I know that normally I am known for my investing and economic insight here, but I am also a lawyer and this has just come up. The decision by the New York Appellate Division to reduce the bond required to stay enforcement of the judgment against Donald Trump is incomprehensible. I mean that literally. I […]
Since my last foray into the taxation arena, where I examined the (most probably nonexistent) link between tax collections and growth, proved so interesting, even though it was a purely statistical analysis and nothing to do with tax policy as such, I thought I would make a modest proposal in some actual tax policy directions. […]
I noticed on Yahoo! finance a couple of days ago that Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel, publicly complained that, owing to high taxes and regulatory uncertainty, innovation and growth in the US would be stifled and, of course, Obama is to blame. Of course, this would be the same Intel that paid AMD a $1.25 […]
The SEC, naturally embarrassed about letting Bernie Madoff get away with it for a mere 14 years, has taken to putting press releases on its homepage announcing their upcoming securities fraud actions. This one, though, is particularly good. SEC Charges Nationally Known Psychic in Multi-Million Dollar Securities Fraud Now, securities fraud violations are like potato […]
Those of you who watch Jim Cramer, of whom Seth Klarman said that he is a symptom of everything that is wrong with the financial world nowadays, will recall that last week he expressed approval of the safety of Windstream’s dividend. He also mentioned Fairpoint Communications (FRP), after qualifying his remarks with the fact that […]
My loyal reader(s) who have been following this blog may recall that I called Coinstar a candidate for shorting . At the time it was at 25.91, and it is now at 36.15. So, that’s probably not my best work, although I maintain that the company’s return on its investments is too low to justify […]
The deeper I get into investing, the more I find my interests are aligned with those of our corporate overlords. Thus, even though a piece of legislation is objectively progressive and fair, I also have to view it in terms of how it tilts the power away from the fat cats. Such is the case […]
Well, it’s official. Bernie Madoff is to be locked up for 150 years. Although it’s not exactly investing related, the largest fraud in history cannot pass without comment. Madoff’s attorney must have been dreaming when he offered 12 years; Madoff’s fraud lasted longer than that, and it makes no sense to me that he should […]