Before the start of the afternoon session on day two (Wednesday) of
the Illinois bar exam, the very pregnant MBE mentioned to the proctors
the possibility that she might give birth during the test. She asked if
she could leave early in the event that she went into labor; they
agreed (editor's note: that was nice of them)
So Mother Bar Exam sat down for the afternoon session of
the Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”). Not long after, she started going ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Thursday, July 28, 2011,
In :
Economy
A new study from Pew Research shows the wealth gap between white families and black families reached record proportions. In 2009, the median white family had net assets worth $113,000 while black families had a median net worth of just $5,677. In 2005, the median white family net worth was $135,000 and the median black family net worth was $12,124. As such, from 2005 to 2009 a typical white family's net worth dropped 16.3% while black families lost a whopping 53% of their net worth.
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Wednesday, July 27, 2011,
In :
Gold and Silver
One way to determine whether the gold price has reached an extreme, bubble-like valuation is to compare it to the S&P 500. As you can see from this David Rosenberg chart, the gold-to-S&P 500 price is near it's historic norm and far, far away from the 1980 level of 5X the S&P 500, which was the last time gold was in a bubble.
Gold is going to continue higher until the debt problems are resolved, negative real interest rates turn positive, and the growth in the money supply is reduced to a mo... Continue reading ...
Given the tax everything mentality of government, I've always wondered how online retailers like Amazon avoid paying state sales tax. Thanks to this article by Jeff Clark of Casey Research, now I know... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amazon vs City Hall
by Jeff Clark
My local newspaper ran a story about the escalating battle between
Amazon.com and the state of California. At issue is the collection of ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Thursday, July 21, 2011,
In :
Gold and Silver
I talk a lot on this blog about the struggles of middle and low-income households. Food stamp usage is at record highs, housing is in shambles, good jobs are tough to find and prices continue their relentless march higher. What I don't write enough about is how to fix this mess. Some solutions are obvious: lower taxes and massively reduce the size of government. However, in my opinion, the easiest way to get this economy back on track is to reestablish the Gold Standard.
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Wednesday, July 20, 2011,
In :
Culture
What did Larry Summers really think of the Winklevoss twins? “Rarely, have I encountered such swagger, and I tried to respond in
kind,” the former president of Harvard said in an interview at Fortune’s
Brainstorm Tech conference. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss were at
Harvard at the same time that Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook, and
they had come to Summers for help in their fight for a piece of the
action. Summers dismissed them, a scene dramatized in the movie the
“Social Ne... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Saturday, July 16, 2011,
In :
Culture
Check out this luxury hotel plane. Lufthansa Technik put together this video of what their configured Airbus A380 VIP will look like. I used to want an island...
The Reinwasser Middle-Class Index (RMCI) was built to more accurately
measure the month-to-month improvement or deterioration in the economic
health of the middle-class. The RMCI captures data in the Jobs,
Housing, Wealth & Spending, Confidence and Inflation categories and compares current data
to the average over the previous four months*. If a data point is
better than the four-month average it's scored +1, if it's worse it's scored -1. As such, RMCI scores range from +10 to -10. F... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Thursday, July 14, 2011,
In :
Politics
In case anyone has been fooled into thinking the Republican's tough-talk on the deficit is anything more than political posturing to help secure votes in the next election, MSNBC reports House Boosts Military Budget in Time of Austerity:
On a 336-87 vote Friday, the Republican-controlled House overwhelmingly
backed a $649 billion defense spending bill that boosts the Defense
Department budget by $17 billion. The strong bipartisan embrace of the
measure came as White House and congressional... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Wednesday, July 13, 2011,
In :
Economy
Zillow's Home Value Index shows single-family home values fell in May
for the 59th straight month. The last time single-family homes rose in
value was June 2006.
The average single-family home is valued
at $171,700, which is .5% lower than April and 7.9% lower than May
2010's value of $186,500. The index peaked in June 2006 at $242,000, so
we're 30% off the peak.
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Friday, July 8, 2011,
In :
Culture
In honor of the 40th anniversary of Louis Armstrong's death, James Altucher wrote a post titled 7 Unusual Things I Learned From Louis Armstrong. He included this photo of Louis playing the trumpet in front of a Sphynx and his lady. I don't recall seeing a more beautiful photograph than this...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Thursday, July 7, 2011,
In :
Stocks
At Solitude Canyon, clients with more aggressive portfolios own Emerging Market debt as a portion of their bond portfolios. Emerging Markets include countries like Colombia, Brazil, South Korea, Poland, Peru, Indonesia, Turkey and Chile. These countries all have one thing in common: a growing middle-class. A growing middle-class helps increase income, expand employment opportunities, improve infrastructure and bolster home/office construction. Basically, life gets better and opportunity... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Wednesday, July 6, 2011,
In :
Culture
If you're having trouble getting tasks completed, Dr. Weil has some tips:
Plain old garden-variety procrastination is very common. But whether it
is related to work, home or personal life, chronic indecisiveness and
delay can eventually undermine a healthy lifestyle. The good news is
there are simple ways to help overcome these tendencies. You can address
procrastination through behavioral workshops, group therapy, individual
therapy or with some of the following lifestyle strategies:
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Monday, July 4, 2011,
In :
Culture
If you've ever wondered why all the professional eaters are so thin, this ESPN video has the answer. And the strength of their jaws is pretty fascinating as well.
