What We're Reading

Being reported in the Wall Street Journal, the EU to Investigate Corporate Tax Codes in Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands after criticism of their tax rates for Corporate offshore havens.  AAPL specifically being mentioned in the news as theirs use of favorable Irish tax laws allowed it to pay just a 3.7% tax rate on non-U.S. income during its last fiscal year. That, in turn, is a big reason $132.2B of Apple's $150.6B  cash balance at the end of FQ2 was offshore.  Tim Cook was grilled by Congress last year over Apple's offshore tax payments; Cook responded in part by calling for an overhaul of the oft-criticized U.S. corporate tax code.

Of course there has been an ongoing push up on the Hill for another "tax holiday" where Corporations can repatriate overseas funds.  This being met with resistance as the 2004 tax holiday saw the funds spent, not on R&D and job creation, but largely returned returned to shareholders via dividends and buybacks; acts which were specifically prohibited....

We tend to think of outsourcing as being overseas call centers and phone assembly in China however that's not necessarily the case anymore; especially when it comes to small business.  One has to wonder just how much small businesses think of outsourcing as a business advantage or requirement in order to grow.  This cute slideshare laid it out in simple, easy to understand terms and got my mind to thinking...........

By James "bad hair" Altucher

Federal authorities are examining a series of well-timed trades made by the golfer Phil Mickelson and the gambler William T. Walters, people briefed on the investigation said, focusing on trading in two different stocks. The authorities are also questioning what role, if any, the investor Carl C. Icahn may have had in sharing information about one of the stocks: the consumer products company Clorox.

Mr. Mickelson, a three-time winner of the Masters golf tournament and one of the country’s highest-earning athletes, placed his Clorox trade in 2011, the people briefed on the investigation said. Mr. Walters, an owner of golf courses who is often considered the most successful sports bettor in the country, made a similar trade about that time, the people added.

Mr. Icahn, a 78-year-old billionaire and one of the best-known investors in the world, was mounting a takeover bid for Clorox around the time that Mr. Mickelson and Mr. Walters placed their trades.

The F.B.I. and Securities and Excha

The Securities and Exchange Commission has touched off a major bureaucratic scuffle with its fellow financial regulators by proposing to, in the words of one Democratic aide, “rip the heart out of Dodd-Frank.” The SEC, following the wishes of one of its Republican commissioners, has initiated a turf war over which agency gets to monitor a key corner of the financial system.

At issue are so-called asset managers, companies like BlackRock, Fidelity and Pimco, who manage investments on behalf of individuals and groups through mutual funds and other vehicles. Asset management firms collectively control an astonishing $53 trillion in investor funds.

Historically, the SEC has regulated asset managers. But under Dodd-Frank, the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a newly created super-regulator, can designate “systemically important financial institutions,” or SIFIs, and subject them to rules previously reserved for banks. An FSOC designation puts non-bank SIFIs under the supervision of th

This visual gives one a clear perspective on what housing areas were hit the hardest during the recent financial crisis and subsequent housing (price) fall. The recovery in some areas has been amazing.

Created by Catherine Mulbrandon at VisualizingEconomics.com

Enough said

On the heels of the announcement AT&T was in the talks to acquire DTV, David Faber on CNBC mentioned he believed we will see a great deal more M&A going forward; that this is the perfect environment for it. Kos agrees. One way to be able to demand a higher price is to remove (absorb) the competition and shrink the space. Case in point; look at airlines.

Deregulation passed in 1978 created not only a surge in small, value brand names such as Southwest and AirTran. These low-cost names truly began to put pressure on larger airlines. Remember airfare wars? The winner was you and me so what's a larger airline to do to counteract these price ware? How can you demand a higher price? Absorb your competition.

This graphic shows how even back in 2010, just how many were merged with their larger counterparts. (click image to enlarge)

Sadly the loser will be the consumer as M&A means consolidation and layoffs. Wave goodbye to competitive consumer pricing.

The winner - stockholders.

Recently we’v

This weekend I focused on the LARGER, long-term picture of the stock market to make it overall easier for my brain to comprehend. 

1. Merely when "what" moving average crossed what moving average (on a monthly, not daily or weekly chart) would be a decent indicator of trend?   I wasn't going for exact science here but more a common sense approach when it comes to the long haul.  Just "when" should I bail and sit on my hands with my IRA?  *This" unfortuantey is a topic for another conversation.
2. The BIGGER question was at what point do I really want to jump back in and "buy on the cheap"?  

I should explain that I trade based on 80% technicals (fibonacci combined with chart patterns) and only about 20% fundamentals but my trading style is to buy at a support rather than a breakout.  This became my personal preference after having been "shook out" of breakouts once too many times over the years.  This style is not for everyone but buying at support, I feel my downside risk is more c

You've been in a winning stock for months.  You've got a double or triple and feeling like a boss but quite honestly you're becoming concerned the bull trend may be coming to an end.  Not a crisis mind you; but mean reversion is normal and typical.  You understand such things so what method do you have to protect profits in such a case?  Here I offer a video by Jeff Hirsch, Editor of Stock Traders Alamanc which gets you out and to the sidelines; ready to re-deploy cash at lower levels.  Cheers-

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