November 25, 2012, Bob Brinker's Moneytalk: Lynn Jimenez Fill-in

November 25, 2012....Bob Brinker took this Thanksgiving weekend off.  Lynn Jimenez, business reporter for KGO radio (where Moneytalk was canceled), filled in.

Lynn gave an excellent business report at the beginning of the show. Here is a summary of it:

Stock Market....Lynn's comments paraphrased: Last week  was the best of the year. Dow over 13,000 for the first time since November 6th -- up 6 1/2% for year. Nasdaq rose 4% for the week; S&P 500 rose 3.6% to 1409 -- up 12% for year.  Two reasons why the stock market did well: There is hope now that lawmakers will reach a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff and there was a strong turnout for start of holiday shopping season.....

Stock Market....Lynn said: "Should the budget issues be resolved or seem to be on the path to resolution, the market could see a good year next year. But there is a warning coming out of Standard and Poors from Howard Silverblatt on quarterly profits. The third quarter's profits weren't great....Those targets were lowered, but fourth quarter profit targets have not been lowered. In fact, bottom up operating profits would have to hit  a new record. And profit margins would have to come in at double-digit to hit those goals. So if you're a trader, keep an eye out. If you're an investor, who's done your homework, keep an eye out."

Economy and Jobs.....Lynn said: "It wasn't a bad week at all. Jobless claims fell by 41,000 -- 410,000, the effects of Hurricane Sandy eased some. Before the storm, claims were about 375,000, and that's very modest hiring.  The number of Americans getting unemployment benefits is 3.3 million. Another 2 million getting emergency benefits....so we still have a long way to go."

Leading Economic Indicators....Lynn said: "....came in higher than expected -- up by 2/10 of a percent. And in a measure of just how resilient Americans are, the University of Michigan's Consumer Sentiment Index rose a tenth of a percent to 82.7%. That's a five year high....It was a smaller gain than expected, but again, Hurricane Sandy just walloped everybody....And so's is all the talk about the fiscal cliff. So that wasn't bad at all....What's more the Michigan Sentiment Survey found the most favorable outlook for the labor market since 1984. Nearly one in three people expects the jobless rate to fall within the next year."

Housing Market....Lynn said: "Sales of existing homes rose 2% in October even though prices rose by 11% from last October. Mortgage rates certainly have a had in that....They hit record lows again last week. The thirty year fixed at 3.31%; the fifteen year at 2.63%. New home construction climbed to a four year high in October, up 3.6%.  Home builder confidence at its highest level in six years...It seems the housing market, at least, is becoming a bright spot in the economy."

Next Week Economic Estimates: Lynn said: "Later this week, we expect a second look at the economy's growth rate over the summer. The initial estimate that was released last month came in at an anemic 2%. But a lot of economists are now looking at what happened in October and this month and they're predicting a faster rate of growth -- maybe as much as 3%. So the long slow slog out of the hole is proceeding, now it's up to elected leaders to come with a way to slow the growth of the debt, even trim it, while not slowing the economy so much that we fall into a recession again. That's a pretty delicate task and I hope this time around, we have a little bi-partisanship."

Treasuries: Also higher on hope of avoiding fiscal cliff and partly on "the Israeli cease-fire on Wednesday."

Honey EC: Lynn claims she doesn't "talk politics," but that doesn't keep her bias from slipping through. Or maybe she doesn't know that Israel was fired on first and was simply defending itself: Why was there a war in Gaza?

There was little else of value to report from the program today. Lynn's main topics had to do with complaints about Target opening for business Thanksgiving night. Whether or not callers give to charity (especially Hurricane Sandy victims) -- and which charities are the best.

The third-hour guest speaker was: The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use "Plain English" to Rob You Blind

Jeffchristie's Final Exam Question for today:

In a recent comment posted at this Blog a person posting as wjdfp said the following about Bob Brinker:  "I did receive HIS randomly sent fixed income advisor for 10/2012 and find no reason for regular subscribers to purchase this......"

Question: Bob Brinker, the host of Moneytalk and the publisher of Marketimer, also writes and publishes the Brinker Fixed Income letter. 

A) True
B) False 

Answer

San Francisco, Ca. KSFO 560: 1-4pm (KSFO archives Moneytalk Free on Demand for seven days after broadcast. You can download and listen on the go.)  

READ AND POST COMMENTS

November 23, 2012, Bob Brinker's "Extramarital" QQQ Affair

November 23, 2012....The following documentation is about Bob Brinker's twelve year old trade that he closed October 9, 2012. A trade which he hid so that his official performance record does not account for it -- but it cost followers big money..............................(comments welcome)

* It's been twelve years since October 2000, when Bob Brinker sent a special bulletin to his subscribers telling them to "Act Immediately" and buy QQQ with up to  50% of the cash reserves that were raised in January/August 2000.

Last Sunday, Brinker told the Moneytalk audience that he had finally advised subscribers to sell all Nasdaq holdings.  That includes all QQQ and RYOCX...Please see my last show summary.

Marketimer, November 5, 2000, Page One excerpts: 

Paragraph one, Robert J. Brinker wrote: "As initially recommended in our mid-October subscriber bulletin, Marketimer is projecting a major countertrend rally to be led by the Nasdaq 100 Index. We expect this rally to last a minimum of two-to-four months, and to continue at least into the first quarter of 2001. We are projecting Nasdaq gains in excess of 20%....."

Paragraph 3: "Subscribers seeking to establish positions at the optimum price levels should, if possible, accumulate QQQ shares at the prices in the range between the low-70's and the mid-70's...."

Paragraph 5: "Marketimer subscribers with aggressive objectives can invest up to 30% to 50% of cash reserves in either the QQQ shares or Rydex OTC Fund in order to participate in this recommendations. That translates into potential exposure of 19.5% to 32.5% of a TOTAL AGGRESSIVE PORTFOLIO. (30% of 65% CASH RESERVES equals 19.5%. 50% of 65% cash reserves equals 32.4%). The balance of reserves remain in money market funds."

Paragraph 6: Conservative subscribers can invest up to 20% to 30% of cash reserves in this recommendation, using either QQQ shares or Rydex OTC Fund shares. That translates into potential exposure of 6.5% to 9.75% of a total BALANCED PORTFOLIO. (20% of 32.5% cash reserves equals 6.5%, 30% of 32.5% CASH RESERVES equals 9.75% of a BALANCED PORTFOLIO. The balance of reserves remain in money market funds." 

