Slitherine

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ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

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ORIGINAL: fcooke

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: fcooke
That said, the govt encourages you to have a mortgage in the US (tax write-offs), rates are low now, high dividend stocks are cheap. Bank savings interest rates are horrible. Just saying......

Just called my mortgage broker yesterday after receiving her 'remember us?' card in the mail. Nationally, business is gangbusters for mortgage companies-about 85% of it is refinancing operations. The Spring market is actually strong in areas that are allowing 'house hunters', so that's a positive too.

I think that the rationale for mortgage interest deduction on one's taxes has abated in the last three years. The standard deduction is usually higher for couples filing married (joint) than mortgage interest. Combined with SALT caps for high-tax states (e.g., New York, Mass, NJ, CA), this augurs against the value of property for tax deductibility more recently.

Fair enough. I was doing volunteer tax returns as part of the AARP program this year before we got shut down. The newer 'higher deduction' helps many people but the elimination of a bunch of legacy deductions hurts a few. All that said, if you can borrow at 3ish% there could be decent returns in other areas - not fixed income or annuities IMO. Real estate up here seems to be getting stronger as NYC folk are thinking they don't want to live in the petri dish.

The other thing I learned as a tax volunteer is that the tax code is even more screwed up than I thought beforehand.....

Charitable donations still work well.....so if you are so inclined you may want to give earlier this year - a bunch of those organizations are really hurting.

The mortgage interest deduction was to encourage people to purchase their own home. For some people that makes sense but for others it does not.

I noted before that I don't bother to file income taxes. But yes, I will give to charities and help others directly. Especially young boys and girls with candy and toys. No, this phat man will not wear a red suit.

All of those deductions are for special interests, eliminate most of those and a lot of lawyers and accountants will have to find real work. Business executives will have to learn to run a business instead of milking the tax code. Those things do not sound like a bad idea.

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ORIGINAL: Alfred


Heard on the radio today an economics reporter sate that March year on year sales of new automobiles fell 90% in France and 98% in Italy. Those two countries experience will not be friendless.

Alfred

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

The press and those medically and/or politically opposed to re-opening predicted surges in new cases and morality when shelter-in-place ended in some states. But the Ro rates remain level or close thereto, including: Colorado, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Montana, Mississippi, Kansas and Idaho (source: https://rt.live/). The rates in each of those states is below 1.0, meaning the pandemic continues to decline. It's possible that the wheels may come off here or there, but to this point sky-is-falling assertions have been wrong.

It hasn't been a disaster, no.

But the jump in IHME modeled fatalities (up another 10k today, to 147k by August 4th) is a direct result of the easing of countermeasures.

On the very day that the first gaggle of states announced they were going to end their lockdowns early, the IHME updated their numbers - from ~70K to >100K. That's a pretty big effect. We'll pass 100K confirmed dead in about another week.

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ORIGINAL: Alfred

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I'll start looking now, but it shouldn't take long. The press isn't into owning up.

That's not fair. Meet the Press admitted their hatchet job last weekend. Still waiting for 60 Minutes to admit to their hatchet job.

For those not aware of what transpired, both deliberately edited out full answers provided by the Foreign Secretary and the A-G. The edited "answer" broadcast was one which allowed cheap shots at the integrity of the officials.

Alfred

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

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ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

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ORIGINAL: fcooke

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: fcooke
That said, the govt encourages you to have a mortgage in the US (tax write-offs), rates are low now, high dividend stocks are cheap. Bank savings interest rates are horrible. Just saying......

Just called my mortgage broker yesterday after receiving her 'remember us?' card in the mail. Nationally, business is gangbusters for mortgage companies-about 85% of it is refinancing operations. The Spring market is actually strong in areas that are allowing 'house hunters', so that's a positive too.

I think that the rationale for mortgage interest deduction on one's taxes has abated in the last three years. The standard deduction is usually higher for couples filing married (joint) than mortgage interest. Combined with SALT caps for high-tax states (e.g., New York, Mass, NJ, CA), this augurs against the value of property for tax deductibility more recently.

