Written by Benjamin Woods on November 16, 2011.
Legg Mason’s (LM) Bill Miller was the mutual fund industry’s rock star through the 1990s and the first few years of this millennium. Now he’s unplugging his amp and walking off the stage.
Miller is leaving Legg Mason Capital Management Value Trust at the end of April. It was there where he achieved the amazing feat of beating the S&P 500 for 15 consecutive years before being proven mortal in 2006. Miller isn’t going away entirely. He will still serve as the company’s chairman. He will also continue to co-manage the smaller Legg Mason Capital Management Opportunity Trust.
Miller’s DiMaggio-esque Streak
Beating the S&P 500 isn’t easy, even if cynics will argue that it’s what fund managers are paid well to do.
A fund has to deal with management expenses and trading costs. If that isn’t enough of a setback, an open-ended fund also has to deal with the inflows and outflows of shareholders.
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Written by Hugo Pethebridge on November 16, 2011.
Despite the only modest economic upswing, government revenues have performed better than expected, and thus the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has adjusted downwards its deficit projection for fiscal year 2011, which ends in September. It now expects the federal budget deficit to have remained more or less stable at about $1290bn; the deficit ratio would then decline slightly from 8.9 to 8.5% of GDP. Debt held by the public would nevertheless increase further from 62.1 to 67.3% of GDP, and jump to 72.8% by 2013, despite an expected narrowing in the budget shortfall. The CBO predicts that the budget deficit will have amounted to $132bn in August, $41bn more than the shortfall recorded in the same month last year. However, the increase will be largely due to calendar effects. Adjusted for these, the deficit would have been $13bn higher than in the previous year.
Retail sales increased noticeably by 0.5% mom in July, as vehicle sales continued to rebound.
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Written by Hugo Pethebridge on November 12, 2011.
Unions are inextricably tied to the U.S. economy. Since the industrial revolution, they have served an important purpose, ensuring that there is a balance of power between management and labor. But what if things have gone too far? Could unions actually be costing Americans jobs by forcing companies to outsource? And, if so, what’s the solution?
To understand the role of labor unions today and how they could be jeopardizing your wallet, we must circle back to their origins. When most of the U.S. labor force was concentrated in mills and factories in small towns and growing industrial epicenters, connected only by a limited railway network, unions played the dual role of watchdog and agent. They ensured that management could not subject workers to inhumane conditions or force them to accept unfair compensation by giving workers bargaining power borne from unity, organization and educated leadership. F
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Written by Jai Borchgrevink on November 10, 2011.
Im currently reading Pursuit of Godby A.W. Tozer. I first read it eight years ago, but I wanted to re-read it because I remember how powerful it was at the time.
If I had to choose only one book to recommend that will challenge you in your walk with God, it would be this book! It will confront your idols and give you a grander picture of your relationship with Jesus Christ.
Thats exactly what is happening, again, as I read this book. The 2nd chapter, entitled The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing, retells the story of Gods testing of Abraham through the giving up of his son Isaac, the most-prized treasure in Abrahams life.
His point is that gifts from God often wind up replacing God himself in our hearts. It was never intended to be this way. Heres a line from page 22:
Things have become necessary to us, a development never originally intended. Gods gifts now take the place of God, and the whole course of nature is upset by the monstrous substitution.
God confronted the idol of Abrahams love for his son Isaac. God knew that Abraham treasured his son more than God himself, so he put him to the test.
Is God your most-prized possession?
Is He the thi
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Written by Benjamin Woods on November 8, 2011.
Talk about burying the lead!
In this morning’s Wall Street Journal Stephen Moore reports in the 4th paragraph of an op-ed that super-committee co-chairman Jeb Henserling told him: “We have no interest in raising rates–period.” This could imply there is interest in raising taxes without raising rates. Paragraphs 6 and 7 confirm the implication. Republicans would agree to cuts in big-ticket tax breaks in exchange for keeping the top individual rate at 35 percent. This would be a tax increase relative to the intuitive current policy baseline that Republicans almost always insist on using. and the public consider a tax increase.)
If Republicans on the committee agree to this, they would be breaking the gridlock on deficit reduction by turning their backs on the Tea Party and Grover Norquist who have insisted they do not raise taxes. If it is true that this deal is in the works, it is front-page news because it changes everything.
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Written by Admin on November 4, 2011.
The IRS guidelines allow a person to own any number of Roth IRA accounts. Refer to this page for the guidelines — roth-ira.org. With this being the case, most investors overlook one key factor, the global contribution limit. It implies that the sum of the contributions made, to all the IRAs and the Roth IRAs in his/her name, must not exceed the maximum contribution amount defined by the IRS. However,when in violation and the investments exceed the contribution limit; there are steps that can be taken to ensure that the penalty amount of 6% is not deducted from the account.
Better than cure
One of the ways to avoid penalty is to withdraw the excess contribution from your Roth IRA before the due date for filing your taxes. W Full Post…
Written by Jai Borchgrevink on November 1, 2011.
Discover has joined the ranks of Chase and Citibank by introducing a new version of the Discover More Card that offers a $150 cash back bonus. Like similar cash back credit card offers, the Discover $150 cash back credit card offer requires consumers to meet a spending threshold in order to obtain the advertised bonus.
New applicants who apply and are approved for the Discover $150 promotion are required to spend $1,000 within 90 days of becoming a card-member. This spending requirement is relatively high compared to what is required on the Chase Freedom $200 cash back offer as well as the Citi Dividend $100 offer, both of which only require $500 of spending during a similarly sized 90 day time horizon.
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