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Non-Tech : Kirk's Market Thoughts -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jerome who wrote (2812)	5/26/2015 9:55:44 AM
From: Kirk ©	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26749

Bowing to regulatory pressure, Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) has begun booking European revenue in the countries in which sales were recorded, rather than funneling it through the low-tax haven of Luxembourg. The change, which could have a big long-term effect on Amazon's EU income tax payments, went into effect on May 1. The company's move could be a sign of things to come: Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL), Google ( GOOG, GOOGL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX), and a slew of other U.S. multinationals have also come under fire for their use of tax havens to cut their EU tax bills. Amazon already collects VAT on European sales, but its use of Luxembourg is one reason why its European income tax payments have been modest - the company paid just £4.2M in U.K. taxes in 2013 on revenue of £4.3B. The other reason, of course, is that Amazon's international ops (thanks partly to Asian investments) have been in the red - Amazon reported a $297M International segment op. loss for 2014, compared with a $2.11B North American op. profit. Amazon ALSO pays CA sales tax (8.75% in Santa Clara County and as high as 10% in some cities) google.com

To: Jerome who wrote (2812)	6/5/2015 12:32:02 PM
From: Kirk ©	Respond to of 26749

I hope you are OK. General Electric has assembled an "exploratory team" to look at moving its headquarters out of Connecticut after lawmakers passed a budget raising taxes by $1.2B. "I believe we should pay our fair share...but, we can compare Connecticut with other states where small and large businesses have a better environment to thrive," GE (NYSE: GE) CEO Jeff Immelt said in an email. Aetna (NYSE: AET), which now faces a similar predicament, is also weighing whether to relocate its headquarters out of the state.

To: Jerome who wrote (2812)	8/6/2015 1:59:21 PM
From: Kirk ©	2 Recommendations Recommended By 3bar robert b furman Respond to of 26749

Two items we discussed at length.... High taxes in NY and lower cost of living in NJ .... similar to Tesla locating its battery factory in Nevada rather than Taxifornia where it has its HQ in Palo Alto (drove by it yesterday) and current manufacturing plant in Fremont. More moving out of the Big Apple? JPMorgan ( JPM) is relocating 2,150 jobs from Manhattan to Jersey City to benefit from an incentive program offered by the state of New Jersey. The bank, which was looking at options to expand its regional technology and operations hub, will get $19M in subsidies to make the move across the Hudson. I agree with you that CEO pay is excessive. The SEC has approved a rule requiring companies to reveal the pay ratio between their chief executive officer and their typical worker - beginning in 2017. According to the Economic Policy Institute, average CEO pay at the 350 largest U.S. companies by revenue surged 997% from 1978 to 2014, while compensation of non-supervisory employees rose 10.9%. CEOs also earned about 30x what the typical employee did in 1978, although that figure jumped to more than 300x their employees' compensation as of 2014. Everyone should join me in voting NO on ALL pay proposals when shareholders are given option to vote. It is pissing in the wind, but at least we have our thoughts known.

To: Jerome who wrote (2812)	9/15/2015 11:19:51 AM
From: Kirk ©	Respond to of 26749

I hope you are OK You can't take care of customers if you are bankrupt. These HP Corporate Objectives are the original HP which has DNA in Keysight, Agilent and Avago. The computer company that remains (HPQ) with the name has little original HP DNA. hpalumni.org HP Corporate Objectives 1. Profit. To recognize that profit is the best single measure of our contribution to society and the ultimate source of our corporate strength. We should attempt to achieve the maximum possible profit consistent with our other objectives. 2. Customers. To strive for continual improvement in the quality, usefulness, and value of the products and services we offer our customers. 3. Field of Interest. To concentrate our efforts, continually seeking new opportunities for growth but limiting our involvement to fields in which we have capability and can make a contribution. 4. Growth. To emphasize growth as a measure of strength and a requirement for survival. 5. Employees. To provide employment opportunities for HP people that include the opportunity to share in the company's success, which they help make possible. To provide for them job security based on performance, and to provide the opportunity for personal satisfaction that comes from a sense of accomplishment in their work. 6. Organization. To maintain an organizational environment that fosters individual motivation, initiative and creativity, and a wide latitude of freedom in working toward established objectives and goals. 7. Citizenship. To meet the obligations of good citizenship by making contributions to the community and to the institutions in our society which generate the environment in which we operate.

To: Jerome who wrote (2812)	3/15/2016 10:21:43 AM
From: Kirk ©	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 26749

I hope your retirement at 50 survived GAT going under and you are now on a charitable mission after that "I'll show you mine" post. Will they rise from the dead? Remember GT Advanced Technologies? The sapphire glass maker expects to emerge from Chapter 11 "as soon as possible," after a court entered an order confirming the debtors' amended joint plan of reorganization. GT Advanced ( OTCPK:GTATQ) filed for bankruptcy in October 2014 after its scratch-resistant sapphire glass was left out of Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone 6 and 6 plus.