Fair enough. I was doing volunteer tax returns as part of the AARP program this year before we got shut down. The newer 'higher deduction' helps many people but the elimination of a bunch of legacy deductions hurts a few. All that said, if you can borrow at 3ish% there could be decent returns in other areas - not fixed income or annuities IMO. Real estate up here seems to be getting stronger as NYC folk are thinking they don't want to live in the petri dish.

The other thing I learned as a tax volunteer is that the tax code is even more screwed up than I thought beforehand.....

Charitable donations still work well.....so if you are so inclined you may want to give earlier this year - a bunch of those organizations are really hurting.

The mortgage interest deduction was to encourage people to purchase their own home. For some people that makes sense but for others it does not.

I noted before that I don't bother to file income taxes. But yes, I will give to charities and help others directly. Especially young boys and girls with candy and toys. No, this phat man will not wear a red suit.

All of those deductions are for special interests, eliminate most of those and a lot of lawyers and accountants will have to find real work. Business executives will have to learn to run a business instead of milking the tax code. Those things do not sound like a bad idea.

You can now claim up to $300 charitable donation even if you take the standard deduction, thanks to the CARES Act.

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ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

This tactic is really go viral across the United States, I hear even states are adopting it.

Portland Public Schools plans to furlough teachers, principals, other staffers 1 day a week -- but they’d make more money not less

https://www.oregonlive.com/education/2020/05/portland-public-schools-plans-to-furlough-teachers-principals-other-staffers-1-day-a-week-but-theyd-make-more-money-not-less.html

I think that the program should be modified to stop this.

Also, will they have a reduced workload or will they be expected to have the same work output.

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

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ORIGINAL: Alfred


Heard on the radio today an economics reporter sate that March year on year sales of new automobiles fell 90% in France and 98% in Italy. Those two countries experience will not be friendless.

Alfred

There was a similar chart for Chinese auto sales in December/January that showed sales basically falling off a cliff.

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

The press and those medically and/or politically opposed to re-opening predicted surges in new cases and morality when shelter-in-place ended in some states. But the Ro rates remain level or close thereto, including: Colorado, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Montana, Mississippi, Kansas and Idaho (source: https://rt.live/). The rates in each of those states is below 1.0, meaning the pandemic continues to decline. It's possible that the wheels may come off here or there, but to this point sky-is-falling assertions have been wrong.

It hasn't been a disaster, no.

But the jump in IHME modeled fatalities (up another 10k today, to 147k by August 4th) is a direct result of the easing of countermeasures.

On the very day that the first gaggle of states announced they were going to end their lockdowns early, the IHME updated their numbers - from ~70K to >100K. That's a pretty big effect. We'll pass 100K confirmed dead in about another week.

But aren't you presuming that that 'big effect' on predicted (and actual) numbers is from the ending of state lockdowns early? That hasn't really been the case. Mortality in the last two weeks has been the 'usual suspects' (MI, NY, NJ, MA) and a smattering of other states backfilling in the difference. You haven't got that 30,000 from Texas or Georgia or Montana or other states reopening earlier than others.

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

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ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

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ORIGINAL: fcooke

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: fcooke
That said, the govt encourages you to have a mortgage in the US (tax write-offs), rates are low now, high dividend stocks are cheap. Bank savings interest rates are horrible. Just saying......

Just called my mortgage broker yesterday after receiving her 'remember us?' card in the mail. Nationally, business is gangbusters for mortgage companies-about 85% of it is refinancing operations. The Spring market is actually strong in areas that are allowing 'house hunters', so that's a positive too.

I think that the rationale for mortgage interest deduction on one's taxes has abated in the last three years. The standard deduction is usually higher for couples filing married (joint) than mortgage interest. Combined with SALT caps for high-tax states (e.g., New York, Mass, NJ, CA), this augurs against the value of property for tax deductibility more recently.

Fair enough. I was doing volunteer tax returns as part of the AARP program this year before we got shut down. The newer 'higher deduction' helps many people but the elimination of a bunch of legacy deductions hurts a few. All that said, if you can borrow at 3ish% there could be decent returns in other areas - not fixed income or annuities IMO. Real estate up here seems to be getting stronger as NYC folk are thinking they don't want to live in the petri dish.

