Archive for November 15th, 2012

Per Simpson-Bowles … go ahead, eliminate the deduction for state & local taxes.

November 15, 2012

Since I think Simpson-Bowles will be the template for the fiscal cliff resolution, I’ve been thinking about its provisions … starting with taxes (of course).

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State & Local Taxes

Currently, income tax payers who itemize are allowed to deduct state & local taxes.

Primarily, that includes state & local income taxes and local real estate taxes.

I benefit from both.

Still, I side with with Simpson-Bowles on this one.

My basic logic: Why should Federal income tax payers is relatively low tax & spend states (think FL, TX) be forced to subsidize folks in high tax & spend states (think CA, NY, NJ, MD, DC).

If a goal of tax reform is fairness … that’s not fair!

So, I say: eliminate the deduction for state & local taxes.

What do you say?

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Posted in Tax deductions, Tax Loopholes, Tax reform, Taxes | Leave a Comment »

BLS: “Oops … we found some initial unemployment claims that we forget to report before the election”

November 15, 2012

Unbelievable !

Now that the election is done, the BLS has “caught up” on initial jobless claims reporting … their words, not mine.

Here’s a shocker …

They’ve figured out that unemployment is more of a problem than they’ve been reporting.

In the week ending November 10, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 439,000, an increase of 78,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 361,000.

The 4-week moving average was 383,750, an increase of 11,750 from the previous week’s revised average of 372,000.

The consensus forecast for this week –- based on prior weeks’ reporting – was 375,000 … 64K lower than the BLS’ surprise number.

I say: Let’s raise taxes and get this economy moving again …

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Technical note: While blame will be laid on Hurricane Sandy, keep in mind that (1) hurricanes temporarily boost employment of construction & trades workers, and (2) the affected areas were without electricty and many government offices (e.g. FEMA outposts) were closed … so, these initial unemployment claims are probably under-reported (as usual) … the fuller impact of the hurricane will show up in the next couple of weeks.

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Ohio & PA

The highest numbers of new filings came from Pennsylvania and Ohio, where there were thousands of layoffs in the construction, manufacturing, and automobile industries.   During his campaign, President Obama highlighted his record of job creation in those states —  Ohio in particular.  Source

Oops.

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Posted in BLS, Employment - Jobs, Statistical Bias, Unemployment | Leave a Comment »

Told you so: “Tax induced selling”

November 15, 2012

We’ve been on this theme for awhile … now the WSJ is reporting: Tax threat Prompts Selloff

Investors Dumping Winning Stocks Due to Expected Jump in Capital-Gains Rate

The prospect of higher taxes on capital gains is prompting many to unload some of their winning stocks.

Tax-induced selling is one factor some market watchers attribute to the recent declines.

“Tax rates are going up, and if you don’t plan to hold these stocks for a long time, now is the time to take advantage of the lower tax rates”

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What we’ve said that the WSJ doesn’t say:

  1. Folks with gains may also find it advantageous to sell winners and immediately buy them back … paying the 15% cap gains tax … and re-pricing at a higher cost basis.
  2. This stock selling binge will generate a tax revenue windfall for the Feds in Q4
  3. For details, see Post-election: Government revenues will soar in Q4 … guaranteed.

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Yves Saint Laurent ditching classic logo … get ‘em while they last.

November 15, 2012

Punch line: YSL’s classic logo may soon be extinct, and customers are snapping it up while they can.

Industry experts speculate that this move will actually increase the value of the classic logo and create a vintage label for the brand.

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Excerpted from Business Week’s, “What Is The Deal With Yves Saint Laurent’s Logo?”

This week, thousands of shoppers braved rain and crowds for the annual Yves Saint Laurent sample sale.

Unlike in years past, this crowd was extra-jittery.

Since new creative director Hedi Slimane relabeled the brand “Saint Laurent Paris,” many of the fashion faithful have been worried that the company’s classic “YSL” logo will be replaced.

So shoppers are racing to snatch it up while they can.

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If the old logo is indeed an endangered species, does this mean that items bearing it will go up in value?

According to the Luxury Institute, the answer is affirmative.

“YSL is making the change in a surgical way,”. They will reinterpret the classics. So yes, the classics will sell for more with a certain group of people.”

The brand’s renewal, announced this summer to some disappointment among consumers, has been hard to pinpoint:

The company told reporters that the fashion house is called “Yves Saint Laurent,” the ready-to-wear collection “Saint Laurent,” and the logo “Saint Laurent Paris.”

PPR Luxury Group (which owns the brand) is very customer-centric and is working to modernize the YSL brand and improve the in-store experience.

Still, “If you run away from your classic product or reinterpret your classics … too far away from the DNA of the brand, you will fail. Period.”

While luxury brands might try to appeal to younger consumers, “even younger consumers mature into wanting the classics of that luxury brand.”

Perhaps this is why Yves Saint Laurent hasn’t completely abandoned its old signature.

“The YSL logo, created by Cassandre in 1961, will remain intact,” though  it has not yet been determined how it will be used in the future.

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Posted in Mktg - Brandmarks & Logos, Mktg - Brands | Leave a Comment »

Old Spice keeps it weird …

November 15, 2012

Punch line: The agency that made Old Spice famous online is keeping it weird in their search for a new social strategist to work on the brand.

Throwing traditional job interviews out the window, Wieden + Kennedy is asking applicants to compete in weird digital challenges, then create a deck outlining the strategy used to complete them.

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Excerpted from Adweek.com’s, “Wieden + Kennedy Seeks Help on Old Spice in Crazy, Epic Job Listing.”

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 Wieden + Kennedy’s Old Spice campaign is a hallmark for epic weirdness in advertising.

So, it stands to reason that you’d have to complete some kind of weird, epic quest to join the agency’s Old Spice.

Now, we know the exact parameters of that question.

W+K posted a help-wanted ad on its website seeking a social strategist on the Old Spice account.

Beginning today, the posting says, applicants will have a week to complete “one or more of the challenges listed below” and then create a “case study presentation deck outlining what you did and why it was effective.”

Here are the challenges:

  1. Create the best original Pinterest board dedicated to the sport of inline speed skating
  2. Create and post an original piece of content to Reddit that then receives the most upvotes in a single week
  3. Create and upload to SlideShare an original, in-depth competitive analysis of the Ed Hardy social media ecosystem
  4. Get the most people to friend your mother or your father on Facebook in a single week
  5. Create an original Twitter account and then use it to get the most followers in a week using any verbs you like, but only the following nouns: “BLUEFUDGE,” “HAMMERPANTS” and “GREEK YOGURT.”
  6. Create an original YouTube video that then receives the most plays in a single week using this script verbatim:
    #1: “Wait. What are you doing?”
    #2: “Trust me. This will be fine.”
    #1: “Ok. Go ahead.”
  7. Get recommendations on LinkedIn from at least three other people trying to get this job
  8. Create the most reviewed recipe on allrecipes.com in a single week using cottage cheese as an ingredient
  9. Upload the most pictures of your armpit(s) to Instagram during the course of this challenge. The pictures must have your face in them to verify your identity and include the hashtag #mypits
  10. Using Quora, give thought-out, meaningful answers to as many dream catcher-related questions as possible in a single week

As W+K says in the note: “Good luck, cyber warriors.”

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Posted in Mktg - Promotion, Social marketing | Leave a Comment »