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Completely Unwoven: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 4.0

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Re: Completely Unwoven: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 4.0

Contractors scoff at your hourly tracking. Try 6-minute incremental sometime.

Thanks, I have. Never again. Unless you want to give me a charge number for any ridiculous conversation that may ensue from this. :p
 
Re: Completely Unwoven: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 4.0

Thanks, I have. Never again. Unless you want to give me a charge number for any ridiculous conversation that may ensue from this. :p

Actual conversation between two contractors outside my door during this POP:

"Have you got a minute to look at this?"

"Do you have a charge number?"

"No."

"Then, no."

I assume there was a (highly unpleasant) backstory between them, but they were both serious as a heart attack.

I closed my door. No way am I going to that deposition.
 
Re: Completely Unwoven: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 4.0

Actual conversation between two contractors outside my door during this POP:

"Have you got a minute to look at this?"

"Do you have a charge number?"

"No."

"Then, no."

I assume there was a (highly unpleasant) backstory between them, but they were both serious as a heart attack.

I closed my door. No way am I going to that deposition.

To be fair, contractors are very asinine when it comes to their propaganda about how "mischarging" is illegal. I'm not sure there's anything personally bad between them, so much as they drank the kool-aid.
 
Re: Completely Unwoven: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 4.0

To be fair, contractors are very asinine when it comes to their propaganda about how "mischarging" is illegal.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Mischarging is illegal. Very, very illegal. :confused:
 
Re: Completely Unwoven: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 4.0

Far to many variables to draw any conclusions about causation based off quarterly reports.

Quarterly reports are delayed for usually two weeks to a month, depending upon the company and the industry. The transgender issue is too recent to have an impact. This is clearly more indicative of almost all discount brick-and-mortar retailers seeing reduced sales this quarter.
 
Re: Completely Unwoven: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 4.0

"Nordstrom, Macy's, Kohl's and J.C. Penney all posted disappointing results last week as sales slowed going into spring."

But for Target, definitely the bathroom thing....
 
Re: Completely Unwoven: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 4.0

"Nordstrom, Macy's, Kohl's and J.C. Penney all posted disappointing results last week as sales slowed going into spring."

But for Target, definitely the bathroom thing....

To be fair, the Target CEO supposedly blamed global warming... :rolleyes:
 
Re: Completely Unwoven: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 4.0

To be fair, the Target CEO supposedly blamed global warming... :rolleyes:

He said that weather conditions, allegedly due to global warming and El Nino, caused buyers to change habits and kept them home, thus they made fewer purchases.
 
Re: Completely Unwoven: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 4.0

I'm not sure how much traction this story has outside of specialty interests, but it definitely deserves a bit more attention....

The Securities and Exchange Commission today [July 23, 2014] adopted amendments to the rules that govern money market mutual funds....The new rules require a floating net asset value (NAV) for institutional prime money market funds, which allows the daily share prices of these funds to fluctuate along with changes in the market-based value of fund assets and provide non-government money market fund boards new tools – liquidity fees and redemption gates – to address runs.
....
With a floating NAV, institutional prime money market funds (including institutional municipal money market funds) are required to value their portfolio securities using market-based factors and sell and redeem shares based on a floating NAV. These funds no longer will be allowed to use the special pricing and valuation conventions that currently permit them to maintain a constant share price of $1.00.

The rule is scheduled to take effect on October 1 this year.

but guess what: money market funds that invest exclusively in US government securities are exempt from this rule. Consequently, several major investment management firms have announced that their money market funds will invest only in US government securities as a result.


Economists discuss how government borrowing "crowds out" private sector borrowing. This rule takes it quite a bit further than before. It will result in far less liquidity for non-government money market fund assets than before, which really crimps businesses who use short-term borrowing to smooth out variable cash flow.
 
Re: Completely Unwoven: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 4.0

but guess what: money market funds that invest exclusively in US government securities are exempt from this rule.

Two dumb questions from an econ rockhead:

1. What was the ostensible rationale for the exemption of US government securities?

2. If "the market-based value of fund assets" is only now being mandated for the valuation of portfolio securities, what the heck were they using before? Wish fulfillment?
 
Re: Completely Unwoven: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 4.0

First of all, yes, excessive government borrowing certainly does have a crowding out effect on investors looking for more stable debt investments. However, this doesn't address the primary debt markets, only the secondary markets. While that could create liquidity issues in the primary market, it would have to be a truly substantial change. There have been talks that our investment markets had too much liquidity once upon a time, causing too many trades that did little to help the investor and only created fees for brokerage houses and investment firms.

There's no need to think that the sky will be falling simply based upon this article, but it's a rule that's due attention, and I'm sure more than a few economists will be watching the debt market numbers, both primary and secondary, to see if the rule has anything more than a marginal effect on that market.
 
Re: Completely Unwoven: Business, Economics, and Tax Policy 4.0

Two dumb questions from an econ rockhead:

1. What was the ostensible rationale for the exemption of US government securities?

2. If "the market-based value of fund assets" is only now being mandated for the valuation of portfolio securities, what the heck were they using before? Wish fulfillment?

US government securities have the full faith and credit of the US federal government, so they won't default, and therefore every dollar loaned will be repaid. Therefore, they'll track those USG MMFs at $1.00 par, all money earned will be interest earnings and not capital gains.

As to non-government MMFs, the debt issues making up the underlying assets are such short-term loans that the risk had been seen as negligible and therefore prices remained at $1.00 regardless of whatever else is going on in the economy. That view has changed, probably further fallout from Bear Stearns.
 
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