The other thing I learned as a tax volunteer is that the tax code is even more screwed up than I thought beforehand.....

Charitable donations still work well.....so if you are so inclined you may want to give earlier this year - a bunch of those organizations are really hurting.

The mortgage interest deduction was to encourage people to purchase their own home. For some people that makes sense but for others it does not.

I noted before that I don't bother to file income taxes. But yes, I will give to charities and help others directly. Especially young boys and girls with candy and toys. No, this phat man will not wear a red suit.

All of those deductions are for special interests, eliminate most of those and a lot of lawyers and accountants will have to find real work. Business executives will have to learn to run a business instead of milking the tax code. Those things do not sound like a bad idea.

You can now claim up to $300 charitable donation even if you take the standard deduction, thanks to the CARES Act.

Good to know. I had scaled back my cash charitable contributions of late since they were no longer deductible for me.

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

The press and those medically and/or politically opposed to re-opening predicted surges in new cases and morality when shelter-in-place ended in some states. But the Ro rates remain level or close thereto, including: Colorado, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Montana, Mississippi, Kansas and Idaho (source: https://rt.live/). The rates in each of those states is below 1.0, meaning the pandemic continues to decline. It's possible that the wheels may come off here or there, but to this point sky-is-falling assertions have been wrong.

It hasn't been a disaster, no.

But the jump in IHME modeled fatalities (up another 10k today, to 147k by August 4th) is a direct result of the easing of countermeasures.

On the very day that the first gaggle of states announced they were going to end their lockdowns early, the IHME updated their numbers - from ~70K to >100K. That's a pretty big effect. We'll pass 100K confirmed dead in about another week.

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

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ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

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ORIGINAL: fcooke

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ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

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ORIGINAL: fcooke
That said, the govt encourages you to have a mortgage in the US (tax write-offs), rates are low now, high dividend stocks are cheap. Bank savings interest rates are horrible. Just saying......

Just called my mortgage broker yesterday after receiving her 'remember us?' card in the mail. Nationally, business is gangbusters for mortgage companies-about 85% of it is refinancing operations. The Spring market is actually strong in areas that are allowing 'house hunters', so that's a positive too.

I think that the rationale for mortgage interest deduction on one's taxes has abated in the last three years. The standard deduction is usually higher for couples filing married (joint) than mortgage interest. Combined with SALT caps for high-tax states (e.g., New York, Mass, NJ, CA), this augurs against the value of property for tax deductibility more recently.

Fair enough. I was doing volunteer tax returns as part of the AARP program this year before we got shut down. The newer 'higher deduction' helps many people but the elimination of a bunch of legacy deductions hurts a few. All that said, if you can borrow at 3ish% there could be decent returns in other areas - not fixed income or annuities IMO. Real estate up here seems to be getting stronger as NYC folk are thinking they don't want to live in the petri dish.

The other thing I learned as a tax volunteer is that the tax code is even more screwed up than I thought beforehand.....

Charitable donations still work well.....so if you are so inclined you may want to give earlier this year - a bunch of those organizations are really hurting.

The mortgage interest deduction was to encourage people to purchase their own home. For some people that makes sense but for others it does not.

I noted before that I don't bother to file income taxes. But yes, I will give to charities and help others directly. Especially young boys and girls with candy and toys. No, this phat man will not wear a red suit.

All of those deductions are for special interests, eliminate most of those and a lot of lawyers and accountants will have to find real work. Business executives will have to learn to run a business instead of milking the tax code. Those things do not sound like a bad idea.

You can now claim up to $300 charitable donation even if you take the standard deduction, thanks to the CARES Act.

Good to know. I had scaled back my cash charitable contributions of late since they were no longer deductible for me.

Here's a citation: https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/new-rules-for-charitable-contribution-deductions-under-the-cares-act.html

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ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

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ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Today is a milestone date for my state. Georgia began easing countermeasures 19 days ago, to much fanfare and criticism. Then, 14 days ago, the governor allowed many other restrictions, including shelter in place, to expire. Local and national media predicted terrible things, as typified by that Atlantic headline "Georgia begins Experiment in Human Sacrifice." John Dillworth noted (correctly) that Georgia was effectively serving as a bellwether for the rest of the country.

