MrJohnRoss' Account Talk

[RealMoneyIssues]

Just a little jump-in reallity check from the peanut-gallery...
I believe the record shows that we are at multi-generation LOWs on Federal tax rates across the board, for most if not all sectors (personal income-tax, Corporate, etc.). If, as posed, the 1st options are always tax-tax-tax, then rates would be way huge by now, especially with impactful events on the order of the way huge cost for Iraq-Conflict (about $1-trillion), and big hit in lost revenues for the near-depression, and big-bank bailouts due to weakening of related federal regulation for that industry & very little enforcement of same. Seems there's ample room & justification of some "revenue enhancement" along with spending-reductions -- in a balanced, coordinated solution.

Yes, simple... how about a flat tax, that way everyone pays some and it isn't diluted by "deductions." Wouldn't the rich pay more at this point, oh wait, the rich already pay most of the taxes...

 

[Mapper]

I disagree on one point, I reduced my spending which EXACTLY what got me out of debt.

OK, this is one thing that continues to drive me batty . Running your personal budget is in no way analogous to running the budget of the entire United States. That is a GROSS simplification. How, for example, do you deal with the infrastructure spending required to keep an economy competitive OR defending the nation/providing local police service OR attempting to balance trade OR ensuring workers are paid a fair and livable wage etc. etc. etc.

It's a different ball game.

Question:
Who do we owe our debts to?
Answer:
Ourselves.

No, not China. China INVESTS in the US because they believe they will get a reliable consistent return. IF we fail to invest in our own country...why would anyone else invest in us. That, my friend, is the risk we run. Sure cutting spending in some areas may be very wise AND important. But cutting, just for the sake of cutting, can be very dangerous.

I'll say it again, See #1 Greece then IRELAND, Spain, Italy, Britain, Portugal. Compare, for example, to Iceland. You may say that those countries are NOT analogous to the US, but they are much more so than a personal budget.

 

[Mapper]

oh wait, the rich already pay most of the taxes...

Define "most of the taxes". Recall our conversation about how percentages work.

 

[RealMoneyIssues]

Define "most of the taxes". Recall our conversation about how percentages work.

yes, and it was still wrong... at least according to the IRS

 

[RealMoneyIssues]

Screw it, raise taxes on everyone making over $250k (thats rich right?) to 90%

Good luck, I am buying gold

 

[SteelSaving]

OK, this is one thing that continues to drive me batty . Running your personal budget is in no way analogous to running the budget of the entire United States. That is a GROSS simplification. How, for example, do you deal with the infrastructure spending required to keep an economy competitive OR defending the nation/providing local police service OR attempting to balance trade OR ensuring workers are paid a fair and livable wage etc. etc. etc.

It's a different ball game.

Question:
Who do we owe our debts to?
Answer:
Ourselves.

No, not China. China INVESTS in the US because they believe they will get a reliable consistent return. IF we fail to invest in our own country...why would anyone else invest in us. That, my friend, is the risk we run. Sure cutting spending in some areas may be very wise AND important. But cutting, just for the sake of cutting, can be very dangerous.

I'll say it again, See #1 Greece then IRELAND, Spain, Italy, Britain, Portugal. Compare, for example, to Iceland. You may say that those countries are NOT analogous to the US, but they are much more so than a personal budget.

It is a simplification but it still makes sense. If my personal goal is to reduce my own spending to take care of my debt, I still need shelter, I still need to eat, I still need to get to my place of employment and back, I need clean water, etc.
There are necessities and there are wants. Our society has made it impossible to differentiate or has reached a point where they allow wants to outweigh needs. Housing bubble? For God's sake, our society is a bubble.

 

[SteelSaving]

The biggest economic fallicy is that "war" got us out of the Great Depression.
What WWII was on the American side...was our biggest Gov't Stimulus Plan ever...on a GDP/inflation scale, kind of like combining QE1, QE2, and a QE3...4...5 to boot. Thats what got us out of our mess. The result was that by the end of WWII we had low unemployment, but a gov't national debt at a bigger ratio per GDP than we do today.
At that point...income taxes were raised on everyone (up to 90% for the top 1%) and military spending was severely reduced. The result was tremendous economic expansion thru the 1950's and we GREW our way out of the debt. We were well on our way to repeating this in the 1990's but then...

