A NYT article focuses on a group called "True the Vote", whose representatives attempt to arouse the True Believers with tales of voter fraud. In these stories, the TBs are told about a bus carrying people from polling place to polling place to vote illegally. No one has a scintilla of proof that any such event actually happened. No one bothered to take a picture with a cell phone, or write down a license plate number, or even to notify election officials. Just another example of reality creation by TBs? The NYT article is instructive on the real motives of this organization. The first target of their efforts was poor blacks in Sheila Jackson Lee's Texas district.
A study by the Congressional Research Service, the non-partisan research service for Congress, found little evidence that tax cuts for the rich produced faster income growth. But, those tax cuts do increase inequality by increasing the wealth gap. CNBC This is a link to the report, online.wsj.com/public documents.pdf
David Leonhardt showed Paul Ryan a graph, reproduced in Leonhardt's NYT column, that showed GDP rising after Daddy Bush and Clinton raised taxes and declined in the years following Bush Junior's tax cuts. Ryan did not dispute the accuracy of the graph, but attempted to explain the inconsistency between his beliefs about tax cuts and several decades of data.
Romney was recorded making disparaging remarks about Americans who will vote for Obama. In his view, 47% of the people will vote for Obama because they are "dependent on government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them, . . . (and who) believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. . . . That's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. . . these people pay no income taxes. . . My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives ". ABC News; Bloomberg; MarketWatch The video can be found at Mother Jones and at the NYT.
Of the 47% of Americans who paid no federal income tax in 2011, 20% were elderly on social security and 60% were working stiffs who paid payroll taxes at a higher effective tax rate on their income than Mitt Romney. Bloomberg. And, polls show that almost 1/2 of the moochers will be voting for Mitt. FactCheck.org & PolitiFact As noted in a NYT, support for GOP candidates has increased in states where the federal government spends more than it collects.
The Tax Policy Centers estimates that 4,000 households reported over a million in income in 2011 and paid no federal taxes. They were joined by another 14,000 making between $500,000 to a million.
This is not a surprise sentiment. Romney is stating one of the Modern Day GOP's core beliefs. That belief is consistent with the GOP's Ayn Rand vision for America, a belief that nearly half of the American people, including those old people on Medicare and Social Security, are moochers, freeloaders, tax avoiding parasites, and hopeless losers, nothing but an unjustified burden on the Job Creators who will turn the U.S. into an economic nirvana once they are freed from the shackles placed on them by the Moocher Class. Ayn Rand would call those old people moochers too. The GOP's Movement Toward An AYN RAND Vision for America; GOP's Plan To Bankrupt the Middle Class; Paul Ryan is a Reactionary (Not a Conservative)-An Advocate of a Gilded Age Political Philosophy
At the same fundraiser, Romney stated that the Palestinians do not want peace, and there is "no way" to resolve the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians. Reuters NYT
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FedEx lowered its guidance again for its F/Y 2013. The new range is for an E.P.S between $6.2-$6.6, down from $6.9-$7.4. The company blamed "weak global economic conditions". Those conditions are causing some customers to switch to slower and lower priced shipping options. Profit in FDS's express segment fell 28%, with U.S. express shipments falling 5%, during the first fiscal quarter. FDX is increasing rates by a net average of 3.9% in the U.S. The CEO stated in the conference call that people were underestimating the slowdown in China's exports. Earnings Call Transcript - Seeking Alpha I have no position in FDX: 86.55 -2.73 (-3.06%).
Stifel Nicolaus downgraded several BDCs to sell, including Prospect Capital, which caused a downdraft in this sector. I own ARCC, TICC and PSEC: 11.53 -0.68 (-5.53%). I have recently sold my entire positions in both ARCC and PSEC held in retirement accounts.
Iron Ore rose $4.42 per metric ton or 4.18% yesterday. Iron Ore delivered to Qingdao China The price has risen steadily since China announced its massive infrastructure expenditures. VALE: 19.55 +0.18 (+0.93%); Bought 50 Vale at $15.9 (8/31/12 Post).
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1. SUSPRA Redeemed at Par Value Plus Accrued Interest: I owned 80 shares of this TP in the ROTH IRA. This TP was redeemed at its $25 par value, plus accrued interest, yesterday:
A study by the Congressional Research Service, the non-partisan research service for Congress, found little evidence that tax cuts for the rich produced faster income growth. But, those tax cuts do increase inequality by increasing the wealth gap. CNBC This is a link to the report, online.wsj.com/public documents.pdf
David Leonhardt showed Paul Ryan a graph, reproduced in Leonhardt's NYT column, that showed GDP rising after Daddy Bush and Clinton raised taxes and declined in the years following Bush Junior's tax cuts. Ryan did not dispute the accuracy of the graph, but attempted to explain the inconsistency between his beliefs about tax cuts and several decades of data.
Romney was recorded making disparaging remarks about Americans who will vote for Obama. In his view, 47% of the people will vote for Obama because they are "dependent on government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them, . . . (and who) believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. . . . That's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. . . these people pay no income taxes. . . My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives ". ABC News; Bloomberg; MarketWatch The video can be found at Mother Jones and at the NYT.
