Welcome to the end of the week and another edition of Happy Hour! Just sit back, relax, and enjoy your end of the week roundup of all things interesting in the land of money.
Facebook Outrage
It’s always a good thing to know the whole story. Earlier this week, Facebook took a lot of flack (should be used to it by now) over their lack of taxation. A result of going public last year provided the company with a healthy tax refund. Nothing out of the ordinary really. This happens all the time. When a company goes public and employees have a vested interest in said company (read exercised stock options), those options are considered a business expense.
Instead of telling the whole story, the media and an advocacy group wants to focus solely on the refund. Which really isn’t a story. In 2011, the IRS issued $318 billion in tax refunds. Yet, somehow, Facebook’s $429 million refund is outrageous.
What wasn’t covered, was the billions in taxes paid due to those exercised stock options. As the tax foundation points out, Zuckerberg alone will pay close to $2 billion in taxes for 2012.
I’m curious if their outraged by their own tax refunds too. Continue Reading…
I don’t read charts. I can’t predict the short-term future any more than you. Yet at certain times, the market reaches a point where short-term direction seems obvious and easy to predict. The hard part is pinpointing the time.
Tax season can be a busy time collecting all those tax forms and preparing your taxes. There is one important thing you need to do before you 
One of the least covered aspects of investing is how cash plays a role in your portfolio. The idea that cash is king has some truth to it. But it’s not without its risks either. In the end, it all depends on your investment strategy.