Archive for January, 2013

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WSJ: “Smaller Paycheck Awaits M.B.A.s”

January 7, 2013

Don’t fret, MSBers.

Today’s WSJ article — which quotes MSB prof Brooks Holtom (below) — portrays a dismal ROI picture for the typical MBA … but points out that the economic crunch is not as severe for prestigious school grads (think, MSB).

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Debt-to-compensation ratio

First the numbers.

The WSJ tracked the average comp levels of young MBAs and matched it against their school debt loads.

The conclusion: an average young MBA has carries a school debt roughly equal to 1-years gross compensation … call it about 2 years of after-tax comp.

Note that the gross comp to student debt ratio was about 4-to-1 in 2001 … during the dotcom land rush.

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So, what’s going on?

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Posted in Compensation - Pay, Education - Academics, MBA Degree, MBAs | 2 Comments »

What does this map represent?

January 7, 2013

Take a guess …

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No good reason for anybody to know.

It’s a mapgraphic depicting the 1,540 Walmart stores in 1990.

So what?

Here’s what makes it interesting.

For a cool, dynamic visual showing how & where Walmart has grown over the years, click the link to view FlowData.com’s Walmart growth map.

The content is interesting, and it’s a nice way to present geo-time series data over time.

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Follow on Twitter @KenHoma         >> Latest Posts

Posted in Big data, Data analysis, Data base marketing, Statistics - Probabilities, Visualizations | 1 Comment »

HOT Encore: If capital gains tax rates go up 8.8%, how much will after-tax capital gains ROIs go down?

January 5, 2013

Here’s an encore presentation of a HOT: Homa Online Tutorial originally posted before the election.

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Well,  Obama got his dream to come true — capital gains rates have been jacked from 15% to 23.8% ….  the basic capital gains tax rate went  from 15% to 20% … and ObamaCare has a 3.8 non-payroll payroll tax on investment income starting in 2013.

So, the effective capital gains tax rate goes from 15% to 23.8% … a delta of 8.8%.

That 8.8% tax rate increase will cut after-tax capital gains ROIs.

By how much?

Answer: The pre-tax ROI times 8.8%.

Here’s the math …

(more…)

Posted in Capital gains - taxes, Fiscal cliff, Taxes | Leave a Comment »

Chart: Just a bit behind plan

January 4, 2013

This chart can’t be shown too often

Remember when Obama’s crack team of economic advisers said “Give us a trillion dollars and we’ll keep unemployment under 8%”?

They also said that the unemployment rate would be about 5.2% right about now.

Well, we’re at 7.8% … a mere 50% miss.

Wish I’d been held to those accountability standards when I was working in corporate America.

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Source: AEI

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Follow on Twitter @KenHoma          >> Latest Posts

Posted in Economic Recovery, Economy, Obama - Promises Made & Kept | 2 Comments »

Gotcha: Now, even Southwest is charging for “luv”

January 4, 2013

I used to be a big Southwest fan.

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I used to perversely enjoy watching the clock tick so I could get in the “A” boarding group by hitting the enter button exactly 24 hours before flight time.

Then the jabrones at SWA  took the fun out of the process by letting online slackers buy their way into the A group for 10 bucks … an “early bird” check-in.

Worse still, when my friends would flaunt their AMEX black cards, I’d charge everything to my SWA-Visa … earning a free flight for only a gazillion “flight legs”.

Then, the SWA  jabrones changed their credit card program … making it less lucrative and way more confusing.

(more…)

Posted in Airlines, Mktg - Pricing, Mktg - Revenue Mgnt | 2 Comments »

Oink: Porking deficit reduction … say,what?

January 3, 2013

Nice recap  in the WSJ today outing the pork that was sausaged into the deficit-adding Fiscal Cliff Bill:

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Here’s a sampling:

  • Michigan Democrat Debbie Stabenow was able to retain an accelerated tax write-off for owners of Nascar tracks (cost: $78 million
  • New Mexico’s Jeff Bingaman saved a tax credit for companies operating in American Samoa ($62 million), including a StarKist factory.
  • Distillers are able to drink to a $222 million rum tax rebate.
  • Businesses located on Indian reservations will receive $222 million in accelerated depreciation.

