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Congress will probably wait until after Thanksgiving to finalize the income tax scenario. Numerous tax breaks that we have benefited from in recent years have expired. Tax planning is difficult this year as we may not know the tax landscape until mid December. Some of the benefits in question: The...

The Obama Administration named Steven Rattner it's "Car Czar" in February 2009. The NY Times describes Mr. Rattner as a "financier." The Securities & Exchange Commission says Rattner paid kickbacks to secure investment business, and fined him $6 million. NYS Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo, in his curre...

This morning, newly-minted shares of General Motors begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange.You know the history: founded early in the 20th century, grew to become the world's largest auto company selling half of all US motor vehicles in the 1950's and 60's, torpor and decline in the 70's and 8...

Last week the news was all about the Federal Reserve's Quantitative Easing plan, for short: QEII. The QEII plan is for the Fed to buy $600 billion of US Treasury securities - and to print dollars to do it. Bernanke's rationale? To drive interest rates lower in order to help economic recovery. I h...

Most readers of this blog are clients of Brighton Securities, and the overwhelming majority of our clients need little or no advice on reducing debt. You know debt is needed at times, particularly when buying a home. But you also know that in the long run debt imposes its own form of servitude, and...

Today is the 11th day of the 11th month, once called Armistice Day to mark the end of World War I. Now we call it Veterans Day, to honor those who have served their country in our armed forces. To all of you who have helped defend our lives, our liberty, and our pursuit of happiness, all of us at...

President Obama is visiting India, and the reflected spotlight shown on his travels is helping to illuminate trade ties between India and the US. Also reflected are the differences in two giant economies of Asia - India and China. For much of this decade, China's economic growth has been the over...

With the election over it seems that the consensus of the voters is that they would like a little less consensus, at least in Washington. With a new Congress and reshuffled majorities, I offer a little financial advice that most Americans already live by: Try to avoid spending money you don't...

Then you owe it to yourself to read this article from yesterday's New York Times: Money Woes Can Be Early Clue to Alzheimer's Maybe you see yourself, your parents, your in-laws, or someone else important to you reflected in the article. We see this situation regularly, and while it is always s...

Sometime after election day Tuesday Congress will re-convene and decide on income tax matters. Most of the buzz this year has been around ROTH IRA conversions. If tax cuts remain in place the opportunity to defer the income equally between 2011 and 2012 looks very appealing for many. If the Bush t...