I was a bit amused to hear Omaha Mayor Suttle unrolled the idea of a toilet paper tax, but I am not so sure he really thought this tissue through. At first glance, the tax of 10 cents per roll to pay for sewer projects seems like a fair user tax; but I think the politicians really should have contemplated this a little more. Is it really fair to women?

While certainly my heart goes out to politicians trying to balance spending all that money without the pesky things called taxes; but I don't think this idea is going to ... float. But I think it is important to give the politician partial credit for productivity; as I imagine they thought up this idea while in the john.

Continue reading A Toilet Paper Tax -- Really?

A Toilet Paper Tax -- Really? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading FDA Menthol Report Good News for Lorillard

FDA Menthol Report Good News for Lorillard originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Bernanke Finally Admits to Inflation Gain from Commodity Prices

Bernanke Finally Admits to Inflation Gain from Commodity Prices originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Serious Money: Chavez & Gaddafi, Real Blues Brothers

Serious Money: Chavez & Gaddafi, Real Blues Brothers originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Is Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke stoking inflation? Of course he is. Anyone with common sense knows that if you give $600 billion cash to the banks with no qualifications -- as he did with the second round of quantitative easing -- they will use it to speculate in the markets. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) just bought $1 billion of copper.

Bernanke's fatal mistake was that he placed no restrictions on what the banks would do with his $600 billion. If you opened the banks' books, you can bet that they've invested in commodities, currencies and foreign equities and bonds.

Continue reading Bernanke Denies Causing Inflation

Bernanke Denies Causing Inflation originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Chasing Value: New Years Quick Takes

Chasing Value: New Years Quick Takes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Forgive me but I am still fuming about what is going on in Washington with our money. Money that is disappearing faster and faster. No matter how much our representatives cut taxes and extend benefits, it is meaningless. What is the good of having twice as much money when it is worth only half.

Welcome to Washington D.C. -- home of the Great Pretenders.

We just think that our Capitol sits atop solid ground. I think if you swept away the top soil you would find a giant cardboard box because our leaders are certainly playing the biggest game of three-card Monte of all time.

Continue reading Chasing Value: Is Congress Indirectly Helping International Paper?

Chasing Value: Is Congress Indirectly Helping International Paper? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 10 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Leave it to our representatives in Washington to make a compromise that ignores most of their previously stated beliefs -- of only a few days ago. This just reinforces again the old joke "How do you know when a politician is lying?..."

Monday the Obama administration and congressional Republicans came to an agreement to extend both unemployment benefits by 13 months, and the Bush-era tax cuts for all by two years. What happened to the Republican and Democratic noise about fiscal responsibility and reducing the debt?

A few days ago Republicans were not going to vote for an extension of the unemployment funding if there was not an associated revenue offset to pay for it. That's gone, so the deficit is going up. The Democrats claimed they would not back an extension of the tax cuts for people that earned over $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for joint returns claiming this would add $900 billion toward debt reduction. That's gone so the deficit is going up.

Continue reading Serious Money: Washington Compromise Stinks, but Here Are Some Stocks to Look At

Serious Money: Washington Compromise Stinks, but Here Are Some Stocks to Look At originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Slowly, piece by piece, the inside details of what happened during the financial meltdown are coming to light. The latest disclosure is that JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon and General Electric (GE) CEO Jeffrey Immelt were on the New York Federal Reserve Board in 2008, when their institutions got enormous loans, as reported by the New York Times.

This little story tells you just how the insiders do their wheeling and dealing. On Sept. 15, JPMorgan Chase received a $3 billion loan from the Fed. On 12 occasions in October and November 2008, GE issued short term IOUs. The Fed purchased $16 billion of them.

Continue reading JPMorgan and GE Got Massive Fed Loans While Their CEOs Sat on NY Fed Board

JPMorgan and GE Got Massive Fed Loans While Their CEOs Sat on NY Fed Board originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 06 Dec 2010 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Fear gripped Wall Street on September 29, 2008, when the U.S. House of Representatives failed to pass the bailout package. On that day alone, banks borrowed a record $155.8 billion.

The Fed had set up a lending facility called the Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF) to lend money to banks. As the crisis spread, borrowing increased almost daily. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) lists day-by-day borrowings:

Continue reading Flashback to the Crash: Banks Borrow $155.8 Billion

Flashback to the Crash: Banks Borrow $155.8 Billion originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's a story for the record books. You could not have made this stuff up, it's so incredible.