So far, so good. Numbers have been trending positive for a month and continue to do so. None of the calamities predicted by the press or the political opponents. Lots of things remain closed, including those who have the option of re-opening, but many people are back to work and things are ramping up gradually, which seems like a sensible way to do it. All medical systems have plenty of capacity to handle the occasional hotspots (there has been one - in Hall County, reportedly tied to a poultry-processing facility).

Indeed, things look promising. I've heard anecdotal evidence that while business are open, attendance at some restaurants was down considerably from mothers day last year. I've been unable to get any evidence either way. Not trying to make any point but Georgia has been hit harder than most on the lost jobs front. Don't know why Georgia lost so many jobs so fast. Anyway, see if you can find any info on actual attendance at places. I also understand bars are still closed. That seems wise because as soon as they opened them in Korea and Germany that is where the spikes were. Easy for us non-drinkers to say stuff like that I suppose but I understand that our fellow forum participants might modestly partake from time to time

Bars are also a place where people like to socialize, play darts, pool, and do other things.

The problem that I see is if a 60% alcohol solution is enough to kill the corona virus, how can a person consume that much?

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ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

A California county telling Tesla they can't open an assembly line is exactly the kind of idiocy that WILL bring on a 1930's style disaster.

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ORIGINAL: Lowpe

BROADWAY WON’T REOPEN IN 2020. NOR WILL THE MET

https://slippedisc.com/2020/05/broadway-wont-reopen-in-2020-nor-will-the-met/

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ORIGINAL: Alfred

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

I'll start looking now, but it shouldn't take long. The press isn't into owning up.

That's not fair. Meet the Press admitted their hatchet job last weekend. Still waiting for 60 Minutes to admit to their hatchet job.

For those not aware of what transpired, both deliberately edited out full answers provided by the Foreign Secretary and the A-G. The edited "answer" broadcast was one which allowed cheap shots at the integrity of the officials.

Alfred

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ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

A California county telling Tesla they can't open an assembly line is exactly the kind of idiocy that WILL bring on a 1930's style disaster.

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ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

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ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

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ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth

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ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Today is a milestone date for my state. Georgia began easing countermeasures 19 days ago, to much fanfare and criticism. Then, 14 days ago, the governor allowed many other restrictions, including shelter in place, to expire. Local and national media predicted terrible things, as typified by that Atlantic headline "Georgia begins Experiment in Human Sacrifice." John Dillworth noted (correctly) that Georgia was effectively serving as a bellwether for the rest of the country.

So far, so good. Numbers have been trending positive for a month and continue to do so. None of the calamities predicted by the press or the political opponents. Lots of things remain closed, including those who have the option of re-opening, but many people are back to work and things are ramping up gradually, which seems like a sensible way to do it. All medical systems have plenty of capacity to handle the occasional hotspots (there has been one - in Hall County, reportedly tied to a poultry-processing facility).

Indeed, things look promising. I've heard anecdotal evidence that while business are open, attendance at some restaurants was down considerably from mothers day last year. I've been unable to get any evidence either way. Not trying to make any point but Georgia has been hit harder than most on the lost jobs front. Don't know why Georgia lost so many jobs so fast. Anyway, see if you can find any info on actual attendance at places. I also understand bars are still closed. That seems wise because as soon as they opened them in Korea and Germany that is where the spikes were. Easy for us non-drinkers to say stuff like that I suppose but I understand that our fellow forum participants might modestly partake from time to time

Bars are also a place where people like to socialize, play darts, pool, and do other things.

The problem that I see is if a 60% alcohol solution is enough to kill the corona virus, how can a person consume that much?

60% would be 120 Proof. Very few beverages sold with that high an alcohol content. Moonshine might get there but most commercial distilleries want their patrons to consume more instead of going blotto on drink 3.

Scenario 127: "Scraps of Paper"
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CVB Langley: