"A secret visit to Syria over Memorial Day weekend by Senator John McCain. The Senator, meeting with leaders of the Free Syrian Army, as Washington debates whether or not to arm the rebels. But is arming the rebels a good idea?" Continue reading →
"There are only two countries in the world that levy income tax based on citizenship rather than residence; one is Eritrea and the other is the United States. But while Canada fulminates and threatens mayhem against Eritrea, it says nothing about the U.S. Even worse, it is actively negotiating with the U.S. to implement an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) that would have Canada Revenue Agency help the U.S. IRS track down its citizens in Canada and bring them into the U.S. tax fold. Could it be the power gap?" Continue reading →
"A state welfare worker is facing charges after allegedly offering benefits in exchange for sex. The District Attorney’s office says the Department of Public Welfare case manager John Geary told a woman he would give her extra cash and extra benefits if she engaged in sexual acts with him. According to the police criminal complaint, Geary also repeatedly asked the woman to smoke crack with him on the weekends when his wife was working and his children were asleep in their North Versailles home." Continue reading →
"His company, Diego Pellicer, plans to produce, market and distribute a high-potency strain of marijuana and establish itself as the industry’s first true 'brand.' Shivley and his business partners were even featured on the local news the night Washington’s marijuana legalization law took effect, in video featuring Shivley ringing a bell to celebrate 'the beginning of the end of prohibition.' Since trying marijuana for the first time just last year, Shively says that he’s been fully converted by the controversial herb. 'I’ve just fallen in love with the plant. Especially in the medical realm I’ve gone from entrepreneur to advocate to activist, seriously.'" Continue reading →
"While the big institutions are driven by momentum into gold, they also relied on fears related to inflation and economic uncertainty. However, many have now abandoned these concerns. In reaching its bearish conclusion on gold, Goldman Sachs cited low global inflation, and surging equity markets in the U.S. and Japan as reasons to believe that the bull run in gold had come and gone. However, their conclusions are hasty." Continue reading →
"The Affordable Care Act establishes a transitional reinsurance program in each state to help stabilize premiums for coverage in the individual market due to individuals with higher cost needs gaining insurance coverage during the first three years of Exchange operation (2014 through 2016). All health insurance issuers, self-insured group health plans, and third party administrators on their behalf, will make contributions to support reinsurance payments to individual market issuers that cover individuals with high medical costs." Continue reading →
"'Exit from unconventional monetary policy, when needed, may be difficult to manage and less smooth than desirable, possibly leading to sharp rises in bond yields and serious negative consequences for growth in a number of advanced and emerging economies,' Pier Carlo Padoan, OECD’s deputy secretary-general and chief economist, said in the report. 'A leap in U.S. government bond yields would result in capital losses for investors, and prices on other assets would most likely follow suit, with mortgage-backed securities and corporate bonds most strongly affected. [..] In comparison with 1994, this could be more disruptive given current higher leverage." Continue reading →
"Several companies have recently asked us for an analysis of the Federal Reserve tapering its quantitative easing programs. One factor that is not widely analyzed is the Fed’s own balance sheet, which could be a constraint on how far and how fast the Fed permits interest rates to rise in the US. We calculate that a 143bp parallel rise in the yield curve would cause a drop in the market value of the Fed’s assets that exceeds the Fed’s own equity capital (as of May 15). The Fed balance sheet’s capacity to absorb higher interest rates has deterioriated quickly, as the 143bp capacity is down from 185bp as of last October." Continue reading →
"The Swiss federal government has accepted a United States demand to settle a dispute over the alleged complicity of Swiss banks in tax evasion by Americans that will reportedly cost the banks billions of francs. Swiss media have reported that the overall figure could hit 10 billion francs ($10.3 billion). 'If a bank has done a lot of business involving undeclared American funds, it will be a big problem for it,' Finance Minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said. She indicated that the Swiss government had been presented with a take it or leave it offer by Washington. 'It was a unilateral offer, one that we couldn't negotiate,' she said." Continue reading →
"Michigan State University police have confirmed to wilx.com they accidentally sent out an alert that there had been a shooting at Wilson Hall on campus. Police were trying to send a severe weather alert when the wrong message was sent. It was followed by an email from alert@msu.edu reading, 'The MSU Police accidentally sent a message of an active shooter on campus. THERE IS NO ACTIVE SHOOTER ON CAMPUS...THERE IS NO DANGER ON CAMPUS.'" Continue reading →