In spite of the good market today....I only have two stocks UP at the moment....AAPL and AMZN. Sometimes what you own just does not participate. I have HOPE for the rest of the day. Although I would not be surprised if we turn red and end in the red with the big averages today. It seems like a drifting and dull market today......with no real energy happening. I think the markets basically wore themselves out this week......with all the short term FRENZY and DRAMA.... and are now going to sleep-walk through the day.
This is a little self-serving....by Christies....but I do agree with the concept of "proven" collectables and art being a safe haven or part of an investment plan.. Art market offers investors ‘escape’ from volatile stocks, Christie’s CEO says https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/09/christies-ceo-art-market-escape-volatile-stocks.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "Key Points Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Phillips are together offering 295 works at auction next week for a low-end estimate of $952 million combined, according to ArtTactic. Any gain would be a welcome change for a global art market that has been in decline for two years. In an exclusive interview with Inside Wealth, Christie’s CEO Bonnie Brennan said collectors view art as a safe haven in an uncertain world, and sales are poised for a rebound." MY COMMENT I cant see the rest of the article since I dont.....and will not......"pay". I DO NOT agree at all with the statement that the global art market has been in decline for two years. Top of the line art and collectables have been on fire for years. Cards, comics, art, etc, etc, etc.....we have seem many world record auction prices over the past couple of years. As for what I collect.....Western Art....Impressionistic Art......prices have been very strong for a long time now.
I see that generally the mortgage rate for a 30 year home loan is at about 6.76%. Mortgage rates hold steady, Freddie Mac says Average rate on the benchmark 30-year fixed mortgage unchanged at 6.76%, says Freddie Mac https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/mortgage-rates-may-8-2025 Potential buyers need to simply get used to it. This is a perfectly NORMAL 30 year mortgage rate. If you are going to wait for rates to drop way down into the 3% or 4% range you are wasting your time trying to....or thinking about....buying a house. It is not going to happen. Those rates were an EXTREME ABERRATION. From my entire lifetime of watching and participating in mortgage rates the NORMAL range is about.....5.5% to 7%. DEAL WITH IT......live in the world of reality.....if you want to own a home.
We have now reached a new......LOW....or.....HIGH....in how the day to day markets are TOTALLY driven by all the minute to minute.....rumor, speculation, opinion, fake news, etc, etc, etc. I have NEVER before seen this level of minute to minute OBSESSION in the markets over the past 55+ years of investing. I guess it is about what you would expect with the current level of attention span and considering the social media environment that is the modern world. We.....humans....are obsessively connected and aware of everything going on in minute detail.....but.....are just as DUMB..... if not more so..... than ever before. As a result the day to day markets are TOTALLY and IRREVERSIBLY......a wasteland of ignorance. This is reflected in the action of the big averages today. Thank God for long term investing.....for those of us that have the awareness and guts. I am sure we will easily eclipse the current levels of IDIOCY....as we come to rely on AI to tell us everything and lose all ability to actually read and research anything for ourselves......especially in depth. On a side note.....but related....I have been in a few homes lately that have large numbers of books on big book shelves. It is shocking to see.....since it is rare to see REAL books in homes anymore....other than as home decor.
MSFT, AAPl, AMZN, and COST held my loss down to the small side today. AND.....I got beat by the SP500 today by 0.28%. MOVING ON from here.....as if I have a choice.
Here is the....week that was. DOW year to date (-3.04%) DOW five days (-0.16%) SP500 Year to date (-3.77%) SP500 five days (-0.47%) NASDAQ 100 year to date (-5.36%) NASDAQ 100 five days (-0.20%) NASDAQ year to date (-7.16%) NASDAQ five days (-0.27%) RUSSELL year to date (-9.19%) RUSSELL five days +0.12% As for my entire portfolio I ended the week at year to date.....(-5.64%). Last Friday I was at a year to date for my entire portfolio of.....(-5.17%). Little to no change this week for me. I consider that a good thing as we continue to move on from the CORRECTION lose of April 7/8.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE.....CALL YOUR MOTHER......and.....TAKE CARE OF ALL THE MOTHERS IN YOUR LIFE FOR MOTHERS DAY.
