Options Trading Tutorial - Incentive Stock Options Knowledge Base

Incentive Stock Options Knowledge Base

Do expired Incentive Stock Options (ISO) qualify as a tax deduction? I had a bunch of Incentive Stock Options (ISO) expire when I left my last employer. These options had been granted to me years before and I was fully vested but never exercised them. Can I write off the intrinsic value of the options at the time of expiration as a capital gains loss?

Should I buy incentive stock options? My company has offered me ISO's (incentive stock options), but I've never bought stock and don't know the ramifications. I work at a company that plans to go public in about a year and is doing well. Any ideas and/or thoughts would help. Thanks!

What are the differences between incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options?

incentive stock options and AMT? I bought a few incentive options from my company in 2005. Every time I asked my accountant about AMT, the answer was that because I purchased them at their fair market value at the time, I did not have to pay AMT. Now, the options are likely worth more, though the company is still private. I still don't have to pay AMT, right? I tried to read on the IRS web site, it is confusing.

What type of tax planning should be considered before exercising incentive stock options? Provide an example.?

My employer gave us Incentive Stock Options? Now what? I have the least clue what it is or what to do with it.

Layoff before my incentive stock options vest? I suspect I will be laid off a month before my iso stock options vest. Will I still be entitled to keep these pre-vested options should I be let go OR do I have the option to keep them after I leave? Please advise.

I purchased the Incentive stock options my private company offered me, now what? After a few years at a start-up, I left and purchased all the incentive stock options I had vested. The company is still not public, but I have physical "common stock" certificates. Now what do I do? How important are the physical certificates? If the company does go public, what do I do? Do I give the certificates to a broker? Can I mail them to someone to put in a safe deposit box without fear of losing them? Are they bearer? I'm clear on all the AMT business, I just need to know what to do with these things.

Can I defer capitol gains when I sell my stock options by investing the proceeds in a primary residence? Can I defer capitol gains when I sell my stock options by investing the proceeds in a primary residence? I know some taxes on investments can be defferred if rolling into a house (like an IRA). I'm just wondering if selling Incentive Stock Options can also be rolled into a primary residence to defer the taxes. Alternately, what about rolling the capitol gains into an IRA?

Incentive stock option taxation? In 2007 I received a stock award from my employer. The employer reported the value of these shares as income to me and sold a third of the shares and paid IRS for taxes before giving me the remaining two-thirds of the shares. I still hold the shares. When I sell the shares how do I calculate the taxes (capital gains)? Thanks

What happens to unvested stock options when a public company goes private? If a public company gets taken over by private equity investors, what is the typical handling of employee stock options ? The stock options are given as incentive, so it would be unfair to ignore them even if they are unvested. On the other hand, determining a fair value for them is difficult. Would love to hear from people who have gone through this process or have the legal expertise to comment on this situation.

Stock Incentive Option? The company I work for is giving me a Stock Incentive Option. I have done very well for the company and they want to reward me equally. I have never been given a stock option before and I do not know what this entails. I have researched on the web and understand a little bit cleared, but still have tons of questions. My number of shares covered in the option is $10 000. And my exercise price is $2.00. What does this mean ? Do I have to now pay them $20 000 for the stock ? Are they giving me this stock for free as an incentive ? Where would I get $20 000 do buy stock right now ? Please explain what this means. Please help with any questions I need to ask. They did include a plan with the Option to make sure I understand how it works. But that does not tell me the above question I had.

What's the difference between stock and stock options? Much of CEO pay has taken the form of stock options rather than grants of stock.Which form of compensation gives the CEO greater incentive to increase shareholder value: one million dollars in stock or one million dollars worth of stock options?

How to handle stock options? A recent job offer came with stock options as part of the incentive package. What does this mean if the "start-up" intends to sell the company in about 5 years? Could this be lucrative for me? This is basically a ground floor operation and I will be a part of the "building" of the business. What should I ask for as far as options? Should I seek a % of the business or go some other route? Thanks for the advice.

How do I offer stock options for the employees in my (small) consulting business? I have been amazed by the way venture capital firms attract 'more than neccessary' dedication of their employees by offering them stock options. I am interested to know what kind of terms and conditions generally form part of such an offer? I own a small HRD consulting business. How can I offer a similar incentive to my employees?

Does the terms of this preferred stock agreement prevent the granting or exercising of stock options? --- From Prospectus --- The terms of the Series A Preferred Stock do not permit XXXX to declare, set apart or pay any dividend or make any other distribution of assets on, or redeem, purchase, set apart or otherwise acquire shares of common stock or of any other class of stock of XXXXX ranking junior to the Series A Preferred Stock as to the payment of dividends or as to the distribution of assets upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of XXXX, unless certain conditions are met. ------------ I am a current holder of this companies preferred stock. The company is currently experiencing operating difficulties and has already suspended common stock dividends. I suspect the preferred dividends may be halted next. However, the company uses stock options to hire and retain top management. If those options cannot be granted or exercised, I think that would give managment incentive to not halt the preferred dividends.

Stock Options As Part Of Job Offer? I have been offered a job with a consulting firm and as part of the incentive package they included a lot of stock options, "... at a specific strike price TBD based on 2007 option plan". 1. So my first question is what is a stock option and what can I do with them. 2. What do you think they mean by a "specific" strike price? Could different people be offered different strike prices? 3. Third question is how do I determine the value of this incentive? Thankyou for helping me understanding this. Tom Since I posted this question, I also learned that this company is privately owned, so I am really confused about an option to buy shares when the company is not listed on a stock exchange.

Is a capital loss on an Employee Stock Option tax deductible? If the options were given out as a "retention incentive" (an incentive for the employee to stay with the company), and they expire as a loss, is it deductible? (in Canada btw) thanks oh, I didn't mean a loss as a result from exercising the option, but rather the loss of the premium. thanks for pointing out the obvious though

Stock Incentive Part 2? Part 1 of my Stock Incentive was answered, but I forgot to include all the detail. "D" was the best answer I received. But know with more detail I was hoping "D" or someone else can review the info below and put it into laymen's terms for me: Stock incentive info: Number of Shares Covered by Option: 10,000 Exercise Price per Share: $2.00 Vesting Start Date: January 1, 2009 Vesting Schedule: Subject to all of the terms and conditions set forth in the attached Agreement and the Plan, your right to purchase Shares under this Option shall vest according to the following vesting schedule: 25% of the total number of Shares covered by this Option, as shown above, shall vest on the one-year anniversary of the Vesting Start Date. Thereafter, the number of Shares which you may purchase under this Option shall vest at the rate of 1/48 per month on the 1st day of each of the 36 months following the one-year anniversary of the Vesting Start Date, subject to your continuing Service. The resulting aggregate number of vested Shares will be rounded to the nearest whole number. No additional Shares will vest after your Service has terminated for any reason. Notwithstanding the above, one hundred percent (100%) of the Shares subject to this Option shall become fully exercisable in the event of a Change in Control (as defined in the Plan). The company I work for is not publicly traded. So how do I then know what the market value of the shares are ? Or does that not apply unless it is publicly traded ? I also have one more question. If I decide to go ahead and buy these options, does that mean I have to come up with $20 000 up front to buy the 10 000 shares ? Or do I buy a portion each year and at the end of 10 years, I will have bought $20 000. Also, does that mean, that I am only allowed to sell my stock after 10 years ? I have read that everybody says you should sit on it till just before it expires and then sell it. I am in the process of buying a second car, and my wife and I am first time home buyers looking through the market at this stage. So for the events above, I already have to take out a lone, I cannot afford another loan to pay for stock in the company I work for. I guess the financing is the biggest question for me. This is such a good opportunity, but is the time right do buy into it now ?

