Mainstream News

Art Basel takes art world by storm

"With private jets filling the air and lines of luxury limousines on the ready, deep-pocketed collectors from around the world have flocked to Switzerland this week for Art Basel, the biggest contemporary art fair on the planet. An estimated 110 private jets landed and took off from the Basel-Mulhouse airport, after 83 flew through there on Tuesday despite a strike that reduced the airport’s capacity and forced some wealthy patrons of the arts to change their travel plans. The art world appears to have bucked the global economic crisis, with income from global auction sales more than doubling since it hit bottom in 2009, passing eight billion euros last year." Continue reading →

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Official: Cannes diamond heist actually nets $136M

"It even happened at a hotel that was featured in Alfred Hitchcock's jewel-encrusted thriller 'To Catch a Thief.' On Monday, a state prosecutor provided new details about the brazen heist a day earlier at the Carlton Intercontinental hotel - not least that the loot was actually worth more than twice the (EURO)40 million ($53 million) estimate that police had first announced. In 2008, thieves - some dressed as women - stole $118 million in rings, necklaces and luxury watches from the Harry Winston store in Paris. A robbery five years earlier at Belgium's Antwerp Diamond Center netted an estimated $100 million." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOfficial: Cannes diamond heist actually nets $136M

(Sm)art Investing: Rich Move Assets from Banks to Warehouses

"Not everything the banks are losing is actually leaving Switzerland. Partly as a result of the many uncertainties in the financial markets, a growing share of the money is being invested in tangible assets, such as art, wine and classic cars. A total of $4 trillion has reportedly been invested in 'treasure assets.' This requires warehouse space that satisfies the most stringent security requirements. Swiss military bunkers blasted deep into Alpine rock are in great demand. But the free ports in Geneva and Zurich are even more popular because they offer what Swiss banks used to: the freedoms of a tax haven and maximum discretion." Continue reading →

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What we know thanks to Bradley Mannning’s leaks to WikiLeaks

"Bradley Manning, a 25-year-old US private, downloaded more than 700,000 classified documents from US military servers and passed them to WikiLeaks. The Guardian was one of several news organisations to publish a series of stories based on the contents of the files. Below are 10 of the most revelatory." Continue reading →

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The Bradley Manning verdict is still bad news for the press

"The public needs to awaken to the threat to its own freedoms from the Obama crackdown on leaks and, by extension, journalism and free speech itself. We are, more and more, a society where unaccountable people can commit unspeakable acts with impunity. They are creating a surveillance state that makes not just dissent, but knowledge itself, more and more dangerous. What we know about this is entirely due to leakers and their outlets. Ignorance is only bliss for the unaccountable." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Bradley Manning verdict is still bad news for the press

Massachusetts smokers try to get ahead of new cigarette tax

"The state's newest transportation bill will raise taxes on gas, services on computer software upgrades and cigarettes. Gas will go up three cents a gallon. And you'll be paying a dollar more if you buy a pack of cigarettes and $10 more if you buy a carton. State legislators estimate the new taxes will raise $800 million in the next five years. The added revenue will be used for transportation projects and to help sustain public transit." Continue reading →

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IMF approves 1.7 bn euro loan payout to Greece

"The International Monetary Fund released 1.72 billion euros ($2.29 billion) in aid for Greece on Monday after completing a review of the country's performance under the international rescue program. The latest disbursement means that Greece has received a total of roughly 8.24 billion euros ($10.94 billion) from the IMF under the bailout coordinated with the European Union and the European Central Bank in March 2012. Greece was first bailed out for 110 billion euros in 2010 but when that failed, got a second rescue worth 130 billion euros plus a private sector debt write-off totaling more than 100 billion euros." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIMF approves 1.7 bn euro loan payout to Greece

Paris tax hunt sends French to Switzerland

"France has made highly publicized efforts in recent months to crack down on tax evaders including French nationals who inherit from wealthy Swiss residents. However, some say the move will simply persuade French to up sticks and take their wealth with them. The change still needs to be ratified by both the Swiss and French parliaments and which is not set to take effect until 2015 at the earliest. But when it does it will dramatically increase the tax burden on French heirs of estates in Switzerland, which caps its inheritance tax at 7.0 percent, compared to 45 percent in neighbouring France." Continue reading →

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Obama offers ‘grand bargain’ on corporate tax rate, infrastructure

"Obama wants to cut the corporate tax rate of 35 percent to 28 percent and give manufacturers a preferred rate of 25 percent. He also wants a minimum tax on foreign earnings as a tool against corporate tax evasion and the use of tax havens. Obama wants the money generated by a tax overhaul to be used to fund such projects as repairing roads and bridges, improving education at community colleges and promoting manufacturing, senior administration officials said. Republicans contended that by spending the revenue, it would violate Obama's previous commitment to a 'revenue-neutral' overhaul of corporate taxes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama offers ‘grand bargain’ on corporate tax rate, infrastructure

‘Way Harder’ For Goldman And Morgan Stanley To Get Out Of Commodities Than JP Morgan

"Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley two decades ago became known as the 'Wall Street Refiners' for their mastery of both financial and physical commodities. But since 2012 Morgan Stanley has looked at selling its commodity arm and Goldman has made moves to scale back its physical operations. Letters between the banks and the Federal Reserve, received by Reuters under the Freedom of Information Act, show both banks are in discussions on conforming or divesting activities that fall outside the normal scope of commercial banks." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Way Harder’ For Goldman And Morgan Stanley To Get Out Of Commodities Than JP Morgan