Mainstream News

West, TX blast victims may not get property tax relief

"Some West residents may end up paying taxes this year on homes that no longer exist. Residents whose homes were damaged or destroyed in the April 17 West Fertilizer Co. explosion have until the end of May to protest the appraisals on which property taxes are based. But under state law, appraisal values are supposed to reflect the value of the property on Jan. 1 of the tax year. Section 23.03 of the Texas Property Tax Code allows local governments to authorize reappraisals after natural disasters, but the fertilizer plant explosion wouldn’t qualify." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWest, TX blast victims may not get property tax relief

Eric Holder defends seizure of AP phone logs to track down ‘the most serious’ CIA leak

"The US administration pushed back Tuesday after being accused of undermining press freedom by seizing reporters’ phone records, claiming officials took the drastic steps to protect American lives. Amid a barrage of criticism, Attorney General Eric Holder said telephone logs were secretly taken from US news agency the Associated Press as part of a probe into a security breach which had put the American people at risk. The comments came as President Barack Obama’s administration faced heavy criticism over the Justice Department’s decision to seize two months of phone records from the news operations of the Associated Press." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEric Holder defends seizure of AP phone logs to track down ‘the most serious’ CIA leak

Argentina’s Deadbeat Special: Buy a 4% Bond or Go to Jail

"President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner wants tax evaders hiding about $160 billion in dollars to help finance Argentina’s oil-producing ambitions. Her offer: Buy a 4 percent bond or face the prospect of jail time. The tax authority announced the plan May 7, highlighting its information-sharing agreements with 40 nations and warning Argentines who don’t use the three-month amnesty window that they risk fines or arrest. Evaders have two options for their cash and the only one paying interest will be a dollar bond due in 2016 to finance YPF SA (YPF), the state oil company." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArgentina’s Deadbeat Special: Buy a 4% Bond or Go to Jail

Bankers: College debt bubble mimics housing bubble

"A group of bankers have just dumped two more problems on the Federal Reserve's plate. The Federal Advisory Council, made up of 12 bankers who meet quarterly to advise the central bank, warned that farmland prices are inflating 'a bubble' and growth in student-loan debt has 'parallels to the housing crisis,' which was the primary cause of the Great Recession in the U.S. Bernanke has dismissed parallels between student lending and the subprime mortgage crisis." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBankers: College debt bubble mimics housing bubble

Investors can’t beat the machines: Computer-dominated trading takes over

"The implication of all this for individual investors is straightforward: Don’t trade. Short-term trading has become so dominated by Wall Street’s computers that individuals—and professional managers—almost certainly will lose out to them over time. The obvious alternative, experts say, is to buy and hold diversified index funds with very low expenses. Odean says some of the poorest performances in his studies were turned in by traders who were the most confident of their abilities. This led them to trade even more often and incur even more risk." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInvestors can’t beat the machines: Computer-dominated trading takes over

Gold Bears Pull $20.8 Billion as BlackRock Says Buy

"Hedge funds increased bets on lower gold prices after investors pulled a record $20.8 billion from bullion funds this year while BlackRock Inc. (BLK), the world’s biggest money manager, said it’s still bullish. Speculators held 67,374 so-called short contracts on May 7, 6.4 percent more than a week earlier, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. The net-long position dropped 10 percent to 49,260 futures and options. BlackRock’s President Robert Kapito said May 9 he would still buy the metal, echoing billionaire John Paulson, who’s sticking with a bullish view even after losing 27 percent in his Gold Fund last month." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGold Bears Pull $20.8 Billion as BlackRock Says Buy

Hundreds of Bangladesh textile plants shut indefinitely

"The textile industry’s main trade body said all operations at the nearby Ashulia industrial zone on the outskirts of Dhaka were being suspended until further notice. Shahidullah Azim, of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the decision was made 'to ensure the security of our factories'. Most of Bangladesh’s top garment factories are based at Ashulia and there has been 'virtually no work' there since the April 24 Rana Plaza tragedy, Azim said. Ashulia is home to around 500 factories which make clothing for a string of major Western retailers including Walmart, H&M, Tesco and Carrefour." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHundreds of Bangladesh textile plants shut indefinitely

Internet giant Amazon hit by first strike in Germany

"German employees of Amazon staged their first-ever walkouts on Tuesday as the US Internet retail giant was hit by a dispute over pay. Employees at two logistics centres in Bad Hersfeld and Leipzig launched a strike with the start of the early shift at 6:00 am (0400 GMT), the giant services sector union Verdi said. In Bad Hersfeld, strikers planned to march to a rally in the city centre at around 11:00 am (0900 GMT), while employees in Leipzig rallied in front of the warehouse. Verdi is demanding that Amazon’s 9,000 employees in Germany be paid according to a sector-wide wage deal for the retail and mail-order industries." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInternet giant Amazon hit by first strike in Germany

Flying the Government Skies

"The sequester cuts about $637 million from the FAA, which is less than 4% of its $15.9 billion 2012 budget, and it limits the agency to what it spent in 2010. The White House decided to translate this 4% cut that it has the legal discretion to avoid into a 10% cut for air traffic controllers. Though controllers will be furloughed for one of every 10 working days, four of every 10 flights won't arrive on time. The FAA projects the delays will rob one out of every three travellers of up to four hours of their lives waiting at the major hubs. Congress passed a law in 2009 that makes such delays illegal -- if they are the responsibility of an airline." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFlying the Government Skies

Phone Records of AP Journalists Seized by U.S. Government

"Federal investigators secretly seized two months of phone records for reporters and editors of The Associated Press in what the news organization said Monday was a 'serious interference with A.P.’s constitutional rights to gather and report the news.' The A.P. said that the Justice Department informed it on Friday that law enforcement officials had obtained the records for more than 20 telephone lines of its offices and journalists, including their home phones and cellphones. It said the records were seized without notice sometime this year. The organization was not told the reason for the seizure." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPhone Records of AP Journalists Seized by U.S. Government