Do CEOs really need to make that much money? I understand that they run the company and are the first to get the blame if the value of the company stock goes down. But do they really need to make 700 times more than the average employee at that company? To me, this is the problem of capitalism. These aholes not only make a ton of money on salaries but also get nice incentives and stock options. When the average employee at any company under-performs, they are normally fired. When a CEO under-performs, they get millions in bonuses or severance packages. How is that good business sense?

ISO - Tax implications upon exit? Dear Guru(s), What are the tax implications of Incentive Stock Options (ISOs) upon an exit via buy out. It is rumored that even if one does not exercise the options, s/he'll have to pay the taxes on ISOs as if they were regular capital gains. The hiccup is that the acquiring entity will provide their ISOs with restriction on disposition. SO in short, the ISOs will be swapped, but employees have to taxes on them without actually having any gain. Please guide...

Why does my online brokerage charge a premium for options trading ? Thye charge $0.75/contract plus the $9.99 commission fee. Why the per contract charge ? Are they trying to discourage options trading ? Are they implying that options trading is more profitable than stocks ? I know the writer of the contract deserves a premium as incentive to write the option, but it appears that my brokerage isn't involved with writing them, some random individual in the market is.

Do ceos of large companies ever buy call stock options? CEOs make, on average 20 mill a year, and most of the money is from performanced based incentives, not on their salary. However, say the CEO of a large company, who knew that, through his hard work he could turn a company around, or substntially improve it, decided to buy call options, or exotic options from the corporation for which he works. Wouldn't this be a good idea for him to make even more money, I kno he risks the money he puts up for the options, but if he's really confident in himself, and hs a proven track record of excellence, doesn't this sound like a good idea?

How do I report capital gains against a 1099-B issued for a transaction in the prior year? This a rather complicated tax question: The company I work for was acquired at the end of 2007 in an all-for-cash transaction. The sale resulted in a disqualifying disposition of my vested incentive stock options. My company therefore included the income for this disposition on my 2007 W-2, and I will pay taxes on the gain for the tax year 2007. So far, so good. Here is where it gets complicated. The transfer agent who handled the transaction did not pay the proceeds from the 2007 transaction until 2008. As a result, I will receive a 1099-B in 2009 for the proceeds received in 2008. Given that I will have already paid income taxes on the disqualifying disposition for the 2007 tax year, do I simply report a capital gain of $0 against the 1099-B when I figure out my 2008 taxes in 2009? Russ B - I think you have grasped it. The transaction occurred in 2007, but the shares were not redeemed by the transfer agent until 2008. To answer your questions: I exercised the options at the time of the acquisition in 2007, and then redeemed the resulting shares for cash in 2008 (through the transfer agent). Does this provide sufficient clarification? Since the acquisition was all-for-cash, there is no difference between the exercise price and the price at which the shares were sold. So does that mean that I essentially pay the tax as income tax in 2007 (as specified on my W-2), but then my cost basis in 2008 for redemption of the shares is now the same as the selling price, so the capital gain for 2008 is $0?

Intermediate accounting questions? Can you tell me the correct answer for all these multiple choice questions below? Thank you. 1. Under the intrinsic value method, compensation expense resulting from an incentive stock option is generally a. not recognized because no excess of market price over the option price exists at the date of grant. b. recognized in the period of the grant. c. allocated to the periods benefited by the employee's required service. d. recognized in the period of exercise. 2. An executive compensation plan in which the executive may receive compensation in cash, shares of stock, or a combination of both, is known as ______________ plan. a. a nonqualified stock option b. a performance-type c. a stock appreciation rights d. both a performance-type and a stock appreciation rights 3. A corporation should record no compensation expense for which of the following types of executive compensation plans? a. Stock appreciation rights b. Nonqualified stock option plans c. Incentive stock option plans d. Compensation expense should be recorded for all of these. 4. The payment to executives from a performance-type plan is never based on the a. market price of the common stock. b. return on assets (investment). c. return on common stockholders' equity. d. sales.

PPL plzz i wanna finish my HW? 6--An executive who is paid $2.5 million to achieve results, even if that means working 5 hours one day and 15 the next, is typically paid a/an: wage. incentive. stock option. salary. 7--joe issues orders to his employees and expects them to be obeyed without question. He acts like a military commander. What type of managerial style does Joe use? Free-rein Democratic Autocratic Exploratory 8--betty’s Breads is calculating their breakeven point. Their monthly fixed costs (rent and salaries) are $8,000. The cost of making one loaf of bread (materials) is $6.00. At a sales price of $10.00, their breakeven point would be __________ loaves per month. 2500 2000 800 500 9--Generally Accepted Accounting Principles are formulated by: the Institute of Public Accountants. the Internal Revenue Service. the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Congress. 10--When an investor gets involved in a short sale, what is that investor hoping will happen to the price of the stock? A sharp drop in the price of the stock will occur. A sharp rise in the price of the stock will occur. The stock will maintain its current price. Depreciation in stock value will occur.

Does anyone really think this guy works for a living? DALLAS - A $69.7 million compensation package and $98 million pension payout to Exxon Mobil Corp.'s former chief executive and chairman Lee R. Raymond has some shareholders and economists asking, "how much is enough?" "Some folks will ask the question, 'Is this more evidence of big oil taking an enormous windfall and retaining all the riches?'" said Mel Fugate, assistant professor for Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business. The Irving company has drawn criticism from politicians and economists for becoming the most profitable company in history — at consumers' expense, they say. Exxon benefited from high oil and natural gas prices and solid demand for refined products en route to earning $36 billion last year. The company has defended its profits, saying that other industries have larger profit margins but oil companies' bottom lines stand out because they operate on a much larger scale. Recent news of Raymond's payout and pension is stoking embers Fugate said had been starting to die out. But with gasoline prices again reaching $3 a gallon at the pump in some areas and big oil companies about to report first-quarter earnings in coming weeks, expect more fallout, economists say. On Wednesday, Exxon reported executive compensation in a regulatory filing that showed Raymond receiving $48.5 million in salary, bonuses, incentive payments and stock awards. His compensation package also included $21.2 million from exercising stock options, which the company stopped awarding in 2001. His $98 million pension payout reflects 43 years of service. But he would have received nearly $17 million less had he retired just last year, according to the company's 2005 proxy statement. BTW, on the subject of redistribution of wealth, neocons think this is OK. They all agree that working class people should pay $3 a gallon for gas in America. WE used to have a Federal price Cap on gas but Neocons ended that protection measure long ago. Note, he will pay no federal taxes on this income. All of it will be defered and he will get S.S. at age 65. This is a great example of who got the Republican Tax cut. Daaaaaaaaa, what part of stealing from the working class with price fixing is it you do not understand. Of course when you put the shaft to the consumer stock price goes up. Republicans call this hard work? Republicans will call it "leadership", I call it "organized crime". In 1973 I already owned 2000 shares. I worked really hard when I told my broker to buy them for me., right

Can employee be required to sign non-compete before cashing in his options upon leaving the company? I am trying to exercise my options upon leaving my current employer. My employer agrees, but insists that before paying out I sign a non-compete clause that is not acceptable to me. He is basing his demands on the following clause that exists in our Incentive Stock Plan: "Prior to the issuance of any Shares the Board may require the Optionee to execute a non-competition agreement and/or a trade secretes agreement in a form reasonable satisfactory to the Board". The agreement defines the term "Stock" as either issued or unissued and also has a Repurchase Agreement clause: "Repurchase Agreement: No Share shall be issued to an Optionee upon exercise of the Option unless and until the Optionee executes the then existing Shareholders Agreement. The Stock may be repurchased by the Company or other Shareholders as provided in the Shareholders Agreement" Should I be able to sell unissued stock back to the company to avoid the "issued" limitation.

