Free Republic

One tax table is focused on taxing Americans on their ordinary income, the income you earn from your job or your business. The other tax table is focused on taxing your long-term capital gains, meaning assets that have grown in appreciation such as stocks or your business value held more than 365 days. * * * According to a report issued by the Treasury Department, led by Secretary Janet Yellen, Biden’s proposed fiscal year 2025 budget would increase the top marginal rate on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends to an astonishing 44.6%. Today, that top marginal long-term capital gains...

The Dow Jones Industrial Average eclipsed 40,000 points for the first time in its history Thursday as Wall Street cheered slowing inflation and potential for lower interest rates. The iconic stock index was up roughly 111 points shortly before 11 a.m. Thursday, reaching about 40,020 points. The Dow was created in 1895 and includes the 30 most prominent U.S. companies as determined by S&P Dow Jones Indicies. The Dow is up 6 percent since the start of 2024 as investors eagerly await Federal Reserve rate cuts, which could add more fuel to the stock market. While the Fed has held...

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 0.4 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.4 percent before seasonal adjustment. Advertisement The index for shelter rose in April, as did the index for gasoline. Combined, these two indexes contributed over seventy percent of the monthly increase in the index for all items. The energy index rose 1.1 percent over the month. The food index was unchanged in April. The food at home...

Credit card delinquencies are on the rise, as research from the New York Federal Reserve shows nearly a fifth of borrowers are “maxed-out.” According the new report, issued by the bank’s Center for Microeconomic Data, household debt rose by 1.1 percent, or $184 billion, in the first quarter of the year, bringing the total to $17.69 trillion. “In the first quarter of 2024, credit card and auto loan transition rates into serious delinquency continued to rise across all age groups,” Joelle Scally, regional economic principal within the household and public policy research division at the bank, said in a statement....

If you haven’t tuned into the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting to see highlights, a certain moment is grabbing headlines but another more nuanced one is where your attention should go.The most poignant moment of the day was when Warren turned to his new right-hand man Greg Able but invited former lieutenant Charlie Munger for his views. The simple question “Charlie?” was enough to melt hearts as it became clear the one-two punch duo of Charlie and Warren that had been a staple of these Woodstock for Capitalists meetings for decades still lived on in Warren, and is a habit...

No one can accurately predict where the stock market will go, but it is a fact that the Biden administration’s spending imperils every American. After a strong run in 2023 and early 2024, stock markets have been selling off lately. I cannot predict whether this market sell-off will continue, but I can state what has happened so far and speculate as to why it has happened and whether it will continue. In my opinion, anyone who says he can do more than speculate is deceived or lying. After closing at an all-time high of 5,254 on March 28, the S&P...

April 2024 has been a horrible month for the stock market. This Friday I will be doing a live stream and explaining what is happening. I will be discussing some leading economic indicators that no one else has been talking about that suggest trouble for the economy ahead.VIDEO

Funky cold Joe Biden is his reaction to inflation caused by his outragous spending. His legion of sycophants are now saying inflation is a good thing or don’t notice it. But Biden will never stop spending . Coming into today’s CPI number, which followed three previous red-hot inflation prints, we said that it’s time for a “miss” (the first of 2024) not because the data demands it – on the contrary, prices continue to rise at a frightening pace – but because a dovish CPI print today would be the last opportunity for the Fed to set a timetable for...

KEY POINTS * The consumer price index, a key inflation gage, rose 3.5% in March, higher than expectations and marking an acceleration for inflation. * Shelter and energy costs drove the increase on the all-items index. Energy rose 1.1% after increasing 2.3% in February, while shelter costs were higher by 0.4% on the month and up 5.7% from a year ago. * Following the report, traders pushed the first expected rate cut out to September, according to CME Group calculations. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The consumer price index accelerated at a faster than expected pace in March, pushing inflation higher and likely dashing...

U.S. inflation pressures quickened again last month, with core price pressures also rising past Wall Street forecasts, a reading that will cast further doubt on market bets for a June interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. The headline consumer price index for March was pegged by the Commerce Department at 3.5%, rising from the prior month's tally of 3.2% and coming in ahead of Wall Street's 3.4% consensus forecast. On a monthly basis, inflation edged 0.4% higher, matching the 0.4% gain in February but also coming in ahead of Wall Street's 0.3% forecast. So-called core inflation, which strips out...

