Archive for September, 2011
« Previous EntriesAre You Ready to Pay $3 (or more) Per Month to Use Your Debit Card?
Friday, September 30th, 2011Front page in today’s WSJ was an article about how Bank of America is planning to start charging their customers $5 per month when they use their debit cards. Other banks are testing such fees. Why the new fee? According to the article, the fee is in response to a part in the Dodd-Frank Financial [...]
What a Difference A Day Makes…
Wednesday, September 28th, 2011Check out this table I made showing the month-to-date and year-to-date returns for the indexes I follow on AFM. Notice what an impact one day’s market performance has on the both the month-to-date and year-to-date numbers.
John Steele Gordon: A Short History of the Income Tax
Tuesday, September 27th, 2011Great piece in today’s WSJ: A Short History of the Income Tax by John Steele Gordon. Distilled into bullet points: • After the Civil War, the government relied mostly on the tariff for revenues, which was basically a consumption tax that hit the poor much harder than the rich. • An income tax on the [...]
Interesting Interview with Economist, Robert Lucas
Monday, September 26th, 2011If you have time, check out this interview with University of Chicago Economist, Robert Lucas that was in this weekend’s WSJ. Some interesting tidbits from the piece: Mr. Lucas is visiting NYU for a few days in early September to teach a mini-course, so I dash over to pick his brain. He obligingly tilts his [...]
Quote of the Day – Annuities
Friday, September 23rd, 2011I would like to get into the habit of posting a quote of the day every day but for now I’ll post them when I come across them. Today’s (rather long) quote comes to us from the pages of The Ultimate Financial Plan: Balancing Your Money and Life* by Tim Maurer and Jim Stovall in [...]
Will The Fed’s “Twist” Help the Economy?
Thursday, September 22nd, 2011From today’s WSJ: The latest move by the chairman was a decision to dramatically recast the Fed’s $2.65 trillion securities portfolio in an effort to reduce long-term interest rates. The Fed plans to shift its holdings so it will have more long-term U.S. Treasury bonds and more mortgage debt than previously planned. It hopes the [...]
Thomas Friedman’s “Optimism”
Wednesday, September 21st, 2011I read a rather unflattering review of Thomas Friedman’s newest book “That Used to Be Us” in today’s WSJ. I have not read the book, nor do I plan to. I read the bulk of “The World Is Flat” several years ago and decided I had had enough of Mr. Friedman. That said, I want [...]
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