Wall Street and the economy might be collapsing. Or something. I’d go read Paul Krugman if I was you.
Tag Archive for 'money'
The WaPo has a front page story today on Harry Sargeant, one of Senator McCain’s “bundlers”. The main gist of the piece is that a lot of the contributions Sargeant rounded up for McCain come from some unlikely sources. From the article:
Some of the most prolific givers in Sargeant’s network live in modest homes in Southern California’s Inland Empire. Most had never given a political contribution before being contacted by Sargeant or his associates. Most said they have never voiced much interest in politics. And in several instances, they had never registered to vote. And yet, records show, some families have ponied up as much as $18,400 for various candidates between December and March.
To be more fair then your typical conservative, I’m sure this kinda stuff happens on both sides of the aisle. Having said that, Sageant’s explanation is lame, to say the least:
“I have a lot of Arab business partners. I do a lot of business in the Middle East. I’ve got a lot of friends,” Sargeant said in a telephone interview yesterday. “I ask my friends to support candidates that I think are worthy of supporting. They usually come through for me.”
Right. I know I just said this probably happens on both sides but you combine this with the Hess stuff from earlier in the week and it would seem McCain has a bit of a problem in his fundraising efforts.
Uh, so if my bank fails, what exactly am I supposed to do?
Last year I posted about Leona Helmsley, a billionaire who, when she passed away, left her dog millions of dollars. It turns out that in her will she wasn’t only thinking of her own dog:
Sure, the hotelier and real estate magnate Leona Helmsley left $12 million in her will to her dog, Trouble. But that, it turns out, is nothing much compared with what other dogs may receive from the charitable trust of Mrs. Helmsley, who died last August.
Her instructions, specified in a two-page “mission statement,” are that the entire trust, valued at $5 billion to $8 billion and amounting to virtually all her estate, be used for the care and welfare of dogs, according to two people who have seen the document and who described it on condition of anonymity.
$5 to 8 billion to care for dogs. I’m all for taking care of dogs, I think dog rescue people do great work etc. But couldn’t that money be put to slightly better uses? Like helping, uh, actual people? Or how about maybe giving a cool billion to dogs and the rest to more pressing needs? It seems like Helmsley originally had that idea as well:
The two people who described the statement said Mrs. Helmsley signed it in 2003 to establish goals for the multibillion-dollar trust that would disburse assets after her death.
The first goal was to help indigent people, the second to provide for the care and welfare of dogs. A year later, they said, she deleted the first goal.
Nice of her. So how will all this money effect animal-related nonprofits?
Even if the resulting total is at the low end of the estimate — $5 billion or so — the trust will be worth almost 10 times the combined assets of all 7,381 animal-related nonprofit groups reporting to the Internal Revenue Service in 2005.
I know its her money and all….but this is crazy.
Son of a…my glorious tax rebate check was supposed to arrive today in the mail. Sadly for me, it didn’t. So being a curious sort, I investigated on the internets and found that the IRS has a website where you can check the status of your check. And, despite the fact that I was told it was to be mailed last week, it turns out now mine won’t be mailed for another two weeks, with an ETA of the end of June. I guess I shouldn’t have already spent that 600 bones. If you’d like to check the status of your check go here and fill out the requested info. Hope you get better news then I.
N+1 just posted a second interview with a hedge fund manager, the first one is here. Both are fascinating and informative, even if I only understand about 25% of what he’s talking about. The new one has some good Bear Streans stuff in it.
Everyone’s talking about Bear Stearns today. Here’s what Jim Cramer had to say about them last week:
Brilliant analysis sir.
(via TPM)
I wish I had the cojones to do this:
Change for a million?
That’s what a man was seeking Saturday when he handed a $1 million bill to a cashier at a Pittsburgh supermarket. But when the Giant Eagle employee refused and a manager confiscated the bogus bill, the man flew into a rage, police said.
The man slammed an electronic funds-transfer machine into the counter and reached for a scanner gun, police said.
Police arrested the man, who was not carrying identification and has refused to give his name to authorities. He is being held in the Allegheny County Jail.
Since 1969, the $100 bill is the largest note in circulation.
Police believe the $1 million note seized at the supermarket may have originated at a Dallas-based ministry. Last year, the ministry distributed thousands of religious pamphlets with a picture of President Grover Cleveland on a $1 million bill.
Its all about keeping a straight face. Its not a lie if you believe it.
Many times I have wished that my parents (or grandparents) had worked harder so that I might enjoy a trust fund. Sadly, it was not to be. As such I am now outraged to learn that a dog, an f’in dog, has a $12 million trust fund. True fact:
Leona Helmsley’s dog will continue to live an opulent life, and then be buried alongside her in a mausoleum. But two of Helmsley’s grandchildren got nothing from the late luxury hotelier and real estate billionaire’s estate.
Helmsley left her beloved white Maltese, named Trouble, a $12 million trust fund, according to her will, which was made public Tuesday in surrogate court.
Even better, she only left money to two out of her four grandchildren. Two grandkids get nothing, dog gets $12 mill, what a world.
The company I use to manage my stock portfolio, TD Ameritrade, is in merger talks with E-Trade. Hope this doesnt screw me over somehow but I imagine it will. (via Techmeme)