It's very clear that Brinker wanted his subscribers to use model portfolio money because that is the exact amount (65%) of cash reserves he had advised raising just a few months earlier. 

Marketimer, November 5, 2000, Page Two excerpts: 

Paragraph 3: "One of the great advantages inherent in our large cash reserve position is the flexibility to be able to take advantage of short-term countertrend rally opportunities when they are identifiable. We believe the current opportunity is very likely to produce very significant short-term gains at least into the first quarter of 2001."

Unbelievably, after that sales pitch about subscriber cash reserves, Brinker never accounted for the QQQ trade in his official model portfolio records: 

Paragraph 4: "We will identify an exit point for this short-term countertrend rally in our Marketimer publications in the months ahead. Since this represents a short-term opportunity and is not part of our long-term investment approach, we will not include this recommendation in our model portfolios on page eight. 

Brinker also promised to give "follow-up guidance" until he "identified an exit point." That is a promise that he did not keep. He only gave guidance for the next 30 months. At that time, he returned to fully invested, added RYOCX to his model portfolios AFTER the 70% decline and never mentioned it again. 

Here is a complete list of the guidance that Brinker gave to those poor followers who purchased QQQ in the $83 range -- per his advice. I am posting this list because it helps make the whole picture crystal clear:

• #3) December 2000, Marketimer: Bob Brinker said that a "countertrend rally"...."has the potential to carry the Nasdaq indexes as much as 40% to 50% above their late-November closing levels over the next three to six months."

• #4) January 2001 Marketimer: Bob Brinker said, "We continue to emphasize the guidelines we have recommended with regard to the exposure in the Nasdaq 100 Index for the countertrend rally pahse we expect.......we are expecting potential gains for the Nasdaq 100 Index of up to 50% or more as measured from the January 2 closing low....." (January 1, 2001, QQQQ closed at $64.30)

• #5) February 2001, Marketimer: Bob Brinker stated that the "bear market rally" had commenced and he expected the timeline to be "three to six months as measured from the starting point Jan 3." Brinker added: "In terms of Nasdaq 100 shares, our expectation of a target range in the 80 to 90 range remains intact. We believe this remains an achievable objective into the second quarter." (February 1, 2001, QQQQ closed at $47.45)

• #6) March 7, 2001, Marketimer: begins with Bob Brinker admitting that "we were wrong in our earlier expectations that a countertrend rally would develop late last year...." He then admits that even his call for a new bear market rally beginning on January 3 "was unable to sustain upward progress in February. In spite of these admissions of being "wrong," in the same issue of Marketimer, Bob Brinker again made the following recommendation to subscribers: "In our view, the probabilities favor a three to six month bear market rally phase beginning shortly. Such a rally has the potential to carry the Nasdaq composite Index above the 3000 level by spring or summer as measured from the closing lows." (March 1, 2001, QQQQ closed at $39.15)"

• #7) April 6, 2001 Marketimer, Page 2; Paragraph 5: Bob Brinker said, "Recent weakness in the Nasdaq 100 Index (QQQ) shares has far exceeded our expectations. However, we believe subscribers holding a position in these shares will eventually be rewarded, although this holding will require both time and patience. With or without a buy signal from our long-term model, we expect the Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq 100 Index to stage a significant recovery over the next several months." (April 1, 2001, QQQQ closed at $46.15)

• #8) May 7, 2001 Marketimer: Bob Brinker said, "As we stated last month, 'with or without a buy signal from our long-term model, we expect the Nasdaq Composite and Nasdaq 100 Index to stage a significant recovery over the next several months.'" (May 1, 2001, QQQQ closed at $44.73)

• #9) June 2001, Marketimer: About the Nasdaq 100 Index (QQQ) shares, Bob Brinker said: "....we recommend holding these shares for future recovery within our earlier percentage guidelines." (June 1, 2001, QQQQ closed at $45.70)

• #10) July 2001, Marketimer: Bob Brinker said, "We also recommend subscribers with a position in Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares hold for price recovery within our earlier percentage guidelines." (July 1, 2001, QQQQ closed at $41.76)

• #11) August 2001, Marketimer: Bob Brinker now recommended that subscribers with a "position in Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares hold for recovery, although patience will continue to be required in the difficult market environment we are experiencing...." (August 1, 2001, QQQQ closed at $36.63)

• #12) September 2001, Marketimer: Bob Brinker said the following on Page Two: "Subscribers who own Nasdaq 100 Index (QQQ) shares purchased at higher prices in the taxable accounts since the fourth quarter of last year can realize short-term losses for current and future use by switching to......XLK.......the differences are sufficient to avoid the wash-sale rule as long as you wait at least 31-days before switching back into the QQQ shares."....."Making this transaction in taxable accounts for tax purposes is consistent with our recommendation to hold QQQ shares for price recovery over time." (September 1, 2001, QQQQ closed at $28.98)

• #13) October 2001, Marketimer: Bob Brinker said, "....we recommend holding existing cash reserves  We also recommend subscribers with a position in Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares hold for recovery within our earlier percentage guidelines." (October 1, 2001, QQQQ closed at $33.90)

• #14) November 2001, Marketimer: Bob Brinker said, ".....we recommend subscribers with a position in Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares hold these shares as we expect them to trade at much higher levels during the next cyclical bull market." (November 1, 2001 QQQQ closed at $39.65)

• #15) December 2001, Marketimer: Bob Brinker said: "....For subscribers with a position in the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares, we recommend holding in anticipation of higher price levels during the next cyclical bull market." December 1, 2001 QQQQ closed at $38.91--QQQQ closed at $38.73 today, August 17, 2006)

• #16) January 2002, Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: "In the case of Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares, we prefer to hold existing positions in the expectation that the next cyclical bull market will provide a much better price level for the Nasdaq 100 Index." (January 2, 2002, QQQQ closed at $40.11)

• #17) February 8, 2002, Marketimer: Page 1; Paragraph 4; "We remain concerned that a secular bear market, based on declining valuations, began in March of 2000......The most difficult money making strategy in such a market environment is the buy and hold approach. This strategy has led to large losses since early in 2000, and in our view buy and hold investing is likely to prove disappointing in the stock market environment we anticipate within a secular bear trend. ......We recommend subscribers with a holding in the Nasdaq 100 Index (QQQ) shares hold these shares for recovery during the next cyclical bull market."(QQQ closed February, 8, 2002 at 36.17 and closed today at 38.48.)

