The real reason for 401K is missing from this blog. This section of the tax code was created for the benefit of Xerox execs living in Rochester, NY in the 70's. They already had their pensions and parachutes - 401K was just ANOTHER place for them to park money, tax free..it definitely was NOT designed to replace a company pension (or SS) but has been used as an excuse not to fund or CANCEL pensions since that time. SCAM, SCAM, SCAM!!!
(Bloomberg) -- Gold purchases rose 38 percent in the first quarter, led by investment demand that exceeded usage by jewelers for the first time since at least 2004, according to the World Gold Council.
Global demand increased to 1,015.5 metric tons, from 733.9 tons a year earlier, the London-based council said today in a report based on figures from research company GFMS Ltd. Investment purchases more than tripled to 595.9 tons while jewelry demand fell 24 percent to 339.4 tons.
Investment demand for coins, bars and exchange-traded funds was the highest since at least 2004, when GFMS began tracking them, and “could well be” a record, GFMS senior metals analyst Philip Newman said. Jewelry demand had accounted for about two- thirds of gold demand in the past 30 years, he said.
... “Investment flows in the first quarter of this year were unprecedented and, based on an analysis of the past 30 years of the gold market, probably unsustainable in the long term,” UBS AG analyst John Reade wrote in an e-mail. Concerns about inflation and currencies “are likely to continue for the next year or so and this should keep investment flows strong, if not perhaps at the super-strong levels seen in the first quarter.”
The U.K. Royal Mint used 75 percent more gold in the first quarter than a year earlier and the U.S. Mint’s sales of 1-ounce American Eagle gold coins more than quadrupled in January.
...
Total demand from India fell 83 percent to 17.7 tons, from 107.2 tons a year earlier. In Thailand, total usage was a negative 16.9 tons, compared with net demand of 2.1 tons a year earlier. Purchases in China rose 1.8 percent to 105.2 tons from 103.3 tons. In the U.S., demand rose 15 percent to 55.2 tons.
“Certainly over the long run, you’re going to see China permanently taking a bigger role,” said Rozanna Wozniak, London-based investment manager at the council. “Across the world, there has been an increase in recycled gold sales, due to a combination of profit taking and distress selling due to difficult economic conditions.”
Demand in Germany for bars and coins expanded fivefold in the first quarter to 59 tons, according to the report.
“Throughout the western world, the safe-haven motive to buy gold was very strong due to economic uncertainty,” Wozniak said. “In Germany, it also appears to be motivated by inflation.”
The one thing that is unsaid in this article is that gold is an alternative to paper money. A massive increase in physical gold buying is a vote of no confidence in paper money.
... with the Fed balance sheet. It was one of his theories as an academic that the Fed should not restrict itself to Treasury securities, but should buy a range of "assets".
Of course, as a "New Keynesian", Bernanke is trained to work with models that assume that in the "long run", everything slides to a full employment equilibrium ... but unlike other branches of the mainstream church, that the "short run" can last long enough for some quasi-Keynesian models to work.
... is to buy assets when needed to inject reserves into the system and to sell assets when needed to drain reserves from the system.
Ahem ... With their balance sheet full of crap, what happens when the last Treasury Note has been sold ... who is going to buy the crap?
Indeed, before that point, when the Fed's income drops below its cost of operations, because the bulk of its balance sheet is non-performing assets ... how are they going to talk the Congress into funding them and at the same time maintain their vaunted mushroom farmer policy toward Congress ... that is, keep them in the dark and feed them bullshit.
Well, OK, the answer to the second question is probably, "with the connivance of Congress, who don't want to actually be responsible for Monetary policy, but only want to complain and grandstand".
But, still, what about the first question? How does a reserve bank function as a reserve bank if it fills its balance sheet full of crap?
They have ensconced themselves in all facets of this bailout. I am not sure about Larry Fink but someone at BlackRock is well connected. Fed and Treasury certainly have a lot of faith in one company.
Could this be due to BlackRock's management of the bailouts? After all, it was Larry Fink who was crucial in the development of mortgage-backed securities when he was with First Boston, right?
And not to get off-topic, but why would those Bretton Woods guys be so interested with the re-funding of the IMF?
people need to protect themselves. Something that is out of control of the government and has no counter party risk attached to it.