A good sign.....but...not a final deal....yet. It WILL happen...no doubt...it is just a question of when. BUT...this is a good sign. Exclusive: India offers to slash tariff gap by two-thirds in dash to seal trade pact with Trump https://www.reuters.com/world/india...s-dash-seal-trade-pact-with-trump-2025-05-09/ (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "NEW DELHI, May 9 (Reuters) - India has offered to slash its tariff gap with the U.S. to less than 4% from nearly 13% now, in exchange for an exemption from President Donald Trump's "current and potential" tariff hikes, two sources said, as both nations move fast to clinch a deal. This would mean that the average tariff differential between India and the U.S., calculated across all products without weighting for trade volume, would be reduced by 9 percentage points, in one of the most sweeping changes to bring down trade barriers in the world's fifth largest economy. The United States is India's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade totalling some $129 billion in 2024. The trade balance is currently in favour of India, which runs a $45.7 billion surplus with the U.S. Trump announced on Thursday his administration's first "breakthrough deal" with Britain. It lowers average British tariffs on U.S. goods but keeps in place the 10% base tariff imposed by Washington on British goods, likely setting a template for Washington's approach with other trading partners. Last month, Trump announced a 90-day pause on his long-planned reciprocal tariffs on global trading partners, including a 26% tariff on India, while his administration negotiates trade deals. A 10% base tariff continues to apply to India and many other nations during the pause. After the UK, India and Japan are the next two nations in line to finalise a deal, a third Indian government official said. "We will see which one crosses the line first." To achieve this, New Delhi has offered to reduce duties to zero on 60% of the tariff lines in the first phase of the deal which is under negotiation, said the first two sources, both Indian government officials familiar with the matter. India has offered preferential access to nearly 90% of goods imported from the United States, including the reduced tariffs, one of the two officials said. Details of India's offer to slash the tariff gap and what it has asked the U.S. in return have not been previously reported. A delegation of Indian officials is likely to visit the U.S. later this month to take the negotiations forward, a fourth official said, adding that India's trade minister, Piyush Goyal, might visit too but his plans were not finalised. All four government officials did not wish to be identified as details of the negotiations are private and sensitive. India's trade ministry, which is leading talks, did not respond to a request for comment. PREFERENTIAL ACCESS Alongside tariff exemptions, India has also asked for preferential market access for key export sectors including gems and jewellery, leather, apparel, textiles, plastics, chemicals, oilseeds, shrimp, and horticultural produce such as bananas and grapes. "Preferential market access for India would mean better terms of trade for these goods compared to America's other trading partners," the first official said. India is also looking for concessions that would give it an edge over competitors in supplying "products of interest", the official added. However, India's expectation of being exempted completely from tariffs on its exports is at odds with the deal struck between the U.S. and Britain. To make the deal more attractive for Washington, India has offered to ease export regulations on several high-value U.S. exports, the first official said. These include aircraft and parts, luxury cars and electric vehicles, telecom equipment, medical devices, hydrocarbons, wines and whiskey, berries, prunes, certain chemicals, and animal feed. Beyond tariffs, India has also asked the U.S. to treat it at par with other top U.S. allies such as Britain, Australia and Japan in critical technology sectors such as AI, telecoms, biotech, pharmaceuticals, and semiconductors. Washington's desire to share critical technologies with allies like India has often faced hurdles due to the U.S. government's own restrictive rules." MY COMMENT As these deals come together over the next 2-4 months along with the passage of the tax bill.....the markets will......probably......achieve new all time highs. AND...at some point the FED will be forced to get off their butts and do some rate cuts. There is a HUGE amount of pressure built up just waiting to be released in the markets. It is just a question of PATIENCE and waiting for investors. It WILL happen. This little trial balloon...or leak....is a great SIGNAL by India and shows that in the end we will see massive improvement in our trade with India. As a negotiator and/or mediator....I would consider this a HUGE step in the right direction for both countries. AND....this is a HUGE opportunity for INDIA. If they play this tariff stuff right and cut barriers and open their country......when you consider their HUGE tech work force and their strong business culture and heritage.....they could become the new CHINA in about 10-15 years. They have the potential.......if they work very strongly with the USA......to become the first or second most dominant economy in the world. As an added bonus...it would free us of our dependence on China.....a brutal...genocidal...communist dictatorship.
