Saturday, September 14, 2024
Pope Francis meddles in US election, says choose the lesser evil between Trump and Harris but can't say which is which
It's really amusing how the pope says everyone has to think and decide for themselves about such a weighty matter, but when Luther did it he was excommunicated for it.
Between 1972 and 2008, the percentage NOT voting in US elections averaged 47%.
“Not voting is ugly,” the 87-year-old pontiff said. “It is not good. You must vote.”
“You must choose the lesser evil,” he said. “Who is the lesser evil? That lady, or that gentleman? I don’t know. Everyone, in conscience, (has to) think and do this.”
American Catholics, numbering roughly 52 million nationwide, are often seen as crucial swing voters. In some battleground states, including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, more than 20% of adults are Catholic. ...
“Whether it is the one who is chasing away migrants, or the one who that kills children,” said the pope. “Both are against life.”
More.
The pope made the remarks on a flight returning to the safety of his walled-off city-state, population 764, after a visit to Singapore.
Friday, September 13, 2024
Yeah, inflation is vanquished and isn't showing up anywhere
Gold skyrockets as stars align for Fed rate cuts
Gold prices powered higher on Friday, beating record levels, as a boost in bullish momentum fuelled by optimism that the U.S. Federal Reserve is on the brink of trimming interest rates was catalysed by fund inflows and a drop in the dollar.
Spot gold was trading at record levels, up 0.7% at $2,576.48 per ounce by 10:10 a.m ET (1410 GMT). U.S. gold futures rallied 1% to $2,605.30.
Updated:
Spot gold was trading at record levels, up 0.9% at $2,582.05 per ounce by 11:58 a.m ET (1558 GMT). U.S. gold futures rallied 1.2% to $2,610.30.
Crypto: The biggest scam of our time
While the number of reported crypto-related crimes accounts for around 10% of financial fraud complaints received by the FBI last year, the losses from those crimes accounts for nearly 50% of the total amount Americans lost to financial schemes.
More.
See also the Internet Crime Complaint Center report here.
I'm breatheless
I'm supposed to pay extra to read the illiterate?
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/13/oracle-breaths-new-life-into-the-ai-trade-here-are-two-related-stock-plays.html
So predictable: Democrats run on punishing the rich with new taxes to pay for more obscene spending, the rich run scared to transfer wealth under current rules to escape them
Under current law, individuals can transfer up to $13.61 million (and couples can send up to $27.22 million) to family members or beneficiaries without owing estate or gift taxes.
The benefit is scheduled to expire at the end of 2025 along with the other individual provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. If it expires, the estate and gift tax exemption will fall by about half. Individuals will only be able to gift about $6 million to $7 million, and that rises to $12 million to $14 million for couples. Any assets transferred above those amounts will be subject to the 40% transfer tax. ...
With Harris and Trump essentially tied in the polls, the odds have increased that the estate tax benefits will expire — either through gridlock or tax hikes. ...
More than $84 trillion is expected to be transferred to younger generations in the coming decades, and the estate tax “cliff” is set to accelerate many of those gifts this year and next. ...
While giving the maximum of $27.22 million may make sense today from a tax perspective, it may not always make sense from a family perspective. ...
For families that plan to take advantage of the estate tax window, however, the time is now. It can take months to draft and file transfers. During a similar tax cliff in 2010, so many families rushed to process gifts and set up trusts that attorneys became overwhelmed and many clients were left stranded. Advisors say today’s gifters face the same risk if they wait until after the election.
More.
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Gold makes new record high
Gold prices rose more than 1% to hit a record high on Thursday, helped by expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week after U.S. data signalled a slowing of the economy.
Spot gold was up 1.6% at $2,551.19 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures were up 1.4% at $2,578.90.
More.
Updated:
Spot gold was up 1.8% at $2,556.86 per ounce. U.S. gold futures were up 1.7% at $2,585.20.
Food prices making new all-time-highs in August 2024: Beef, beer, yogurt, ice cream, rice
Many other basic foods, not shown, are still near their all-time-highs, like dried beans for example, or potatoes, sugar, and flour, but you knew that if you've been grocery shopping recently.
Eggs, at $3.204/dozen on average nationally in August 2024, are higher right now than their average annual price EVER: $2.857 in 2022, $2.796 in 2023, and $2.469 in 2015. Eggs averaged $2.798 in the first half of 2024.
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