Abolish The IRS , Let the Economy breath

This simplified tax system would also eliminate more than 90% of the IRS’s more than 100,000 employees who have the power to arbitrarily harass people and small business owners ad infinitum, since most of these agents themselves do not have a full understanding of all the tax laws and regulations. (According to an IRS report entitled “Workforce of Tomorrow Task Force: Final Report August, 2009”, the IRS has 88,203 full-time employees, but this number would have increased significantly since then.) 

The complexity of the tax system led the recently deceased British economist Barry Bracewell- Milnes, who was a champion of lower taxation (he argued for the abolition of the inheritance tax), to exclaim: “An economy breathes through its tax loopholes.”

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Why Warren Buffett Might Buy Campbell Soup

Speculation that Campbell Soup may be Warren Buffett's next acquisition target is swirling around the financial media. Many observers believe that Berkshire Hathaway's joint acquisition of Heinz could lead to the acquisition of other branded food companies -- and there are many reasons why it could be Campbell Soup.

Campbell Soup has the consistency and durability of PepsiCoEveryone knows that PepsiCo is a great business, but few put Campbell Soup in the same league as the world's leading snacks company.

However, the evidence suggests just that. Campbell Soup may not have the global reach and worldwide name recognition that makes PepsiCo one of the world's most respected companies, but its financial performance suggests that there are many similarities between the two companies.

The following chart -- PepsiCo and Campbell Soup's operating margin for the last two decades -- illustrates the similarities.

Source: Mergent Online, author's calculation of adjusted operating margin (excludes one-time items)

The similarity between the two companies' operating margins through the years is striking. Both generate a remarkably stable operating profit from year to year and profitability has trended upward over the long term.

Source @ dailyfinance.com

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Warren Buffett Dives Into Wind Power, Comes Up With Siemens Turbines

Why is everybody making such a fuss about the latest Warren Buffett wind power purchase? Okay, so the legendary investor’s MidAmerican Energy Company has just ordered a huge mess of wind turbines from Siemens, but it was all the way back in May that MidAmerican announced a new $1.9 billion investment in Iowa wind farms, adding up to 656 new turbines to the 1,267 it already has churning out renewable energy in that state.

What’s really big news, at least to us, is comparing Iowa’s  booming wind industry (including 100% wind for a new Facebook data center) to the situation in Wisconsin, where Republican lawmakers are still throwing one monkey wrench after another into that state’s struggling wind industry.

However, we digress. The new order is still big news for Siemens, which thanks to Buffett gets to win the week in wind power news with bragging rights to receiving the world’s largest ever single order for onshore wind turbines: 448 of its SWT-2.3-108 models with a combined capacity of 1,050 megawatts.

Souce @ cleantechnica

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Peter Schiff: Despite taper, Fed bond-buying isn't going anywhere

There can be little doubt that the Fed announcement is an epic attempt at rhetorical audacity. The message they hope to convey is that they are tightening monetary policy by loosening it. Based on the early market reactions, the trick has seemed to work. 

In my opinion the seemingly positive economic signs of the past few months are simply the statistical signature of the QE itself. There is little evidence to suggest that the trends are self-sustainable. But seemingly strong data had made the arguments in favor of continued QE increasingly untenable. As they could no longer stay the course the Fed had to do something. Ultimately they decided to play it both ways.

As far as the headline grabbing taper decision, the Fed's hands were essentially tied by widely held expectations. Perhaps spurred by a desire to initiate the end of QE before he leaves the chairmanship, Ben Bernanke did surprise some by announcing the taper now instead of allowing Janet Yellen to do so in March. The $10 billion reduction has convinced many that the QE program will soon become a thing of the past. At his press conference Bernanke affirmed that he expects QE to be fully wound down by the end of 2014. Look for those forecasts to change rapidly.

Without QE to support the markets, in my opinion, the economy will likely slow significantly and the stock and real estate markets will most likely turn sharply downward. As a result, I expect the Fed will do its utmost to keep the markets convinced that the QE program is in its final chapters.

I suspect that when the economic data begins to disappoint, the Fed will quickly reverse course and increase the size of its monthly purchases. In fact, today's Fed statement was careful to avoid any commitments to additional tapering in the future. It merely said that further changes in the amount of purchases will be dependent on the data. This means that QE could go in either direction.

Source @ yahoo

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Tech Stocks Are Soaring Soros

Today’s midday gainers are Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:RHT), Marketo, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTO), Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation (NYSE:MHR) and midday losers are TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ:TIBX), InterDigital, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDCC), Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE:RAD).

George Soros soars with tech stocks

On the top of our midday gainer list is Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:RHT), the tech company increased +17.35% to $57.50 after a great Q3 earnings report. Billionaire George Soros holds 550,000 shares (0.28% of his fund) acquired for $52.07 per share. Another investor with a position in RHT is Ray Dalio who owns 318,000 shares, composing 0.12% of his holdings. Dalio paid an average price of $51.97 per asset.