AND....as more and more tariff deals happen....CHINA....will become more isolated. They are playing a dangerous game of musical chairs if they drag things out too long or try to play games.
Here you go if you want to get a jump on next week.....I dont. Walmart earnings, April CPI: What to Watch Next Week https://finance.yahoo.com/video/walmart-earnings-april-cpi-watch-230038687.html
ANOTHER....BIG.....milestone today for PLTR. Palantir now among 10 most valuable U.S. tech companies — its earnings multiple is astronomical https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/08/pal...valuable-tech-companies-stock-at-premium.html "Key Points Data analytics and artificial intelligence software firm Palantir joined the top 10 largest U.S. technology companies by market cap on Thursday. The stock rose about 8%, lifting the company’s valuation to $281 billion, surpassing Salesforce, which is 10 times bigger in terms of revenue. Investors are paying a premium for Palantir, which currently trades for 520 times trailing earnings." MY COMMENT This company is on FIRE....as usual. BUT....do not run out and buy it if you do not understand the RISK and fundamentals that reflect that RISK. I posted a good article that explains that RISK a page or two back. This stock is one that I am happy to own...BUT....for anyone else you have to do your DUE DILIGENCE before buying this stock. it is extremely aggressive.....and.....which translates into....RISK. "Palantir has multiples that are much higher than its large-cap tech peers. Palantir currently trades for 520 times trailing earnings, almost 200 times forward earnings, and 90 times revenue."......."“Fundamentals are clearly alive, but we think irrational valuation,” wrote Brent Thill, an analyst at Jefferies, in a note on May 6. He has the equivalent of a sell rating on the stock." Personally I view this stock as a good long term holding and have ZERO plans to sell.
Speaking of the....genocidal...brutal...communist dictatorship....responsible for the deaths of tens of millions.....if not hundreds of millions..... of people over the decades.. Here is why we will WIN big on the current economic situation with China. You know you hardly ever see much in our media about the REAL economic situation in china. All the coverage makes them seem like an economic POWERHOUSE.....a world wide economic GODZILLA. In truth it is all propped up by the government and fraud and fake economic numbers and massive cheating in trade and everything else. It is all FAKE, FALSE, FRAUD, and a HUGE SCAM. I dont buy any of it and will NEVER own a chinese company. In fact it is absolutely ASININE that we allow any Chinese company to be sold on our exchanges. I dont think any of them really comply with the rules that are required of other companies to be listed. Of course....this is ALL just my personal opinion. China's factory-gate deflation deepens as trade war bites https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chinas-consumer-prices-fall-third-020216219.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "BEIJING (Reuters) -China's factory-gate prices posted the steepest drop in six months in April while consumer prices fell for a third month, underlining the need for more stimulus as policymakers grapple with the economic toll from a trade war with the United States. A prolonged housing market downturn, high household debt and job insecurity have hampered investment and consumer spending, keeping deflationary pressures alive. Now, the economy is also facing increasing external risks from trade barriers. However, there are hopes for a de-escalation of tensions as U.S.-China trade talks begin in Switzerland on Saturday. The producer price index (PPI) dropped 2.7% in April year-on-year, worse than a 2.5% decline in March but was less than economists' forecast for a 2.8% fall, National Bureau of Statistics data showed on Saturday. "China still faces persistent deflationary pressure," said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management. "The pressure may rise in coming months as exports will likely weaken." "Even if China and the U.S. can make progress and cut tariffs in trade negotiations, tariffs are unlikely to go back to the level before April," Zhang added. "More proactive fiscal policy is necessary to boost domestic demand and address the deflation problem." Consumer prices eased 0.1% last month from a year earlier, matching a 0.1% drop in March and the forecast in a Reuters poll. CPI was up 0.1% month-on-month versus a 0.4% fall in March and compared with economists' forecasts for no change in prices. Core inflation, excluding volatile food and fuel prices, stood at 0.5% in April from a year earlier, in line with the increase recorded in March. The Chinese government is implementing a wide range of measures to stimulate consumption across different sectors and last week announced a raft of stimulus measures, including interest rate cuts and a major injection of liquidity. As the trade war between the world's two largest economies weighs on exports, China's retail giants, including JD.com and Alibaba-owned Freshippo, have initiated measures to help exporters pivot to the domestic market. That could further depress prices as business and consumer confidence remain subdued due to the uncertain outlook. Global investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, have lowered their GDP forecasts for China this year to below the official target of around 5%, attributing the downgrade to the damaging trade war." MY COMMENT There is ZERO odds that real.....honest GDP.....is 5% in China. EVERYTHING in China in terms of the economy and business is FAKE and FRAUD. It is INSANITY that we report on their economy as though it was REAL. This is simply DELUSIONAL.