• #18) March 8, 2002, Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: "Subscribers holding Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares can hold these shares in anticipation of much higher prices in the next cyclical bull market in our view." (March 8, 2002, QQQQ closed at $38.67--today it closed at $38.72)

• #19) April, 5, 2002, Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: " ..... We are also retaining our hold rating on Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares, as we expect these shares to rebound during the next cyclical bull market." (April 12, 2002, QQQ closed at $33.52. Right now, QQQQ is at $39.83)

• #20) May 8, 2002 Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: "We are also retaining our hold rating on Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares. Although the shares remain weak, we expect them to trade well above current levels during the next cyclical bull market." (May 9, 2002 QQQQ closed at $30.95.)

• #21) June 7, 2002 Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: "We continue to suggest a patient approach, which includes holding on to your stock market cash reserves. We are maintaining a hold rating on Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares, which have the potential to trade at much higher levels during the next cyclical bull market, in our view." (June 7, 2002, QQQ closed at $28.30-today it is about $40)

• #22) July 5, 2002 Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: "We continue our policy of not selling into weakness, and recommend those with a position in Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares hold for higher prices during the next cyclical bull market." (October 15, 2000, QQQ closed at $81.70; July 5, 2002, QQQ closed at $26.34; September 29, 2006, QQQQ closed at $40.65)

• #23) August 8, 2002 Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: "We are maintaining our hold rating on Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares, as we believe they can trade at much higher levels during the next cyclical bull market." (October 15, 2000, QQQ closed at $81.70; August 8, 2002, QQQ closed at $23.57; October 12, 2006, QQQQ closed at $42.23)

• #24) September 7, 2002 Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: "We are maintaining our hold rating on Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares in anticipation of much higher prices for the shares in the next cyclical bull market." (October 15, 2000, QQQ closed at $81.70; September 7, 2002, QQQQ closed at $22.85)

• #25) October 5, 2002 Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: "We are now in the 31st month of one of the worst cyclical bears since the 1930's. We recommend continuing to hold stock market cash reserves at this time. We also recommend retaining existing stock market holdings, as we do not view the current period as a propitious time to be a seller of equities." (October 15, 2000 QQQ closed at $81.70; October 7, 2002 QQQ closed at $20.16)

• #26) November 8, 2002, Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: "As we continue the process of monitoring our stock market timing indicators, we recommend retaining stock market cash reserves until our model returns to bullish territory. We also recommend holding existing stock market positions at current levels, along with holdings of Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares." (October 15, 2000, QQQ closed at $81.70; November 8, 2002 QQQQ closed at $25.07)

• #27) December 5, 2002, Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: "Marketimer recommends retaining existing equity market holdings at this time. This includes existing positions in the Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares." (October 15, 2000, QQQ closed at $81.70; December 5, 2002 QQQQ closed at $26.20)

• #28) January 9, 2003, Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: "We also recommend holding existing postitions at the current levels, along with holdings of Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares." (October 15, 2000, QQQ closed at $81.70; January 9, 2003, QQQ closed at $26.70)

• #29) February 7, 2003, Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: "We also suggest holding existing positions in the Nasdaq 100 Index (QQQ) shares, which have recently shown a measure of resilience relative to the broad market indexes. We expect the Nasdaq indexes to post gains well in excess of the broad market indexes during the next cyclical bull market." (October 15, 2000, QQQ closed at $81.70; February 7, 2003, QQQ closed at $23.81)

• #30) March 7, 2003 (four days before Brinker's "buy" signal) Marketimer, Bob Brinker said: "For subscribers holding Nasdaq 100 (QQQ) shares, we recommend holding for a significant recovery in the shares in the next cyclical bull market." (October 15, 2000, a few days after Brinker's "Act Immediately" Bulletin, QQQ closed at $81.70; March 7, 2003--after 30 months of "guidance" to "hold", QQQ closed at $24.54)

In August 2002, Peter Brimelow wrote about this trade that Brinker and Mark Hulbert kept "off-the-book" and how that helped Brinker's performance record:

By Peter Brimelow,CBS.MarketWatch.com

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- ABC radio star Bob Brinker's Marketimer investment letter is one of the few letters to have beaten the stock market over the past 10 years, by Mark Hulbert's count. And Brinker actually turned bearish in January 2000 (right as the Dow peaked, 3,000 points higher than it is now -- remember? -- and the Nasdaq was at 5,000)

So why do clouds of vengeful investors buzz around his noble head? Indeed, they buzz around anybody's head who says anything nice about Brinker. You should see the e-mail that Mark Hulbert gets. And he's just keeping count.

Hell hath no fury like an investor steered wrong. Brinker is paying the price for his success, both in the markets and in attracting followers.

This is the problem: Later in 2000, Brinker was trying to catch a rally in what he still regarded as a primary bear market.

In a special bulletin, he suggested Nasdaq 100 Trust QQQ , the Nasdaq 100 exchange-trade fund on the American Stock Exchange.

But it did not appear in the detailed model portfolio published, as always, in the next month's letter. So Mark promptly sold out the QQQ position and no longer counted it.

Which was just as well, because QQQ   fell from above 80 to a recent 24. Brinker is still sweet on it, in this peculiar, extra-marital sort of way. 

Honey here: So in my opinion, Brinker's official market-timing model portfolio performance record is exaggerated by a sizable amount. Mark Hulbert gave Brinker a mulligan on this trade, and as Brimelow said, Mark Hulbert took it out of the model portfolio records he uses in Hulbert Financial Digest. Hulbert recognizes the trade with a footnote that claims Brinker decided "at the time of the trade" to not include it in his model portfolios. That is simply not true.....

READ OR POST COMMENTS

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

November 21, 2012....Thanksgiving is an American holiday that many dedicate to spending time with family and friends. It's a great day to reflect on the many blessings that have been showered on America over the past two+ centuries. Many of us, Christian and Jewish, give thanks to the Almighty for every good thing that America has been --  and pray for its future.

