For 18 consecutive quarters, from Q2,’02 through Q3,’06, S&P 500 operating earnings increased at least 10% each quarter. Initially the gains were a rebound from the earnings declines of the 2000-2002 Bear market and recession, and later on they were reflective of an accelerating market and recovering economy. Then came the housing bust, liquidity, unemployment, and for a brief period, true fear. However, with Q1,’11 earnings mostly behind us (97% reported), the S&P 500 has now posted five consecutive quarters of double-digit earnings gains. Based on current estimates through Q4,’12, the index is expected to post another seven consecutive quarters of double-digit gains, bringing the run to at least 12. In addition, Q3,’11 is expected to post an all-time high for earnings, at US$ 25.09 per S&P 500 share (or US$ 228.7 billion in aggregate), outpacing the current record of US$ 24.06 (US$ 213.7 billion in aggregate) set in Q2,’07. Read more…
Australian banking major ANZ has defended its policy on interests in a letter addressed to The Age from its Australian operations chief Phil Chronican who argues that the cost of funding has increased substantially, and provided data to support his claim.
”The bottom line is that, taking into account’s ANZ’s funding mix of deposits and short and long-term wholesale funding, our funding costs are up 18 basis points over the past six months while ANZ’s variable interest rates have risen by 12 basis points,” he said.
Mr. Chronican is basically saying that the margin the lender makes on lending money to borrowers has fallen with respect to the cost of raising the funds.
Tags: Policy
Duluth/Gwinnett CPA on Unreimbursed Employee Expenses
In most cases, the expenses listed below will be the ones that can be deducted from Schedule A of your personal return/Form 1040 in the event you have business expenses that your employer does not reimburse you for.
? Paid or received during the tax year
? Incurred from carrying on your trade or business of being an employee
? Ordinary and necessary business expenses are those that are normal and are commonly accepted in your business or trade. Expenses are deemed necessary if it is used to help you perform and promote your business.
Tags: Employee Expenses, Expenses, Unreimbursed Employee, Unreimbursed Employee Expenses
The Reserve Bank of Australia is developing new regulations which will ban companies from imposing excessive charges on their customer’s credit cards.
The RBA is proposing that providers such as Visa or Mastercard limit the amount that businesses are able to charge for transactions that take place on their customer’s credit cards.
Malcolm Edey of the RBA says that that the proposal limiting surcharges was at the final stage of consultation.
According to Dr. Edey, the regulations would restrict the surcharge that businesses can levy on their customers, though it would not necessarily result in a cap on the cost of the transaction. Dr. Edey says the RBA hopes that the new regulation would result in smaller transaction costs for both consumers and businesses.
Providers such as Visa would be able to take action against those business which violate the new regulations and continue to impose excessive surcharges.
Tags: Card, Credit Card
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