Written by Benjamin Woods on May 15, 2012.
Yesterday in Tax Notes Today I read a report about a Senate hearing to consider the Obama Administration’s nominee for the top tax policy position at the U.S. Treasury Department. His name is Mark Mazur, currently Treasury deputy assistant secretary for tax analysis.
Mazur told the committee that the White House has no plan to release a comprehensive tax reform proposal any time soon. Huh? So, they think the current tax system is working OK? Uh, for who?
When asked where the administration’s “sense of urgency” was to deal with our broken tax system, Mazur basically answered, What sense of urgency?
I thought I was flabbergasted. But flabbergasted means to make one speechless with amazement, and I’m rarely speechless. Then I thought, I’m not really surprised, either. Why should the Obama Administration come out with a tax reform proposal? The Republi
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Written by Benjamin Woods on May 5, 2012.
American Consumer Credit Counseling is conducting poll questions every month about personal finance. The goal is to find out what consumers know, what they need to know, and ultimately to use this information to help educate consumers.
This month ACCC asks
Have you ever been dishonest with your partner or spouse regarding your or your familys finances?
Visit ConsumerCredit.com to answer and see the results.
Well publish the full findings at the end of the month.
Written by Benjamin Woods on April 13, 2012.
Van Eck Global, the fund sponsor known for its natural resources investments, filed updated regulatory paperwork on its planned high-yield corporate bond ETF focused on both the developed and emerging markets and denominated in a number of major currencies. The new paperwork included the ticker and cost, suggesting launch is near.
The Market Vectors International High Yield Bond ETF (NYSEArca: IHY) will have a 0.40 percent annual expense ratio—including a 0.13 percent fee waiver through Sept. 1, 2013, the New York-based company said in the new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The plan for a high-yield international bond ETF comes at a time when U.S. investors are grappling with ultra-low interest rates that have prevailed since the stock market crashed in 2008. Finding fixed-income investments with decent yield has thus become more difficult, making high-yield bonds—especially those in emerging markets where interest rates tend to be higher than in developed markets—much more attractive.
The fund will hold publicly issued debt in U.S. and Ca
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Written by Benjamin Woods on April 4, 2012.
Oh my! The IRS budget request for FY 2013 is a paltry $12.8 billion. What’s a poor revenuer to do? Don’t the folks realize that the IRS collects more than $2.4 trillion in taxes? Couple billion more for the IRS and tax receipts will soar!
According to the IRS, the FY 2013 budget includes $403 million for new enforcement activities . The IRS expects those new activities to raise $1.48 billion in annual revenue after a couple of years for new personnel to be trained and gain experience. In typical government bureaucratic fashion, the IRS proudly proclaims that “This is a 4.3-to-1 return on investment.”
Return on Investment ? Am I missing something here? Using funds forcibly extracted from citizens to increase the amount of funds forcibly extracted is an investment? And the increase in forcibly extracted funds is a return?
In the first place, investment usually implies risk. Seems t
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Written by Benjamin Woods on March 30, 2012.
People love coupons. As you know, if you read my recent grocery challenge update, I am not one of those people. Not only are coupons not necessary for a thrifty lifestyle, but they can even be detrimental to your wallet and your budget. According to Nielson Clearing House (NCH), 78% of consumers report using coupons on a regular basis. This stat alone implies that my stand on coupons is not parallel with the majority. Although plenty of you won’t agree with me, the following are a few reasons why I dont clip coupons.
You’re getting a discount on the higher priced items. More often than not the coupons out there provide a discount on the items that are the priciest. Therefore, you are not getting the best deal on a specific item (i.e. cereal) you are just getting a discounted price on the already higher priced, premium item (i.e. brand name cereal). I’v
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Written by Benjamin Woods on March 20, 2012.
This agency plans to ask the big banks how overdraft fees affect consumers, how overdraft fees are marketed and what information consumers receive. The purpose is to determine if consumer laws are being violated; new rules and or law suits could result.
If you have overdraft protection on your checking account and you don’t have enough funds to cover the checks you have written, you are charged a fee per check that the bank covered for you. The average overdraft fee per check is $35.00, which is similar to a short term loan.
In 2010, the banks were prohibited from automatically signing up customers for overdraft programs for debit card and ATM transactions. This didn’t apply to checks, online bill payments or recurring debits and didn’t limit how much the banks could charge. As a r
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Written by Benjamin Woods on March 9, 2012.
(Story updated throughout to make clear “clearly erroneous” YMLP trade won’t be busted. Also updated to include trading-volume data.)
A single aberrant trade today in the new MLP ETF launched on Tuesday won’t be canceled, even though the price of the security suddenly shot up 50 percent above the then-prevailing market price.
The trade will stand because the buyer didn’t file a complaint with the New York Stock Exchange—something that has to take place within 30 minutes of the event if a trade is to be reviewed, officials at the New York Stock Exchange told IndexUniverse.
The Yorkville High Income MLP ETF (NYSEArca: YMLP) traded at $30.12 per share at a time when the market was at around $20. A single market order for at least 100 shares was executed erroneously at that elevated price due to a fleeting electronic glitch, officials at Yorkville, the New York-based firm behind the new ETF, said.
NYSE policy dictates that in the event of a nonmarketwide “clearly erroneous trade,” the “harmed party”—in this case the buyer—has 30 minutes to file a trade review request if that trade is to be busted. NYSE officials said they
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