For example: Chinese exchanges restrict daily stock sales as trade war with US escalates, sources say https://www.reuters.com/markets/asi...ade-war-with-us-escalates-sources-2025-04-11/
LOL.....the poor little stock market PROFESSIONALS. AHHHH.....poor babies. For exhausted stock market pros the choice is buy or stay home https://finance.yahoo.com/news/exhausted-stock-market-pros-choice-120007868.html (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "(Bloomberg) — The stock market’s stunning rebound over the last month has largely been driven by Main Street investors buying the dip in everything in sight while professional money managers ditched US stocks, spooked by mounting fears of slowing economic growth and trade war disruptions. But as the pile of cash on the sidelines keeps growing in the face of a resilient S&P 500 Index, which has soared 14% in a month since bottoming on April 8, Wall Street is debating whether, and when, to jump back in. “This is so exhausting,” said Ken Mahoney CEO of Mahoney Asset Management. “There’s no playbook on how to trade this.” Mahoney is sitting on roughly 40% cash but has reluctantly started buying cheaper software shares. He’s not alone, increasing numbers of institutional investors who were wary of the market’s head-fakes based on President Donald Trump’s tariff pronouncements and speculation on the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate path are being dragged back in. The reason is cut-to-the-bone positioning has cleared the path for many of them to return as buyers. At this point, there’s little standing in the way of short-term stock market gains as traders have lifted their bearish hedges, systematic funds are beginning to buy and retail investors are chasing everything from Big Tech to industrials. “This is an unloved rally,” Colton Loder, managing principal of the alternative investment firm Cohalo, said by phone. “But just based on positioning being cut so much alone, this will likely induce buying in the coming weeks no matter what trade or monetary policy news comes.” Volatility Plunging In addition, the S&P 500 Index’s one-month realized volatility fell 17 points Thursday due to the index’s historic 9.5% rally on April 9 coming out of the one-month calculation, according to Tier 1 Alpha. A decline in realized volatility will cause a rapid normalization in risk premium models, enabling those investors to increase their exposure. “This isn’t about taking on more risk,” Mahoney said. “We’re building up cash to use when we’re forced to buy rallies like now. But we’re still cautious.” The hesitation among fund managers comes as they debate when to reprice the extent to which the Fed may be able to cut rates this year. Wall Street had been expecting the central bank to cut next month, but Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other policymakers insist they’re waiting for more clarity from economic data. “Uncertainty is still pervasive in the economy, and business contacts tell my staff and me that they expect uncertainty to persist longer than they had anticipated earlier this year,” Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said in a blog post on Friday. “I don’t think it’s prudent to adjust monetary policy with so little visibility of the path ahead.” Retail traders are the one group that seems unfazed by the Fed or Trump’s trade policies. When the market sold off sharply in late February, individual investors bought while institutions rotated out of US stocks at a near-record pace. At Bank of America Corp., individual-investor clients bought stocks for 21 straight weeks through May 2, the longest buying streak in the firm’s data history going back to 2008. Take Jay Rice, a 64-year-old former Wall Street broker who day trades in Cave Creek, Arizona. He’s piling into Nvidia Corp. and Amazon.com Inc., and breaking up his big trades into smaller lots to deal with the underlying volatility. “When turbulence creeps up like this, it’s a lot harder to put on trades, but I love it,” Rice said by phone. “The constant back-and-forth on Trump’s trade threats can make things so difficult, but I’m still buying.” Commodity trading advisers, or