Bernanke luckily is a student of the Great Depression and we are fortunate to have him and Geithner in there instead of the ECB chiefs. They should kick Greece out now while they still can.

So WWII was just one giant stimulus package and all it cost was 50-70 million lives. I guess you have to break a few eggs to make an omelette.
Geithner... the tax fraud... you really wanted to put his name in there?

 

[MrJohnRoss]

Ok gents, we're gonna shift gears...

I have an investment idea that might be worth looking into (in your non TSP accounts). With the threat of war in the Middle East, oil prices are going through the roof. Meanwhile, the U.S. now has a GLUT of natural gas. How can we capitalize on this?

One idea that is taking shape is the fact that many large corporations and gov't entities are switching from diesel engines to natural gas engines. The cost savings are huge (around $40K a year for each heavy duty truck). For a large corp (i.e. Wal Mart), the cost savings could be hundreds of millions per year.

One company that is at the forefront of natural gas engines is Westport Innovations (WPRT). It has three major catalysts going for it: 1) Rising oil prices, 2) Glut of natural gas, and 3) Big corporations looking to trim costs.

Take a look at the chart below. Since the beginning of this year, the stock has grown from $33.24 to it's current price around $45.50. That's a solid 37% gain in a little over a month and a half.

Although it looks like it may be extended at this point, I may be looking for pullbacks to add some positions in the future. If GM, Ford, etc. start offering autos with natural gas engines in the near future, this stock could skyrocket.

 

[MrJohnRoss]

For those that are interested, I just confirmed that my signal remains on a sell position.

JR

 

[Bquat]

Let's just put an 50 cent export tax on a gallon of gas. Make money for the gov. and keep more gas in country. Were not that short on gas if you take away the exporting of it for profit.

 

[Khotso]

Sorry to say Birch, but [the president] got nothing to do with gas prices -- but you probably already knew that. Maybe Santorum will get elected and he can husband earth's oil resources.

 

[RealMoneyIssues]

Sorry to say Birch, but [the predident] got nothing to do with gas prices -- but you probably already knew that. Maybe Santorum will get elected and he can husband earth's oil resources.

I don't think that was his point; however, in an election, high gas prices will probably be blamed on the President by the electorate... hence Birchtree's comment.

 

[Khotso]

I don't think that was his point; however, in an election, high gas prices will probably be blamed on the President by the electorate... hence Birchtree's comment.

Agreed RMI. It wasn't his principal point, but my fingers just couldn't let it go.

 

[MrJohnRoss]

Anyone else noticing the $TRAN has been rolling over, and is going down the tubes today?

If you're only looking at $SPX and $INDU, you're missing some serious undertow.

Is our correction finally taking shape?

 

[coolhand]

Good chance it is. If today's downside action holds, the Seven Sentinels may issue a sell signal. But I won't know for sure till early this evening.

 

[MrJohnRoss]

Good chance it is. If today's downside action holds, the Seven Sentinels may issue a sell signal. But I won't know for sure till early this evening.

Thanks for your input, Coolhand. Looking fwd to seeing how this market is gonna play out. Every day is a new adventure around here, that's for sure.

 

[nnuut]

So now POTUS has nothing to do with the price of gas? Tell me you're joking, PLEASE. Wrong action and no action have caused this problem, over 3 years to do something to stop this and nothing positive was done only negative action. I'm not going to go into details because anyone that watches the news already should know the specifics.

 

[nnuut]

Sorry Sir but I just disagree with you, as usual. Not the whole story, half truths and untruths.
Have a nice night.

 

[WorkFE]

That dang Bush, can't he just leave us alone

 

[tsptalk]

It looks like MrJohnRoss would like to talk about the market. Please show some respect while in his thread. I have to admit that I kind of enjoyed handing out the negative rep and moving posts to purgatory.