Gold Traders Get More Bullish as Central Banks Hoard More

It looks like hedge funds put on more bets and central banks have increased their gold supplies. Also, some analysts surveyed believe gold will go up in price this week.

Read the article here.

Read what they are saying, here.

Ballsy move on her part.

I hesitated to categorize this as humor.

Read the story here.

See the graphic, which illustrates how Apple achieves its phenomenal tax rate, here.

Read commentary and analysis of the graph here.

Surprisingly, despite a larger government, France is not showing many symptoms of the government dragging on the economy.

Yes, the French have chosen to allow the government to perform more functions than in many other countries, but economic growth has not been notably worse than its neighbors, and its public debt burden is on par with Germany and the United Kingdom. Despite ideological wishes to the contrary, there is little evidence that countries that choose to have a larger government (within a reasonable range) perform worse economically.

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Voters sick of endless belt-tightening are threatening a backlash that could sweep their political leaders from power if they do not listen to the growing chorus for change.

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An interesting visual breakdown of the effective tax rate of various U.S. industries…

To see the graphs, go here.

Just how low is Apple’s actual tax rate?

As it stands, the company paid cash taxes of $3.3 billion around the world on its reported profits of $34.2 billion last year, a tax rate of 9.8 percent.

 

To find out how they achieve such a low rate, go here.

Read the DHS Environmental Justice Strategy

Read some commentary and analysis of the “strategy.”

Government has become its own worst enemy when it comes to the economy, with public spending putting a damper on growth that otherwise continues at a steady if unspectacular pace.

 

Read the rest here, from CNBC’s Jeff Cox.

Read some of the quotes from a recent interview with Wozniak about the new Windows Phone.

Article is here.

Must-see chart is here.

SANTA MONICA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–April auto sales will continue at the strong pace set in the first quarter for an estimated Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (SAAR) this month of 14.4 million light vehicles, according to Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information. The surging sales performance so far this year has forced Edmunds.com to revise its 2012 auto sales forecast from 13.6 million to 14.4 million units.

 

Read the rest here.

In cities of similar sizes, the percentage of crimes associated with guns may be shockingly disproportionate. Read about the Police Chiefs who have come together to solve the problem, here.

Why are some of us caring and some of us cruel, some generous and some greedy? Paul J. Zak on the new science of morality— and how it could be used to create a more virtuous society.

Read it here.

Things are getting bad enough in the Land of Lincoln that even Rahm is calling out his fellow Democrats for their failure to control spending:

Unless Illinois enacts reform quickly, he said, the costs of these programs will force taxes so high that, “You won’t recruit a business, you won’t recruit a family to live here.”

…

“Companies don’t want to buy shares in a phenomenal tax burden that will unfold over the decades,” the Chicago Tribune observed after Mr. Emanuel issued his warning on April 4. And neither will citizens.

 

Read the rest here.

14 influential points of view…

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Next week brings many different points of interest to help develop a macro view of the short and long term perspective.

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