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Posted on Sunday, February 13, 2011 2:48 PM
Not sure how many people watch Mad Money , but the other night he surprised me a lot by saying people should have 20% of their assets in gold .. this is really high ..
most say 5%, others 10% (about what I have), only goldbugs who think you should have 100% + in gold are higher on this than Cramer
If he is right that this is a good percent, then i really wonder what happens to the rest of the market given this prediction. |
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Posted on Wednesday, February 02, 2011 2:50 PM
As I am in CA, the state's financial problems affect most of my clients.
The problems here are not too different than in other states, they all spent too damn much.
Our new guvernator has basically said that he and the rest of the elected senators and assemblymen are incapable of passing laws that will attempt to alleviate the 'crisis'.
They plan to hold an election in say June .. deferring action for another 4-6 months at least. Then if the legislation that the elected officials should be able to pass does not pass.. we are right back where we are today..
This will affect investors in CA .. it will affect taxpayers .. it is not good news for anyone in CA .. tax rates will most likely have to go up and spending will have to go down .. so the 'golden' days here in CA may be over for some time ..
CA is a very nice state to live in, but it and many of its cities are just run by stupid people that have no concept of proper long term planning, etc ..
Quite frankly, retired people who can afford to move out of CA might be well advised to do so.. ditto for people with transferable skills ..
One upshot of all this will be that the federal gov't will have to continue pumping more money into the economy to try and help both the feds and the states..
More money pumped into the economy will lead to more inflation .. I know that the Fed seems to think that there is no inflation out there, but I don't think any of those people go shopping.. I do my own shopping and there is no question that a lot of commonly bought items are going up in price....
So I will continue to have about 10% of my holdings in Gold (etfs and NG, EGO and AEM) .. in addition, I will hold onto my energy related stocks ..
I also will continue to own solid stocks with worldwide sales .. some that I like YUM, UPS, CAT, GE, DD, DE, HON, EMR, BA, AAPL, QCOM etc..
I have reduced the amount of REITs that I own, but still like the mortgage REITs with their over 10% yields (NLY) .. also MLPs like LINE are pretty attractive too..
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Posted on Thursday, January 20, 2011 4:12 AM
Given Jobs may be gone, should I sell or hold? sell some calls and hold??
difficult to say, just how big can get? I think a lot bigger, they have relatively small market share in most morkets and could expand a lot into corporte use as more switch from BB to iphone..
not sure what to do, but will probably sell calls and hold
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Posted on Wednesday, January 19, 2011 7:25 PM
this is froma an email from Ric Edelman www.ricedelman.com you can be on his email list too Don't File Your Taxes Until March!
Avoid the risk that you'll have to file an amended return Updated Dec. 2010
Many taxpayers rush to file their tax returns as
quickly as possible. Ordinarily, that’s fine. But if you own mutual
funds, don’t file your tax return before March 1! Here’s why: Everyone involved in the financial
industry — including employers, banks, insurance companies, mutual funds
and brokerage firms — is required to mail W-2s and 1099s by January 31.
But in each of the past four years, either because of last-minute
changes in tax law or accounting reconciliations, many mutual fund
companies and brokerage firms discovered that their 1099s contained
incorrect information — which forced them to issue “amended” 1099s. This was very expensive for the firms, which had
to pay twice for printing, postage and mailing costs. It was also a huge
headache for the investors who had already filed tax returns based on
the original documentation. These hapless consumers found themselves
forced to redo their returns and file amended tax returns, adjusting the
amount they owed or were due in refunds — and paying their tax preparer
additional fees to do the extra work. It looks like 2010 may be the same. Therefore, if
you own mutual funds, we recommend that you do not file your tax return
before March 1. By then, any amended IRS forms are likely to arrive,
potentially helping you avoid the hassle and costs of filing an amended
return. If you’re expecting a large refund, the delay
might annoy you. But please note that you’re not supposed to be
expecting a big check from the IRS. Remember that a big refund means
you’ve overpaid your taxes — and you’ve been giving the IRS a tax-free
loan for months. See if you can correct this by reducing the amount
of money that your employer withholds from your paycheck. Remember:
Refunds are not gifts from the IRS, but simply a return of money that’s
yours in the first place. Edelman Financial Services (EFS) does
not provide advice pertaining to tax matters. Information regarding tax
matters which may be provided by EFS is of a general nature only, and is
not to be construed as constituting specific advice. Such information
can be provided only by a tax professional and EFS recommends that
individuals consult a tax professional for advice concerning tax issues. |
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Posted on Wednesday, January 19, 2011 6:44 AM
starting this year, the brokerages will be required to submit not only sales data for stock transactions .. this means that they will be able to audit tax returns by computer for cost information.