However a general shift to gold would undermine the power of central banks and their influence on the economy. ~Rob Mackinlay
Stop thinking the Gov't is going to help ... if they wanted to help they wouldn't be using tax payer dollars to bail out insolvent institutions.
I wouldn't call this a conspiracy theory. When the facts are lined up this is no longer theory its a policy. A policy that will ultimately fail when the governments of the world run out of gold to lease.
What the credit card providers and their PR shills fail to mention is that they get fees on every transaction. Those with sterling credit use their card frequently. Make those people angry with annual fees, terminated rewards programs, ... and they will ditch their credit card and with that, the credit card provider LOSES ALL THOSE TRANSACTION FEES.
Merchants will probably jump for joy if this happens. They'd much rather you pay in cash in order to avoid paying the transaction fee to the credit card provider. That's why so many merchants want you to sign up for their credit card (like a Target or Lowes credit card - so they don't have to pay a transaction fee to the credit card provider).
any statistics are apple/orange comparisons, as you are trying to contrast stats that are not comparable in any way..
you are contrasting a period in which the overwhelming majority of goods sold in the usa were manufactured and produced in the usa by americans,
and also a era in which it was quite commonplace for a significant pct. of the population to 'work' off-the-books for cash, and usually for irregularly/seasonal periods.. any 'stats' from this period are virulently questionable and certainly INCOMPLETE, if not outright inaccurate, as by our standards today, a large part of the work force working a procession of travelling labor jobs for cash would not be 'seen' as employed at all.
in the current era, we have been on a multi-decade crusade to denude our nation of its primary economic base, and employment base,
Our 'leaders' reclassify hamburger-making as a ''manufacturing'' job during Bush Admin desperation to paint a false face on the consequences of their economic offshoring,
and none of the above has any precendent or counterpart in the earlier Depression.
We are now also a entirely fiat currency underwritten state, whereas even the poorest WPA laborer had a dollar in his pocket come payday that consisted on what in that era was a dollars-worth of silver, so there was inherent valuation still present in that time, as opposed to govt assurances from a president that rules a debtor state with no hard asset beedrock supporting the markets accepted currency valuations of a pack of scurrilous, mercenary traders..
And who do they think the suckers will be this time? What a waste of energy. There isn't an entity in the world that is going to buy that AAA rated crap that permeated every investor, pension fund, hedge fund, etc.
They must really need that sideline money to clear the books. Much like the PPIP the suckers are not ready to be taken again.
I stand corrected, sir. Well, you are right, it would be group 2 I would be targeting for my fantasy credit card company. And yes, I think you're spot on with microloans. Did you read the book by Muhammed Yunus? Fantastic read.
:"I knew I was going to get screwed. The last time I was late on a payment, was back in '96, when I was in an auto accident. But since then, not only do I pay on time, I pay more than the minimum amount. Yet I am going to get penalized?"
No, you're in the group who carries a balance in between months.
There are really three groups:
1. People who pay off the balance *before* they get the bill, to avoid any interest charges at all. This is the group the article is saying is going to get screwed, they've had a pretty good ride being able to get short term (15-28 day) loans at no interest and be paid to do so in some cases (frequent flyer miles, reward points, etc). Interest will now start on day of purchase, and say goodbye to no annual fee and rewards points.
2. People like I used to be and you are now- paying off faster than you spend, but still carrying a balance. This is the group that will be helped the most by the new law- it will lower your interest rate and allow you to pay off the cards sooner.
3. Total deadbeats who go from one card to another and never pay them off. These people are helped somewhat with the usury cap, but are too stupid to take advantage of it.
"Now, if I had a boutique finance firm/bank, I would take advantage of what will be a pool of very pissed off good credit users. Create a card that has the strictest of entry requirements, say a FICO score of 750 or more (along with a good payment history). Offer bennies that are being cut by other cards and other goodies like a substantially lower rate. Those who play by the rules shouldn't be punished."
The problem is, under the new rules, you won't be able to make any money unless you target group 2 instead of group 1. Same idea, but switch that FICO score to a 650-800, and don't accept anybody over 900, because they're the ones playing game #1.
Group #3 needs business microloans, not credit cards.
-------------------------------------
Executive compensation is inversely proportional to morality and ethics.
