Joe's Blips

Remember: The tax return is a blueprint for how to earn and spend money. It encourages us to do some things and discourages us from doing others.

Simply put, most money managers are focused on outperforming their benchmarks without adding risk. And because risk is measured on a relative basis, a portfolio that moves up and down less than its benchmark is perceived as more risky on a relative basis because it is considered less correlated. But on an actual basis, a fund that gains 50% when a benchmark gains 100%, and then loses 25% when a benchmark loses 50% is less volatile.

The SEC has also settled lawsuits against J.P. Morgan Securities (JPM), Wachovia Capital Markets, and Goldman Sachs for misleading investors in securitized debt packages, such as collateralized debt obligations, during the financial crisis. It has been particularly attentive to Goldman Sachs. The SEC extracted a record $550 million settlement from the bank two years ago in a case involving a claim that the Wall Street firm had misled investors in a CDO on the eve of the financial crisis

The fastest growing segment of the advisor space, he says, is the hybrid advisor working as both a rep and as an RIA (or IAR). Studies by Tiburon Strategic Advisors and the Financial Services Institute have quoted CEOs of smaller firms bemoaning this trend, saying it is ruinous to the B-D model because advisors want huge payouts and they only give leftover securities business to their broker-dealers. But to those firms with scale, says Bruton, the hybrid model can be attractive. It lures advisors, allowing them to be nimble enough to offer different pricing models for different kinds of clients.

Yes!

She says the Genworth unit is a new specialty for the firm. “We do believe in that segment—a tax professional CPA is really in a great position to develop a broad holistic view of what their client needs. Well-educated and trained, they become great financial quarterbacks for their clients.” The Genworth tax business also had a higher penetration of fee-based relationships than other firms with this specialty, she says. Cetera deals with both commissions and fees, but the latter tend to strengthen bonds with clients, Brown says, especially higher-net-worth clients.

Small b/d fighting more scrutiny than wire houses.

Free is not only a bad business model, but it is short-sighted and short-lived. No service can remain free indefinitely and that’s why it is negligent not to question a new free service when it comes out, because “figure it out later” can often end up being something that you, the user, aren’t going to be OK with and that is relevant.

Exactly.  So why the hell am I using tumblr?

Source: Benjamin Brooks

This looks cool as hell to me.

The Alternative Minimum Tax was imposed in 1969 because 115 households investing in municipal bonds reportedly paid little or no federal income tax. This tax on the rich who were paying what the president and others call a “fair share” now affects four million households. On Jan. 1, 2013, it is set to hit 27 million more—raising an estimated $120 billion, according to the Obama 2013 budget. In 40 years, a tax on 115 households will have grown to threaten 31 million.

Trickle down taxes, indeed.  I like the turn of phrase.

The past five days’ decline has seen more than $50 billion shaved off Apple’s market capitalization. That is more than Hewlett-Packard Co.’s HPQ 3.04% entire market cap of about $48 billion.

How is that for a sense of scale?

At the root of the most common blunders are three types of taxable fund payouts: interest income, dividends and capital gains. While all three are subject to a complex web of tax rates and regulations, investors can limit their tax bills by understanding their funds, planning carefully and staying abreast of tax changes in Washington.

Tax treatment is undoubtedly the most under appreciated and misunderstood aspect of investment planning.

Best quarter in 14 years? Ya that’s cool, but the world is STILL going to end tomorrow, so stay tuned!

CNBC.com Article: First Quarter On Track to Be Best in 14 years

“Stocks enter the final week of what’s shaping up to be the best first
quarter in 14 years. Now, the bad news: There’s little hope the second
quarter can match its gains.”

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