The WSJ gave special recognition to Chris Dodd, the former Senator who lobbied for Hollywood’s movie studios … getting a provision that allows film and television producers to expense the first $15 million of production costs incurred in the United States … this Hollywood special will cost the Treasury $430 million in 2013 and 2014.

Consumers will get tax credits for buying plug-in motorcycles ($7 million).

Do the jabrones in Washington have no shame?

You can’t reduce the debt by adding to the deficit.

It’s that simple guys.

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Follow on Twitter @KenHoma       >> Latest Posts

Posted in Fiscal cliff, Gov't Waste & Inefficiency, Gov't Spending | Leave a Comment »

Nums: What % of kids have both parents present?

January 3, 2013

I was chatting with a friend of mine who  is a middle school teacher is suburban Baltimore.

He was telling me about his schools online grading system that regularly emails parents with detailed tracking of their kids’ performance – grades on tests, whether or not homework was turned in, etc.

I asked: What percent of parents are on the system – getting the emails.

He said about 75%.

The other 25% either don’t have internet access (a few) … or either don’t care or are single-parents stretched thin (a lot).

That got me wondering about the number of kids who are structurally disadvantaged by having only one parent present to raise them

Well, it turns out that the Washington Times just did an analysis of Census data to answer the question.

Since the answer may be a bit controversial, I’ll just stick to the facts …

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Drilling down, here are some details from the analysis …

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Posted in Demograhics, Education - Academics | 2 Comments »

Hosed: CEO’s lined up, now …

January 2, 2013

Back in early December, Obama reeled in corporate CEOs.

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He insinuated that corporate rates would be coming down next year if the CEOs would just get in line and back his current round of individual tax increases.

The CEOs bought it line hook, line & sinker.

Now, Obama says he’s coming at their companies for tax revenue.

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After the House the acted on the Fiscal Cliff by passing the Deficit Increase Act of 2013, President Obama warned Republicans:

“The deficit is still too high and I’ll stick with my demands for a “balanced” approach blending spending cuts with revenue increases, notably from the rich and wealthy corporations.”

Surprise, surprise, surprise.

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Follow on Twitter @KenHoma         >> Latest Posts

Posted in Taxes | Leave a Comment »

Branding: New logos ditch the past.

January 2, 2013

Several companies launched new logos in 2012.

There were a couple of themes to the changes.

Some – like JC Penney — were trying to disconnect from their devolving legacies and present a new “fair & square” image.

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Other brands changed logos for apparently different reasons …

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Posted in Branding - logos, Mktg - Brands | Leave a Comment »

Happy New Year … Your taxes went up at midnight.

January 1, 2013

Partially obscured by the hoopla on Times Square and the bizarre Fiscal Cliff legislative process, is a simple fact: Your taxes have gone up … even if you’re not a millionaire or billionaire making more than $200,000 (oops, I meant $400,000)..

There are 2 big ones: elimination of the 2% payroll tax “holiday” … and the ObamaCare tax on “unearned income”

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Payroll Tax

For the past 2 years, payroll taxes – you know, the automatic deductions for Social Security and Medicare – were reduced by 2% to stimulate the economy.

The so-called “2% tax holiday” ends on December 31 and there are no apparent moves to renew it.

According to USA Today:

A temporary reduction in Social Security payroll taxes expires at the end of the year and hardly anyone in Washington is pushing to extend it. Obama hasn’t proposed an extension, and it probably wouldn’t get through Congress anyway, with lawmakers in both parties down on the idea.

Even Republicans who have sworn off tax increases have little appetite to prevent this one .

Bottom line: The expiration will cost a typical worker about $1,000 a year, and two-earner family with six-figure incomes as much as $4,500.

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ObamaCare Tax …

(more…)

Posted in tax, Taxes | Leave a Comment »

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