Stock Capital gain and loss? Heres the senerio If you received employee stock option on 4/30/04 and it was an incentive and cashed it 06/30/07.. How do you figure the gain or loss ??

What about a GM alliance with Hyundai & Mitsubishi? GM has a great infrastructure, world wide, that the others could use. The others bring manufacturing efficiencies, and if they were to run the factories that are presently being phased out a metamorphosis could occur. Mitsi has sexy cars, Hyundai is the Korean Toyota, they both could have a great impact on GM. I say it's a win, win, situation. The new factories would have to start out as non-union though I'd say (with incentives for productivities, and perhaps stock options for employees.) Unions have been known to bend when all concerned have their backs against the wall. Remember Chrysler getting bailed out by Washington, and the wage concessions Iococca got from his unions. They're the best of the big three now in terms of synergy.

Stock offer in a new Job, Serious answers please.? I just got a new job and in the offer letter, one of the paragraphs says: Restricted stock: 100 initial shares of restricted stock, and an additional award of company restricted stock with a value of $20,000, awarded on the last business day of the month following your hire date. In addition, you will be granted a minimum value of $20,000 of restricted stock not later than August 1, 2010, and an award a minimum value of $35,000 not later than August 1, 2011. In each case the value and corresponding number of shares to be awarded will be calculated using the closing stock price as of the last business day of the month prior to the month of the award, and will vest at 25% per year over a four year period). We view stock ownership by every employee as an important part of sharing in the company’s success! Please, can someone break this down for me, I 'm new in this financial stuffs. Is that an optional stock option that I can invest that much from my salary, or it is an additional bonus/incentive that I will automatically own? if it is, is it money I have to leave in the company or I can withdraw it and use it as cash. Please help me explain. Thank you.

Business Managers...Investors..HELP!? 1 - Which one of the following countries requires that all firms having foreign direct investments in their country have local partners? a - United States b - Ireland c - Mexico d - Bulgaria 2 - When an investor gets involved in a short sale, what is that investor hoping will happen to the price of the stock? a - A sharp drop in the price of the stock will occur. b - A sharp rise in the price of the stock will occur. c - The stock will maintain its current price. d - Depreciation in stock value will occur. 3 - An executive who is paid $2.5 million to achieve results, even if that means working 5 hours one day and 15 the next, is typically paid a / an: a - wage a - incentive c - stock option d - salary Thank you very MUCH!

I want Washington Mutal stock. Any good trading companies? I am currently interested in purchasing about 150 stocks of Washington Mutual. (Ticker Symbol: WM) I know most people out there would not think Washington Mutual would be a good company, but I think there is potential and if I wasn't willing to take risk, I would invest in government bonds. I have a pretty good understanding on the stock market, etc., but the confusing thing is who should I trade through? I've seen ads to trade with Scottrade, Sharebuilder, Etrade, etc; all offering different incentives and options. I just want to make sure I dont chose a sucker company. What are some good companies to use out there to trade stock? Do they charge a monthly fee? What about transaction fees? What company would you use and why? I am looking to hold on to my shares for at least 6 months. Thank you very much for any help you can give me.

For the option nerd ...writing options , what are the pragmatic risks? I just finished talking to a trader who says he has been very successful managing options for clients , where he sits with each client and discusses potential picks and will tell me what stock to play - in terms of option. The only difference is that - he beleives only in WRITING PUTS AND CALLS not in buying or selling them. The assumption is that 80 % times options expire worthless so rather than be on the buying side of these, its better to sit across the table and sell them ( be it calls or puts ) . I told him - that is selling NAKED CALLS AND PUTS ..isn't it ..? Yes ..it is .... Ok , then do I not expose myself to unlimited risk and there are many places that put red underlines on naked calls and puts. He explained that we monitor your a/c and if find your going to loose your position we square it up immediately and get you out. So we have'nt seen anyone in a bad mess. Now theortically you ARE AT UNLIMITED RISK with a naked Call/Put BUT PRACTIALLY SPEAKING ..HOW IS THAT PROSPECT. Lets say you sold a Call of Strike $50 at say $60 and market is at $20. Now contrary to your assumption that market actually went UP in just 2 days and the call became "In the money" . What does that mean ? Does that mean the broker immediately deducts the actual cost of the options from you AC or you still have time and you can buy a Call that is in the money of the same strike and cover your position. If that is so - where is the "unlimited risk" thing that people where warning you about where you can loose ur shirt ? Can someone PL EXPLAIN THIS PART . AND IN REALITY WHAT IS THE RISK OF LOOSING YOUR SHIRTS WITH NAKED WRITING ? ALSO IF THE MARGIN REQUIREMENTS FOR WRITING OPTIONS IS JUST SAY $3000. AND THIS SITUATION OCCURS THE BROKER AT THE MOST CAN EAT AWAY MY $3000 BUT HE CANNOT CHASE MY BANK ACCOUNT AND ASK FOR MORE ..CAN HE ? The 2nd Question I have is - what incentive could this broker have ( other than steep commissions of course, for managed trades ) . Could his strong like for writing options be BASED ON THE FACT, THAT WRITING THESE INSTRUMENTS MEANS PUTTING SOMETHING NEW INTO THE POOL Vs buying OR SELLING THEM. So he is actually changing supply / demand in such a manner that he controls the price of these. Thanks Arnie

Circuit City to Lay Off Thousands of 'Overpaid' Workers? It layed off 3,400 store workers in March (8.5 % of their total workl force) and hired lower-paid employees to replace them, They plan to cut about 130 corporate jobs. Circuit City, the nation's No. 2 consumer electronics retailer behind Best Buy, said the store workers being laid off were earning "well above the market-based salary range for their role." They will be replaced with employees who will be paid at the current market range, with obviusly less experience and incentive. I admit, I work for corporate as a graphic designer and I'm a little "worried" to say the least. What do you all think of this strategy?? Mind you, a week after the layoffs all the executives went to Hawaii for a "meeting" - another way to cut costs I assume? Not to mention the $750,000+ salary and $700,000 in bonuses & stock options the CEO and other top execs receive ...

