Apple will say in testimony to Senate that it does not use "tax gimmicks" like moving IP into offshore tax havens #breaking
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United States Channel: Latest Posts
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United States
Understanding the Housing Bubble
A key reason that I was insufficiently worried in 2005 about bad mortgage loans being made at the time was that the people who funded the loans– most importantly, the packagers and buyers of private-label mortgage-backed securities– had more motivation and resources to evaluate the risks accurately than I did. That they made an incredibly [...]
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United States
Chicago Fed: Economic Activity ‘Improved’ In February
US economic growth remained “above trend” last month, according to the Chicago Fed National Activity Index, a weighted average of 85 indicators. For the fourth consecutive month, the three-month average of the index (CFNAI-MA3) posted a reading above zero: +0.09 in February. That’s a modest slowdown from January’s revised +0.28, although the dip is in line with last [...]
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Geostrategy
The Distortions of U.S. Intelligence and U.S. International Strategy
Changes are necessary in U.S. foreign policy during the President’s second term. But getting those changes in the face of what appears to be a fairly impregnable White House seems unlikely. The President’s Intelligence Advisory Board composed of present and past senior foreign policy figures, have cautioned that U.S. Intelligence has become distorted, beyond recognition. [...]
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United States
Is Paranoia Driving Fracking Fears?
Around 100 people crammed into a tiny community center in West Michigan this week for a town hall meeting on hydraulic fracturing. Michigan ranks 15th in the nation in terms of natural gas reserves, with its Antrim play in the northern Lower Peninsula producing around 126 billion cubic feet per year in 2009. Overseas, residents [...]
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United States
Fifth-Year Rally Precedents
Click to enlarge How have markets done in the 5th year of a bull run? The chart above comes from Jeffrey Kleintop, LPL Financial’s chief market strategist. The bull market that began in March 2009 is the seventh to last at least four years since World War II. Of those seven, only four ran for [...]
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Great Leap Forward
Eric Holder Makes it Official: Crime Is The Economic Model
It’s official. The nation’s top cop, Attorney General Eric Holder, has clearly articulated the administration’s policy on crime at the biggest banks: it will not be prosecuted. Indeed, as we’ve long expected, the criminals in top management will not be investigated, they will not be indicted, they will not be prosecuted, and they will [...]
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United States
Bizarre New York Times Article on Lousy Finances of the Young Gives Undue Prominence to Housing as an Investment
It may seem churlish to hector the New York Times for turning its attention to the sorry financial prospects of the young. But this sort of attention would be more useful if it shed more light, rather than wistfully evoking standards from the old normal. The article last week, Younger Generations Lag Parents in Wealth-Building, points [...]
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United States
Ethanol Mandate: Jumping the Gun in a Big Way
US consumers aren’t sure the ethanol math is adding up here as they prepare for this year’s new federal mandate—they’re also not sure whether it’s good for their car engines. To wit: This year, the use of renewable fuels must rise to 16.55 billion gallons, and this means more ethanol and more ethanol-blended gasoline for [...]
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Thoughts From Across the Atlantic
Will the Boom in U.S. Energy Production Bring Back Manufacturing Jobs?
Introduction The United States has experienced unprecedented increases in energy production recently, and political leaders from both parties have promised that greater energy abundance would bring back manufacturing jobs to the U.S. A study by PwC (2011) claimed that a high-level of shale gas recovery could lead to approximately one million more manufacturing jobs by [...]
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United States
Will the Next Exit from Monetary Stimulus Really Be Different from the Last?
Suppose you run a manufacturing business—let’s say, for example, widgets. Your customers are loyal and steady, but you are never completely certain when they are going to show up asking you to satisfy their widget desires. Given this uncertainty, you consider two different strategies to meet the needs of your customers. One option is to [...]