Lost in all the discussion about the relative merits and value of offshoring is what it does to the workers that remain. No squawking when benefits are reduced and those raises stop coming. That, I think, is where the real benefits come in. These guys are bean counters and they understand that offshoring does not produce the savings that one would think would accrue simply by looking at labor costs. But a workforce that is scared shitless and willing to do more and more for less and less, that is where the real boost comes from.
I knew I was going to get screwed. The last time I was late on a payment, was back in '96, when I was in an auto accident. But since then, not only do I pay on time, I pay more than the minimum amount. Yet I am going to get penalized?
A lot of folks were sold credit they obviously could not handle. I feel for them, and you know what something should be worked out, perhaps by a third party. Frankly, there needs to be a new system regarding consumer credit, especially dealing with cards. Help those who are having a hard time, and put them on a new credit scheme that reflects really what they can pay and handle. If it means lower levels of credit so be it, because its insane to give someone making $20k/yr a credit card equal to what they earn in that time.
Now, if I had a boutique finance firm/bank, I would take advantage of what will be a pool of very pissed off good credit users. Create a card that has the strictest of entry requirements, say a FICO score of 750 or more (along with a good payment history). Offer bennies that are being cut by other cards and other goodies like a substantially lower rate. Those who play by the rules shouldn't be punished.
And that last statement goes for either those who are poor or rich or in-between. You have folks out there who honestly want to meet their financial obligations. But, for one reason or another, cannot. Some folks, and I know a couple, are just out there willing to screw the system, their credit history be damned. Time to weed out these people.
For those who don't have a good score, yet are honest and trying, they need assistance. You know how is it that we can get credit to poverty-stricken women in India and not here?
First of all, it's possible to build a large 1950s American Style Car that gets 100 MPG. But the real story isn't MPG, it's T/MPG (Ton/Miles/Gallon)- how far you can move a ton on a gallon of gas. Neil Young's 1959 Lincoln Continental is really getting about 250 T/MPG.
CSX has been advertising their GE Built Locomotives get 463 T/MPG. This sounds impressive until you look up the mileage of your modern diesel-electric hybrid semi truck; (sorry for using wikianswers for this one, but it's all pretty anecdotal anyway) and you realize that they're getting 321.2 T/MPG. Or maybe more, neither of these calculations (either train or truck) count the weight of the vehicle itself- only the weight of the freight they can haul. Their full T/MPG is probably at least another 50 to 100 over that.
Compare this to a Toyota Prius getting a mere 112.5 T/MPG, and you wonder why they're holding out on us, and why car manufacturers are complaining about increasing Cafe standards to a mere 87.5 T/MPG (given 35 MPG and a 2.5 ton vehicle).
Looks to me that it isn't the engine that is the problem- but rather the transmission. And if GE can make an electric positrac adaptive transmission for a locomotive right here in the United States, why can't GM make one for a car in Detroit?!?!?!?!!?
-------------------------------------
Executive compensation is inversely proportional to morality and ethics.
Made me think about starting a thrift.....: -)
Not really though, I'm too adverse to paperwork for it.
-------------------------------------
Executive compensation is inversely proportional to morality and ethics.
The real reason for 401K is missing from this blog. This section of the tax code was created for the benefit of Xerox execs living in Rochester, NY in the 70's. They already had their pensions and parachutes - 401K was just ANOTHER place for them to park money, tax free..it definitely was NOT designed to replace a company pension (or SS) but has been used as an excuse not to fund or CANCEL pensions since that time. SCAM, SCAM, SCAM!!!
The rise in investment demand is overwhelming the fall in jewelry demand.
The one thing that is unsaid in this article is that gold is an alternative to paper money. A massive increase in physical gold buying is a vote of no confidence in paper money.
But it may have been floated as a trial balloon. Fed already has a conflict between current regulatory authority and monetary policy authority.
And you are spot on about oversight. Who is seriously checking the Fed?
... with the Fed balance sheet. It was one of his theories as an academic that the Fed should not restrict itself to Treasury securities, but should buy a range of "assets".
Of course, as a "New Keynesian", Bernanke is trained to work with models that assume that in the "long run", everything slides to a full employment equilibrium ... but unlike other branches of the mainstream church, that the "short run" can last long enough for some quasi-Keynesian models to work.
