Submitted by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
Companies Lose Billions On Stock Buybacks
I recently wrote an article about why “Benchmarking Your Portfolio Is A Losing Bet.” In that missive, I discussed all the things that benefit a mathematically calculated index versus what happens in an actual portfolio of securities. One of those issues was the impact of share buybacks:
British MPs are about to receive a salary boost of nearly £1,000 after the independent parliamentary pay watchdog recommended another rise. The £952 pay rise is the second on in one year and comes just nine months after the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) signed off a controversial 10 percent pay hike. RT reports: This latest salary rise will see MPs’ pay creep up another 1.3 percent to £74,962 per year, with ministers earning an additional £68,000 on top of that. The decision was made at an IPSA board meeting on January 20.
A Reader Reports From The Jobs Front
Mr. Roberts, Thank you for your work. I suppose I’m one of the “jobs added.” $9 an hour, 40 hrs./wk., security work. No insurance provided. Last year I made well over 3 times that in manufacturing. Most all my friends laid off, our unemployment benefits now expired. Keep up your great work. —Steven, Texas
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And you thought Greece was "fixed"...
The last 3 days have seen Greek bank stocks cut in half...
Which has slammed Greek stocks to their lowest since December 1989...breaking below Draghi's "Whatever it takes" lows...
And Greek bond yields are back above 10% - the highest since last year's crisis...
No it is not, a slowing economy crippled by 346% in debt/GDP; it's not the artificially high exchange rate (which was pegged to a dollar when it was plunging during QE1-3 and is now soaring) yet which China can't aggressively lower either as that would mean a disorderly flight of capital from the mainland; it's not the feedback loop of plunging commodity prices and highly levered domestic corporation which can not pay their annual interest expense payments; it's not the recently burst housing bubble; nor is it the burst stock market bubble which recently popped, or the bond bubble which is