To close out the year on the lighter side of things we thought it might be fun to take a look back at some of the oddest tax laws enacted in 2010. This collection of the bizarre needs no prefacing and proves once and for all that truth is surely stranger than fiction. Enjoy! CANDY: [...]
The rate on the benchmark 10 yr Treasury has increased roughly 100 bps over the past 2 months - peaking at around 3.5% before settling in at today's 3.33% yield. Some would argue higher rates will snuff out economic recovery. They would be wrong. Rates have been low for quite awhile and have done little [...]
Longtime friends and clients of Apollo Wealth Management know we are big fans of the team at Tweedy, Browne and their commonsense, value-conscious investment style. Their research-intensive operation shuns benchmarks, short-term performance and wholesale portfolio turnover. Instead their focus is on minimizing losses and providing positive long-term absolute returns. Equally appealing is they "eat their [...]
It's that time of year again. You've overindulged in Thanksgiving turkey, embarrassed yourself at the office party, spent four hours researching big-screen TVs and now you're ready to spend five minutes on your financial life. Step #1: Look at last year's to-do list. Step #2: Make excuses why none of it was addressed. Step #3: [...]
On Friday President Obama signed into law The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010. Known as the law that extends the "Bush tax cuts" there are some lesser known included provisions impacting individual income tax payers: AMT "PATCH": The AMT exemption for 2010 increases to $47,450 for single filers and [...]
TAX CREDIT FOR CHARITABLE DONATIONS: A bill that would provide tax credits for charitable contributions has been stalled in the House since its introduction earlier this year. HR 4702 would let taxpayers take a credit of up to $1,000 for charitable contributions or opt for an itemized deduction. The bill has remained idle in the [...]
Yesterday Uncle Sam liquidated his stake in Citigroup at $4.35/shr. The average sale price across this and all prior sales was $4.14/shr - well in excess of the $3.25/shr "purchase price." Treasury estimates a cumulative $12 billion profit from the $45 billion bailout - not a bad ROR at all. That's 27% but who's counting? [...]
Some things in life are as inevitable as the tide. Take year-end travel for instance. Corporate travelers log heavy airport time crisscrossing the country visiting clients and closing business deals. Leisure travelers connect with friends and family for Thanksgiving and the seasonal holidays. Given the crowds and flight delays the last thing we need as [...]
Lots of rhetoric has been wasted frightening the public about the impending tax "increases" scheduled for Jan 1st if Congress does not take action. A fair, plain language summary of the issues and challenges is available here along with estimates of lost revenue to Treasury if the "Bush cuts" are extended.
When Vanguard isn't promoting their interests by urging us to adopt the Vanguarding lifestyle (how long until they drop the terrible marketing campaign?) they're adopting the role of the parental figure - helping us temper our expectations about the direction of bond risks and returns. We're not trashing Vanguard. We love Vanguard. They have lots [...]