... is to buy assets when needed to inject reserves into the system and to sell assets when needed to drain reserves from the system.
Ahem ... With their balance sheet full of crap, what happens when the last Treasury Note has been sold ... who is going to buy the crap?
Indeed, before that point, when the Fed's income drops below its cost of operations, because the bulk of its balance sheet is non-performing assets ... how are they going to talk the Congress into funding them and at the same time maintain their vaunted mushroom farmer policy toward Congress ... that is, keep them in the dark and feed them bullshit.
Well, OK, the answer to the second question is probably, "with the connivance of Congress, who don't want to actually be responsible for Monetary policy, but only want to complain and grandstand".
But, still, what about the first question? How does a reserve bank function as a reserve bank if it fills its balance sheet full of crap?
They have ensconced themselves in all facets of this bailout. I am not sure about Larry Fink but someone at BlackRock is well connected. Fed and Treasury certainly have a lot of faith in one company.
Could this be due to BlackRock's management of the bailouts? After all, it was Larry Fink who was crucial in the development of mortgage-backed securities when he was with First Boston, right?
And not to get off-topic, but why would those Bretton Woods guys be so interested with the re-funding of the IMF?
CMBS - Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities.
people need to protect themselves. Something that is out of control of the government and has no counter party risk attached to it.
Stop thinking the Gov't is going to help ... if they wanted to help they wouldn't be using tax payer dollars to bail out insolvent institutions.
I wouldn't call this a conspiracy theory. When the facts are lined up this is no longer theory its a policy. A policy that will ultimately fail when the governments of the world run out of gold to lease.
What the credit card providers and their PR shills fail to mention is that they get fees on every transaction. Those with sterling credit use their card frequently. Make those people angry with annual fees, terminated rewards programs, ... and they will ditch their credit card and with that, the credit card provider LOSES ALL THOSE TRANSACTION FEES.
Merchants will probably jump for joy if this happens. They'd much rather you pay in cash in order to avoid paying the transaction fee to the credit card provider. That's why so many merchants want you to sign up for their credit card (like a Target or Lowes credit card - so they don't have to pay a transaction fee to the credit card provider).
What is CMBS?
any statistics are apple/orange comparisons, as you are trying to contrast stats that are not comparable in any way..
you are contrasting a period in which the overwhelming majority of goods sold in the usa were manufactured and produced in the usa by americans,
and also a era in which it was quite commonplace for a significant pct. of the population to 'work' off-the-books for cash, and usually for irregularly/seasonal periods.. any 'stats' from this period are virulently questionable and certainly INCOMPLETE, if not outright inaccurate, as by our standards today, a large part of the work force working a procession of travelling labor jobs for cash would not be 'seen' as employed at all.
in the current era, we have been on a multi-decade crusade to denude our nation of its primary economic base, and employment base,
Our 'leaders' reclassify hamburger-making as a ''manufacturing'' job during Bush Admin desperation to paint a false face on the consequences of their economic offshoring,
and none of the above has any precendent or counterpart in the earlier Depression.
We are now also a entirely fiat currency underwritten state, whereas even the poorest WPA laborer had a dollar in his pocket come payday that consisted on what in that era was a dollars-worth of silver, so there was inherent valuation still present in that time, as opposed to govt assurances from a president that rules a debtor state with no hard asset beedrock supporting the markets accepted currency valuations of a pack of scurrilous, mercenary traders..
And who do they think the suckers will be this time? What a waste of energy. There isn't an entity in the world that is going to buy that AAA rated crap that permeated every investor, pension fund, hedge fund, etc.
They must really need that sideline money to clear the books. Much like the PPIP the suckers are not ready to be taken again.
I stand corrected, sir. Well, you are right, it would be group 2 I would be targeting for my fantasy credit card company. And yes, I think you're spot on with microloans. Did you read the book by Muhammed Yunus? Fantastic read.
:"I knew I was going to get screwed. The last time I was late on a payment, was back in '96, when I was in an auto accident. But since then, not only do I pay on time, I pay more than the minimum amount. Yet I am going to get penalized?"
No, you're in the group who carries a balance in between months.
