will be viewed as a beggar-thy-neighbor policy," said Osamu Takashima, chief foreign-exchange strategist at Citibank.
Mr. Abe and other heavyweights in his Liberal Democratic Party appear to be favoring only a moderate weakening of the yen, since the country's import tab has shot up following the nuclear accident of March 2011. The accident effectively resulted in the idling of most of Japan's nuclear plants, and fossil-fuel purchases have surged as a result.
"Given Japan's industrial structure, it's not the case of the weaker the yen the better," said Shigeru Ishiba, the LDP's No. 2 ranked politician and a key Abe lieutenant, in a TV interview Friday, according to local media reports. "We need to think about how to maintain it around ¥85-¥90" to the dollar.
Yuji Saito, director of foreign exchange at Crédit Agricole ACA.FR -2.51% in Tokyo, said Abe's team is sending "a wise message that what they want is just to correct the extremely strong yen—not to pursue weakening the yen. The ¥85-¥90 range should be a comfortable zone for everyone including exporters, importers and banks as well as international partners such as South Korea and the U.S."
Were Mr. Abe targeting the dollar at ¥100, the incoming government might "press the BOJ too much," Mr. Saito said, potentially upsetting the Japanese government-bond market—which has remained steady despite Mr. Abe's reflationary campaign—and driving long-term interest rates up.
—Takashi Mochizuki and In-Soo Nam contributed to this article.
Write to Tatsuo Ito at tatsuo.ito@dowjones.com and William Mallard at billy.mallard@dowjones.com
Hey Snoop, Miss ya in the other room. Maybe you can do a month or two of hard labor then tell Aki that ypou'll stay out of his way. I think he'd accept that. Gotta say, you're an honorable guy for mannin' up right away when BAS came with the verdict. That says a lot to me and probably a bunch of other guys too. Much respect from here.
Good luck man.
Good luck man.
It was fun mocking at him but at some point it's a waste of time. I admit I do enjoy watching Willie laughing at those uninformed liberals down there, looks like he is getting bored with them, too. Anyway, I started of the year on the back foot yet again, some of my hedges went horribly wrong. 
ucking:
GL with your trades/bets in 2013, Mike.
ucking:GL with your trades/bets in 2013, Mike.
Yeah more of the same snoop... More debt and worry about it later ... Same ol shit
Unreal where this will lead long term ... Economy now dependent on trillion dollar deficits every year to stay afloat... Reality will hit at some point who knows when ... And all this dependency on government assistance to keep things "ok" will have major long term repurchasing in terms of productivity etc
15-20 year slow motion depression extended another 5 lol
Havent been short much for a while now
Gold the real stuff not miners, oil related stuff, cash for me
Unreal where this will lead long term ... Economy now dependent on trillion dollar deficits every year to stay afloat... Reality will hit at some point who knows when ... And all this dependency on government assistance to keep things "ok" will have major long term repurchasing in terms of productivity etc
15-20 year slow motion depression extended another 5 lol
Havent been short much for a while now
Gold the real stuff not miners, oil related stuff, cash for me
And no reason not to profit from it