Some say Dick Cheney STILL profits whenever Halliburton profits. What do you think? http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/opinion/03sun2.html?ex=1338523200&en=c50056805230df94&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss [From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Cheney received “deferred salary payments” from Halliburton that far exceeded what taxpayers gave him. Mr. Cheney still holds hundreds of thousands of stock options that have ballooned by millions of dollars as Halliburton profited handsomely from the war in Iraq.] Is it possible that profiting from war --either through expansion of powers or deepening of bank accounts-- might give one an incentive to promote a war? I'm just asking. Just curious. I'm-- uh, I'm doing a homework assignment . . . yeah, that's it. I'm doing a homework assignment in my mom's basement. You know us people who question the government, all live in our mom's basement, right? I can sense that you may be getting emotional about this question. Are you sure you should respond?

What do you think about regulating the overall earnings of politicians? I was thinking, One of the biggest problems in government is corruption (IMHO). Well it could be assumed that corruption has a foundation in greed, and the desire of money. I know this would like never happen because politicians would be cutting their own wallets. Just think about it, Politicians across the board are in a completely public position. No stock options, No book deals, No "generous campaign donations", Just good ole middle class politicians. I guess there would have to be a agreed upon amount. And, have it set up where they get a basic retirement fund, and that's it! I know This is cleary not well thought out idea, but just focus on the basic concept when answering: Basic Salary, No Stock Options, NO Personal use of political Donations, No private companies, and whatever other ways politicians hide money! I just wonder what would the american political system be like if the only incentive to serve in goverment was that- your desire to serve the people. I feel like alot people that go into politics dont give a rat's f**** about the people. They do it for the power, for the money. So I guess what do you think are the implications of such an idea? What effect do you think it would have on America as a whole, and on our political system as a whole? Do you think such a concept is feasible? I doubt it would be constitutional. Do you think it would have any effect on the behavior of politicians today? Once again, this is a very loose idea, its not well thought out, and doesn't consider some of the many barriers to it working. So when answering, you are under the assumption that a fleasible plan to prevent politicians from making more than their base salary has been developed, and is effective! Not considering anything currently in place.

Why would Obama consider a salary cap? It didn't work for Clinton and it won't work now. It will however run talent to other countries. What is the adage about repeating history? 1. Capping CEO pay This isn't a new concept. In 1993, then President Bill Clinton signed a law restricting the tax deductibility of executive pay to $1,000,000 effectively giving those in that stratospheric pay range a huge incentive to find other means of compensation. Enter the creative mind of the financial world. People were given more perks that got around the cap - giving them bonuses in stock when they hit certain goals. This is where stock options really hit their stride - and, thanks to the bull stock market of the 1990s, made everybody far wealthier than they would have been using the old pay structure. So, the last time the government got involved in CEO pay, we got fabulously wealthy CEOs, and now we don't like it. See what I mean about unintended consequences? http://www.fistfuloftalent.com/salary_caps/

Who thinks we can fix the economy (at least partially) by doing the following? What this economy needs more than anything else is JOBS. People need to work in order to pay their bills, or repay their debts, and if they don't have jobs they can't do that, and the economy will get worse before it gets better in that case. I think we need to create incentives for companies to hire people, or at the very least not fire them. The only way that will happen is if company executives have dis-incentives for firing employees and/or incentives for keeping and hiring them. Otherwise those executives will continue firing people while they collect massive bonuses. Here are my ideas: 1) Create a law that keeps the TOTAL COMPENSATION of the highest-paid EMPLOYEE in any company (this would include the CEO and other executives) to no more than 30 times the average total compensation of all the non-management employees in the company. In my mind, total compensation includes anything other than stock dividends, stock splits, or anything other than that which is granted to current stockholders/owners rather than employees. So things like deferred compensation, stock options, bonuses, paid country-club memberships, private use of the company jet, etc. would count toward this benchmark. This would give executives a reason to pay their employees more, as their pay would be tied back to how they are paying the front-line workers in their company. This law would include all contract, full-time, and part-time employees in any company (high-level executives usually work under a contract with their companies, essentially making them contractors) and their sub-contractors (to keep companies from farming out their work) including off-shore contractors. 2) Any company that wants to sell their goods or services in the United States must follow U.S. laws regarding wage and hour, safety, and environmental impact, even for their employees and contractors who work outside the U.S. This would reduce the advantage that comes from sending jobs off-shore and keep jobs here in America. 3) Disallow any compensation other than base salary to any executive who reduces staff in their company. If a company can't pay their front-line employees 40 or 50 thousand a year, how can they pay hundreds of thousands, or even millions, to their executives in bonuses? However, if a company increases head-count over a year, reward those executives with an extra 5% of their total compensation at the end of that year, which the company can pay in whatever way they like. 4) We've seen this "stimulus package" have little or no effect on job growth. I think maybe we need to do what FDR and Congress did in the 1930s: have the government hire people directly to perform essential public-works projects so that they work, earn money, then spend money. We have crumbling bridges and roads, and other infrastructure projects that we would benefit from long-term if we do this today. I don't love the idea of having more government employees, but I like seeing people starve even less. Needless to say, if you have ideas, let me know! Thank you for your logical and thoughtful replies.

Why is Obama so eager to hand out money to the auto industry? I understand the concerns about bailing out the auto industry. I get it that millions will loose their jobs if nothing is done-that unemployment could easily rise above 9%. This being said, if we have to just hand the gig three 50 billion dollars, why aren't some shrewd deals with incentives being made. Deals like: 1. The money would have to paid back with minimal interest over a ten year span, otherwise a higher default rate of interest would apply. 2. Restructure and reduce corporate pay scale/benefits/stock options by a minimum of 35%. 3. Eliminate all current union deals. No exceptions. You start making exceptions for one thing and the union floodgates will pour. 4. Lower interest rate/ loan payback for building and placing more fuel efficient vehicles. Very rough Example. If GM were to place 30,000 50 mpg with consumers, there interest rate would go from 2.5% to 2%. If they were to place 60,000 65 mpg vehicles their interest rate would drop to 1.5%. Obama wants to give the big three 50 billion. Fine. I don't like, and I don't agree with it. But, I can live with it if there were some parameters, and incentives for future developments. If a savy enough deal were to made, it could even be an opportunity. You want to just hand them 50 billion dollars? Fine. Let's bend them over and get something for that money. Make an example out of them for future companies that pull the same thing.

How much is too much in salaries ? ? CEO Salaries Weather Mortgage Crisis CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Earned Roughly $30 Million in Salary Last Year By JUSTIN ROOD July 21, 2008 100 comments FONT SIZE EMAIL PRINT SHARE The chiefs of the nation's two largest mortgage lenders reaped roughly $30 million in salary, incentives and other perks last year, despite setting their banks on courses which now may require government bailouts. WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 20: Daniel Mudd (L) president and CEO of Fannie Mae and Richard Syron (R)... WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 20: Daniel Mudd (L) president and CEO of Fannie Mae and Richard Syron (R) chairman and CEO of Freddie Mac listen to questions during a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill September 20, 2007 in Washington DC. The committee is hearing testimony about the problems with mortgage foreclosures. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Daniel Mudd, the CEO of Fannie Mae, received $11.6 million in salary, stock and other compensation for 2007. Richard Syron, CEO of Freddie Mac, took home about $18.3 million last year. In addition to Syron's salary, stock options and a $3.45 million bonus, Freddie Mac paid for a number of other perks for Syron, such as a car and driver, a home security system, travel costs for his wife, even $100,000 to pay his lawyer to negotiate his employment contract with the bank.