There are really three groups:
1. People who pay off the balance *before* they get the bill, to avoid any interest charges at all. This is the group the article is saying is going to get screwed, they've had a pretty good ride being able to get short term (15-28 day) loans at no interest and be paid to do so in some cases (frequent flyer miles, reward points, etc). Interest will now start on day of purchase, and say goodbye to no annual fee and rewards points.
2. People like I used to be and you are now- paying off faster than you spend, but still carrying a balance. This is the group that will be helped the most by the new law- it will lower your interest rate and allow you to pay off the cards sooner.
3. Total deadbeats who go from one card to another and never pay them off. These people are helped somewhat with the usury cap, but are too stupid to take advantage of it.
"Now, if I had a boutique finance firm/bank, I would take advantage of what will be a pool of very pissed off good credit users. Create a card that has the strictest of entry requirements, say a FICO score of 750 or more (along with a good payment history). Offer bennies that are being cut by other cards and other goodies like a substantially lower rate. Those who play by the rules shouldn't be punished."
The problem is, under the new rules, you won't be able to make any money unless you target group 2 instead of group 1. Same idea, but switch that FICO score to a 650-800, and don't accept anybody over 900, because they're the ones playing game #1.
Group #3 needs business microloans, not credit cards.
-------------------------------------
Executive compensation is inversely proportional to morality and ethics.
Lost in all the discussion about the relative merits and value of offshoring is what it does to the workers that remain. No squawking when benefits are reduced and those raises stop coming. That, I think, is where the real benefits come in. These guys are bean counters and they understand that offshoring does not produce the savings that one would think would accrue simply by looking at labor costs. But a workforce that is scared shitless and willing to do more and more for less and less, that is where the real boost comes from.
Dan
I knew I was going to get screwed. The last time I was late on a payment, was back in '96, when I was in an auto accident. But since then, not only do I pay on time, I pay more than the minimum amount. Yet I am going to get penalized?
A lot of folks were sold credit they obviously could not handle. I feel for them, and you know what something should be worked out, perhaps by a third party. Frankly, there needs to be a new system regarding consumer credit, especially dealing with cards. Help those who are having a hard time, and put them on a new credit scheme that reflects really what they can pay and handle. If it means lower levels of credit so be it, because its insane to give someone making $20k/yr a credit card equal to what they earn in that time.
Now, if I had a boutique finance firm/bank, I would take advantage of what will be a pool of very pissed off good credit users. Create a card that has the strictest of entry requirements, say a FICO score of 750 or more (along with a good payment history). Offer bennies that are being cut by other cards and other goodies like a substantially lower rate. Those who play by the rules shouldn't be punished.
And that last statement goes for either those who are poor or rich or in-between. You have folks out there who honestly want to meet their financial obligations. But, for one reason or another, cannot. Some folks, and I know a couple, are just out there willing to screw the system, their credit history be damned. Time to weed out these people.
For those who don't have a good score, yet are honest and trying, they need assistance. You know how is it that we can get credit to poverty-stricken women in India and not here?
One of my little cousins has that Hello Kitty card! It's true, these people will shovel cards to anyone.
I'll combine them here.
First of all, it's possible to build a large 1950s American Style Car that gets 100 MPG. But the real story isn't MPG, it's T/MPG (Ton/Miles/Gallon)- how far you can move a ton on a gallon of gas. Neil Young's 1959 Lincoln Continental is really getting about 250 T/MPG.
CSX has been advertising their GE Built Locomotives get 463 T/MPG. This sounds impressive until you look up the mileage of your modern diesel-electric hybrid semi truck; (sorry for using wikianswers for this one, but it's all pretty anecdotal anyway) and you realize that they're getting 321.2 T/MPG. Or maybe more, neither of these calculations (either train or truck) count the weight of the vehicle itself- only the weight of the freight they can haul. Their full T/MPG is probably at least another 50 to 100 over that.
Compare this to a Toyota Prius getting a mere 112.5 T/MPG, and you wonder why they're holding out on us, and why car manufacturers are complaining about increasing Cafe standards to a mere 87.5 T/MPG (given 35 MPG and a 2.5 ton vehicle).
Looks to me that it isn't the engine that is the problem- but rather the transmission. And if GE can make an electric positrac adaptive transmission for a locomotive right here in the United States, why can't GM make one for a car in Detroit?!?!?!?!!?
-------------------------------------
Executive compensation is inversely proportional to morality and ethics.
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