• HR 1424
    Posted by on October 1st, 2008 at 12:17 pm

    Here’s the Senate’s bill. It checks in at 451 pages.
    If you turn to page 299, you’ll find:

    20 SEC. 503. EXEMPTION FROM EXCISE TAX FOR CERTAIN
    21 WOODEN ARROWS DESIGNED FOR USE BY
    22 CHILDREN.
    23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 4161(b)
    24 is amended by redesignating subparagraph (B) as sub
    1 paragraph (C) and by inserting after subparagraph (A)
    2 the following new subparagraph:
    3 ‘‘(B) EXEMPTION FOR CERTAIN WOODEN
    4 ARROW SHAFTS.—Subparagraph (A) shall not
    5 apply to any shaft consisting of all natural
    6 wood with no laminations or artificial means of
    7 enhancing the spine of such shaft (whether sold
    8 separately or incorporated as part of a finished
    9 or unfinished product) of a type used in the
    10 manufacture of any arrow which after its as
    11 sembly—
    12 ‘‘(i) measures 5⁄16 of an inch or less in
    13 diameter, and
    14 ‘‘(ii) is not suitable for use with a bow
    15 described in paragraph (1)(A).’’.
    16 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
    17 this section shall apply to shafts first sold after the date
    18 of enactment of this Act.

  • Here We Go Again
    Posted by on October 1st, 2008 at 1:39 am

    The Senate will vote later today on a revised bailout plan.

    Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) called the Senate’s revised legislation “the best thing to move forward.” Reid was joined on the floor by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who said the plan was “one of the finer moments in the Senate.”
    A senior House Republican adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk about private strategy, said the addition of the FDIC cap increase and the tax credits — without any corresponding tax increases — could have “substantial appeal” in that caucus. Boehner was consulted by Senate leaders and gave his approval, the aide said.
    But the addition of the tax provisions may entail new risks in the House, which returns to action Thursday. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) responded tepidly to the Senate announcement, and it remained unclear when the House would would consider the revised bill, though a vote is likely by week’s end. “The Senate has made a decision about how to proceed and what can pass that body. The Senate will vote . . . and the Congress will work its will,” Pelosi said.

    I’m honestly a little confused. I believe the Constitution requires all money bills to start in the House. Perhaps this Senate vote would be to test the waters, then it would go to the House and back to Senate.

    The FDIC provision, which would raise the insurance cap for bank accounts to $250,000 from the current $100,000, was discussed during weekend negotiations in Pelosi’s office but was not included in the final package. But in what negotiators from both parties considered a critical breakthrough, the largest banking lobby in Washington embraced the idea. “We now see this as a way to help the package pass,” said Ed Yingling, president of the American Bankers Association.
    While the move would result in banks paying higher fees on their insurance premiums, advocates say it would provide important assurances to small businesses that keep large sums of cash in bank accounts and are reeling from the credit crunch. “We are having an awful lot of people come into banks and ask questions,” Yingling said.

  • The Third Quarter Ends
    Posted by on September 30th, 2008 at 5:24 pm

    Interesting times. On a huge down day yesterday, the Buy List outperformed the S&P 500 by 266 basis points. Today was a huge up day and we underperformed by 172 basis points.
    Over two days, we’re down 2.81% compared with a 4.00% loss for the S&P 500, with far less volatility. Score one for buy and hold.

  • Investing in 2008
    Posted by on September 30th, 2008 at 4:31 pm

    From Guest of a Guest, the 401-keg:

    If you had purchased $1,000.00 of AIG stock one year ago you would have $44.34 left.
    With Wachovia, you would have had $54.74 left of the original $1,000.00.
    With Lehman, you would have had $0.00 left.
    But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer one year ago…drank all of the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND, you would have $214.00 cash.

  • Worst Percentage Days for the Dow
    Posted by on September 30th, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    Date………………………………..% Chg
    10/19/1987………………………..-22.61
    10/28/1929………………………..-12.82
    10/29/1929………………………..-11.73
    11/6/1929………………………….-9.92
    12/18/1899………………………..-8.72
    8/12/1932………………………….-8.40
    3/14/1907………………………….-8.29
    10/26/1987………………………..-8.04
    7/21/1933………………………….-7.84
    10/18/1937………………………..-7.75
    2/1/1917……………………………-7.24
    10/27/1997………………………..-7.18
    10/5/1932…………………………-7.15
    9/17/2001…………………………-7.13
    9/24/1931…………………………-7.07
    7/20/1933…………………………-7.07
    9/29/2008…………………………-6.98
    7/30/1914…………………………-6.91
    10/13/1989……………………….-6.91
    1/8/1988…………………………..-6.85

  • The Dow Vs. the S&P 500
    Posted by on September 29th, 2008 at 11:10 pm

    As I mentioned before, the Dow held up much better than the S&P 500. The number 777 is already taken a title for today’s activity, but if the Dow had fallen the same percentage as the S&P 500, the loss would have been 981 points. The 181 basis point difference between the two indexes is one of the biggest gaps in history.

  • This Seems Appropriate
    Posted by on September 29th, 2008 at 10:43 pm

  • Flashback: WaMu Ad
    Posted by on September 29th, 2008 at 10:35 pm


    (Via: Wall Street Fighter)

  • House to Wall Street: Drop Dead
    Posted by on September 29th, 2008 at 9:17 pm

    Today was the Dow’s worst point decline ever. The decline amounted to 777.68 points which is more than the Dow was worth at its 1982 low (btw, the Nasdaq closed at 1983 today). On a percentage basis, the Dow lost 6.98%.
    Think about this: The sell-off erased $1.2 trillion off the stock market which was in response to a bailout plan of $700 billion.
    The S&P 500 lost 106.62 points which is a total of 8.79%. That’s unusual that the Dow held up so much better than the S&P. Our Buy List was “only” down 6.11%.
    By percentage terms, this was the worst selloff for the S&P 500 since 1987. My data only goes back to 1950, so it’s the second-worse sell-off since then.
    By my records, this is 21st worst percentage decline for the Dow since the index began in 1896. Although, I saw a report from AP saying it was the 17th worst. The Christian Science Monitor said it was the 18th worst.
    dow092908.png

  • HR 3997
    Posted by on September 29th, 2008 at 3:33 pm

    Well, I guess they were right..it was a partisan vote. Large sections of both parties voted against the bill. The Democrats voted 140-95. The Republicans voted 65-133.
    Here’s the roll call.