Personally, I am very blessed. I have a beautiful, loving family and too many friends to count. I thank each of you who read this blog and send me wonderful comments -- and I welcome those who have not written, to do so. I love to hear from you.

This is my holiday to cook the family turkey (my daughter and son-in-law do Christmas dinner), so I want to take this opportunity to wish each and every blog reader a Happy Thanksgiving Day.

Recipe: Turkey Veggie Platter

READ AND POST COMMENTS

November 18, 2012, Bob Brinker's Moneytalk: Summary, Excerpts and Commentary

November 18, 2012....Bob Brinker hosted Moneytalk today....(comments welcome)

STOCK MARKET: Another program went by and Brinker made no comments about the stock market.  From Barron's:  Last week, the Dow lost 227 points, or 1.8%, to finish at 12,588.31, and is down 7.5% from 2012 highs, while the Standard and Poor's 500 index gave up 20 points, or 1.5%, to 1359.88, and is off 7% from highs. On friday, the S&P index rose 0.5%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 52 points, or 1.8%, to 2853.13, and is now down 10% from highs, officially in correction territory.

Honey EC: Brinker remains fully invested. However, on a recent Red Eye radio guest appearance  he warned that he is "watching" the market very closely for signs of  deterioration.  In the November Marketimer, he  called the current cyclical bull "long-in-the-tooth," and said that he was "disappointed" that the stock market had not experienced a "health-restoring correction." Usually, he considers 10% a correction.  

FISCAL CLIFF....Brinker said: Obi Wan Ben Bernanke has coined the Fiscal Cliff about a year ago....Now everybody uses it.....This has to do with all the stuff that is scheduled to happen on New Year's Day....Unless something happens in the interim like a deal....the George W. Bush tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 expire. That would result in a dramatic change in the personal income tax landscape as well as capital gains and dividends......The payroll tax cut which was one of the most important fiscal stimulus measures taken expires at year end. So every wage earner that's in the Social Security system gets a 2% hike.....up to about 113,000 dollars or so.....Also capital gains tax on long-term holdings will increase from 15% to 20%....It will be higher for high-earners.....Dividends would be taxed as ordinary income, although nobody expects that to happen......The Alternative Minimum tax, which was originally aimed at millionaire earners, that would capture about 26 million additional households...If the current law were to prevail."

SCHEDULED SPENDING CUTS....Brinker continued: "Then we have the spending cuts, roughly a 100 billion in the first of the the ten years of spending cuts that are on the board under current law.....I'm just talking about the fiscal cliff as it applies to all of these tax changes. I'm not talking about the healthcare taxes. I will get to the that. They are in a separate category....."

UNTHINKABLE ECONOMIC SITUATION IS DAMAGING ECONOMY: Brinker continued: "So here's the situation we're looking at right now. We have all this stuff set to happen on New Year's Day. We've had an initial confab between the president and representatives of congress.....It seemed to go reasonably well....They realize they are already affecting the U.S. economy....And they are affecting the economy. No question about it.....Because businesses are reluctant to hire when they are facing such tax code uncertainty and consumers are less anxious to make commitments and buy. So we have a federal government that has already affected the U.S. economy by providing an unprecedented level of uncertainty....with approximately six weeks to go....We are looking at a situation right now which borders on the unthinkable....They have to reach some sort of a deal where they can move forward because aside from the fiscal cliff issues, there are other taxes that will kick in in 2013.... just six weeks down the road.

NEW HEALTH CARE TAX ON SO-CALLED HIGH-EARNERS: Brinker continued: "I speak here of the healthcare reform taxes. These taxes are going to affect a wide swath of taxpayers. In a major way they will affect high-earners. What is a high-earner? .....We look to the politicians that tell us what we are to believe about this. And they and the administration has come up with the definition of what a high-earner is.  Whose definition? Theirs of course. They say a high-earner is a person with an adjusted gross income in excess of 200,000 dollars or for joint filers, in excess of $250,000....These individuals are going to pay a surtax on unearned income starting in 2013. A 3.8% surtax. That means if you thought your top bracket at the federal level was 39.6%.....you were wrong. Actually, it's 43.4%. What falls into this unearned category?.... For example, dividends, interest, rents, capital gains -- including long-term, income from annuity contracts, house sales profits above a threshold amount, partnerships, royalties, the list goes on and on. All of this would be lumped together.... and be subject to this additional surtax of 3.8%.

MORE HEALTHCARE TAX INCREASES: Brinker continued: "It doesn't stop there. For this same category of earners, there is a new Medicare tax.  I know I just said the 3.8 surtax was a healthcare tax. Well, there's another healthcare tax in addition to the Medicare tax liability. A 90 basis point surtax on Medicare taxes for these same high-earners. Let's say you're self-employed, you pay both sides of the Medicare tax, 2.9. You're going up to 3.8 next year....Let's say you're not self-employed and you pay a 1.45 Medicare tax and your employer pays the other 1.45. Well next year, you the employee will pay 2.35 on your Medicare. The reason this is important is because this is uncapped. No cap at all. It applies to all the money that you have in your paycheck....."

FSA ACCOUNTS NOW LIMITED BY HEALTH CARE TAX RESTRICTION: Brinker continued: "Flexible spending account contributions are going to be capped at $2500. This is a big deal for those using them....Right now there's tax related limit on how much you can put aside pre-tax to pay for medical expense. Next year there will be, so if you've been putting money away in a flexible spending account to pay medical bills, you're going to be capped at $2500. That's not enough money for a lot of families to pay their  medical bills, but this is another new tax restriction."

HEALTH CARE PLAN REQUIRES MORE TO QUALIFY FOR MEDICAL DEDUCTION: Brinker continued: "Do you take a deduction for medical expenses? Well, you're going to have to have more medical expenses to qualify because the itemized deduction hurdle for medical expenses will be 10% of adjusted gross income. Whereas, it is currently 7.5%....."

PENALTY INCREASES FOR NON-MEDICAL HSA WITHDRAWALS: Brinker continued: "And the penalty on non-medical withdrawals from healthcare savings accounts is going to double to 20%. Wow! I'm not trying to name every specific element in the new tax code, but these are the primary taxes that will kick in in 2013."

