(c) 2008 Rich Martin<http://rr.mailspaces.com/discussion/contacts/Rich%20Martin>
Permission to repost in full, or in part, is granted. In other words, please feel free to forward to a friend or list. If you received this from a friend, you can subscribe by sending email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]<http://us.mc553.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[EMAIL PROTECTED]>or just check the archives: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SLick_Ezine/messages >From the Home of Rich & Peggy Martin "It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first." Ronald Reagan _______________________________________________________________________ * * *RICHS RANTS * We old timers remember when the boys came home after WW II and moved west to raise chickens. I never saw Uncle Clarence after he was discharged. A pound of chicken cost about half as much as a pound of hamburger. Times, they are a changin'. Today, instead of buying a fresh chicken at the butcher shop, it's sold in packages found in the freezer section of a super market. After acquiring Gold Kist last year, Pilgrims Pride became the largest purveyor of chicken, controlling 25% of the market, but now find themselves on the verge of bankruptcy. Increased labor costs (can you say illegal alien emigration) and chicken feed (like in ethanol) have driven prices up. But here's where it gets interesting. Their efforts to cut supply, and therefore raise the price of chicken is being thwarted. By whom? you ask. Tyson has increased production 6% hoping to drive Pilgrim into chapter 11. Still not interesting. Well maybe next year, when the current wanna-be No.1 producer decides to find out how much the market can bear, it will become "news fit to print." And while we're talking about chicken and the cost of same, on Nov 5, Calif voters decided that the rights of chickens are being violated in their state. Chicken farmers are making them grow up in overcrowded chicken-coop slums. It was important election day stories like this that kept the status of one of the presidential candidates natural born status out of the news. Oh, there is one other thing. The Calif chicken rights laws will certainly result in fewer chickens being grown in that state, increasing the market share of Tyson, and Pilgrims Pride, if they survive. And another thing. Gotta wonder if fewer chickens will impact on higher egg prices, ala the increased cost of chicken feed due to govt regulated ethanol? MARK-to-MARKET According to Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), and the IRS, the value of an asset is original cost minus depreciation. The revised banking laws set up new set of values based on the market price. Normally, setting up a 2nd set of books is referred to as "cooking". A simple example of the difference, if you buy a stock for $500 and sell it 3 years later for $600, you owe taxes on $100 in the 3rd year. Under market pricing, you would have to pay taxes in each of the 3 years which would total the same $100. Under IRS and GAAP, if you bought a stock at $500 and if it dropped to $300 by 12/31, you would not record the loss unless you sold the stock. That's one reason people sell stocks at year end, to reduce their taxable income by the amount of the loss. Likewise, a stockholder may wait until after Jan 1 to sell a stock that went up to defer the tax until next year. Under mark-to-mark you record the $200 loss even if you don't sell. Here's why it's a big deal. S&Ls and many banks main assets are mortgages receivable. As long as the money is owed, it remains an asset. But the banking regs require that they report the property at MARKET instead of GAAP. In this highly unusual environment of falling real estate prices, walk-aways and foreclosures caused by the govts Fannie & Freddie lending practices, banks must report the differences as a loss. As a result, some become technically insolvent. In other words, new govt accounting regs, not reckless spending by bankers, are contributing to the impression that banks need to be closed down. The only ones who budgeted for falling real estate prices were Sen Chris Doddand Rep Barnie Frank who orchestrated the crash. If you understand that, it's not a leap of logic to figure out someone is manipulating the books for personal advantage. To find out who that might be consider what Deep Throat once advised Bob Woodard, "follow the money." Hint. Mark-to-market results in unstable figures leading to fewer banks and larger banks, resulting in, yep, less competition! And less competition leads to, yes, you got it again, a monopoly. http://www.fool.com/investing/dividends-income/2008/10/02/mark-to-market-accounting-what-you-should-know.aspx Here's a few things the media hasn't had time to report. By the way, did you hear that Chris Mathews, the NBC guy with the tingles, is planning to run for office. Here's a link for anyone curious about what President-elect Obama was doing since graduating from Harvard in 1992. http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/353829,CST-NWS-rez23.article *The BAIL OUT* Out of the frying pan, Henry Paulson, CEO of Goldman Sachs, 1st bail out recipient. http://michellemalkin.com/2008/09/22/why-henry-paulson-must-be-contained/ and into the fire, Timothy Geithner, CEO of the Fed, NY http://www.newyorkfed.org/aboutthefed/orgchart/geithner.html * NAFTA - http://www.chomsky.info/articles/199401--.htm Abortion* – http://www.massmediamail.com/durarealidad/<http://www.durareal%20idad.com/> Pelosi - http://www.redcounty.com/sarasota/ (must read) *Update:* Another Dem gets a pass http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/nyregion/18garcia.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion *PRICE OF GAS* $1.64 and still falling. *YOUR AD HERE * Advertise your website here $10/month, 3 mos for $25. (Co-op deals available) *Send your check to:* Rich Martin 1817 Wimbledon Oaks Ln. #307 Arlington, TX 76017 *The Boy Scouts of America* National HQ 1329 Walnut Hill Ln Irving, TX 75162 (972) 580-2263 http://www.scouting.org/ *THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO, HMMM IN THE NIGHT ** *The one thing liberals, neocons and RINOs all agree on is global warming. Hmmm? Where's the other Party? *REMEMBER WHEN... *… the American breakfast was bacon and eggs, and Americans weren't obese? *LAST WORD* *This one is worth watching. * The finale is great - moves fast http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1221321706636&; ;source=jl999<http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1221321706636&%20;source=jl999> *Things you can't say aloud---because the answer might scare you.* If the Electoral College agreed Obama was ineligible, but instead of Biden becoming prez, wouldn't their logical choice be Hillary Clinton? -- *THE TRUTH IS* A. Powerful. C. In the eye of the beholder B. Irrelevant D. All of the above. TODAY'S BLAST FROM THE PAST – Who really controls [Obama]? http://slickplus.spunge.org/list/200012/msg00005.html ................................................... ------------------------------ The only thing worse than Waco is the ongoing cover-up. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=573761538341962905 (new location) <http://www.documentarywire.com/waco-the-big-lie/> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4298137966377572665 http://www.myspace.com/bdsda http://www.movie-forumz.org/showthread.php?t=35645&highlight=waco