Does anyone know how I could find the actual number of Silverado's sold? I almost traded my '07 today for an '08 with just 3 more options than mine....with the $6k rebate, I was told that Chevy has sold most of their '08 stock & the (rebate) expires on monday....take the deal, or, "hold-out" for better incentives next week?

Is it better to pay 5% sales commission up front or pay a 1% portfolio value management fee? I want the expertise of a financial advisor -- I don't want to be a day trader -- but don't like paying 5% up front. My Ameriprise advisor offered another option. If I invest 100k or more with them, I can open a brokerage account which eliminate all fees, the 5% sales commission. Instead we pay just 1% of the portfolio's value annually. I like this because he has an ongoing earnings incentive instead of making all his money up front. However, I dislike this because we're paying 1% on the *whole* portfolio amount each year, not just the earnings on the funds/stocks he's sold us. And there's no incentive to grow the acct b/c he makes money on the total portfolio balance, not on the earnings. It could lose money every year and he'd still collect 1% of the balance. Please no "you can do your own investing" responses. I want to turn it over to someone who does this for a living.

Is this the legacy of Ronald Regan, the Republicans, and the GOP? http://finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/107069/pay-dirt-the-executive-pay-system-is-broken?mod=career-salary_negotiation The Regan Administration took away the majority of restrictions on corporations. This led to rampant corruption at the corporate level and unreasonably huge CEO compensation. Here is a quote from the article; "It wasn't always like this. From the Great Depression until the late 1980s, CEO pay levels stayed fairly constant. Adjusted for inflation, a CEO in 1988 earned as much as one did in 1934, according to research published in 1990 by Michael Jensen and Kevin Murphy. 'We are confident that the causes are systemic,' they wrote. Without 'the creation of a new regime in compensation practice' more companies could get into trouble because of skewed incentives, they added. So why has CEO pay surged so dramatically since the late 1980s? Many experts blame the following: Golden parachutes, annual stock-option grants, peer-group comparison surveys and reaction to new government regulations. The two compensation experts re-visited the issue in 2004 in the wake of the Enron scandal and concluded that things had changed "dramatically" for the worse." So the question. Is this whole financial crisis the result of "Reganomics"? Of rewarding the rich and expecting to have the billions of excess CEO compensation trickle down to the average worker? Bill G. That is not how a free market is supposed to work. A free market is based on supply and demand, not CEO compensation and corporate bonuses. Besides, if you read the article, you would understand that the problem is systemic. All CEO's do this, thus, it is impossible to stop buying their products as you suggest. To all, I refer to Reganomics, or the economics of rewarding the rich with the belief that they will bring up the rest of the country. OH, and by the way. That community reinvestment act which you trumpet so loudly never caused this problem. That act accounted for less than 2% of the total bad loans given by banks. Stop blaming the poor on the problems the rich caused. The problem was that CEO's had too much incentive to dish out loans. This cause them to leverage more than they had. They did this so they could get their golden bonuses. Sorry. I am right! And so is Warren Buffet, who argued this very same thing.

Sell to close or excercise call option? When someone buys a call option, they can either choose to excercise it or sell the option to close their position. When excercising the option, they must make sure the price of the stock is above the break even point (strike price plus premium) to profit. However, even if the price of the option contract has risen only slightly above the price that they purchased it, they still profit if they sell the contract. There is no break even point in selling the contract, it just has to go up, right? In general, is it usually more profitable to sell the option contract to close out the position instead of excercising it because when excercising it the stock must go up enough to rise above the break even point? What would be the incentive to excercise the option considering it involves significantly more capital vs. selling the option which gives you virutally the same if not greater profit?

Was and is this the America you and your ancestors fought/fight for ? August 30, 2005: 12:24 PM EDT By Jeanne Sahadi, CNN/Money senior writer NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – If sky-high executive pay at publicly traded companies gives you vertigo, you might want to read this sitting down. In 2004, the ratio of average CEO pay to the average pay of a production (i.e., non-management) worker was 431-to-1, up from 301-to-1 in 2003, according to "Executive Excess," an annual report released Tuesday by the liberal research groups United for a Fair Economy and the Institute for Policy Studies. That's not the highest ever. In 2001, the ratio of CEO-to-worker pay hit a peak of 525-to-1. Still, it's quite a leap year over year, and it ranks on the high end historically. In 1990, for instance, CEOs made about 107 times more than the average worker, while in 1982, the average CEO made only 42 times more. The cumulative pay of the top 10 highest paid CEOs in the past 15 years totaled $11.7 billion. And though the specific individuals in each of those annual top 10 lists changed year to year, many bosses did pretty well throughout the entire period. Citigroup's Sandy Weill, for example, has made $1.1 billion since 1990. "Pay" in this instance refers to total compensation – including salary, bonuses, restricted stock awards, payouts on long-term incentives and the value of options exercised during the year. The report also compares the growth in average CEO pay – which was $11.8 million in 2004 – to the growth in the minimum wage. Had the minimum wage risen as fast as CEO compensation since 1990, the researchers calculated, it would now be $23.03 an hour instead of just $5.15. And the average production worker would be making $110,126 a year instead of $27,460 http://money.cnn.com/2005/08/26/news/economy/ceo_pay/ --------------------------------------- Most people will have read the recent reports of how Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates has had his personal net worth soar over 100 billion dollars and then drop down to 55 billion. He certainly knows how to make (and lose) money. (Note: This article was written in 1998, Bill's Fortunes have dropped a touch since then.) Consider that he made this money in the 25 years or so since Microsoft was founded in 1975. If you presume that he has worked 14 hours a day on every business day of the year since then, that means he's been making money at a staggering million dollars per hour, around $300 per second. http://www.templetons.com/brad/billg.html ----------------------------------- About one-third of the adult homeless population have served their country in the Armed Services. Current population estimates suggest that about 154,000 veterans (male and female) are homeless on any given night and perhaps twice as many experience homelessness at some point during the course of a year. Many other veterans are considered near homeless or at risk because of their poverty, lack of support from family and friends, and dismal living conditions in cheap hotels or in overcrowded or substandard housing. http://www1.va.gov/homeless/page.cfm?pg=1 1. What is The Carlyle Group? The Carlyle Group is a global private equity firm with $91.5 billion of assets under management committed to 66 funds as of September 30, 2008. Carlyle invests in buyouts, growth capital, real estate and leveraged finance in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America focusing on aerospace & defense, automotive & transportation, consumer & retail, energy & power, financial services, healthcare, industrial, infrastructure, technology & business services and telecommunications & media. Since 1987, the firm has invested $52.7 billion of equity in 866 transactions for a total purchase price of approximately $225 billion. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1000 people in 21 countries. In the aggregate, Carlyle portfolio companies have more than $109 billion in revenue and employ more than 415,000 people around the world. http://www.carlyle.com/Company/item1678.html --------------------------------- By Bob Willis Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- First-time claims for U.S. unemployment benefits last week rose more than forecast, signaling companies stepped up the pace of firings at the start of the year. Initial jobless claims jumped by 54,000 to 524,000 in the week that ended Jan. 10, from a revised 470,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The total number of people collecting benefits decreased from a 26-year high. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aWEkoFNXb3.E&refer=us ----------------------------------------------------- The estimated population of the United States is 305,466,894 so each citizen's share of this debt is $34,768.32. http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ It is believed President-elect Obama's inauguration will be the costliest in history — around $50 million — despite the recession. President Bush has declared a state of emergency to free up federal funds to help the district cop

anyone who is very good in english and paragraph writting???plz h? plz can u put this in a perfect coherent paragraph and give me a few explanation.....A)the message was heard over at the stock market where a jump of 64 points on one day was the largest one day rise since september...B)the goverment's hope is that lower interest rates will stir both buisness and ordinary citizens to spend the country out of its two years old recession..C)with nearly 3 million of their compatriots unemployed,britons have felt little incentive,of late to go out and spent money....D)to entice them the treasury has cut the nation's base interest rate to 6% the lowest in 15 years................options are:1)CBDA 2)BDCA 3)CDBA 4)BDAC

