McDuck's Account Talk

[McDuck]

This stinks

Hillary Clinton And Wall Street: Financial Industry May Control Retirement Savings In A Clinton Administration

 

[Skorcher]

The increase in the cap to $127,200 stinks even worse. That's a 7.3% increase. How does the cap get increased 24x more than the COLA? Workers are screwed more than retirees.

Social Security cost-of-living allowance increases for 2017 is just 0.3 percent


http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/18/social-security-increase-is-03-percent-next-year.html

"The agency also will be taking more. It said it will increase the maximum amount of earnings subject to the Social Security tax to $127,200 from $118,500, starting in January."

"Financial advisors have said that they aren't counting on Social Security COLAs as a retirement income boost, especially since 2016 was a year with no increase for retirees."

View attachment 39738

"Keep a lid on your costs by enrolling for Medicare when you're eligible. You can sign up during the initial enrollment period, which starts three months before your 65[SUP]th[/SUP] birthday and ends three months after.
If you miss that first enrollment window, you will be subject to a 10 percent late fee for each 12-month period you went without coverage. You will pay this surcharge for the remainder of your life."

 

[uscfanhawaii]

The increase in the cap to $127,200 stinks even worse. That's a 7.3% increase. How does the cap get increased 24x more than the COLA? Workers are screwed more than retirees.

I thought the increase in the SS cap was indexed. So Cost of Living....wait....COLA is only given to retirees and SS recipients. Workers get 1.6% wage increase in Jan, but that is not based on Cost of Living, that's only based on what the Pres or Congress decrees. Who knows what they base it on. So still, 7.3% increase in cap and 1.6% wage increase is pretty bad. Did inflation really go up 7.3% this past year?!?

 

[Cactus]

It has nothing to do with inflation -- it's the insolvency of Social Security. Our government is trying to suck in for money to keep it going a few months longer. :notrust:

 

[Tsunami]

This article has more detail on how the increase in the wage base limit works: http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2005/03/how-todays-social-security-works

“Every October, Social Security calculates and announces the earnings limit for the following calendar year, based on the growth of wages in the economy. Wage growth is slightly higher than the rate of inflation(growth of prices). Developed as part of the 1983 Social Security reforms, this formula for increasing the amount of wages that are taxed for Social Security was supposed to cover 90 percent of the nation's total wages. However, this proportion has gradually declined and is now closer to 85 percent."

So it sounds like maybe this problem is that the total wages paid are dwindling, therefore they have to jack up the wage base limit a lot each year in order to collect what they need. So all the talk about increasing the limit is a moot point since it’s happening anyway.

 

[McDuck]

[h=1]Obama administration confirms double-digit premium hikes[/h]Obama administration confirms double-digit premium hikes | WHNT.com

"Before taxpayer-provided subsidies, premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan will increase an average of 25 percent across states served by the federally run online market."
"The number of insurers serving the federal market will drop from 232 to 167, a loss of about 28 percent."

 

[McDuck]

[h=1]Opinion: The U.S. stock market is stuck in the danger zone[/h]
The U.S. stock market is stuck in the danger zone - MarketWatch

 

[McDuck]

I have lost a lot in the S-fund in the last couple of weeks.

 

[McDuck]

I watch PBS's NBR for the stock info.

 

[alexreb]

Looks like good info. I'll have to catch some NPR.

 

[McDuck]

The fear got too much for me today. I moved from S-fund to G-fund.
Therefore, it's clear sailing to be in S-fund after COB today for everybody else. :laugh:

 

[McDuck]

The S-fund (DWCPF) closed today at 1025.4 (down 0.41%) which was close to the daily low.
This was the 7th down day out of the last 8 days.
On Tuesday it went below the 200day-EMA.
I see the support at 960.
A recent high was on Oct 24th, 9 days ago. There has been 4.13% loss in the S-fund since then.
Today's close is down 10.2% from it's all-time high back on July 23, 2015.






5-year plot in which it has almost doubled in price.

 

[McDuck]

[h=1]Citi predicts possible 5% drop for S&P 500 if Trump wins, warns on recession[/h]http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/04/citi...-sp-500-if-trump-wins-warns-on-recession.html

 

[McDuck]

David Stockman warns both Trump and Clinton could lead to 25% sell-off

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/04/davi...mp-and-clinton-could-lead-to-25-sell-off.html

Sell everything!
"The markets are hideously inflated,"
"For six months, or even longer, there will acrimony, there will be brinkmanship, there will be paralysis."

"We're in the same place today as we were in December of 2014," explained Stockman. "There's massive risk. So what's the possible reward?"

Indeed, the S&P 500 Index has gained just over 1 percent in nearly two years while the Dow Jones Industrial Average has gained just .70 percent.

 

[McDuck]

S&P 500 FUTURES PLUNGE 5%, DOW FUTURES TUMBLE MORE THAN 750 POINTS

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/08/stoc...ection-results-emerge-showing-tight-race.html

 

[weatherweenie]

S&P 500 futures are now down 'only' 1.58%.

S&P 500 FUTURES PLUNGE 5%, DOW FUTURES TUMBLE MORE THAN 750 POINTS

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/08/stoc...ection-results-emerge-showing-tight-race.html

 

[McDuck]

Jeff Gundlach says he's long emerging markets, short the S&P 500

[h=1]Jeff Gundlach makes bets against U.S. stocks, for emerging markets[/h]
[FONT=&quot]Jeff Gundlach said Monday he has a pair trade betting on further gains for emerging markets and against U.S. stocks. He is long the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF and short the SPDR S&P 500 ETF specifically.[/FONT]

 

[nnuut]

Thanks Duck, good to hear from you.

 

[McDuck]

A look inside the retail wreck | Nightly Business Report

“2017 is on track to be a record setting year for bankruptcy filings and store closings.

Retail may be at a tipping point.
· More shopping is shifting online in general, and to Amazon specifically, which is hurting store sales.
· Consumers are spending more on travel instead of clothing.
· And investing in their homes rather than adding to their closets.

Half of the retailers filing for bankruptcy this year are highly leveraged with debt from private equity.

Because of major changes to bankruptcy laws in 2005, retailers now only have 210 days max to decide which stores to close and how to restructure to emerge from bankruptcy. Prior to the law change, it wasn`t uncommon for a retailer to need 18 months to emerge from bankruptcy with a healthier business. All of it together means highly leveraged retailers filing for bankruptcy now turns into liquidation and not reorganization much more frequently.”

For NIGHTLY BUSINESS REPORT, Courtney Reagan.

 

[McDuck]

[FONT=&quot]I watched the CNBC documentary about Bernie Madoff (Richard Dreyfuss didn't look that much like him). Madoff went to University of Alabama for his freshman year of college back in '57.

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2009%2F01%2F18%2Ffashion%2F18madoff.html

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