"The average rent in Manhattan rose by $139 to $3,367 a month in April, compared with March, a one-month increase of 4.3%, according to a report by Citi Habitats, a brokerage firm that represents many renters, reports WSJ. And Anthony Trevisan reports in that his NYC laundry just raised prices by 13%." Continue reading →
"Three of the four largest banks in Sweden continue to phase out the manual handling of cash at their branch offices at a rapid pace. Taken together, Swedbank, Nordea, and SEB, have stopped offering cash services at their branches at the rate of three branches per week since 2010. Thus during the period 2010-2012, cash disappeared from 465 Swedish bank branches. At Swedberg bank, only 75 of its 340 branches still handle cash. Leif Faithful, Head of Financial Infrastructure at the Swedish Bankers’ Association, believes that eventually all Swedes will need a bank card and sees this development as beneficial to 'both consumers and trade.'" Continue reading →
"A police officer who lashed out at a deaf driver with whom he had difficulty communicating cost St. Paul, Minnesota $93,450 on Wednesday. When Bahl failed to produce the license, Officer Bobrowski shoved him. Bahl leaned away, and the officer grabbed him by the wrist. Bahl took a pad of paper from the passenger's seat and wrote 'joint' to signify his wrist joint was in pain. Bobrowski blasted Bahl with Mace and yanked the man out of the car to be placed under arrest. Bahl was taken to Regions Hospital for treatment of his left eye which showed significant swelling from the attack." Continue reading →
"Experts don’t know how the cops could have confused the two. Cops eventually got hip to the difference and closed the investigation, leaving the tomatoes alone. The unidentified owner of the tomato stash won’t have to deal with the cops but he will have to deal with his super, who said he’d lock the door to the roof. 'No one’s supposed to be there anyway,' Delarosa said." Continue reading →
"The University of Texas Investment Management Co., the third-largest U.S. academic endowment, sold $375 million in gold bars from holdings of about $1.4 billion and reinvested the proceeds in gold futures and equities. The fund, which manages $29.2 billion, started taking delivery of gold through futures starting in 2008 as a hedge against inflation, Zimmerman said. While fund managers and directors remain concerned global consumer prices may increase, the fund wanted to increase investments in equities, he said. 'Our idea was to buy and hold gold, and when the world’s central banks begin tightening, we’ll sell,' Zimmerman said." Continue reading →
"Wealthy money managers bashed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's easy money policies at a closely watched annual investment conference and charitable event on Wednesday. The Sohn Investment Conference, which raises money for pediatric cancer research, gets big name hedge fund managers to share their 'best ideas' with other wealthy investors. This year's conference was sprinkled with criticisms of the Fed's $85 billion in monthly purchases of Treasuries and mortgage securities in an attempt to stoke the economy." Continue reading →
"The blue dollar jumped past the key psychological barrier of 10 Pesos on Tuesday in thin t rade, reflecting persistent demand for greenbacks amid tough currency controls. Meanwhile, the official rate remained unchanged at exchange offices in Buenos Aires at Pesos 5.16 (buying price) and Pesos 5.22 (selling price), with the gap between the two markets over 100%. In a context of high inflation, negative interest rates or other options to defend the value of the Argentine currency, Argentines are increasingly taking refuge in the US dollar. To this must be added an overall feeling of distrust and uncertainty which can have a greater impact that what stats can present." Continue reading →
"Argentina's latest effort to tease out billions of U.S. dollars said to be held by citizens through sweeping tax breaks and interest earnings received lukewarm response, though this may change. Argentine citizens are said to be holding the greenback in illegal stashes as a hedge against the Argentine peso's unstable performance, a runaway inflation and general distrust of the government's fiscal and monetary policies. Official estimates say at least $160 billion is held in cash at home and abroad by Argentines who have yet to declare their holdings." Continue reading →
"Despite the various opinions on Bitcoin, there is no question as to its ultimate value: the ability to bypass government restrictions, including economic embargoes and capital controls, to transmit money quasi-anonymously to anyone anywhere virtually instantaneously irrespective of geopolitical restrictions. While virtually all digital currencies can more or less do the same, no other currency offers an equal combination of peer-to-peer transactions, strong encryption, anonymity, and liquidity that Bitcoin has possessed up to this point." Continue reading →
"The U.S. Internal Revenue Service lumps in the foreign dividend with corporate income. While the U.S. offers a credit for foreign taxes paid, U.S. multinationals typically face an extra tax bill when the foreign earnings come home for a number of reasons, including the higher U.S. corporate income tax rates. So when Apple says it intends to give $100-billion back to shareholders by the end of 2015, it's all well and good. It's got just $45-billion in the U.S., however, and that's what leads to a cash-rich company borrowing more cash, just to give it away." Continue reading →