Other recent
entries in this blog:
04 October 2008
Thank You, Mr Paulson
So Congress caved in to Wall Street's hissy fit and gave the Treasury carte
blanche to spend USD700bn on buying worthless mortgages. And just for good measure
it added 150bn of unfunded tax breaks.
That was quite an expensive day, even by Washington's standards, coming to
about USD4,500 for every US taxpayer. And what will it buy?
Well, how about a big steaming pile of moral hazard? Oh, and don't forget the
blank check that Congress now has to shoot itself in the other foot by passing
a whole raft of anti-investor legislation next year once there is a Democrat
in the White House and a rock-solid Democrat majority in both houses.
The most remarkable thing, perhaps, about this whole sorry mess is that it
has been instigated by a high priest of Wall Street who was himself at the top
of the capitalist pile. He is an honourable man, Secretary Paulson, so I'm sure
he didn't do it for his friends. But then who did he do it for? Not for you
and me, it's clear.
The markets showed how they would have reacted to the bill's failure on Monday
and Tuesday, after the House threw it out, and it wasn't that terrible. And
just in case you missed the message, they fell again after the bill was signed
into law on Friday afternoon.
It won't make any difference to what is going to happen, anyway; it will just
transfer a trillion of our money into the pockets of the owners and operators
of financial institutions once this is over and it all starts up again.
Meanwhile I for one won't be putting any money into the dollar or US stocks
or bonds. There's only one way they can go for the next few years, and it isn't
up! Perhaps I'll buy US bank stocks in 2010; they should be nice and cheap by
then, and I'll reap my harvest in 2020, just before the next crash.
17 August 2008
Alphabet Soup
If I was to say to you IASB or FASB? EBITDA or EBITDAX? you'd know I was talking
about accounting standards and reporting profits, wouldn't you? Yes, of course.
But could you tell me what accounting standards were used in calculating the
EPS of those shares you bought last week?
Pleased to see then that IASB (the European brand) and FASB (the US brand)
are finally getting their act together and moving towards a harmonized system
of profits reporting. They're a long way off still, but at least they're trying.
Actually isn't it ridiculous that the regulators are so far behind the markets?
You can buy ETFs which cobble together shares from umpteen different exchanges
all over the world, and there will be as many different ways of calculating
their profits as there are shares. How can you know what you're buying?
Take goodwill, for instance. There are hardly two countries in the world which
use the same rules for deducting it. And IP the same. This is what makes the
politicization of the CCTB (Common Corporate Tax Base) in Europe so absurd and
so anti-consumer.
The whole direction of investment markets is towards disintermediation, empowering
and informing the investor. Yet 'they' can't get past squabbling over their
silly red lines.
When will they grow up?
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Latest
25 entries from all other blogs:
19 November 2008
You Don’t Know Until You Go!
09 November 2008
A Keynesian Vacancy The IMF Can't Fill
02 November 2008
You Can't Escape; Resistance is Futile
28 October 2008
Why the Financial Crisis Doesn't Really Matter
19 October 2008
Tax Harmonization Is Coming!
14 October 2008
The British Government’s ‘Ill Considered’ Use of Anti-Terrorist Financing Legislation against Iceland and the Wider Implications
12 October 2008
How To Commit Collective Financial Suicide
07 October 2008
How and Why You Should Buy Physical Gold Offshore
22 September 2008
Scam Busters: Second Citizenship and Passport
07 September 2008
EU Defeated By Bean-Counters
05 September 2008
Offshore Banking: Failure to Open a Bank Account
31 August 2008
A New Lord Of Taxation
29 August 2008
How to Avoid Envy by Keeping a Low Profile
21 August 2008
High Yield Offshore Investment Programs: Do They Exist?
20 August 2008
Blacklisted Offshore: Private Consultant's Opinion
18 August 2008
Why taking a vacation can improve your health – and wealth!
11 August 2008
Your Ships Come in Over a Calm Sea
10 August 2008
Taxpayers: 1; India 0
07 August 2008
While Offshore Banking Giants are in Trouble
05 August 2008
Microchips with Everything
03 August 2008
It's All The Fault Of The Speculators
25 July 2008
How to Leverage Offshore E-Commerce in Your Existing Business
25 July 2008
Is Dominica Good for Your Offshore Business?
20 July 2008
'I Love Tax' - Anonymous Offshore Banker
16 July 2008
Is there a trade-off between Freedom and Security?
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