Business

Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

On October 3, 1913, US President Woodrow Wilson signed the Underwood-Simmons Act into law, creating what would become the first modern US income tax.

The legislation (at least, the income tax portion) was only 16 pages and imposed a base tax rate of just 1%.

The highest tax rate was set at 7%– and it only applied to individuals earning more than $500,000 per year, which is about $12.6 million today according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Authored by Liabridge Economic Research's Atle Willems,

Summary

1999-like parties are breaking out everywhere across financial markets...

First things first, US Financials Conditions are partying like its way easier than 1999...

Authored by Sven Henrich via NorthmanTrader.com,

The silence of the bears is deafening. And who can blame them?

A funny thing happened as the so-called experts were looking for signs of retail euphoria (and repeatedly were unable to find it): everyone got all-in equities... and not just retail investors and US households, but mutual funds, hedge funds, pensions, systematic, and sovereign wealth funds.

As JPMorgan calculated when looking at the equity positioning of the main types of investors, "allocations are near historical highs, not leaving much room for further increases." How historic?