PENALTY TAX IF YOU DON'T BUY HEALTH INSURANCE: Brinker continued: "Don't forget the penalty tax if you don't buy health insurance. Starting in 2014 and phasing in, this could range up to 4,700 dollars per person. This will depend the level of your income......"

MAJOR TAX INCREASES INEVITABLE:  Brinker continued: "Those are the major elements of the health care reform taxation that's also going to be kicking in. And as I say, you really have to look at that different  from the fiscal cliff taxation issues....because these health care reform taxes are scheduled to kick in and with the Supreme Court waving off on the Health Care Reform Act, these changes appear to be inevitable."

WHAT DEDUCTIONS MIGHT THEY ELIMINATE TO RAISE MORE TAXES: Brinker said: "You can have tax increases by reducing or eliminating the deductions. There are  four main categories of deduction revenue money...this is where the money is. An obvious one is mortgage interest.... which costs the Treasury a lot of money because of that deduction...I don't think they are going to eliminate it because too many people benefit from it. However, they might cap it. They are going after the high-earners. Let's bring some logic in here. If we dare bring logic in to the equation when referencing the federal government....The president's been very clear, even during the campaign, saying that he wants to take a bigger bite out of the wallet of high-earners....He has said it over and over.....So you have the mortgage deduction and I think the biggest risk there is that if would be capped....It would be going after the rich.....Where else? Charity.....The president has already proposed capping the rate of deductibility of charity at 28%... So it can't be ruled out....Then we have state and local taxes. That could also be capped.....Then of course, is the health care benefit, where if you're working for a company and you're getting healthcare as part of your compensation, you're not paying income tax on the cost of that health care. It's basically a tax-exempt benefit you're getting....And they could start taxing that....."

Honey EC: If reading what Brinker reported above has you sitting upright in shock, you may want to read the 1500 or so page PDF of the whole document HERE. But be warned, don't even start to read it if you want to sleep soundly afterwards.  Thinking of some government bureaucrat dictating and  micromanaging personal health care choices is enough to give anyone nightmares. 

ALL NASDAQ SOLD FROM MARKETIMER:  Caller John from San Diego said: "I've been a subscriber of yours for almost as long as you've been on the air.....Recently, I noticed that you made some changes in your I and II portfolios.... (Brinker interrupted and asked what's your question).....It has to do with exposure the Nasdaq and I understand you...."

Brinker interrupted and said: "We don't have it anymore, John. In early October, we sold all of our Nasdaq direct exposure. So that meant that we sold our mutual fund that was invested in the Nasdaq 100....That came out of model I and model II and we also extended that to QQQ shares, which are also invested in the Nasdaq 100. We also sold any QQQ shares that subscribers held. All of those share in the Nasdaq 100, whether they be in the mutual fund or in the Exchange Traded Fund were sold in early October. So they're out of there. There's no more direct Nasdaq exposure anywhere in model I or in model II or anywhere within newsletter subscriber positions. We sold them out in early October. I felt at that time, based on all that I had seen in the Nasdaq that that was an opportunity to sell that index and that's what we did."

Honey EC: Those words above clearly show how Brinker ended a  twelve-year deception on subscribers, and proves that his "official" performance record is phony.  I will make a complete report on this subject later in the week, along with direct quotes from his November 2000 Marketimer.  

* Please note that Brinker did not raise any cash when he sold RYOCX and QQQ holdings. He is still 100% fully invested.

VANGUARD GINNIE MAE FUND (VFIIX)....Caller Ian from San Francisco wanted to know if the Federal Reserve's QE3 bond purchases were making Ginnie Mae Funds safer. Brinker explained that Ginnie Maes have always had the full faith and credit of the Treasury guarantee so he didn't think so, but that the Fed's purchase program helped keep down rates. 

Honey EC: Jim sent these comments about Brinker's GNMA flip-flop. Brinker sold the fund down earlier this year and then added it back in October:

Jim said...
I feel Bob Brinker revealed today why he did a "flip-flop" and bought more GNMA's recently after selling them earlier. He acknowledged to a caller that the Fed's purchase program of mortgaged-backed securities creates demand for them in the open market and helps keep interest rates low.

Honey EC: I agree with Jim, but  I also think that this indicates that Brinker is confident that interest rates won't be rising any time soon. Earlier this year, he was often advising callers to use laddered certificates of deposit if they were worried about losing principal in the GNMA fund. Remember this: No matter the government guarantee of principal and interest, when rates rise significantly, Ginnie Mae Funds will drop like a rock!

FrankJ  wrote the following portion of the program summary

1.  "Joe from Carmel" has been a frequent flyer on the Starship, and today, when Bob announced Joe, he mentioned station KION from Carmel.  Joe corrected him, mentioning Salinas.  On prior calls to the show, Bob has referred to him as "Joe from Carmel."  Bob ran through the list of cities where KOIN is heard, before Joe asked his question -- which seemed to be, would prices on high end real estate be favorably impacted by the fact that Facebook shares "held up" since the most recent big unlock?  Maybe Joe has discovered a way to get on the air -- link your question to Facebook's IPO, because Bob took the opportunity to bash the handling of the IPO, before telling Joe, to watch what happens with the mortgage rate deduction.  The message being that eliminating it, or capping it would have a direct affect on home prices.


2.  Caller Kate from New York said she was 64 years old, was receiving a $30,000 pension and was in the 15% tax bracket.  She does not plan to take SocSecurity until she is 68 and then she will receive $12,000 per year.  She has $90,000 in a 503B "stable fund" earning 4%.  She called it a "503B"  she might have meant 403B.  Her question was should she start to withdraw from the $90K account while she is in a lower tax bracket?  
 
Bob told her how lucky she was to have an investment earning 4% and then proceeded to scold her for worrying about coming changes to the tax code, telling her no one is talking about raising rates on people at her level of income.  That is NOT what she was asking.  She seemed to be looking for confirmation that by tapping money from the $90,000 investment, she could bump herself from the 15% bracket to the 25% bracket.   When Bob finally got on track with this caller, he told her she needed "push a pencil," on these numbers, "do a spreadsheet", and "be totally accurate" with the tax bracket numbers."  For much of the call, they were talking past each other.  