Should Healthcare reform include a public option? “We already have Health Care Reform (The PUBLIC Option)” Insurance companies are in business for one reason and one reason only and that is to make money. That's right, money, lots and lots of money. That's what business is all about. There's no benevolence, no interest in the customer's comfort or level of pain, the customer is a means to an end.....money. Thus their main goal is to make as much profit as legally possible. If you own a business you understand this concept. To make a profit you must be able to make sure the amount of money that comes into your bank account is significantly more than the amount of money that leaves it. That's the definition of business. If you can wrap your mind around that fact then it becomes easier to understand why it is the current health care system in this country is fundamentally broken. Health care is about pregnancy, cancer, broken bones, birth defects, sickness, suffering, disease, end of life and pain. If the idea behind a health care system is to mend the broken bones, cure the sickness, ease the pain and suffering and provide comfort for those who are frightened and hurting, then it seems paradoxically at odds with the current "for profit" system now controlled by the insurance companies. The need for Insurance companies to make profit is in direct contradiction of a patient's need for care. They have a very strong incentive to deny their customers the care they need and that incentive is what’s known as the bottom line, profits! The less money insurance companies have to pay out in claims made by their customers for the care they need, the more money they can put in their profit column. That’s why insurance companies prefer young healthy people and over charge or completely deny coverage to older folks or folks who have a “pre-existing” condition. They market strongly to the young, healthy and affluent and fool them into believing they are more entitled than others, entitled to the absolute top tier treatment in healthcare and they command a serious premium for access to this supposed “premium care”. It’s a lie though, it doesn’t exist, but as long as the healthy and affluent believe they’re “special” and believe that like buying designer jeans, or an expensive car, insurance is a status symbol, the insurance companies will raise rates for these folks because they are, “The MOST PROFITABLE CUSTOMER”! As long as insurance companies can raise rates and drop customers they've determined likely to file a claim at some point in the future, drop folks with "pre-existing" conditions they'll continue to make billions in profits, and you can't blame them, that's what they're there for. That is exactly the reason insurance companies exist, to make money. An insurance company is not some benevolent entity that was invented to take care of you when you’re sick, or to make sure you get the care you think you deserve, they're a business that profits from the risk that you or a loved one will become ill or get injured and suffer. The more they can lower that risk of actually having to pay a claim or deny claims altogether, while raising rates, the more successful they are at their intended purpose, to make money. The insurance companies goals are diametrically opposed with the goals of the customer or patient, more accurately, you. We can't blame insurance companies because that's what they do, make money for the insatiable greed of the corporate CEO's and stock holders. That's it, that's what broken about our health care system. Insurance companies make more when they pay less. Our health care system should work in a way that promotes the care of the patient and provides access to all Americans equally. Every other civilized country on the planet earth except the U.S. has decided that regardless of the underlying machinery that makes up their governmental process, they provide their constituents with access to healthcare. That's not a talking point, that is a fact. A fact that can be and has been verified. Why would we, one of the wealthiest countries on the planet, exclude 40 to 50 million of our own fellow Americans access to health care when they (we) are in pain and suffering? Why would we be so ignorant as to follow a bunch of grouchy old men and women in congress and the senate, who are being paid-off by the insurance companies themselves. Why would we be so gullible to believe they actually have our best interest at heart? It's not rocket science, what I've described above is easy to understand because it’s true. So what's the answer? Well it's actually very simple. I mean really simple. If the idea is to have a large pool of money that you, me and everyone else contributes a little bit to so that when you suddenly face a situation where you are sick, suffering scared and/or in pain, you have access to the funds necessary to get the care you as an American deserve, and we as a civilized, educated people should care enough to provide. If that's the go If that's the goal, and it certainly should be, then the answer is really simple. I mean we're already half way there, we just have the wrong folks managing the pool of money. Who would be the most likely candidate to manage this pool? Who can we trust? The insurance companies? Well remember their interest is not in our wellbeing it’s in making a profit and they want a disproportionate amount of the pool to keep for themselves. Insurance companies are probably not the best to manage our health care pool then right? How about we all take a vote on the person we feel should manage our money? We could call him or her the “Insurance Commissioner” or something. That way our democracy works the way it should, we vote on the best person for the job, majority rules and after some period of time we vote on whether to keep them or find a replacement to make sure our “Insurance Commissioner” is still doing the job we need him/her to do. Sounds like pie-in-the-sky right? Wrong. It’s called Medicare, we all pay into it, it’s a very large pool of money, and it’s accessible buy any American over 65 years of age. Guess who owns Medicare. I do, oh and you do too. Every American that pays into Medicare owns it. All we need to do is remove the age restriction and Walla! We’ve got our publically owned health care fund!!!! Write you leaders and demand that we be given access to our own publicly owned health care fund or PUBLIC OPTION!!!!! If you don’t know who your leaders are or how to contact them go to the following government web sites: Congress – Senate: https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml President : http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact If your vote is no, please back it up with rational based on verifiable facts. Otherwise you'll look like just another uninformed schlep who thinks Glen Beck has a brain.

Do Republicans support this political platform? Possible Platform for the 2010 USA Republican Party The Program of the USA Republican Party is a program for the post-Obama 21st Century. The Republican minority leaders of the House and Senate reject the establishment of any new spending, stimulus, and healthcare programs that have been achieved by Obama’s administration. Through exercising the freedoms expressed in the U.S. Constitution, we can continue to voice our dissatisfactions with the 2008 Democratic platform and agenda. 1.We demand stimulating the US economy at the state/local governments and individual level, NOT at the Federal level in Washington, DC. To facilitate this, we demand Federal tax cuts backed by the elimination of Federal grants to state/local Governments. In turn, we demand these funds rather be taxed by states or municipalities. 2.We demand a fair playing field for US workers with respect to workers overseas by amending existing US labor laws where detrimental to the American worker interest. 3.We demand necessary and proactive US military and homeland security measures to thwart terrorist activity on the homeland wherever and whenever possible, which may include the use of detention centers for suspected terrorists (NOTE: Detainees will receive humane treatment and activities would be closely monitored by several diverse independent authorities). 4.We demand tougher measures to prevent illegal immigration through US borders, and a solution for dealing with existing illegal immigrants that is less harsh than deportation, but not as lenient as granting amnesty. 5.We propose a tax credit to assist employers who provide employment to 95% employees being Citizens of the United States. 6.For large enterprises, we will exclude cash dividends and stock dividends from taxable income, providing an incentive for employers and employees to opt to pay/receive shares of company earnings in lieu of wages/salaries. These terms would need to be negotiated between both the employee and employer. 7.We demand amendments in the tax system for employer-provided old-age pension plans. 8.We demand an equal level of oversight for Government-sponsored financial institutions (i.e. Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac) to that of private financial enterprises. 9.We demand a restructuring of K-12 education to incorporate the demands of the practical skillsets required of a 21st century economy (i.e. economics, health, basic accounting- how to balance a budget, computer skills, how to prepare for an interview, entrepreneurial ideas, high school internships for 12th graders). However, we would not discontinue any previously taught subjects. One option would be supplemental privatized education institutions covering these additional subjects, funded by school vouchers administered state-by-state, or county-by-county. 10.Further simplification of the US tax code to eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax, eliminate the 5 most ineffective Government programs, and impose national sales tax to replace portions of the Federal income tax.