Following Red Hat Inc. is Marketo, Inc. (NASDAQ:MKTO), which rose +13.26% to $37.25. This was a well-received news for George Soros who holds 60,000 shares of the tech firm. This position represents 0.02% of his holdings and he paid an average price of $24.58 per asset.

Last but not least is Magnum Hunter Resources Corporation (NYSE:MHR), the energy company climbed +8.34% to $7.27. This is another hit for Soros since he owns 2.4 million shares (0.17% of his fund) acquired for $4.81.

Source @ valuewalk

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Faber : Gold Shares could easily appreciate 30% in 2014

“I think Gold shares are very inexpensive. So a basket of Gold shares I think next year could easily appreciate 30%.”

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Taper Lite: Bernanke Tightens Monetary Policy by Easing it!

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ROGERS: If Indians Start Selling their Gold, Then Who Knows How Low Prices Can Go? (GLD)

Jim Rogers : [1] The anomaly of the 12-year rise, for one thing. [2] India as we have discussed before. Indian politicians are blaming their problems on gold, so [they] have added special taxes, tariffs, controls, and regulations. Pakistan and Bangladesh even totally banned imports of gold at one time.
The politicians are now trying to figure out ways to force Indians to sell gold. There are staggering amounts of gold there. The politicians are now trying to hit the temples which have accumulated an unimaginable amount of gold over the centuries. I have no idea if they will succeed at either, but the effort is having an effect. If they are successful to any degree, it will have an even bigger effect. India has been the largest buyer of gold for decades. Cutting back the purchases has already had an effect. IF they can force the largest buyer to become a seller [much less a larger seller], who knows how low gold could go? [3] A lot of people leveraged themselves too which hurts on the downside. Etc., etc.

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Buffett's Big Energy Bets Go Beyond ExxonMobil

The Oracle of Omaha is certainly not guilty of a lack of energy in the remaining days of 2013.

Warren Buffett grabbed his share of recent headlines when he disclosed a $3.45 billion stake in ExxonMobil. And although this story received large amounts of attention from the media, it's only fair to acknowledge Berkshire Hathaway's subsidiary, MidAmerican Energy Holdings, which has also been busy lately.

Green with NV                                                                                             
On Monday night, Nevada utility regulators approved the sale of the state's largest electric utility, NV Energy (NYSE: NVE  ) , to MidAmerican Energy for $5.6 billion. Before being finalized, the deal needs to be approved by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but that is expected to be coming any day. The acquisition of NV Energy will add approximately 2.4 million customers to MidAmerican Energy's current 6.4 million electricity and 700,000 natural gas customers.

An investment in NV Energy is an investment in renewable energy. Nevada's renewable portfolio standard states that at least 25% of the company's retail energy sales are derived from renewable sources by 2025. Working toward that goal, NV Energy reached 1 GW of renewable energy under contract. Further demonstrating its commitment to renewable energy sources, NV Energy is working toward bringing its Crescent Dunes Solar Thermal project online in 2014. The 110 MW, concentrated solar thermal project will be able to store energy and provide it to customers at night or when it's cloudy. 

An investment in NV Energy is an investment in renewable energy. Nevada's renewable portfolio standard states that at least 25% of the company's retail energy sales are derived from renewable sources by 2025. Working toward that goal, NV Energy reached 1 GW of renewable energy under contract. Further demonstrating its commitment to renewable energy sources, NV Energy is working toward bringing its Crescent Dunes Solar Thermal project online in 2014. The 110 MW, concentrated solar thermal project will be able to store energy and provide it to customers at night or when it's cloudy. 

Source @ fool

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Faber's Best Shorts for 2014: Facebook, Tesla, Twitter, Netflix, and Veeva Systems

“If you look at the entire market, some stocks are not terribly expensive and some stocks are very expensive. It’s like in year 2000, not every stock was overpriced. At that time, the NASDAQ was grossly overvalued but, say, resource shares and so-called ‘old economy’ companies were relatively inexpensive or absolutely cheap. In the present instance, I think that stocks like Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA), Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), [and] Veeva Systems are grossly overvalued and that the basket of shorts in these stocks will return you at least 30% next year.” 

Source @ etfdailynews

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Jim Rogers : Iran Libya and Syria are on my list of Countries to Invest in

Yes, at one point I did invest in Iran, back in the 1990s and made something like 40 times on my money. I didn't put millions in because there was a limit on how much a person could invest. But this was over 20 years ago. I would like to invest in Iran again, but I don't know the precise details on the sanctions and the current status of Americans being able to invest there. But Iran is certainly on my list. And so are Libya and Syria. I'm not doing anything at the moment in these countries, but they are places that are on my list. 

