Wednesday, April 13, 2011

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

Tax time came again this year. What else is new? My rant of the day has to do with the Alternative Minimum Tax.  Although I fall squarely in the middle class, I have to pay a lot of extra taxes under the "rich guy" tax rule. Do you know why? because Congress did not see fit to adjust the AMT for inflation.  So as inflation happens, more and more of the middle class gets hit with rich guy taxes. I had to file 19 different forms between the Feds and the State of Connecticut.

When I lived in Vermont, things were simple. 
  1. How much did you send the Feds?
  2. Send us 17% of that.
Why does it take a rocket scientist ... or more accurately ... a Certified Public Accountant to figure out your taxes? Simple.  I drive a Jeep.  My CPA drives a Beemer. And he is worth every penny. One year I got a bill for underpaying my taxes by $35,000 plus interest and penalties two years after the original return was filed.. I freaked out.  He went over the paperwork and showed them where he thought their keypuncher entered $1,000,000 instead of 100,000. Six months later I got a letter saying in essence nevermind.

Shhesh.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Headline News

April 11, 2011, 3:51 pm 

Why Insider Trading Is Wrong


Are there any literate journalists around any more? Do you know what the punch line to this cogent and carefully thought out article is?

Perhaps the strongest argument about why insider trading is wrong is the simplest: because it is. 

Really Mr Henning? You truly have the courage to cash your paycheck? This debate is so vague. Are Wall Street analysts who do real homework on the companies they recommend subject to dealing on "non-public' information? They go to company presentations and interview management. Go to Seeking Alpha com and read some of the transcripts. There is a list of questioners that are the cream of Market analysis in each transcript.  Maybe the real question is: if your money is in the market, why aren't you part of the transcript?

And do not worry about "inside trading". The secretaries who read documents they are copying will get caught when their boyfriends make life changing profits on a trade. And it will be nearly impossible to convince me that analysts with their ears everywhere on Wall Street will trade away their livelihood for 1/2 of 1% of their assets.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Biggest Baddest Whoever

I saw the headline today:
Google Said to Be Possible Target of Antitrust Probe by FTC

Give a freaking break. They didn't start out as the only game in town like Microsoft did. And you know what a disaster that was. Google is the Johnny-come-lately that consumers want/need/crave to get out from the eternal blue screen money pit that is Microsoft. My personal Microsoft stuff is so riddled with errors that I have to restart my machine twice a day just to read email. So much for "hotfixes" The biggest virus I have ever had on my machine is Microsoft itself. Don't get me started on Windows 7. That's another whole rant.

So when someone comes out with a product that is so superior that consumers (users and Taxpayers) flee to it in droves, who do you suspect is behind the FTC claims? Thanks for chewing up more of my taxpayer dollars Mr. Microsoft besides all the money I have dropped in your pocket to date.