CTAs, which take their cues from the stock market direction rather than fundamental factors, are starting to inch back to the table, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s trading desk. A historic bout of tariff-driven volatility caused them to sell for most of this year, but their equity exposure has risen slightly, although it remains low compared to readings over the past five years, according to UBS Group AG. Other equity strategies, however, remain more neutral. Waiting For Exhaustion “You can’t always chase these rallies,” warned Stephanie Lang, chief investment officer at wealth management firm Homrich Berg, who favors defensive companies like health care and utilities on improving profit outlooks. Now, Wall Street is poring over charts to find how much stocks need to rally before buyers are exhausted. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Bram Kaplan says CTAs will turn into short-term buyers when the S&P 500 reaches 5,800, roughly 2.5% above Friday close of 5,660. The index is still 7.9% below its Feb. 19 all-time high. In March, the S&P 500 broke below its bullish trend line that began when the most recent bull market started in October 2022. To recoup that, the S&P 500 would need to cross back above 6,000, which Cohalo’s Loder sees as a far more difficult hurdle to clear. And then there are market watchers like Dennis Debusschere, founder of 22V Research, who doesn’t want to chase what he sees as a fading rally. Since tariffs remain a significant issue and stock market internals remain weak, his firm is pushing shorts in the riskiest corners, like small-capitalization companies. “We’re just trying to get through all of this intact,” Mahoney said. “Anything can turn on a dime with a tweet.”" MY COMMENT Poor little babies....they have it so tough. They are EXHAUSTED....so TIRED.....so CONFUSED.......we should all feel so sorry for them. They are being FORCED to buy rallies caused by those MEAN, NASTY, BIG, BULLIES....the little retail investors. What a bunch of MORONS. As usual the little retail investors....out here in fly-over country......are driving the markets and doing the right thing. The "professionals".....well.....IDIOTS as usual. People, the country, and investors would be far better off if this sort of "stuff" was reported more often. Unfortunately the short term news is driven by the.......legal.. ...market manipulators and traders......the so called "professionals". I know one thing......I will always side with the little retail investor when it comes to evaluating and participating in the markets. Why would I not....I am one of them....and always have been. The "professionals" are a.....JOKE.
ABOVE....is the true FAILURE of the financial media.....their refusal....intentional or otherwise.....to report on the little retail investor and accurately on CHINA. As a result they are just about always....WRONG....over more than a day or two.
The media love affair with Wall Street...."PROFESSIONALS". I have two words for you.....BERNIE MADOFF. How was this person able to scam those "professionals" and their clients for decades? After all.... most of his clients were Hedge Funds putting their clients with him....or....clients being referred by the "professionals". The SEC...more "professionals".....totally blew it also....how? He was basically creating FAKE statements for his clients....with no real investment. But no one ever bothered to look at the actual investments....or verify the actual investments? Either the SEC, and the "professionals" were totally incompetent and had no clue. Or worse...some knew it was a giant FRAUD....and they invested in it anyway....planing to get their money out before it collapsed. It is all a big JOKE....any time there is a correction it is the "professionals" that totally panic and go crazy. And speaking of the "professionals".....how about the "economists" that seem to always get it wrong. NO THANK YOU....to all of them. It is one HUGE INCESTUOUS PARTY....going on between the "insiders", the "professionals", the "government" and other "economists" and.....guess who.....the financial media. SO as a little investor....stick to the long term and....BEWARE.