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The Peter Schiff Show Tuesday 12/10/2013

Stefan Molyneux is guest hosting today's show. ObamaCare's Next Legal Hurdle. Stephan Kinsella, patent attorney & director of the Center for the Study of Innovative Freedom, on how ObamaCare still fails any reasonable legal test, whether anything constructive may come from the Apple/Samsung battle, and why entrepreneurs needn't worry about their intellectual property 

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George Soros: It’s Time to Make Justice Central to Development

George Soros recently intervened in the post-2015 debates, noting the need for universal access to justice. He identified four target areas issued considered crucial for post-MDG success by the  legal empowerment movement:

“1.        LEGAL IDENTITY: Being recognized as a person under the law is critical to everyday life. You need it to send your children to school or to receive medical care. State-issued legal identity documents, such as birth registrations, are usually needed.

2.       ACCESS TO INFORMATION. People should be able to find out about the laws and regulations that govern their lives.

3.      Both individuals and communities need to have their PROPERTY RIGHTS protected. Giving communities protection against land grabbing and the misappropriation of natural resources would be a great contribution to the fight against poverty.

4.       People need access to LEGAL SERVICES, both at the community-level and in formal justice institutions like the courts. For access to justice to be fair, people need to have legal aid—either through lawyers or through paralegals.”

Read More @ post2015

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Here is How You Buy Stocks Like Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett's single greatest piece of wisdom and advice, at least in this investor's opinion, is this: When buying a stock, imagine you're buying the whole business.

In Buffett's 1988 letter to Berkshire Hathaway  shareholders, the Oracle of Omaha listed his six criteria for buying a business. Could great investing really be about following those six steps? Let's put this theory to the test. 

Today, I'm going to use Buffett's six essential criteria for buying a business to help better analyze regional banks U.S. Bancorp , Fifth Third Bancorp , and Regions Financial .

Today, I'm going to use Buffett's six essential criteria for buying a business to help better analyze regional banks U.S. Bancorp , Fifth Third Bancorp , and Regions Financial .

Read more @ dailyfinance.com

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Faber : Market to drop 20% in 2014

Marc Faber admits that he got stocks wrong in 2013, but now says that a drop of over 20 percent is likely, with CNBC's Jackie DeAngelis and the Futures Now Traders. 

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George Soros Donates Funds to Help Heat Schools in Greece

Greek students have had a rough winter in extremely cold classrooms due to the lack of heating resources, resulting from local authorities who are simply unable to cover the unbearable cost of heating oil. The organization Open Society Foundation, founded by the great American investor George Soros, offers donations worth millions of euros in oil so that children can sit in a warm classroom.

Schools in the 2 biggest municipalities of Greece have been lucky enough to have their oil tanks filled thanks to Mr. Soros’ donations.

The municipality of Thessaloniki has accepted up to 90 tons of oil since March 2013, for schools and other institutes. The municipality of Athens follows with a total of 40 tons of oil. Next in line is the city of Naousa, considering that students have to take lessons in polar temperatures. The mayor of the town, Mr. Tasos Karampatzos, despite the reactions and disagreements on the parents’ side, has already contacted the Foundation and asked for an oil supply that would cover the needs of the region’s schools.

Source @ greece.greekreporter.com

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The Whole U.S. Economy Is Based On Debt

Our whole economy in the U.S. is based on debt. Its based on borrowing to consume, borrowing to speculate. The government is financing itself based on debt, all these checks they are mailing out are based on debt.

The rates need to be practically zero in order for anybody to afford servicing the debt. That is how enormous the debt is and when the FED eventually lets interest rates rise, everything comes crashing back down, much worse than 2008.

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Marc Faber: Taper will be Very Cosmetic

When they introduced Quantitative Easing one (QE1) in November 2008, my view was that this would be a permanent stasus, in other words that we would go up to QE99 and that they would not abandon the asset purchases. Now there has been talk about tapering for the last 6-8 months, but in my view if they taper, it will be a very cosmetic gesture and on any sign of further economic weakness, or if asset markets decline again like the stock market drops 10-20 percent they will actually increase the asset purchases. My sense is that the Federal Reserve will continue to buy assets in order to try to support the asset markets. - inmoneycontrol.com

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Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway acquires Hartford UK variable annuity business

Columbia Insurance Company, a Berkshire Hathaway firm, has purchased Hartford Life International Limited (HLIL) in a transaction valued at approximately $285m.

Read more @ warrenbuffettbulletin

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Jim Rogers: I prefer silver because silver a cheaper investment

"At the moment I'm getting neither Gold nor Silver. But if I have to take a day I prefer Silver because silver a cheaper investment," 

Read more @ jimrogersbulletin

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They Bravely Chickened Out

Earlier this week Congress tried to show that it is capable of tackling our chronic and dangerous debt problems. Despite the great fanfare I believe they have accomplished almost nothing. Supporters say that the budget truce created by Republican Representative Paul Ryan and Democratic Senator Patty Murray will provide the economy with badly needed certainty. But I think the only surety this feeble and fictitious deal offers is that Washington will never make any real moves to change the trajectory of our finances, and that future solutions will be forced on us by calamity rather than agreement.

Read more @ peterschiffbulletin

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