Of the 47% of Americans who paid no federal income tax in 2011, 20% were elderly on social security and 60% were working stiffs who paid payroll taxes at a higher effective tax rate on their income than Mitt Romney. Bloomberg. And, polls show that almost 1/2 of the moochers will be voting for Mitt. FactCheck.org & PolitiFact As noted in a NYT, support for GOP candidates has increased in states where the federal government spends more than it collects.
The Tax Policy Centers estimates that 4,000 households reported over a million in income in 2011 and paid no federal taxes. They were joined by another 14,000 making between $500,000 to a million.
This is not a surprise sentiment. Romney is stating one of the Modern Day GOP's core beliefs. That belief is consistent with the GOP's Ayn Rand vision for America, a belief that nearly half of the American people, including those old people on Medicare and Social Security, are moochers, freeloaders, tax avoiding parasites, and hopeless losers, nothing but an unjustified burden on the Job Creators who will turn the U.S. into an economic nirvana once they are freed from the shackles placed on them by the Moocher Class. Ayn Rand would call those old people moochers too. The GOP's Movement Toward An AYN RAND Vision for America; GOP's Plan To Bankrupt the Middle Class; Paul Ryan is a Reactionary (Not a Conservative)-An Advocate of a Gilded Age Political Philosophy
At the same fundraiser, Romney stated that the Palestinians do not want peace, and there is "no way" to resolve the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians. Reuters NYT
********
FedEx lowered its guidance again for its F/Y 2013. The new range is for an E.P.S between $6.2-$6.6, down from $6.9-$7.4. The company blamed "weak global economic conditions". Those conditions are causing some customers to switch to slower and lower priced shipping options. Profit in FDS's express segment fell 28%, with U.S. express shipments falling 5%, during the first fiscal quarter. FDX is increasing rates by a net average of 3.9% in the U.S. The CEO stated in the conference call that people were underestimating the slowdown in China's exports. Earnings Call Transcript - Seeking Alpha I have no position in FDX: 86.55 -2.73 (-3.06%).
Stifel Nicolaus downgraded several BDCs to sell, including Prospect Capital, which caused a downdraft in this sector. I own ARCC, TICC and PSEC: 11.53 -0.68 (-5.53%). I have recently sold my entire positions in both ARCC and PSEC held in retirement accounts.
Iron Ore rose $4.42 per metric ton or 4.18% yesterday. Iron Ore delivered to Qingdao China The price has risen steadily since China announced its massive infrastructure expenditures. VALE: 19.55 +0.18 (+0.93%); Bought 50 Vale at $15.9 (8/31/12 Post).
*****************
1. SUSPRA Redeemed at Par Value Plus Accrued Interest: I owned 80 shares of this TP in the ROTH IRA. This TP was redeemed at its $25 par value, plus accrued interest, yesterday:
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| SUSPRA Redeemed by Issuer |
I discussed this redemption in an earlier post. Item # 1 SUSQ Redemption of TPs
My last quarterly interest payment was received on 9/12/2012:
2. Bought 100 of the ETF MDIV at $20.51 Last Friday-A Satellite Taxable Account (see Disclaimer): The First Trust ETF VI Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund (MDIV) is a new ETF that will attempt to track the Nasdaq Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index. Normally the fund will invest at least 90% of its asset as follows: 25% common stocks; MLPs 20%; REITs 20%; preferred stocks 20% and ETFs 15%:
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| Asset Weightings |
The expense ratio is .6%. No dividends have been paid yet. The fund anticipates paying income dividends on a quarterly basis. (page 14: Prospectus)
Sponsor's web page: Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund (MDIV). The expense ratio is .6%.
Multi-Asset Diversified Income Index Fund (MDIV) Holdings In the REIT sector, the fund is exposed more to Mortgage REITs than Equity REITs. Seven of the top 10 holdings are Mortgage REITs. The sole ETF is currently a 15+% weighting in HYG, the iShares junk bond ETF.
This ETF, like EMLP from the same sponsor, avoids the negative tax problem associated with MLP ETFs by keeping MLP ownership at less than 25%. I may add MDIV in an IRA to replace one of the two MLP ETFs held in those accounts.
This ETF, like EMLP from the same sponsor, avoids the negative tax problem associated with MLP ETFs by keeping MLP ownership at less than 25%. I may add MDIV in an IRA to replace one of the two MLP ETFs held in those accounts.
3. SOLD 35 CNO at $9.98 Last Friday (Lottery Ticket Basket Strategy)(see Disclaimer): This LT selection had a quick 28% move, so I sold it.
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| 2012 CNO 35 Shares +$60.04 |
4. Sold 100 JNK at $40.73 Last Friday (see Disclaimer): While I netted only a $8.05 profit from this junk bond ETF, I did received $524.69 in dividends since purchasing those share back in October and November 2010 (two 50 share lots) . I no longer view the yield of junk bond funds to be worth the risk.
As noted earlier, the average junk bond recently fell below a 6.5% yield for the first time. Shortly after the Fed announced QE3, the average yield fell to 6.34%. Barrons
The sponsor's page for JNK had the yield at 6.94% as of 9/13/12, the day before I sold this ETF. JNK - SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF
JNK: 40.75 -0.01 (-0.02%)
The sponsor's page for JNK had the yield at 6.94% as of 9/13/12, the day before I sold this ETF. JNK - SPDR Barclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF
JNK: 40.75 -0.01 (-0.02%)
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