This data really NEVER changes. it is FACT.....but dont let that get in the way to a good RANT to the contrary. I have posted this in the past....but....in this case repetition is a good thing. Perhaps there are some out there that are open to this data. Do the Rich Pay Their Fair Share of Taxes? https://aier.org/article/do-the-rich-pay-their-fair-share-of-taxes/ (BOLD is my opinion OR what i consider important content) "Some variation of the phrase “the wealthy should pay their fair share of taxes” is frequently echoed by activists, pundits, politicians, and even some millionaires and billionaires (known as the “Proud to Pay More” group).[1],[2] This sentiment leads many to believe that the government can close budget deficits, reduce the debt, and fully fund entitlement programs by simply raising taxes on high-income earners. First, it’s important to look at who pays income taxes. Table 1 (recreated from Brady, 2024) illustrates income brackets by adjusted gross income (AGI) for taxes paid in tax year 2022 (the latest available data).[3] Brady (2024) finds that the top 10 percent of filers earned nearly half of all income in 2022 but were responsible for 72 percent of all income taxes paid. Furthermore, evidence shows that the top 25 percent of filers have consistently paid at least 73 percent of all income taxes paid since 1980.[4] Meanwhile, lower-income tax filers pay relatively little in personal income taxes themselves. Hodge (2021) shows that nearly one-third of all income tax filers (all in the bottom 50 percent) paid no income taxes thanks to the expansion of tax credits and deductions since 1980.[5] Hodge (2021) also cites the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report “The Distribution of Household Income,” noting that in 2017 the lowest income earners receive more in direct federal benefits than they pay in income taxes while the top earners see the opposite effect.[6] Below is an updated version of Hodge’s table using 2019 income groups: Table 2: The Ratio of Government Transfers Received to Federal Taxes Paid Income Group Transfer to Tax Ratio Lowest Quintile $68.17 Second Quintile $6.29 Middle Quintile $2.35 Fourth Quintile $1.05 Highest Quintile $0.24 81st to 90th Percentiles $0.54 91st to 95th Percentiles $0.33 96th to 99th Percentiles $0.18 Top 1 Percent $0.04 Sources: Hodge (2021) and the United States Congressional Budget Office. Notes: Dollar amounts are in 2024 dollars. This table uses 2019 data because it is the most recent non-pandemic year available as of July 2024. Table 2 measures how much the average person in each income bracket receives for each dollar paid in taxes.[7] For each dollar paid in taxes, the average lowest quintile of income filers received $68.17 in federal transfers. Conversely, the average income filer in the top 1% received 4 cents in federal transfers for every tax dollar paid. There is clear evidence that the average tax burden increases as income increases. High-income earners pay a disproportionate share of the tax burden while receiving much less direct federal transfers (i.e. refundable tax credits and income assistance) than low- and middle-income earners. It is also important to consider the economic impacts of such a tax system. Various literature reviews show that tax burdens and behavioral responses are complex.[8] High-income earners may decide to earn less, retire early, change the type of income (i.e. dividends or capital gains) or the timing of income to lower their tax burden. This may mean that low-income earners may shoulder a higher portion of the tax burden, but income transfer programs must also be considered. Income from transfer programs can also greatly offset any income tax burdens.[9] The time, talent, and resources used to balance offsetting tax burdens while remaining compliant with the tax code come at the cost of that time, talent, and resources being saved and invested elsewhere. High-income earners could have grown their businesses. Low-income earners could have used those funds to save for emergencies or improve their standard of living. Instead, it was spent navigating a complex and convoluted system of taxes and transfers. Despite evidence to the contrary, there are still frequent cries that the rich are not paying their fair share in taxes. What constitutes a “fair share” is often incredibly vague, but almost always means “more than what the people wealthier than I am are currently paying in income taxes.” Much of this resentment stems from the “Miser Fallacy.” Sometimes known as the “Scrooge Fallacy” or the “Smaug Fallacy,” this fallacy assumes that wealthy individuals hoard wealth.[10] They picture the likes of Scrooge McDuck swimming in a vault full of money, but this is not an accurate depiction. Even the stingiest high-income earners invest their money via the stock market or individual projects. If they were to save their money in a bank, the bank would then take the deposit to give access to capital in the form of business loans and mortgages. The wealthy saving and investing creates access to capital for all, allowing people to create and innovate, making everyone wealthier. On the connection between access to capital and savings, economist Ludwig von Mises stated, “Capital is not a free gift of God or of nature. It is the outcome of a provident restriction of consumption on the part of man. It is created and increased by saving and maintained by the abstention from dissaving.”