For taxes to be paid in 2013, on 2012 income, the 15% bracket for single individuals starts at $8700 and ends at $35350.   This is TAXABLE INCOME, which no one mentioned in the call.  Assuming Kate takes the standard deduction and does not turn 65 before the end of this year, AND she takes herself as a personal exemption, she could take $15,000 from the fund and still be in the 15% bracket.  (30,000 pension + 15,000 = $45,000 Adjusted Gross Income.)   The standard deduction is $5950 and the personal exemption is $3800, so subtracting these from $45,000 yields $35,250, an amount just under the maximum for the 15% bracket.  

Kate goes to the head of the class, for thinking ahead.  Bob ... you get a grade of C- on this call.

Jeffchristie's Moneytalk Final Exam Question: 

Bob Brinker refers to the expiration of the current tax code on 31 Dec 2012 as: 

A) The slippery slope.

B) Taxmageddon.

          C) The fiscal cliff.

D) Critical mess. 

Answer: 

Brinker's guest-speaker today was David L. Scott:  Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor

San Francisco, Ca. KSFO 560: 1-4pm (KSFO archives Moneytalk Free on Demand for seven days after broadcast. You can download and listen on the go.)  

READ AND POST COMMENTS

November 11, 2012, Bob Brinker's Moneytalk: Summary, Excerpts and Commentary

November 11, 2012....Bob Brinker hosted Moneytalk today.......(comments welcome)

THANK YOU VETERANS: "On behalf of all us connected with the Starship Moneytalk, we honor the veterans on Veteran's Day 2012." Several restaurants are giving free meals to veterans.

FISCAL CLIFF: On New Year's Day all personal income tax rates are going up if congress does act in the interim.  At that point, congress could then act to cut taxes and claim they voted for a tax cut.  "There is no evidence that the current tax rate on high-earners will survive."

PAYROLL TAX REDUCTION: "I would be surprised it that survives past the end of the year....It's not likely that they are going to extend coverage....That's 126 billion dollars in a de facto tax increase for 2013."

HIGH-EARNERS INCOME TAX INCREASE: "The other probable tax increase is going to be high-earners income tax rate. For example, instead of a 35% top bracket, we'd have a 39.6, which is what we had under William Jefferson Clinton."

(Edited with Brinker's EXACT words for those who questioned my paraphrase of what he actually said:    CALIFORNIA HAS HIGHEST STATE INCOME TAX:  Brinker said:   

"For example, the highest state income tax of all of America is California. They have just voted in favor of Jerry Brown's 13.3% top rate. California personal income tax top rate now. They voted in three tax increases on income taxes on election day. Basically, 11.3 on income over $250 (000), 12.3 on income over $500 (000), 13.3 on income over $1 million.

 Now let's say you run a business in California. Many people do. What is your new tax situation? 39.6 federal -- this is on salary, wages etc. If you have your own business, you will pay the entire Medicare freight, 3.8 will the new number, both sides, including the new increase. And then the new California top rate of 13.3 for high earners. And when you add all of that up, it's truly amazing. You're basically at 57%. So for high-earners in California, the new marginal top rate 57%.

And if you think you can avoid that through unearned income, well if it's taxable unearned income, it's going to be the same because the new health care tax of 3.8% applies to unearned income. I speak here of capital gains, dividends, rents, royalties, passive income from businesses and income from annuities. All of that stuff is in the category to be taxed at a new 3.8 tax rate for high earners. So that would apply anyway.

 So the new top rate in California for earned and unearned income -- round it out -- it's 57%. Which is a big number. That leaves about 43 cents on the dollar for the person that earned the income. The other 57 cents on the dollar goes out the window on taxes, federal and state for Golden Staters. That'll give you some example for what's going on out there."

Honey EC: As if that isn't bad enough news, it's pretty much accepted that "so goes California, so goes the nation." 

SEQUESTRATION CUTS: "They have these across the board cuts in defense spending, in discretionary spending...that are scheduled to go into affect next year. My expectation is that we will see some negotiation, horse trading....on these cuts and some kind of deal handed out."

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS: "We have the expiration of unemployment benefits. That's worth $35 billion dollars next year. There may be some attempt to negotiate something there."

REDUCED MEDICARE DOCTOR RATES: "We have $15 billion in reduce Medicare doctor rates. We could see some negotiation there. I think those are the things that are going to be on the table."

ACROSS THE BOARD TAX RATE INCREASES: "Let me tell you what I don't think is going to happen. I don't think you're going to see this 300 billion dollar income tax increase across all brackets....This is the biggest single piece of the fiscal cliff. I don't see it happening, but if it does happen, I think they'll roll it back and make it retroactive."

STOCK MARKET: Brinker made no comments about the stock market today even though the Dow, S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq had their worst weekly percentage drop since June. This was the third consecutive week of losses -- now 6% off highs for the year.  Apple is down 22% from its closing high on September 19, 2012. (Brinker is on record saying that he has owned Apple for a long time.)

Last week when Brinker was asked about the effects of the election, he replied: "Wellll, the stock market will do what the stock market will do in terms of counting the votes. Short-term response will be whatever it is." Two weeks ago when he made a guest appearance on Red Eye Radio, Brinker told the host that he was "keeping an eye on it." 

Honey EC: Perhaps you will find comfort in knowing that Brinker is watching the stock market decline right along with you while remaining fully invested. There is a great graph by DShort that shows how the market reacted after the election. 

HOUSING INDUSTRY:  S&P Case Schiller Index of property values is improving after years of declining -- some areas lost up to 1/3 value over the past few years. Overall, there is a 2% year-over-year increase in the average property value in the top twenty cities, according to the latest data through the end of August.....Individual markets all over the place....In Los Angeles average property value increase 3.8%; Washington DC increase 8%;  Boston 1 1/2%; Denver 2.6%; San Francisco 7 1/2%; and Phoenix the highest with 10%.  Unfortunately some negatives....Chicago -1.5%; Atlanta -6.1; New York -2.3.

ESTATE AND GIFT TAX CHANGES:  Both are scheduled to go down to $1 million per person....

FIDELITY'S PRIVATE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: Caller Larry from Parkridge told Brinker that Fidelity refuses to provide him with company financials. Brinker pointed out that they are privately owned and they have that right.  He advised Larry that if he is not satisfied with the answers he gets from a firm, he doesn't have to do business with them.

Honey EC: I did not realize that Fidelity was a private company. I assume that Vanguard is too. However, it's worth noting that Charles Schwab is a publicly traded company.

