Peeling Back the Details on Taxes in America...

Excerpt taken from the Wall Street Journal:

According to a letter Mr. Buffett sent to a Republican congressman on Tuesday, the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chairman and chief executive disclosed that he made almost $63 million last year, yet paid less than $7 million in federal income tax.

Mr. Buffett long has urged lawmakers to raise income-tax rates on the wealthiest, arguing that his secretary paid a higher effective rate than he did last year.

Please head to the Wall Street Journal to read the rest of this article and the details about how different income levels are taxed. Click below:

Buffett Pays Less Taxes Than His Secretary!

I'm curious, on what people's thoughts are on his disclosure about the tax disparity.  It makes me want to think long and hard about becoming a full time investor as the benefits of deductions and less income being taxed could be pretty nice. Please post your thoughts.

1st Quarter Premium Stock Alert (Revealed)

If you recall in February of this year, I released my first premium subscription alert.  At the time, I  posted an update that gave you a hint into the industry, sector, and specifically the product that this company develops.  The update provided you with the following hints about the stock I was adding to my portfolio:

STOCK: ******
HEALTHCARE
BIOTECHNOLOGY & DRUGS
TIP: Ribbon
Link: http://urbanomics.blogspot.com/2011/02/february-2011-biotechnology-premium.html

If you'd like to find out which stock was picked up by subscribers to the premium service, please continue on and get a complete view of the stock and the performance since the alert went out.

Market Recession or Rally??

Rally or Recession...

Roughly about a week ago we all were a little queasy after viewing our portfolios and 401K accounts.  The economic picture in the US and in Europe made us all nervous and sent the markets in a spiral downward.  The levels we briefly hit were low, so low that it nearly reached a 20% drop from the peak of where the market were earlier this year.  This dubious drop is typically referred to as a 'Bear Market'.  Since April, the markets have dropped about 17% from its levels at that time and have been rocky since then.  Sooo are we back and is this RALLY for REAL???  Well you may not like what history says about 'Bear Markets'!  Bear Markets are often marked with quick bursts of large gains like we've started to see last week and into this week.  Why the roller coaster ride, maybe its because we (e.g. investors) have no clue each day which direction we think the markets are heading.  And if we are clueless, history has often indicated that reality will often set in and then begins to turn back down.

URB Brief Notes:

- Netflix fumbles and backtracks. They drop separate websites, keep the high pricing and continue to disappoint.

- Sprint tumbles on news that costs are rising. Not to mention they aren't selling the I Phone 4S, which was just released...just the I Phone 4.  I haven't seen David Einhorn bolt from his position so hold tight and double down off the 52 week low.

- I'll be releasing my latest quarterly alerts shortly, an interesting bunch. 

Are You Prepared For a Slowdown?

If you're like me, you've probably been keeping a close eye on the wallet nowadays.  I wanna believe that things are getting better but I need proof.  Unfortunately, part of my everyday routine is to search for clues to as to when the economy is going to get better and I didn't like what I heard.  I was listening to an economist named Lakshman Achutan and he had some interesting data to share last week.  He is predicting that America is heading into a recession after analyzing different indicators on the direction of our economy.  This is just one view of things, however; I would definitely take the time to be cautious until things get a little bit brighter.  Click the link to see the video:

RECESSION IS COMING