[11] The perception that wealthy people are hoarding wealth is further bolstered by the appearance of income inequality. Hodge (2021) notes that the decline of traditional C Corporations[12] and the rise of pass-through businesses[13] that do not pay corporate income taxes have shifted the federal tax base.[14] Hodge (2021) states that this change in type of businesses impacts the appearance of income inequality because business income is now reported on personal income tax forms (IRS form 1040) instead of corporate income tax forms (IRS form 1120).[15] This gives the appearance of an explosion of personal income among the Top 1 percent of taxpayers. However, Hodge (2021) notes that with the rise in wage income of the Top 1 percent of taxpayers, there is an equivalent decline in business income and dividend income with the decline of the C Corporation.[16] If high-income taxpayers do not believe that they are paying their fair share in taxes, they can always make a voluntary contribution to the United States government. Americans can contribute to the Treasury’s “Gifts to the United States” fund or, if they are particularly concerned about the national debt, they can contribute to the Treasury’s “Gifts to Reduce the Public Debt.”[17] It is also worth noting the generosity of Americans across the income spectrum. Research from Paul Mueller notes that “the vast majority of Americans who give to charity receive no federal tax benefit from doing so.”[18] Additionally, America is one of the most charitable nations in the world. In closing, Mueller opines, “Most Americans give generously without thought of return—even with a large welfare state and high taxes. There is something deeply admirable about this kind of generosity that gives without expecting any material benefit in return. Imagine how they would give if the welfare state were trimmed down and their taxes were lower. That’s what George W. Bush’s compassionate conservatism should have meant.”[19] Despite high tax rates and expansive welfare systems, Americans (including the wealthy) still give to charity. The evidence is clear: the rich already pay more than their fair share—and anyone who still disagrees is ignoring the data." MY COMMENT Probably a waste of time to post this....but...perhaps there is someone out there that will understand the TRUTH. FACTS are facts.....but....this fact is superseded by politics. I also note that even at the current rates I believe that our corporate tax rates are some of the highest in the WORLD.
SPEAKING OF the RICH and their danger to the country and the world....here is one view. Warren Buffett Versus American Capitalism It’s hard to argue with his charm or success, but the great investor loves a good monopoly. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...9.2-avH_bpSy7LoktxxljFQbsNkyuFybBMnmrYl19KCzE (BOLD is my opinion OR what I consider important content) "Warren Buffett, in the eyes of JPMorgan Chase’s CEO Jamie Dimon, represents “everything that is good about American capitalism and America itself — investing in the growth of our nation and its businesses with integrity, optimism, and common sense.” Does he really? As he prepares to step down from the helm of his great investment vehicle Berkshire Hathaway Inc. — when he will be 95 — Buffett is firmly established as a role model for American capitalism. Dimon’s view is not controversial. And yet Buffett’s career can be read as one big argument against capitalism, particularly as the US now practices it. Buffet's charm makes life hard for critics. Books about him proliferate even though his own writing is so quotable that there’s no need for further interpretation. Not only hard to criticize, he is also very, very difficult to dislike. Buffett the Rebuke to Wall Street Further, his greatness as an investor is indisputable. Generations of academics and financial journalists have tried to explain away what he does. Countless investors use his techniques without coming close to matching his returns. Compare his record to everyone else who has ever put money into the stock market, and Berkshire is such an outlier as to seem impossible. Just as the laws of physics allegedly prove that bees cannot fly, so the academic efficient-markets theories that underpin the management of trillions of dollars imply that Buffett is not just difficult but impossible. But bees fly, and Buffett beats the market. This makes him a living rebuke to modern Wall Street. Investment management used to be about taking considered judgments, doing hard bottom-up work, and buying stakes in a few companies that appeared to be good. Managers who owned a stock also owned the company and behaved accordingly, rigorously acting as stewards of the executives. Quantitative finance involves slicing and dicing in an attempt to make risk go away — and Buffett warned in 2003 that it created financial weapons of mass destruction. The Global Financial Crisis of 2008 proved him right, but the robotic approach still rules. Investors are driven by indexes. These days, they tend to say they are “overweight” a stock, not that they “own” it. The notion of ownership has become so frayed that when a manager