Let's hope this info is true. Supposedly Barney Frank says this tax is off the table (at least for this presidential cycle). This is from Robert Green. Did Chairman Frank say the financial-transaction tax is on hold pending Wall Street payback of TARP funds? Someone sent me this article today, from Alphatrendsâ blog (by Brian Shannon): http://alphatrends.blogspot.com/2009/02/traders-tax-update.html According to this blog, a board member with the Boston Securities Traders Association met with Congressman Barney Frank last Thursday to discuss the financial-transaction tax proposal. Frank assured him it was off the table for this presidential cycle (the next 4 years or so). Frank said the only way it would be enacted is if Wall Street doesn't pay back its share of tarp funds. The good news: This is one leading Democratic Congressional leader who will not support and pass the financial-transaction tax during the Obama administration, and he probably speaks for other leaders too (Sen. Charles Schumer, NY and Sen. Dick Durbin, IL). A GOP Congress or administration would probably never support this ill-conceived tax. Frankâs hearsay statement âThe only way it would be enacted is if Wall Street doesn't pay back its share of TARP fundsâ still troubles me. Itâs the same rationale used in the financial-transaction tax proposals: That Wall Street should pay for the TARP bailout. Blue-dog Democrats advocate âpay goâ to raise targeted taxes and user fees to pay for targeted government spending. The Democrats blame the toxic asset mess on Wall Street (and traders), and they want Wall Street to pay for the clean up. Whatâs new with this Frank hearsay statement? Only that Congress needs to hold off on the financial-transaction tax until it determines if Wall Street has paid back the TARP bailout funds. If not, then it may charge the financial-transaction tax to âpay goâ the TARP bailout. Chances are Wall Street will not fully pay back TARP loans, and TARP capital may fall in value or go to zero with nationalizations. Does this mean the financial-transaction tax is hovering over tradersâ heads? We need to get traders exempted from this carrot-and-stick approach. Traders havenât received bailout loans or capital and again, traders are not responsible for the toxic asset mess. Rather, home owners, mortgage brokers, mortgage securities packagers, rating agencies, appraisers, sellers and investors are responsible.
And let's not forget the quants who swore by the Gaussian Copula as if it was the holy grail of risk assessment.
"Rather, home owners, mortgage brokers, mortgage securities packagers, rating agencies, appraisers, sellers and investors are responsible." Bingo. On a different note, no more tax cheats OBAMA! Upper or middle class! BE FAIR! The number of tax cheats in the middle class is much higher than in the upper class wealthy. Middle class trades and small biz is a mostly cash biz. The $$$ not reported are staggering!!! I still can't understand how the plumbers, carpenters,landscapers,etc have nicer cars and homes than me? I know, all my work is electronic, can't hide it. They can and they hide lots of it. Trust me Mr. O, there is more tax money to be found in the cash-based trades and small businesses.
Add to this the government's responsibility for pressuring banks to make risky loans and for keeping CDS market unregulated.
I get dirty looks from folks because they know I trade. LOL, FU! Declare all your income before you judge me! LOL, you bitch about the bailouts because it's your tax money. How about paying tax on all your income before flapping your lips. Be careful, what comes around goes around. Hypocrites. OBAMA is going to create a class warfare that will get ugly. LORD of the FLIES in the making.
I had to have a sugar maple tree cut down. $5000 quote. LOL, right and he wanted it cash. Here are your tax cheats Mr. O. and the electrician that charged me $1450 for something that probably cost less than $500 to do and wanted to be paid cash? Where are the regulations and oversights in the trades jobs? Time for these folks to stop pulling numbers out of their ass and not paying taxes on it. Come Mr. O, shouldn't the party be over for them as well?
The problem with a one day or two moritorium on trading is that the Institutions, offshore funds would have a hay day with the light volume and could seriously hurt the day trader further. What would work was to have a the traders go flat and not trade as Entities like myself have options, stocks and futures being traded basically around the clock with reference to futures and currencies. If and I don't believe it is possible it was to have even several thousand traders who actively trade go flat it would at least be seen and covered in the media. I would personaly suggest it be done options expiry quad witching. It would be like the month of August in March it would be noticed. From our point of view trading futures where several of our traders trade several hunderd trades a day it will make the difference as the trader may try to hold longer and I am guessing losses would be more outside of the additional tax. Unfortunately the blame the short sellers, day traders, always pointing the figure away to the ones who over leveraged etc. Total bs. I am looking at we have about a 2-3 window before some sort of tax is implemented and outside of writting options trading and our income as we see it now will change. We are always having to adapt. good luck to all, longs and shorts w
I watched the video, and this fuzzy guy of DeFazio family reminds me a bit the way (aka DeMentio) how islamic militants justify their agenda. Both use the same emotions and arguments, and they consider themselves too "superior" to drill down into much details. Can we see any scientific simulation run on gov't megacomputers, Sir, to make sure you did not miss some "tiny" butterfly / rippling/ domino effect to our economy? At least some dumb polititians should pay for devastating consequences caused by their personal actions, and pay out of their own pocket IN FULL, and that means it includes the generations of their families and kids. And it's called RESPONSIBILITY. We elected you, and you are responsible even if your intentions were so "pia desideria" to pave the road to collective hell. I would not allow to deduct my portion of taxes to pay his pension and bonuses. I don't sponsor Mr. DeFuzzy to screw up the whole country. And I can trade abroad -- Canada, HongHong, Germany, frecken communist China, at last! DeMentio helps to move liquidity and financial capital abroad, de facto, de jure, de mentio. I would recommend start checking all his tax reports for the last 20 years. Something is very fishy about this guy. They were too late to do the same with Mr. Madoff. Let's start doing our homework, before bringing our money and our lives to somebody who "represents" us. And I'm Main Street, and not Wall Street, Mr. DeMentio!
DeFazio is in rage: What a jerk, his specialty and background is infrastructure/transport, by the way: defazio.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=22&Itemid=62 it's the same like I being a trader would start helping gov't with our transport infrastructure. The proposed tax is not even close to his area of expertise at all. What does this guy know about freckonomics and trading? He even confuses daytrading with... gambling. Listen to his burst of emotions! He is obsessed (has mania) with this particular tax since 2000 (so, it's not triggered by the current financial crash)! Is it his personal vendetta, or he needs some shrink, or he just returns favor to his old lobbist(s) -- you hardly can trace such possible contributions in the the past, by the way. And Obama clearly prohibited any personal pet projects and lobbism! Obama needs REAL EXPERTS, and not just populistic, emotional congressman with nothing between his ears. (I'm also very interested to know what Oscar Carboni thinks about this guy).
Regardless people are going to pay. I just wonder what would be the preferred location for Wall Street. London? Frankfurt? Dubai? Hong-Kong?