IN EDIT: StoxNbondz wrote: Vanguard is not privately owned. Vanguard is a mutual company. That means that anyone who owns shares in a Vanguard mutual fund is part owner of the company. Some banks and insurance companies also have the mutual form of ownership, like State Farm and New York Life. So if the caller wants the financial information of the company that holds his account, he could move his business to Vanguard, Schwab, or T. Rowe Price.

BOB BRINKER'S MARKETIMER PORTFOLIOS: "In my investment letter....I publish model portfolios. We publish model portfolio for aggressive investors, for long-term investors, for balanced investors, and also for income investors. We basically publish several model portfolios."

Honey EC: Brinker certainly made it sound like Marketimer has a virtual smorgasbord of portfolios. Actually, there are only three very similar equity model portfolios and an off-the-books income portfolio of bond mutual funds -- where he recently increased holdings in Vanguard Ginnie Mae Fund back to where they were before he lowered them. 

WHEN HONOR IS LOST, WHAT'S LEFT?  Joe from Laramie said: "I've got your newsletter, probably every copy for the last twenty years.....A question, I've been doing your model portfolio II for years and now I've started getting your income letter, newsletter, a couple of years ago. (referring to Brinker Fixed Income Advisor as being Brinker's -- IT'S NOT!) And I somewhat haphazardly started buying the bond stocks and think I really need to get the mix straight on paper so I really know what I've got. So would it make sense if I took the chunk of money that we've got and said that 65% would be in equity, 30% in bonds and 5% cash. To do like 65% in the Marketimer equity portfolio and then 30% would go into the middle bond portfolio?" (Joe's referring to Brinker's SON'S newsletter because Marketimer doesn't have a "middle bond portfolio. Jr's does.)

Brinker replied: "Joe what you are talking about is something that I just eluded to, a lot of people do this. That's called the mix and the match. And what you do is, you take the given portfolios in the Marketimer investment letter. You select from there. You take portfolios, perhaps from the Brinker Fixed Income Advisor and you might select portfolio holdings from there and you mix them and you match them. My feeling has always been that an investor to do that within the context of their personal investment objectives and their risk tolerance.  I have never seen any problem with that. Joe, I appreciate the kind words, good to hear from you there in Laramie."  

Honey EC: That is a first! Not Brinker's letting the caller believe a lie (that's happened before)  Not Brinker deceiving his national audience in order to sell HIS SON'S newsletter.  The first is Brinker recommending that subscribers need both his and HIS SON'S newsletter to "mix and match." The cost for both newsletters would total $285 a year.....

So what is the difference between Brinker's Marketimer income portfolio and Bobby Jr's portfolios? Very little!  They both contain DoubleLine Total Return Bond Fund (DLTNX), Metro West Total Return Bond Fund (MWTRX), Vanguard Ginnie Mae Fund (VFIIX), and until Bobby Jr sold all of his in October, they both contained Vanguard Wellesley Income Fund (VWINX).  

VANGUARD HIGH YIELD FUND....Caller Bob from New York asked: "From your newsletter, you eliminated the Vanguard High Yield. Was that a call on the fund or on high yield?

Brinker replied: "What happened with that fund when we took it out of the portfolio was this, we saw the yield on the fund drop below 5%. That's very unusual for that fund historically....As a result of that decline in the yield, the net-asset-value of that fund rose so much that I regarded it as an opportunity to take profits. I'm glad you asked that Bob. That decision had nothing to do with the fact that that fund had closed to new investors....It was not related to that. In other words, what I'm saying is, if that fund had remained open to new investors, the exact same decision would have been made."

Honey EC: Brinker can't help but respond to what is written on this blog, and I think it's hilarious. As my regular readers know,  since Brinker sold all of the Vanguard High-yield Fund in the Marketimer income portfolio, I have speculated several times on why he might have done it. When Vanguard closed the fund last August, Brinker recommended Metro Total Return Bond Fund (MWTRX) as a substitute for new subscribers. It makes sense to me that he would sell Vanguard and move the portfolio into Metro so that he could more easily track his performance record. Perhaps I was wrong. 

On the other hand, maybe I wasn't wrong. The truth and what Bob Brinker says don't always match. I'm looking at the October issue of Bobby Jr's Fixed Income Advisor and see that he had previously sold Vanguard High-yield Fund, because it's gone from this issue but he owned it last year.  So Brinker must have copied his son's lead when he sold in October.  

As usual, in the third-hour monologue, Brinker reviewed next week's economic reports. You can keep track here:  Economic Calendar

Brinker's guest today was Lauren Young who writes for Reuters. Here she is on Facebook

Jeffchristie's Moneytalk Final Exam Question:

In the third hour of Moneytalk Bob Brinker talked about beach front property with today's guest. This home in Palm Beach county is owned by which one of the following stock market Gurus.

A) Jimmy Rogers

B) Jim Cramer

C) Bob Brinker

D) Louie Navellier

Answer

San Francisco, Ca. KSFO 560: 1-4pm (KSFO archives Moneytalk Free on Demand for seven days after broadcast. You can download and listen on the go.)  

READ AND POST COMMENTS

November 4, 2012, Bob Brinker's Moneytalk: Summary, Excerpts and Commentary

November 4, 2012....Bob Brinker hosted Moneytalk today.....(comments welcome)

JOBS REPORT....Brinker said: "We got the jobs report on Friday. It was a good report. Private sector jobs increased by 184,000 in the month of October....There was an upward revision for the prior two months -- that brought 84,000 into the count.....The under-employment rate came down to 14.6 -- very high numbers. That includes part-time workers who would like full time and workers that have given up looking.  By the way, the only president since World War II that has been re-elected with an unemployment rate above 6%, there is only one case and that was 1984. On election day 28 years ago, the unemployment rate was 7.2. And despite that Ronald Reagan won re-election in 1984. Unemployment right now, going into election Tuesday is at 7.9%."

Brinker itemized the unemployment demographic based on education:  Bachelor's Degree or higher: 3.8%; high school diploma: 8.4%; high school drop-out: 12.2%.

Honey EC: How can Brinker call that a good report when the unemployment rate is actually up?  And as he has said many times, the added jobs are not enough to bring the unemployed numbers down. 