is “underweight” (meaning the stake is smaller than its share in the index), they prefer it to do badly — even though they own it. Rather than trust the quants, Buffett advises those of us who can’t devote our lives to picking stocks to stick with the index. That is an indictment of the huge industry that charges to invest your money. Buffett the Monopolist Nevertheless, there is a profound argument that Buffett is not “investing in the growth of our nation and its businesses,” to use Dimon’s phrase. Instead, he has depended on capitalism’s dirty secret; that success comes not through Schumpeterian creative destruction or competing frantically in innovative new businesses, but by not having to compete at all. His famous search for companies with a “wide economic moat” is a folksy and charming way to say that he only wants impregnable monopolies. Once satisfied that a business’s defenses cannot be breached, he will buy. “The key to investing,” he once said, “is not assessing how much an industry is going to affect society, or how much it will grow, but rather determining the competitive advantage of any given company and, above all, the durability of that advantage.” That philosophy is stamped throughout his portfolio. It led to stakes in Coca-Cola, whose brand is insuperable and can survive even a disastrous attempt to change its product; Gillette, which can sell overpriced blades to the captive market of men who have already bought its razors; and the trio of American Express, MasterCard and Visa, who have a chokehold on payments cards. Rather than picking the winner, Buffett saw they were oligopolists safe behind a moat and bought the lot. The Berkshire version of capitalism pays little heed to benefits for society. Favored sectors include candy (See’s), fast food (Domino’s Pizza and International Dairy Queen), fossil fuels (Chevron and Occidental Petroleum), executive jets (NetJets), and jewelry (Helzberg Diamonds). Nothing in the Berkshire portfolio has built the kind of transformative products that underpin other massive personal fortunes, like Tesla, Google, Microsoft or Amazon. It’s not even obvious that they help the economy to grow. True, Buffett’s largest holding is in Apple and he jokes that it has made more money for Berkshire than he has. But that stake dates back only to 2016, almost a decade after the iPhone and its ecosystem were established. It was the biggest company in the US, with a market cap above $500 billion, and has made no breakthroughs to match the Macintosh, iPod or iPhone in the years Berkshire has held it. Buying at that point reflected an (accurate) calculation that Apple had successfully established a monopoly. Modern capitalists disdain this approach. Moats are “lame,” according to Elon Musk. In 2018, Tesla’s CEO said: “If your only defense against invading armies is a moat, you will not last long. What matters is the pace of innovation — that is the fundamental determinant of competitiveness.” Musk is now the world’s richest man, of course, but it begins to look as though he needs a moat. An April Fool’s joke circulated this year that Buffett was buying Tesla for$1 trillion. Asked why he wouldn’t buy Tesla stock, his reply was telling: He didn’t believe it could gain and maintain a dominant position in EVs. The problem was not Tesla’s excessive price, but that it had not extinguished all possibilities of competition. That call begins to look good. As Buffett shows, a brand makes a great moat, and Tesla’s is seriously damaged. Its speedy innovation isn’t protecting it from lower-priced competitors, led by China’s BYD, which Berkshire holds. Buffett may be right that Musk should have prioritized staving off any potential competition, rather than “the pace of innovation.” Buffett the Honest Custodian Buffett is no latter-day JP Morgan, whose strategy of merging competitors to form trusts that can dictate prices led to the invention of antitrust. On the few times that Berkshire has made an acquisition in an attempt to find synergies, it hasn’t worked out. He follows all the rules scrupulously; in seven decades as an investor, he barely ever provoked even the slightest allegation of impropriety. But Buffett does tend to pour capital into companies that antitrust authorities are suing, which are resented rather than admired. While making his investors — who indirectly include many pensioners and charities — much richer, he has contributed to the inequality and lack of competition that has left the American population disenchanted with its economic system. This is not destructive. But neither is it creative." MY COMMENT YES.....SOCIALISM.....sounds so nice and inclusive for everyone. BUT in reality it never is. "Inequality"......"monopoly"....."capitalism"....."freedom".....are dirty words and concepts. They must be avoided and eliminated for the good of society. Unfortunately the benefits of communism and socialism.....NEVER...... happen in reality. The "benefits" end up in the pocket of those that are in control.....while the rest of society does become much more equal...in their poverty and domination by a small group of ELITES. YES....inequality can be cut and perhaps could even be eliminated.....by pulling DOWN into poverty and despair....the vast majority of the population. BUT...hey....they would all be equal.
