Market Uptrend, Sound Trading, and How to Buy Stocks; --Thread April 26, 2015

Investors Busniness Daily ^ | April 26, 2015 | Freeper Investors

[expat_panama]

Makes sense, goes back to “don’t fight the tape” meaning that if a trend exists don’t pretend it doesn’t. In the case of the fed, if it needs a rate hike to kill inflation then that’s what it’s going to do double digit unemployment or not. Read: “market crash”.

[expat_panama]

A happy Tuesday to all with yesterday's profit taking ending up as yet another distribution day for both the S&P and the NASDAQ (count now at NASDAQ 7 and S&P 6).  Precious metals lept back up over their psychological pegs to trade at $1,203.95 and $16.46 for gold'n'silver.   Right now (2-1/2 hrs before opening) stock index futures are falling to -0.34% and metals are seen easing back up --now 'only' -0.47%.   Reports this morning: Case-Shiller home prices and Consumer confidence.  Neat threads--

• How Much Does OPEC Really Earn?
• Economic activity in Texas is still plunging
• ‘Accords with China a hallmark in Argentina's foreign relations history’
• Scott Walker Versus the Wall St. Journal on Immigration

-and other morning reading:

• The Surprising Rebirth of Manufacturing - James Surowiecki, New Yorker
• What Behavioral Econ. Says About Great Recession - Jon Hartley, Forbes
• QE Logically Didn't Cause 'Hyperinflation' - John Tamny, RealClearMarket
• U.S. Not Miserable Enough for the Bull to End - Michael Regan, Bloomberg
• Most Overbought, Overleveraged Market Ever - StreetTalk Live
• Don't Get Fooled By The Gold Rally - Myra Saefong, MarketWatch

[patriot08]

I’m still trying to help out this elderly lady next door.
(age 80)
I can’t seem to find out how much money you can earn before you have to file an income tax report in Texas
She only makes $I039 per mo Social Security. $12,468 per year.
She has a few stocks, and withdraws a few thousand a year to survive.
Do you have to file at age 80?
How much can you make, including income used from stock dividends?

[abb]

http://www.irs.gov/publications/p554/ch01.html

General Requirements

If you are a U.S. citizen or resident alien, you must file a return if your gross income for the year was at least the amount shown on the appropriate line in Table 1-1 below. For other filing requirements, see your tax return instructions or Publication 501, Exemptions, Standard Deduction, and Filing Information. If you were a nonresident alien at any time during the year, the filing requirements that apply to you may be different from those that apply to U.S. citizens. See Publication 519, U.S. Tax Guide for Aliens.

[abb]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_income_tax

Texas – no individual income tax but imposes a franchise tax on corporations. In May 2007, the legislature replaced the franchise tax with a gross margins tax on businesses (sole proprietorships and some partnerships were automatically exempt; corporations with receipts below a certain level were also exempt as were corporations whose tax liability was also below a specified amount), which was amended in 2009 to increase the exemption level. The Texas Constitution places severe restrictions on passage of an individual income tax and use of its proceeds.

[citizen]

So.....when do you think the music will stop? Article title:
Negative interest rates put world on course for biggest mass default in history
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/jeremy-warner/11569329/Jeremy-Warner-Negative-interest-rates-put-world-on-course-for-biggest-mass-default-in-history.html
This Warner fellow doesn’t seem to know either....
“Both Keynesian and monetary economics seem to be in some kind of end game. What comes next is anyone’s guess.”

[Chgogal]

Here you go:

http://www.tax-rates.org/texas/income-tax

[patriot08]

Does an elderly lady (80) have to file an income tax form if she only earns #14,000 a year social security which includes a very small dividend from a few stocks?
She said the local AARP told her she didn’t have to file.

[expat_panama]

AARP told her she didn’t have to file

Ah yes, from those wonderful people that brought us Obamacare. 

Actually, they may be kind of right, in that if she doesn't file then when they tell her that she broke the law then they probably won't put her in jail, but they'll still insist you file.  Had a buddy that was overseas for a dozen years and didn't file the whole time, but when we came back he had to file a dozen late returns.  Didn't pay any taxes/fines or anything but that IRS loves it's paperwork. 

Fortunately in this wonderful info age filing can be done online for free starting at irs.gov

[expat_panama]

dang, too early in the morning, post 29 was for patriot08

[expat_panama]

	Markets		Yesterday		Today's Futures
	stocks		Mixed volume S&P +0.3% NASDAQ -0.1% as "leaders struggle" (investors.com)		now at -0.31% --falling
	metals		gold settles above $1,200 and silver climbs back over $16.50		down to -0.54%

Good morning and happy GDP day soaring up 0.2% (from here).  huh.   Later we get the Pending home sales and FOMC announcement.  Mainstream News Service:

Clinton Foundation failed to disclose 1,100 foreign donations

Economy stalls in first quarter as weather, lower energy prices bite

Weak Spending Cools First Quarter Economic Growth

US Stock Futures Fall After GDP Data

[expat_panama]

when do you think the music will stop?

Tx fer the link; imho negative rates can be a good buy as long they're less negative than deflation, but as far as 'music stopping' maybe after today's underachieving gdp we also hear the wrong gaff from the fed, maybe we'll get a crash today.  Or not.  What's for sure is I think I'll be paying attention...

[citizen]

haha, it was good info for me, too. I’m slowly nearing that full SS retirement date, day by day.

[citizen]

Actually, I suppose many savers and most check writers have been paying negative rates for years in the form of bank fees for this and for that and for everything else, too.

So rather than advertise a negative interest rate, banks should pay a small positive rate and then jack up their fees.

Thinking about it, there must be regulations forcing banks to offer and publicize a negative rate. Else why would they do it?

[expat_panama]

must be regulations forcing banks to offer and publicize a negative rate

Very well could be, the banking regs are squirlly and not imune to politics.  Thing is the market always wins, and when politics tries to lower rates the banks say, offer a free toaster for account openers but when the market says lower the rates then (just like you said) they up the fees.

[Chgogal]

There's nothing to file for Texas would be my guess. But she does have to file for Federal taxes.

[Chgogal]

I think you will like this comparison graph: : )

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/04/obama-vs-reagan-big-government-socialism-proves-to-be-as-disastrous-as-expected/

[expat_panama]

whoa.... that's a STUNNING comparison:

[saving to desktop...]  It's what happens when you look at job growth compared to population and normal growth. 

[patriot08]

Does an elderly lady (80) have to file an income tax form if she only earns #14,000 a year social security which includes a very small dividend from a few stocks?

She said the local AARP tax filing help system told her she did not have to file a Fed tax return at her age and low income anymore.
I don’t think this lady has filed a tax return in years.
Is this elderly lady in trouble.?
How should I find out, or just let it go and pray?

[expat_panama]

That sure poses quite a money-question/moral-dilema!  fwiw, this popped up this morning:

For some Social Security taxes can really pile up USA TODAY - 6:26am Now that income-tax season has come and gone, plenty of seniors probably could benefit from a refresher course in Social Security tax basics.

On the one hand, this may be something nagging at her causing distress and easily resolved w/ a bit of paperwork.  On the other hand it may be a can of worms that nobody wants to look into that won't matter in a few years.  All my busy-body lurid fascination aside, she's a real human being and what matters a lot is the question: what is it that she wants to do ---and is her obstacle that she needs and wants help or is does she want privacy because she's already worked it out?  Prayer sounds great --I can help w/ that (tho my wife's prayers seem quite a bit more effective than mine).