You need to check and make sure that your broker has the correct infomation. I have a lot of stocks and I have found a couple of errors on my statements.
This could cost you an audit .. this means more hassle for you and perhaps more money for an accountant to represent you.. you will probably owe as the IRS will most probably not be looking for people that overstate their cost. This is what they have done on the sales reporting.
keep in mind that options will probably be reported in similar fashion, so keep any docs you get from your company in regard to any option purchase and sales.
been away during the holidays.. also managed to get food poisoning last week which slowed me down a bit too. |
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Posted on Thursday, December 09, 2010 4:09 AM
I fall into the camp of sometimes loving his advice and other times just shaking my head.. however he has made some good choices.
recently he had a show where he just went over nine stocks that he thinks will be good as the recovery unfolds.
They are
MMM BA CAT DD EMR F HON DE PPG
all of them pay a dividend except F,so i think F is the one sort of speculative play here, but a good speculation.
All have reasonable PE ratios .. esp if you use forward PE ratios.
One of the things that I have done successfully over the years is to build my own 'mutual fund' .. I take a list like this and weight each stock about equally and then watch it closely.
The two areas I have been most successful in this was in REITs, back in 2000 I bought about ten issues and it has pretty close to tripled with the dividends added in .. For most of the time I reinvested the dividends, but now that I have to start withdrawals from my IRA, I have the dividends in cash in the amount needed for withdrawal.
The other was in the drug related stocks.. again, but about six issues and they have done well.
Recently I did this with three gold mining stocks .. so far so good, but this is speculative so not recommended for newer investors.. if you want to own gold, buy an ETF .. GLD or IUA
Now I plan to do this with the above list. I will put the more speculative F in my taxable account and the dividend paying stocks in my IRA. I sold four mutual funds that I still own that have been performing OK, but not as well as I have done on my own.
I will buy roughly equal amounts of each.
I use Schwab and the commissions are not bad, $9 a trade..
If any of the stocks drops more than 10% I will sell it, unless the entire market drops that much, then I will address the issues on a one by one case.
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Posted on Tuesday, December 07, 2010 7:05 PM
Should be good for stocks. the capital gains rate stays the same, but only for two year.. we will have to deal with this again in 2012 .. but 2011 could be a very good year ..
The qualified dividend deduction is also part of this, so buying high yielding stocks that qualify would be good investing. keep in mind that sto9cks like REITs and MLPs, etc, do not qualify ..
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Posted on Saturday, November 20, 2010 12:20 PM
I will not go into great detail about these, but a couple of things you might consider
There is a very good chance that tax rates will go up in the future .. so paying now might benefit you in the long run.
You can convert this year .. no income limitations .. and you can elect to pay the tax in 2011 and 2012 .. do a deferral of the taxes, tho with interest rates so low, doesn't mean much.
If you convert and want to hedge your bets a bit, open more than one ROTH account .. my broker allows as many as I need .
Then put different styles of investment in each..
for example, you might have one with emerging markets ETFs ..
another with just Apple stock ..
another with just REITS
Why you ask?/ if you don't file your tax return (don't for get to get an extension) until 10/15/2011 you can 'un convert' your conversion and you will not pay taxes on it.
as an example, say you have $30K in Apple stock .. if on 10/10/2011 the stock is worth $40K (my hope) then you keep it.. but if it goes down to say $20, un convert and you don't pay the taxes on $30
see your tax advisor and you broker to make sure you do this correctly ..
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Paul: Posted on Friday, November 12, 2010 7:24 AM
I have been investing for a long time. During the 80's I was a series 7 broker. Series 7 is the license that allows you to sell financial products. The test is reasonably difficult and requires a broad based knowledge of investing, primarily in stocks and bonds.
I was never comfortable making $3K on a client's $100K investment while the lead broker kept another $2-3K. It just did not take that much time to actually sell this.. most of my time was spent looking for people to sell to ... not my favorite activity.
I will be posting comments on various investments, but here are a couple of cliches that you ought to always keep in mind.
1. Bears make money, Bulls make money, PIGS GET SLAUGHTERED.
2. If it looks to good to be true, it probably is
3. The higher the return, the higher the risk .. |
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