The L.A. Times reported this week on Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner’s bill that seeks to impose sales tax on merchandise sold online. Skinner’s AB 153 is another Main Street Fairness bill that aims to create a level playing field and help brick and mortar businesses regain their balance when competing against e-tailers not currently charging sales tax.
The story details the inevitable bid by California legislators to claim what is surely the lowest-hanging fruit in the face of a $25 billion budget gap:
“The state has long had a back-up tax. A 35-year-old statute requires both businesses and individuals to pay a use tax on purchases when sales taxes aren’t collected. While b
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New datasets on the important role played by Bank-managed trust funds are now available on the Open Finances website .
Website users can now explore the diversity of donors who contribute to trust funds, the recipients of these funds, the development challenges addressed by the funds, and monetary contribution/ disbursement amounts. The website makes it easy to use, reuse, and share data, including tailored visualizations that users can create through filters and easily share with social networks.
The World Bank Group portfolio consists of various types of trust funds, which have different roles globally and in the Bank Group’s activities. As of June 30, 2011, the Bank Group held $29.1 billion of funds in trust. Of
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Goldman Sachs (GS) has a floating rate debt issue denominated in Australian dollars, which resets its coupon rate quarterly at the Australian Bank Bill Swap Reference Rate (BBSW) plus 0.51%, matures in 48 months, and currently indicates a yield to maturity about 7%. The high yield and short maturity of this Aussie bond, when considered with its solid A- rating and enviable reputation, compares extremely favorably in relationship to other high yield instruments in our Foreign and World Fixed Income holdings, and we think Australia’s recent weaker than expected economic report and pull back of Aussie dollar presents a great opportunity for increasing exposure to the Australian currency in our basket of foreign fixed income holdings.
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By now, you’ve probably received all the forms you need to prepare your 2011 tax return, including the recently revised 1099-Bs from your broker. If you bought a stock in 2011, and sold it during the year, you’ll see your broker’s calculation of your cost basis and your capital gain.
If this describes you, Robert Green, a certified public accountant at Green NFH (greentradertax.com), which focuses on high-frequency traders, says you should consider filing for an extension on 2011 tax returns, rather than risk filing an incorrect return and having to amend it later.
Why the crunch this year? The …
Posted by: Brodie Jerrems in
Bank Rates on March 29th, 2012
March 07, 2012
By Richard Barrington | MoneyRates.com Senior Financial Analyst, CFA
Yesterday the Dow Jones Industrial Average suffered its worst day of 2012 so far. Ordinarily, that news wouldn’t affect depositors in savings accounts, or might even reaffirm their conservative choice of investment. This time though, it represented yet another setback for savings accounts and other deposit vehicles.
The problem in this case was that the tumbling stock market dragged interest rates down with it. Any decline in market interest rates is another sign that depositors could have an even longer wait before they see higher CD, savings and money market rates.
The Dow fell 203.66 points yesterday, representing a 1.6 percent loss in a single day.
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Thanks Mike M! Sorry it took so long to get to this. I just didn’t have the time to get into it. Nice job. I don’t agree with everything but much of it is right on. My comments are in italics below the analysis — Phil
MEANING
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (CLF) f/k/a Cleveland-Cliffs is an international mining and natural resources company that currently focuses on mining essential minerals (iron ore and metallurgical coal (“met coal”)) that are needed to create steel used in building the world’s infrastructure (e.g., new buildings, tunnels, rails etc.) other products (e.g., cars, appliances, etc). Additionally, they also mine the less profitable and thermal coal, which is used for energy production and they are conducting feasibility studies on a large (and expensive) chromite project in Canada. The demand for iron ore and coal will be around for a long time to come because countries and businesses can‘t keep growing without increasing their need for steel and energy.
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The Afternic.com blog and popular blog DomainGang.com were suspended for ongoing spamming of our non-commercial and advertising-free DomainingRoulette.com RSS News Feed.
They are welcome to contact us if they would like to be unsuspended.
Morris Sheppard Texarkana Federal Credit Union invites its members to take advantage of their of their high yield savings account under regulars share savings. You can earn an interest rate of 1.51% APY when you open an account. This money in the bank deal is part of their requirements to become a member of the credit union.
Individuals who wants to earn this high interest savings account may deposit a minimum of $5 to open an account. You need to maintain an average daily balance of at least $50 to a maximum of $25,000 to earn this best interest rate. The earnings of this best savings account are compounded and paid every month. Please be reminded that the interest rate may change any time without notice.
This best savings account has several features that you can enjoy like direct deposit, payroll deduction options, direct withdrawals, free notary public, and free ATM card.
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Posted by: Brodie Jerrems in
Bank Rates on March 17th, 2012
Home construction permits filed by government-reported builders increased considerably in February, providing a sign that the housing market could be moving in the right direction. However, some wonder if recovery is truly on the horizon, with actual housing starts slipping a bit in the same month.
Home Construction Permits Jump to 3-Year High
As home builders push through building season, which begins in January, theyre finding good reason to file permits, according to new figures from the government.
The number of permits filed jumped to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 717,000 in February. This represents a 5.1-percent increase from January and a 34.3-percent hike from year-earlier levels. In fact, its the strongest reading since Oct. 200
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