Notes From All Over, September 24, 2019

Powerline with some great stories today.

First, "Memes Only" --  all about youth-against-global warming. Great writing; some great short video clips.

Second, "Climate Sense and Nonsense."

French phrase of the day: from The Telegraph, "donnez-moi un break." Boris Johnson response when asked if he plans to resign after the "Supreme Court" rules shutting down Parliament was illegal. "Donnez-moi un break"? Give me a break. Now, only if we had the French for New Yorkers' "fuhgeddaboudit."

Apple: the story behind Apple's success. From Investopedia.

Apple Store experience: I recently bought the new iPad Pro at Costco but I needed a slip case or magnetic case. I stopped by the Apple Store in Southlake, TX, yesterday, Monday, September 24, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. Monday afternoon. Should have been the slowest day of the week. It was packed. I walked directly to the accessories, grabbed a case (priced at $99), and then walked to the front of the store where one finds a greeter who will take you to a clerk to check out. There are no traditional checkout counters. I was third in line. All I wanted to do was run a credit card through a mobile device, sign for the purchase, and move on. A thirty-second transaction, if that long. The person being served was in final stages of getting iPhone set up; the person ahead of me had a small purchase. But it appeared the iPhone customer ran into a glitch. I could see this was not going to be as quick as one would expect. So, I put the case back, and left. I can always buy on line from Amazon.

Amazon experience: at home I was able to compare cases for the new iPad Pro. Since the iPad Pro stays home and does not go outside the house, the Apple case was way more than I needed. I ordered a magnetic cover for $18 from Amazon. It will be here tomorrow.

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The Market

Update

Later, 12:36 p.m. CT: wow, this is so cool. Earlier this morning I was looking for something to buy but everything was too expensive. Now with the market tumbling 200 points on "impeachment," everything is on sale. And, yes, I'm buying. Either today or tomorrow. What am I buying? Dividend-paying stocks.

Original Post

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WTI: continues to slip back to pre-attack prices. Trading at $57.69.

All major indices green, but not particularly exciting. Dow still trading below 27,000.

• D: up a bit
• BHK: up nicely, up 1.5%
• SRE: extends its recent run; up another 1.6%; 50 cents from an all-time high; pays 2.73%
• BRK-B: green, but flat
• UNP: up nicely; up over slightly 1%
• I assume all oil E&P companies are down today with WTI pulling back, so I will check only one, COP: yup, down 1.4%
• what about refineries? 
• MPC: down slightly
• VLO: down 1.5%
• EW: up very slightly but better than the alternative
• AAPL: continues its recent run; up another 1%
• ENB: up slightly
• EPD: down as much as ENP is up
• KMI: down a very little bit

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Bernie's Wealth Tax

And this is radical?

Under his plan, the Sanders campaign said it would levy these taxes on married couples:

• 1 percent on married couples with a net worth above $32 million (meaning a couple worth $32.5 million would pay $5,000 annually in taxes)  -- see first comment. Someone noted that 1% of $32.5 million does not equal $,5000. I did not do the math; it came from Bernie's plans. Either Bernie can't do the math or there are deductions, credits, etc). [The riddle has been solved. The first $32 million is exempt from the wealth tax. At $32.5 million, $500,000 is subject to 1% wealth tax, or 1% x $500,000 = $5,000. I can't believe I missed that. Thank you for the reader figuring out something pretty simple in hindsight.]
• 2 percent on those worth $50 million to $250 million
• 3 percent on $250 million to $500 million
• 4 percent on $500 million to $1 billion 
• 5 percent on $1 billion to $2.5 billion 
• 6 percent from $2.5 billion to $5 billion 
• 7 percent from $5 billion to $10 billion 
• 8 percent on wealth over $10 billion 
• For individuals, all of the brackets would be cut in half

So, a couple worth $32.5 million would pay an extra $5,000 annually (see note above, and first comment). And this is radical? I loath "tax and spend" but I can't get excited about this.

8% on $10 billion = less than a million dollars in extra taxes. By the way, life insurance companies typically use 8% annually as expected investment income.

By the way, speaking of politics, two bits of news, both involving Pocahontas.

First, as I've said many, many times, as soon as Pocahontas moves out front, the Hillary knives will come out. Yesterday it was reported that Pocahontas is now ahead of Bernie in many key states. And, yesterday, Hillary announced a new "listening tour." Coincidence? I think not.

Second, all those stories about Pocahontas surging and overtaking Biden. RealClearPolitics  doesn't not show that at all. Yes, Pocahontas may be ahead in some key states (Iowa, for example) but overall, she has slipped, Biden has gained, and the spread between the two has actually widened a bit. The numbers are not statistically significantly different from recent polls, but it sort of puts a kabosh on all those stories that it is Warren's nomination to lose, and that Biden has already run out of energy.

By the way, apparently, according to one story, Tom Steyer qualified for the next debate (October0 but there's no way he will qualify for the November debate unless hits a home run in October. Possible, I suppose.

Screenshot of the Bernie Sanders "wealth tax" from the source: