Some one has to start it, Americas default.

Your telling me what is, Im telling you if you want volatility carry on.

This is not what the market was made for. You don't think anyone is big enough for market manipulation? Oh dear.

 

Oh--thanks for the points Troy,-- yes we do talk a lot and I agree it was inevitable that we would agree on something, someday.

Just did'nt think it would have been that though!!

 

Now this, - http://www.moneymorning.com.au/20110816/watch-what-the-rich-do-not-what-they-say.html#more-5710 - is what I call an interesting idea....

 

Warren Buffet given the medal of freedom.

He has said that UsAA+ needs to tax more people like him, he said he was only taxed 7million dollars this year, a mere 17% of his taxable income.

He said anyone earning a million or more should be higher taxed.

I have no trouble with that if you don't like it leave, I did 22 years ago.

Actually that wont work --If your American you still pay taxes no matter where you live.

 

If Warren Buffet doesn't think he paid enough taxes, he can always pull out his chequebook and make a donation to the US Treasury.

 

oh a glimmer of comprehension

we pay the Chinese about $850 a second on all those treasury notes they hold. Worse than that we pay the owners of the fed ( close held stock ) at least ten times that amount. I'd say we need to reevaluate the need for a central bank that was designed from the start to do exactly what its done. Suck the country dry.

 

That's really the crux of it. Somebody has to take each side of the trade.

If the common man was only limited to betting on a gain, who would take the shorts? Some government entity? Large financial institutions?

I think you'd end up with more of a mess, since those people who take the shorts would have *obscene* profits in a bear market.

 

Doesnt make a lot of sense to me - would you loan money to someone who begged you for some, and do it for free, out of the goodness of your heart, while you watch the currency you loaned in devalue by the second ?

Of course not - so I don't think you can put the wood on money lenders. Its the signature on the bottom of your loans authorisation that you have to blame.

 

It isn't that cut and dried, Frosty:

Tax Treaties

The US has income tax treaties with over 42 other countries.

A Tax Treaty is quite complex, but includes many special provisions which can benefit an American living and working outside of the US. It attempts to reduce or eliminate any double taxation of your income by both countries by allowing credits for foreign income taxes you pay while living in outside the U.S. against your U.S. income taxes. This credit more often than not will totally offset any U.S. tax you might owe on your worldwide income in the U.S. The credit is not automatic, you must file a US return to claim it.

Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

If you have your full time residence abroad for a full calendar year (bonafide residence test) or do not return to the US more than 35 days in a consecutive 12 month period (physical present test), you can exclude up to $91,500 of earned income from U.S. Income Taxation for 2010 and lesser amounts in earlier years. If you are married, and both of you earn income and reside and work abroad, you can also exclude up to another $91,500 (for tax year 2010) of your spouses income from taxation.

http://www.taxmeless.com/page4.html

 

MR Watson
I suppose one thing most folks don't know about my own finances is that I never borrow money. I'm not wealthy by any measure but I don't owe a cent to anyone. And these days I'm making a pretty good living. So I have a particular disdain for the loan industry. I'm not however suggesting that we stiff our lending institutions, what I am suggesting is that the central bank is unnecessary. The US can print its own money and not have to loan it to itself. I'm not going into the whole Fed argument but at the core is key question, "what exactly do we need these guys for again"? all they really do is take the right to print our money and print it, then loan it back to the gubment, pretty sure fire business model if you ask me. A little to sure fire is what I"m saying.

 

I'lle pass that on to the yachties that don't think so. I think the confusion from their side might be that they are still calculated for tax where as a Uk citzen for instance is not.

 

This may set the cat amongst the pigeons, especially if the gold is not available (WW!!!)]
http://www.gata.org/node/10286
http://www.gata.org/node/10282
http://www.gata.org/node/10281
and the rest, (who have stored their gold elsewhere), want it back...

and trouble here "Chilton Claims Massive Silver Concentration Has Been Distributed Amongst 4 Large Traders" http://www.roadtoroota.com/public/665.cfm - I admire Bart Chilton as he responds to emails (even from me, but not as 'masalai'), and is hampered by corruption and no funds... (Thanks to the USA politicians who sold their soul and other parts to the "lobbyists" and other influence peddlers of that sphere...)

Further alarming writings http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/17/us-venezuela-gold-idUSTRE77G53L20110817 and The Hidden Meanings In The New $100 Bill by Bix Weir, http://www.roadtoroota.com/public/261.cfm

 

I've often wondered why people sink their money into precious metals as a safeguard against the end of civilization as we know it, without taking physical possession of it.

Hello? If the world economy genuinely crashes and we go back to the barter system, who's going to care that you have computerized records showing you're theoretically the owner of a bunch of gold and silver somewhere at the other end of the country, or on the other side of the world? Who's going to deliver it to your doorstep?

Maybe I'm just getting cynical in my old age. But anything I have that might help insulate me against a complete collapse is stashed on my own property.... from bags of hard winter wheat to boxes of ammunition.

Not that I think it's going to happen, but I believe in hedging my bets. I keep in mind the gentleman who was asked, "why do you keep loaded guns in your home? Are you really that scared someone's going to break in and hurt you?"

And he answered, "no ma'am, I'm not. And I'm not really that scared my house is going to catch on fire, either. But I keep fire extinguishers handy anyway...."

 

Maybe they should study up on US tax codes a little before they do their tax returns, then. Because the provisions I posted are the simple truth -- even if some American expatriates don't know enough to take advantage of them.

 

An update on this.

The article is worth reading in its entirety.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/business/us-inquiry-said-to-focus-on-s-p-ratings.html

It's also worth noting that S & P didn't manage to stampede Fitch or Moody's into going along with them. Fitch has not only maintained the US credit rating at AAA, but continued its 'stable' outlook -- although of course it reserves the right to revisit its decision farther down the line. And although Moody's assigned a negative outlook, it also kept the AAA rating for the US.

S & P may be caught in the same awkward situation as a major airline that raises its prices in the expectation that other airlines will follow its lead -- only to have them leave it alone and stranded....