May 07
Salesforce.com.com (NYSE: CRM) reported its yearly earnings in February. As a publicly traded company, Salesforce.com is required to issue annual financial reports in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, or “GAAP”. While Salesforce.com presents GAAP-based earnings in its SEC filings, its management touts a different metric as the preferred method of measuring the company’s performance. …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/05/between-the-numbers-of-salesforce-com/
Mar 03
The Baltic Dry Freight Index (BDI) is considered a leading economic indicator by economists and investors. The Index measures the daily shipping rates for commodities like iron ore, coal, building materials, and grains, and therefore acts as a proxy for the supply and demand of raw materials. As the demand for raw material increases, the …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/03/can-the-price-of-transporting-goods-predict-future-economic-output/
Feb 10
The expected significant change in the estate tax at the end of 2012 should cause most affluent persons to engage in estate planning. Usually, this will involve an irrevocable trust. One issue that invariably arises is how a future estate tax will be paid for those assets that have not been removed from the estate. …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/02/recent-tax-case-approves-use-of-related-party-loans-to-reduce-and-fund-estate-taxes/
Dec 23
This year, taxpayers will receive a revised Form 1099-B form which contains additional transaction information. The new reporting rules arise from the 2008 Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, which laid out a three-phase process for submitting cost-basis information to the Internal Revenue Service. Commonly known as the bank bailout bill, the 2008 Emergency Economic Stabilization Act …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/12/new-rules-and-reporting-for-investment-gains-losses/
Nov 11
Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme was estimated to be $64.8 billion. These are amounts that customers supposedly held at his investment firm as of November 30, 2008. However, the $64.8 billion does not reflect actual customer losses. That number is estimated to be $17.3 billion. The trustee, Irving Picard, has already recovered $8.7 billion. A majority …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/11/madoff-victims-may-get-full-recovery/
Sep 28
On October 1, 2011, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will reduce the size of mortgages it purchases. The new lower limit will be $625,500, down from the current $729,750. For most of the United States, this should be no big deal. However, in some pricey places, this change can really hurt borrowers. Limits are set …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/09/new-mortgage-limits/
Sep 07
According to a recent survey of millionaire baby boomers by investment firm US Trust, many are making a surprising decision regarding their financial planning. Rather than planning to leave behind a sizeable estate, they intend to substantially exhaust their funds prior to death. Less than half of those surveyed said leaving money to their children was …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/09/baby-boomers-not-planning-to-leave-much-behind/