The Biden administration’s strategy of politicizing the justice system to knock former President Donald Trump out of the 2024 presidential race has repeatedly hit roadblocks, so an MSNBC panel on Tuesday called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to wage its own lawfare campaign against Trump for having a successful trading day.Trump’s “Truth Social” app went public on March 25, with the company’s valuation reaching $13 billion, according to the Financial Times. The stock lost $4 billion in value by Tuesday, according to CBS News.Still, MSNBC seemingly had a meltdown that the current lawfare campaign against Trump has yet...

Stock have notched a string of record highs this year, driven by a tech frenzy and high federal spending that have blotted out all else, Bill Gross wrote in his latest investment outlook.It's these factors that have spurred the S&P 500 up over 20% since mid-2022, even as interest rates tightened aggressively in the same timeframe, sending Treasury yields higher.And the trend isn't going away anytime soon, he asserted: "Buckle up for excessive exuberance."Typically, bond yields will decline ahead of stock euphoria. For instance, the Nasdaq 100 increased twelvefold after the 10-year real rate fell from 2% to negative 1%...

The stock market continued its record-setting rally Thursday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average notably flirting with 40,000 as technology shares made major gains. The Dow closed with a gain of nearly 270 points, or 0.7 percent, putting it within striking distance of the major milestone at 39,781 points. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite jumped 0.4 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, on the day. The microchip sector led the charge, buoying the Dow despite a slump in Apple stock after the Justice Department sued the smartphone giant, alleging the company has hurt competition and consumers, developers and small businesses.

The Black Swan event is likely to occur before the 2024 election, especially if it becomes obvious that Trump will win despite the Left's every effort to cheat him a second time. SO let's have some fun with it! Might as well laugh at the Grim Reaper! I have a prediction: Taiwan is invaded or blockaded by China. China activates 100's of sleeper cells, who interfere with or destroy much of America's infrastructure. Electrical power is shut down nationwide. Then, Biden's helicopter is shot down by a lucky shot. It will be done with a Ghost Gun AR-15 with a...

Former Texas Representative Ron Paul recently told Tucker Carlson that the public must prepare for an unprecedented “Black Swan” event this year. While discussing current political events on the Tucker Carlson Show, Paul reminded the former Fox News host how he predicted the conflict in Ukraine in 2014. However, Paul said something much bigger is coming, a significant event that would catch the world off guard and plunge society in chaos. “I think we’re reaching this point where some sudden thing is going to happen,” Paul began.

Bitcoin surpasses silver to become the 8th largest asset in the world. https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1767141335910257021 Here is a link of 18,000 Assets ranked by Market Caphttps://www.8marketcap.com/

<p>The twin peaks for the cryptocurrency and the precious metal mark the first simultaneous records for the two since Bitcoin emerged from the shadows more than a decade ago. Yet markedly different drivers are typically thought to move each asset — gold has acted as a haven store of value for millennia, while any Bitcoin role beyond pure speculation is hotly contested.</p>

If you want to determine what people believe, don’t listen to what they say. Rather, closely watch what they actually do. In recent days, the stock market has been hovering near all-time record highs and business leaders have been assuring us that good days are ahead. But meanwhile many of our most famous billionaires have been doing things that indicate that they are extremely concerned about what is coming in the future. For example, during the first two months of this year Jeff Bezos, Jamie Dimon and Mark Zuckerberg “have all sold big chunks of shares in their own companies”…...

Confidence! It’s what consumers DON’T have under Bidenomics. For the fourth straight month, The Conference Board revised its consumer confidence data significantly lower. In fact January’s was the biggest downward revision since Feb 2022. And Conference Board Consumer Confidence was DOWN to -3.90 in January, the worst since Feb 2022. It really isn’t surprising the consumer confidence stinks. Food prices (CPI) are UP 21% under Vacation Joe Biden. Diesel fuel prices are UP 90% under Listless Joe. Well, Biden’s appearance on (unfunny) Seth Myer’s Late Night Show certainly didn’t make me feel more confident about America’s future.

Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Japan's Nikkei stock index hit a record-breaking all-time high of 39,098.68 at the close of trading Thursday. The index closed the day up 836.52 points, or 2.19%, propelling it to the mark that broke a record set in December 1989. Thursday's surge was driven by semiconductor stocks, led by America's Nvidia Corp. Nvidia sales were up well above market expectations, with a 3.7-fold sales increase and $12.3 billion in net profits, an 8.7-fold increase. "Nvidia was able to surpass the high expectations placed on it, with the results clearly demonstrating the growing need for artificial intelligence,"...