Continue reading When Are We Going to Pay Off the National Debt?

When Are We Going to Pay Off the National Debt? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Washington Gridlock: Upside and Downside

Washington Gridlock: Upside and Downside originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Closing Bell: Market Rally Despite Negative January Barometer (JPM, USU, LEAP, XOM)

Closing Bell: Market Rally Despite Negative January Barometer (JPM, USU, LEAP, XOM) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Many of us seem to be able to spend money very quickly. We like to get out the credit cards and head to the mall. Financially, this is about as healthy for us as eating an entire gallon of Ben & Jerry's ice cream.

Contrary to what most people think it is not necessary to eat every day and good portion of the world fasts on a regular basis. In fasting people abstain from eating solid food and drink only water or juice for a period of time. Some religious and health advocates recommend regular fasting for daylight hours, one day, three days or even up to weeks at a time. Contrary to what you might think you will survive and you will not be as hungry as you think...

Continue reading Do You Have Enough Fiscal Discipline for a Spending Freeze?

Do You Have Enough Fiscal Discipline for a Spending Freeze? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Do You Know Where Your Money Goes?

Do You Know Where Your Money Goes? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

DailyFinance today: good news and bad news about the budget, even employed people are looking for jobs, 2009 looks promising for Saks and Maxx originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

President Obama has presented a budget that will yield a $1.75 trillion deficit --12% of GDP. But he promises to slice that deficit in half by the end of his current term. The budget has many items in it, but I found two to be particularly interesting -- the decision to more than double the original TARP and the move to repeal a loophole that enables hedge fund and private equity managers to slice their tax bills in half.

The budget could add as much as $750 billion for bank bailouts. The TARP had allocated $700 billion to that bailout task last year. $350 billion of that has been spent and if the latest $750 billion is added to the yet-to-be-spent second half of the TARP, that leaves $1.1 trillion of taxpayer money going out the door. But for what purpose? We know $16 billion went to bonuses and there have been the multi-million parties as well. But as far as getting more lending out to individuals and companies, the zombie banks that got the money have kept their purse strings tight.

Meanwhile, the budget does do something good. It makes private equity and hedge fund managers pay income tax on their income instead of treating that income as if it was a capital gain -- subjecting it to the lower 15% tax rate. I argued this point on CNBC back in July 2007 with the Wall Street Journal's Alan Murray (and he ended up agreeing with me). Unfortunately, closing this loophole would have done much more good when hedge funds and private equity firms were actually making money.

Peter Cohan is president of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College. His eighth book is You Can't Order Change: Lessons from Jim McNerney's Turnaround at Boeing.

Budget: $750 billion more for bank bailout, higher hedge fund taxes originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Inflation or recession? Give us your perspective

Inflation or recession? Give us your perspective originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

File under irony: Bush looks to cut spending by printing fewer copies of budget originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 05 Feb 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Bush announces new $3.1 trillion budget plan

Bush announces new $3.1 trillion budget plan originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Sometimes an innovation that makes perfect sense economically will get blasted by consumers for emotional reasons that have more to do with perception than anything else. Take flying on airplanes for example, where consumers want low fares but also grumble about stuff like having to pay for the peanuts. Irish carrier Ryanair (NASDAQ: RYAAY) has ultra-low fares, but also little in the way of free amenities: Seat assignments, checked bags, early boarding, and food all cost extra.

SkyBus Airlines will be trying that approach here in the States, with fares starting at as little as $10. It's going to charge $5 per checked bag, and will even sell the right to have your company's logo on its planes (I nominate BloggingStocks).

SkyBus's Rules of Flying sound like they were written by the Soup Nazi from Seinfeld: Bring cash for food, bring a book, don't call us, and don't be late.

Here's what I like about this airline: You only pay for the services you want. People might like the idea of free peanuts and free baggage checking, but, Economics 101 folks: Nothing is really free. Instead of having every passenger absorb the cost of free peanuts, why not just charge the people who want them? It makes perfect sense to me.

We'll see how SkyBus does. It might take some getting used to, but I have to think this is the future of the airline industry.

Really, really no-frills flying originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Mon, 21 May 2007 20:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

My wife and I were at our local Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) branch today and we signed some important papers. The documents we put our names to probably represent the single best investment we have made in our time together. Utilizing a portion of a rather handsome income tax return and some carefully thought out timing, we as a couple today reduced our consumer debt load by approximately 25%.

Being in debt has always made my skin crawl, though I fully understand the reasons why we do it. If you want a nice house and a fine automobile or two, the chances are that the only way you can pull it off is by borrowing the funds to make it possible. That doesn't change the fact though that I hate being in debt, and whenever the opportunities present themselves I do what I reasonably can to reduce my debt level.

Continue reading I made my best investment ever (and didn't consult Jim Cramer about it)

I made my best investment ever (and didn't consult Jim Cramer about it) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 14 Apr 2007 08:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There's nothing like year-end tips to spoil one's holiday spirit. Just when you can't stand to spend another cent on a present for friend or family member, you remember all those folks you still owe a gratuity.

For busy families that have a lot of service providers to thank (house cleaners, babysitters, hairdressers, etc.), the tipping tally can easily total in the thousands of dollars. (Read SmartMoney's take on what is reasonable and expected for year-end gratuities or take AOL's tipping quiz to see if you know it all already.)

As much as you might fantasize, you can't skip the tips. If you want to keep your tipping budget to a reasonable level, you don't have to play scrooge this season. Here's some ideas for how to thank the folks who help you out year-round without busting your budget:

Tip generously without blowing your budget originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 07 Dec 2006 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.