Why didn't anybody in Washington listen to Buffet? Following are edited excerpts from the Berkshire Hathaway annual report for 2002. I view derivatives as time bombs, both for the parties that deal in them and the economic system. Basically these instruments call for money to change hands at some future date, with the amount to be determined by one or more reference items, such as interest rates, stock prices, or currency values. For example, if you are either long or short an S&P 500 futures contract, you are a party to a very simple derivatives transaction, with your gain or loss derived from movements in the index. Derivatives contracts are of varying duration, running sometimes to 20 or more years, and their value is often tied to several variables. Unless derivatives contracts are collateralized or guaranteed, their ultimate value also depends on the creditworthiness of the counter-parties to them. But before a contract is settled, the counter-parties record profits and losses – often huge in amount – in their current earnings statements without so much as a penny changing hands. Reported earnings on derivatives are often wildly overstated. That’s because today’s earnings are in a significant way based on estimates whose inaccuracy may not be exposed for many years. The errors usually reflect the human tendency to take an optimistic view of one’s commitments. But the parties to derivatives also have enormous incentives to cheat in accounting for them. Those who trade derivatives are usually paid, in whole or part, on “earnings” calculated by mark-to-market accounting. But often there is no real market, and “mark-to-model” is utilized. This substitution can bring on large-scale mischief. As a general rule, contracts involving multiple reference items and distant settlement dates increase the opportunities for counter-parties to use fanciful assumptions. The two parties to the contract might well use differing models allowing both to show substantial profits for many years. In extreme cases, mark-to-model degenerates into what I would call mark-to-myth. I can assure you that the marking errors in the derivatives business have not been symmetrical. Almost invariably, they have favored either the trader who was eyeing a multi-million dollar bonus or the CEO who wanted to report impressive “earnings” (or both). The bonuses were paid, and the CEO profited from his options. Only much later did shareholders learn that the reported earnings were a sham. Another problem about derivatives is that they can exacerbate trouble that a corporation has run into for completely unrelated reasons. This pile-on effect occurs because many derivatives contracts require that a company suffering a credit downgrade immediately supply collateral to counter-parties. Imagine then that a company is downgraded because of general adversity and that its derivatives instantly kick in with their requirement, imposing an unexpected and enormous demand for cash collateral on the company. The need to meet this demand can then throw the company into a liquidity crisis that may, in some cases, trigger still more downgrades. It all becomes a spiral that can lead to a corporate meltdown. Derivatives also create a daisy-chain risk that is akin to the risk run by insurers or reinsurers that lay off much of their business with others. In both cases, huge receivables from many counter-parties tend to build up over time. A participant may see himself as prudent, believing his large credit exposures to be diversified and therefore not dangerous. However under certain circumstances, an exogenous event that causes the receivable from Company A to go bad will also affect those from Companies B through Z. In banking, the recognition of a “linkage” problem was one of the reasons for the formation of the Federal Reserve System. Before the Fed was established, the failure of weak banks would sometimes put sudden and unanticipated liquidity demands on previously-strong banks, causing them to fail in turn. The Fed now insulates the strong from the troubles of the weak. But there is no central bank assigned to the job of preventing the dominoes toppling in insurance or derivatives. In these industries, firms that are fundamentally solid can become troubled simply because of the travails of other firms further down the chain. Many people argue that derivatives reduce systemic problems, in that participants who can’t bear certain risks are able to transfer them to stronger hands. These people believe that derivatives act to stabilize the economy, facilitate trade, and eliminate bumps for individual participants. On a micro level, what they say is often true. I believe, however, that the macro picture is dangerous and getting more so. Large amounts of risk, particularly credit risk, have become concentrated in the hands of relatively few derivatives dealers, who in addition trade extensively with one other. The troubles of one could quickly inf

Can you hold incentive stock options in a 401(k) or Roth 401(k) My company has instituted an employee stock option plan and will grant incentive stock options to employees. If an employee is granted incentive stock options can those options be held in the employee's 401(k) or Roth 401(k) qualified retirment account?

Tax breaks, rebates, tax relief, are we asking the right question? Any way you look at it, tax breaks, rebates and tax relief are all handouts to someone. If you give a 3% tax break to corporations and the wealthy, it is a handout that they didn’t have before. If you give a tax break, rebate or tax relief to the tax paying middle class, it is a handout they did not have before. If you give a check to those that do not pay taxes and call it tax relief, it is still a handout. I think that the question we have to address is which option (if any) is best for America, American jobs and therefore the American people as a whole. We saw the lack of results when the stimulus package was handed out last June and July. The money in 98% of the households went to pay down debt or to pay every day living expenses. Statistics show us that very little of it went to the retail markets and an even smaller amount went to savings. Did this bring an increase in jobs? Obviously not! Our jobless rate is higher now than it was then. So can we honestly believe that giving tax relief or tax cuts or rebates again to the middle class and the poor are going to result in an overall improvement in the nation’s economy? During the years of “Reganomics” (trickle down economics), the United States saw unprecedented growth in jobs and general strength and vigor in the stock markets. No tax relief or handouts were given to the middle class….yet the overall state of middle class Americans improved substantially as jobs became easier to get and new innovations and inventions generally made our lives easier. It stands to reason then that providing incentives to large and small businesses alike…rather than to individuals is much more likely to create jobs ..thus a better economy for all of us. The problem as I see it with Sen. Obama’s tax policy is that he is COUNTING on the American people who receive this tax relief to somehow join together to help build a better American economy for all. Our experience with the stimulus package has already shown us that this is not likely to happen. The problem with McCain’s tax policy is that he is COUNTING on the goodness of the corporations and the rich to use the tax breaks to create new jobs. Frankly, without specific requirements that must be met by those corporations and the largest of the so called small business sector, this is not guaranteed to help either. My proposal is to keep in place the tax levels currently given to large corporations, but insist that they meet specific requirements to remain at that level. Requirements such as, No jobs being outsourced to other countries and those already outsourced must be brought back to America and to American workers. Another requirement would be that funds belonging to these corporations can not be placed in offshore accounts, but must remain in American financial institutions. This proposal I believe would lower the jobless rate significantly thus improving the overall economy. When people have jobs, the economy grows. All businesses then become more profitable as the demand for their products becomes greater. John McCain comes closer than Obama to being able to do this. Please give me your opinion.

