Saturday, March 15, 2008

The Return of Capital Freedom

Since April 2006, nearly two years ago when I last posted, many changes have occurred ... and many things have stayed the same ...

A brief (and by no means all-inclusive) list:

In the market ...
  • The 10-year Treasury rate was 4.84% -- today it is 3.56%
  • Subprime loans lost their popularity as investments -- for reasons other than default risk
  • The conforming loan limit increased from $417,000 to $729,750
  • $1.23 bought 1 Euro -- today $1.56 buys 1 Euro
  • 12¢ bought 1 Chinese Yuan -- today 14¢ buys 1 Chinese Yuan
  • 1 gal of regular gasoline cost $2.56 -- today 1 gal costs $3.20

Throughout the world ...

  • Former Pakistan Prime Minister Bhutto was assassinated after her return to Pakistan
  • 20 million toys from China were recalled due to safety concerns
  • A list of "new sins" was released by the Catholic Church, including pollution and making "too much" money

In politics ...

  • Bids for the upcoming presidential election have been the highlight of the news
  • There is no "conservative" or "classical liberal" Presidential candidate

In taxes ...

  • The "rich" still pay most of the taxes, while a single woman earning $46k with two children pays no federal income taxes and receives around $3k Earned Income Credit
  • Still, no one claims the poor aren't paying their "fair share"
  • Taxes on gasoline average $0.47/gallon ... not to mention all of the indirect taxes associated with its production ...

In the blogging community ...

Capital Freedom has returned ...