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Thought the Schwab article was very good. It's hard for me to keep all this fiscal cliff stuff and what our politician friends actually need to deal with straight in my head. This article covers it clearly.
Key points from the article:
1- The balance of power in Washington remains largely unchanged, which could mean four more years of political gridlock.
2- Congress may allow most tax cuts to expire, causing tax increases across the board in 2013—but those increases could be fixed retroactively.
3- Lawmakers generally agree that two elements of the "fiscal cliff" need to be dealt with immediately: the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and the automatic spending cuts.
#1 is undoubtedly why the market has nosed-dived after the election. Delay and indecision on #2 and 3 could drop us back into recession. If it's a 50:50 coin flip on a political resolution, I don't think I'll be adding to equities now unless markets drop considerably more.
Hi MikeM, I do believe some of the equity selling is related to possible tax changes for cap. gains; and folks taking profits with some of the better areas of equity returns for 2012. This could apply to both individual stocks and/or etf's/active mutual funds. If the sells become large enough within some areas; they may come back in to buy in 2013. If some of the sellers are looking at locking in gains of 12-30% on some holdings and are concerned about what else may be coming down the road with the "fiscal cliff" stuff; why not sell and sit on the money for a few months? Just a thought. Regards, Catch
Comments
Key points from the article:
1- The balance of power in Washington remains largely unchanged, which could mean four more years of political gridlock.
2- Congress may allow most tax cuts to expire, causing tax increases across the board in 2013—but those increases could be fixed retroactively.
3- Lawmakers generally agree that two elements of the "fiscal cliff" need to be dealt with immediately: the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) and the automatic spending cuts.
#1 is undoubtedly why the market has nosed-dived after the election. Delay and indecision on #2 and 3 could drop us back into recession. If it's a 50:50 coin flip on a political resolution, I don't think I'll be adding to equities now unless markets drop considerably more.
I do believe some of the equity selling is related to possible tax changes for cap. gains; and folks taking profits with some of the better areas of equity returns for 2012.
This could apply to both individual stocks and/or etf's/active mutual funds.
If the sells become large enough within some areas; they may come back in to buy in 2013.
If some of the sellers are looking at locking in gains of 12-30% on some holdings and are concerned about what else may be coming down the road with the "fiscal cliff" stuff; why not sell and sit on the money for a few months?
Just a thought.
Regards,
Catch