The story deals with the behind the scenes activities of the Federal Reserve during the financial meltdown. The data revealed by the Fed and chronicled in the Wall Street Journal tell of the multi-trillion dollar loans the Fed made to financial institutions here in the US and abroad. In all, the Fed set up 10 different programs and lent some $3.3 trillion of credit.

Continue reading Fed Loans During the Meltdown: A Story for the Record Books

Fed Loans During the Meltdown: A Story for the Record Books originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 02 Dec 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Forgive me if I stray slightly, but I could not help thinking about how ironic it would be if someone leaked information as to the whereabouts of Wikileaks founder and "fearless leader" Julian Assange -- who is in hiding!

It would be even more ironic if a CIA operative who had his cover blown by Wikileaks decides what goes around comes around. Let's face it, in its own way Wikileaks has become a rogue nation, so why wouldn't the CIA get involved?

In the mean time, this has probably helped world markets as it has overtaken everything else as the big story of the past 48 hours. In a bizarre way, Assange may have achieved one of his goals by bringing the world closer together, sort of.

Continue reading Serious Money: Does BAC Have Anything to Fear from Wikileaks?

Serious Money: Does BAC Have Anything to Fear from Wikileaks? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 01 Dec 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading GOP's Gain Could Be First Solar's Loss, Warns JPMorgan

GOP's Gain Could Be First Solar's Loss, Warns JPMorgan originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 03 Nov 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

No matter what happens in the elections today one outcome is for sure, politicians new and old will make our laws more convoluted at every opportunity. One stock I think is situated to deal with this inevitable outcome is Ebix Inc. (EBIX).

I last recommended the stock in August in the story Four Great Stocks -- Gov't Fears Savings Spiraling Out of Control. At the time the stock was trading at $19.39. This was a good call, as the stock closed today at $24.24, for a 25% gain in in 11 weeks, or 118% annualized.

Continue reading Chasing Value: No Matter Which Way Elections Turn, Ebix Is a Play

Chasing Value: No Matter Which Way Elections Turn, Ebix Is a Play originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Texas Pushes the Tax Envelope at Amazon

Texas Pushes the Tax Envelope at Amazon originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 25 Oct 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sequestered within the pages of auto industry news, came notice of a recent EPA approval that could cause unexpected repercussions across a wide range of investor and consumer interests. The EPA has just given its approval for a 5% increase in the amount of ethanol allowable in today's motor fuels. While the petroleum industry has not yet given indication whether or not it shall make the new fuel blend available to consumers, various business sectors and government entities are quickly aligning themselves either pro or con on the issue. One thing is almost certain, corn futures just became more volatile.

The auto industry is largely against the increase in ethanol concentrations, citing the fact that a 15% ethanol mixture cannot be safely and efficiently burned in vehicles manufactured before 2007. Consumers who mistakenly pumped E15 gasoline into those older vehicles would run the risk of damaging their car engines and defeating the emission equipment and mileage standards of their vehicles.

Continue reading Corn Futures Could Spike Food Prices

Corn Futures Could Spike Food Prices originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

BBC News reported that the Committee of European Banking Supervisors passed a measure to cap European bank bonuses to 30%. This committee is made up of financial regulators from EU's 27 members. Draft regulations will be drawn up within the next few days, followed by a one month discussion.

The specifics of the proposal are:

• Cash bonuses to be capped at 30%.
• A new watchdog would define what a big bonus is.

Continue reading European Regulators to Cap Bank Bonuses

European Regulators to Cap Bank Bonuses originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A weekend meeting of global finance ministers was sponsored by the International Monetary Fund to deal with the growing currency imbalances in world economies. The two big players -- the U.S. and China -- instead of reaching a consensus, ended farther apart with each side digging in and pushing back against the other.

Zhou Xiaochuan, China's central bank governor told the Financial Times: "The continuation of relatively low interest rates and unconventional monetary policies by major reserve currency issuers have created stark challenges for emerging market countries in the conduct of monetary policy."

Continue reading Currency Tensions Rise as Nothing Happens at IMF Meeting

Currency Tensions Rise as Nothing Happens at IMF Meeting originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is in a quandary about how to explain its anticipated quantitative easing stimulus, dubbed QE2. Officials worry that an added stimulus will create unwanted inflation.

Fed officials Charles Evans and William Dudley have spoken in favor of the new stimulus. Dudley told the Financial Times that asset purchases and communication are "two potentially complimentary avenues."

Continue reading Fed in a Quandary About How to Explain QE2

Fed in a Quandary About How to Explain QE2 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading McDonald's Happy Meals Might Become Less Happy

McDonald's Happy Meals Might Become Less Happy originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.