economics, where is the best place to put your money(I have one answer)? this is one question that people ask all the time and ponder about even more. The interest rate has been going down in the US. Usually, this leads to a depreciation of the currency; as the interest rate decreases, there is less incentive to buy dollars in order to buy bonds, or any interest-yielding device. The less demand for the dollar means that the dollar depreciates. However, something curious has happened, given that the world, when push comes to shuve (big surprise), prefers the US dollar over any other currency in times of crisis, the US dollar initially appreciated with the bad economic news (spawned by the lower interest rate, which should normally spawn a depreciation). In South America, what has historically happened is when the goverment spends a lot and gets in trouble, it increase the interest rate, in turn, they generate an enormous debt, and then inflate the currency to pay back the debt in a devalued currency. What the US could end up doing is paying back its debt by devalueing its currency. It could do this by decreasing the interest rate to zero (which has happened), in order to depreciate the dollar and pay back the debt in depreciated dollars, and in turn, cause inflation, which in turn, will favour those that take out loans. What has happened? banks do not want to lend because of the possibility they will be paid in devalued dollars due to inflation. And the other reasons cited which we all well know. The stock market has always been a source of tremendous speculation since the early 90's. It could very well go down some more. Commodities have gone down due to decreased demand worldwide. Oil spiked to 140 and then went back down to 50. why? speculation. I am conservative with these things, I don't like to invest in things that are pure speculation. Right now, people are afraid and uncertain of what the future brings. A lot of wealth that was once created through speculation, has now been lost. The fragility of this financial system is the following: everything is projected, planned, capitulated, and expected.....based on what is expected. The moment reality diverges from what is expected, things go hay-wire. Take a simple loan, for instance, the cornerstone of the entire financial system. If you take a loan as a company, the bank or provider gives you the loan based on your company projections...and those projectiosn predict that you will be able to pay that loan. But that in turn, is dependent on other industries that support your projections....if any of these industries goes under, your company fails its projections, and fails to pay the loan as expected, which causes turmoil. the housing market is the best example. People EXPECTED the price of homes to go up, so the price went up and up and up. They took out a loan on the house, then sold the house, paid the loan and kept the difference. But then the prices went down, so they got the loan, let the bank acquire the house, and let the bank deal with the losses.. because of failed expectations, the actions of an entire system faltered. Because of speculation, an entire system completely went down. So, now there is negative speculation, and that drives the prices down, so banks are in turn, not lending. However, where to put your money? euros? But the european economy is much more fragile than the US economy, 12 countries with no central bank. When the Europeans start feeling it, their currency will also crash. Why? because no matter how high their interest rates, if the economies of Europe are doing badly, no one will want euros, and in turn the currency will depreciate vs the dollar. One strategy were to be temporarily in euros, wait till the dollar hits rock bottom, and then shift to dollars before the dollar goes back up, but thats too outlandish for me. The second would be yuan, but China has a strong control on their currency, having it pegged to the dollar. Any increase will be very slight. And who knows it might go down. Especially with the crazy stock market and possible inflation (they havn't spent their money in any where near the US rate). so where do you put your money? well, there are a variety of options, you could go completely into the stock market, or to be conservative, you could go into treasury bills and some in the stock market. the logic is that the US would have to ceaze existing as a goverment for them not to pay back their debt. Most people still perceive the US to be able to pay back its debt, so they give them money even with no interest rate, as has recently happened. Given that inflation will probably come in effect, I would recommend the TIPS....which is a treasury bill with inflation adjusted for. This means you get your principle, no matter what inflation or deflation happens. This is if you are very conservative. The other logic, is to be more liberal, and know that the surest bet, even if there is a depression and every thing goes goes downhill, even if everybody in the world defaults on their debt, the surest place to put your money, is in productive companies...because productivity transcends a bad economy. and that today is called the stock market. So you could try investing in companies with good P/E ratios and with productive potential. I would say stick to very conservative picks, such as caterpillar, etc. Nothing flamboyant. Personally, I have trouble thinking of the ideal place to put y our money, so if you have any suggestions, please, elaborate....these are the ones I thought about. well, if your going with chinese currency, your really going with the US currnecy......yes, the only way it can go is up since its under-appreciated. Yetthe yuan is very tihtly controlled, soyou can only get it through very tight channels, thats another problem. chinese currency---the logic would be that the US dollar is depreciating, so eventually the yuan is going to appreciate, even if its pegged. I bought yuan in january of 2008 and made about 4%. I put in a good portion of my investments in that. The thing is its complicated to get chinese currency. Furthermore the bank screws you by only letting you to earn some of the earnings but if yo uhave a loss, you take the hit all by yourself.at least thats how I read it in the contract. chinese currency---the logic would be that the US dollar is depreciating, so eventually the yuan is going to appreciate, even if its pegged. I bought yuan in january of 2008 and made about 4%. I put in a good portion of my investments in that. The thing is its complicated to get chinese currency. Furthermore the bank screws you by only letting you to earn some of the earnings but if yo uhave a loss, you take the hit all by yourself.at least thats how I read it in the contract. under your mattress. the problem with that is stealing and inflation, which are one and the same. gold is kind of speculative dont you think? if your going to do that, why not oil?

Help...Plz!? 1 - Which one of the following countries requires that all firms having foreign direct investments in their country have local partners? a - United States b - Ireland c - Mexico d - Bulgaria 2 - When an investor gets involved in a short sale, what is that investor hoping will happen to the price of the stock? a - A sharp drop in the price of the stock will occur. b - A sharp rise in the price of the stock will occur. c - The stock will maintain its current price. d - Depreciation in stock value will occur. 3 - An executive who is paid $2.5 million to achieve results, even if that means working 5 hours one day and 15 the next, is typically paid a / an: a - wage a - incentive c - stock option d - salary Thank you very MUCH!

HELP PLzzzzz PLzzzzzz? 1-Companies such as L.L. Bean, Land’s End, Dell Computer, and Johnson and Johnson have reputations for demonstrating a high level of social responsibility to: their customers. local communities. their employees. their investors. 2-- Which one of the following countries requires that all firms having foreign direct investments in their country have local partners? United States Ireland Mexico Bulgaria 3--Hewlett Packard’s decision to move towards a more centralized structure is an example of __________. This process helps HP determine the best way to arrange their business resources and activities into a coherent structure. directing. organizing. controlling. producing. 4--At Chaparral Steel, some employees transport scrap steel while others operate shredding equipment. This is an example of: departmentalization. accountability. specialization. authority. 5--the main elements of operations planning include all of the following except: location. sales. quality. capacity. 6--An executive who is paid $2.5 million to achieve results, even if that means working 5 hours one day and 15 the next, is typically paid a/an: wage. incentive. stock option. salary. 7--joe issues orders to his employees and expects them to be obeyed without question. He acts like a military commander. What type of managerial style does Joe use? Free-rein Democratic Autocratic Exploratory 8--betty’s Breads is calculating their breakeven point. Their monthly fixed costs (rent and salaries) are $8,000. The cost of making one loaf of bread (materials) is $6.00. At a sales price of $10.00, their breakeven point would be __________ loaves per month. 2500 2000 800 500 9--Generally Accepted Accounting Principles are formulated by: the Institute of Public Accountants. the Internal Revenue Service. the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Congress. 10--When an investor gets involved in a short sale, what is that investor hoping will happen to the price of the stock? A sharp drop in the price of the stock will occur. A sharp rise in the price of the stock will occur. The stock will maintain its current price. Depreciation in stock value will occur. plzzz tell me which onesss THX alooot