THE ELECTION....Brinker said: "We are going to have lots of programming today on the election that is just two days away.....It should be interesting. We'll have lots to say on the subject of the elections in our third hour with our guest, and I'll have more to say as we go forward as well. He we are less than a day and half from the opening of the polls in that little New Hampshire community so I think it's a good time for us to take that topic and put it on the table."

Honey EC: Indeed, most of the program was dedicated to politics and the election. Brinker made his predictions again that the House will remain Republican and the Senate Democrat and  "the White House is up for grabs." Personally, I'm sick of all the polling, pontificating and predicting,  so I'll  try not to torture you with very much on the subject. :)

STOCK MARKET:  Wayne in Naperville asked: "Is the outcome of the election going to affect the stock market at all?" 

Brinker replied: "Wellll, the stock market will do what the stock market will do in terms of counting the votes. Short-term response will be whatever it is."

Honey EC: That was it folks. Believe it or not. He never answered Wayne's excellent and reasonable question. Nope! That was Brinker's total stock market commentary today!  Does this show an enormous level of contempt for his listeners? I can tell you this -- he is still fully invested. His projections for the S&P 500 Index is the same as it has been most of this year -- high-1400's to low-1500's -- operating earnings at $102.

Brinker then turned to politics to finish answering Wayne: "But I'll tell you this much. I put odds.....I'm convinced now that the House of Representatives will not change hands......If the president is re-elected, I think we are going to have more of this contention that we have seen. If Mitt Romney is elected, he's going to have to deal with the probability that the Senate will not change hands. So we've had a tremendous amount of gridlock in Washington, especially the past couple of years. I think it's probably a good idea to figure on more gridlock going forward. Why? Because if Romney wins, I think he is going to deal with a majority Democrat Senate. If Obama wins, I'm certain that he's going to deal with a majority GOP House. That's a gridlock formula for sure."

Honey EC: A later caller pointed out to Brinker that Obama had all three branches of government for the first two years of his presidency -- House and Senate were both Democrat controlled. 

BRINKER'S FIXED INCOME ADVICE....Caller Mike from Chicago asked: "With your help, I've got a pretty good handle on the equity portion of my portfolio, but the fixed income side has been a challenge....I recently heard you talk to a caller about Defined Maturity Bond ETF's, and it sounded like an ideal vehicle for building a ladder.....I wonder if you could comment on the pros and cons of that vehicle."

Brinker replied: "I suppose you could put together a ladder using an instrument like that. The reason that I haven't talked much about it -- and that was a caller that brought that up........is because in my point of view in terms of an income portfolio, and it's  certainly a challenging time for an income portfolio, I think you need a lot of diversification in there. And that's what we've done in the investment letter -- in our page 7 income portfolio.  We've put a lot of diversification in there and it's paid off for us. The income portfolio is having an outstanding year and I'm very glad we've gone down that path."

Honey EC: A couple of months ago, Vanguard closed its High-yield Fund (VWEHX) to new investors. Brinker said that Metro West Total Return Fund (MWTRX) could be used as a substitute. Then in October, he sold all of his income portfolio holding in Vanguard High-Yield Fund and replaced the holding with Metro West. That move may make it easier to plot the returns of the portfolio, but I question the wisdom of making it because VWEHX has outperformed Metro over the past couple of years. 

VANGUARD GINNIE MAE FUND (VFIIX) IN A MARKET CRASH: Mike from Littleton, Colorado said: "I did some research and I've been trying to find some assets that don't correlate with the S&P primarily for avoidance of corrections, pull-backs and crashes. So I looked at a lot of ten-year chart. You know we've had two really nice crashes in ten years and pretty much a correction every year -- couple of pullbacks a year along the way. And you know what, the only thing I found that didn't correlate with crashes? Basically  Ginnie Maes. There were things that had a beta of about .5, you know, gold, gold miners. But even corporate bonds, when stocks crash, everything crashes together, except Ginnie Maes. They didn't miss a beat in '02 or '08. Am I missing anything here?"

Brinker replied: "Well, Ginnie Maes have the Treasury guarantee standing behind the mortgage portfolio and therefore there is no principal risk in terms of the re-payment of the principal or interest as long as those mortgages our outstanding. If they're prepaid, then that's the end of them. Then that money has to be re-invested at the prevailing rate.....And that's the reason that you've had that safety quotient in the Ginnie Maes."

Honey EC: Over the past months, Brinker had lowered the Ginnie Mae holdings in his income fund down to only 15%. Coincidentally, callers stopped getting on the air to ask about Ginnie Maes -- which was quite a change from the past when there was usually more than one call every Sunday. Now Brinker has raised the holding to 25%  and Walla! we suddenly have a caller AND Brinker singing Ginnie Mae praises. :) 

One thing that the caller didn't seem to notice and Brinker did not point out -- the dividends are less than half what they were in 2002 or even 2008 -- down to 2.8%.   Another important point that Brinker seems to be ignoring right now is that when interest rates turn up (something Brinker says will happen someday), Ginnie Mae Funds will get creamed! 

GETTING AWAY WITH BLOODY MURDER ON NATIONAL DEBT: Brinker said: "Uncle Sam is very happy to minimize its expense. Right now, they're getting away with, we are all getting away with bloody murder on our 16.2 trillion dollar debt because they're not paying a whole lot in interest. This won't last forever, but as long as it lasts, they are getting away with bloody murder in terms of  financing the extraordinarily high national debt."

COMEDY CALL OF THE DAY: Caller Ray from Illinois said: "You are like the Michael Jordan, and I mean this sincerely because a lot of publications from people out there that call themselves expert and I really followed for the past 19 years. And I must admit that you are the Michael Jordan when it comes to the equity market and the economy."

Brinker replied: "Ray, I appreciate that very much, but I must add to that if you really need a game-winning shot with the clock running down on the hardwood boards, you probably want somebody else to take that final shot in the basketball game. Take my advice."

Brinker's guest-speaker was pollster, John Zogby.

FrankJ pointed out Brinker's new mantra: "We operate in real time."  My question is this: Is that anywhere near "Realsville?" LOL!

San Francisco, Ca. KSFO 560: 1-4pm (KSFO archives Moneytalk Free on Demand for seven days after broadcast. You can download and listen on the go.)  

READ AND POST COMMENTS