This former top Obama official says one silver bullet would raise $500 billion in personal-income tax

It wouldn't take much to rake in a lot of tax money, according to research published Monday by former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, a high-profile economist who served in two Democratic presidential administrations. The federal government could have $535 billion more in its coffers in the coming decade if the Internal Revenue Serviceaudited returns as often as it did back in 2011 — when audit rates were higher than they are now — and focused those audits on millionaires and billionaires, Summers said. “Under-reporting is more than five times as high for individuals who earn $10 million or more annual than it is for those who make under $200,000 a year,” Summers wrote.

Tesla ‘Blade Runner’ pickup truck could be so futuristic that it leaves buyers cold

Some on Wall Street were sounding skeptical about the new Tesla Inc. pickup truck, with the company's shares falling ahead of this week's unveiling, Tesla's first foray into the top car segment in the U.S. Tesla (TSLA) stock fell more than 1% on Monday, after a weekly gain of more than 4% for the previous week. Chief Executive Elon Musk tweeted earlier this month that the pickup truck, which he has called the “cybertruck,” will be unveiled on Thursday in the Los Angeles area.

• Tesla's stock ticks up after Deutsche Bank lifts price target, which implies an 18% decline

  MarketWatch
• Tesla’s New Pickup Truck Is a Mystery. ‘Cyberpunk’ Is Our Only Clue.

  Barrons.com

Disadvantages of Roth IRAs Every Investor Should Know

A Roth IRA is a tax-exempt retirement savings account that holds investments that you choose using after-tax money. If you're thinking about opening an account, consider the disadvantages of Roth IRAs first. Roth and traditional IRAs are excellent ways to stash money away for retirement.

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  Can You Open a Roth IRA For Someone Else?

  Investopedia
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  Do Earnings from a Roth IRA Count Towards Income?

  Investopedia

U.S. and China Are Really Testing the Water, Says Port Shelter’s CEO

Richard Harris, chief executive officer at Port Shelter Investment Management, discusses the U.S.-China trade talks and his outlook for the negotiations and the markets. He speaks on “Bloomberg Markets: Asia.

3 “Strong Buy” Dividend Stocks Yielding 5% — Or More

Buy a stock with a great dividend yield -- significantly higher than what the average S&P stock pays -- and you've gone a long way towards ensuring that your total profits in a given year are at least average, and maybe significantly above average. With this goal in mind, we've employed the Stock Screener at TipRanks to dig up for us a few likely candidates -- stocks paying generous dividend yields of 5% or better, and stocks scoring a "strong buy" rating from Wall Street analysts to boot. First up is oil and natural gas pipeline operator Enterprise Products Partners, and of the three this one offers income investors the biggest dividend yield: 6.8%.

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  Does Information Services Corporation (TSE:ISV) Have A Place In Your Dividend Stock Portfolio?

  Simply Wall St.
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  Trio of Large-Cap Stocks Thrash the S&P 500's Dividend Yield

  GuruFocus.com

Warren Buffett Likes These Stocks Even Better Than Apple

But that's only about half the value of the $103.3 billion Berkshire invested in 17 financials stocks, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Apple and tech stocks account for 30% of Berkshire's portfolio, well below the 43.5% it has invested in financials. And seven of Buffett's top 10 holdings are financials.

Cisco Sues Ex-Employees Over Alleged Trade Secrets Theft

Shortly after resigning their jobs at Cisco this year, the three men joined an unidentified company that competes “in the IP telephony, headset, video, and collaboration space,” according to the complaint. Cisco claims that Wilson Chung, who was one of its principal engineers, downloaded more than 3,000 internal documents containing trade secrets, including information about the company's contributions to 5G technology and its design specification for a video-conferencing prototype, before he left in February. Chung is accused of recruiting another Cisco engineer, James He, to join the competitor.

California to stop buying GM, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler vehicles over emissions fight

California said on Monday it will halt all purchases of new vehicles for state government fleets from GM, Toyota, Fiat Chrysler and other automakers backing U.S. President Donald Trump in a battle to strip the state of authority to regulate tailpipe emissions. Between 2016 and 2018, California purchased $58.6 million in vehicles from General Motors Co , $55.8 million from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV , $10.6 million from Toyota Motor Corp and $9 million from Nissan Motor Co .

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  Parts with passports: how free trade drives GM's engines

  Reuters
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  Auto union now turns focus to Fiat Chrysler; strike possible

  Associated Press

The Fed is buying billions of mortgage bonds — here’s why it matters

The Federal Reserve has dramatically picked up the pace of its mortgage bond purchases in recent months as it seeks to keep the housing finance market on an even keel as borrowers race to refinance. Here are five things to know about the near $30 billion of mortgage bonds that the Fed has set out to buy since late May. This chart from the St. Louis Fed shows the declining value of the central bank's long-term mortgage bondholdings to $1.36 trillion as of Nov. 13, from a peak of more about $1.8 trillion in aftermath of the global financial crisis.

This Is How Retirees Live on $1 Million

Another is to invest the money in a standard portfolio, typically one diversified with mutual fund, stock, and bond investments, then withdraw a fixed percentage of that portfolio each year to pay living expenses. Immediate Annuities The Good For retirees who worry about running out of money at some point, an immediate annuity offers perhaps the single most attractive feature of any retirement product: a fixed-income stream that is guaranteed for life—whether the purchaser dies the day after buying the annuity or lives to be 120. Immediate annuities are sold by life insurance companies.

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  Passing the Buck: The Hidden Costs of Annuities

  Investopedia
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  What Are the Risks of Rolling My 401(k) Into an Annuity?

  Investopedia

6 Social Security Changes for 2019

Every October the Social Security Administration (SSA) announces its annual changes to the Social Security program for the coming year. Here are the Social Security changes that were announced in October 2018 and took effect on Jan. 1, 2019, according to the SSA's annual fact sheet. Keep them in mind when you update your social security information.

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  How Is the Social Security Trust Fund Invested?

  Investopedia
• 
  Social Security Fraud: What Is It Costing Taxpayers?

  Investopedia

FedEx to increase 401(k) employee match in 2021

In a competitive labor market, FedEx plans to increase its 401(k) match for employees as a way to attract and retain talent. Patrick Fitzgerald, senior vice president of integrated marketing and communications for FedEx, detailed the plans to the Memphis Business Journal during a phone interview Monday, Nov. 18. Effective Jan. 1, 2021, FedEx Corp. will implement a new 401(k) plan for its U.S.-based employees that will have an up to 8% employer match across all of its operating companies.

• 
  How FedEx cut its tax bill to $0

  Fox Business
• 
  DeMint on NYT-FedEx dispute: If you believe what you read in the New York Times, get your head examined

  FOX News Videos

VIX Warns Of Imminent Market Correction

The US Federal Reserve continues to push an easy money policy and has recently begun acquiring more dept allowing a deeper move towards a Quantitative Easing stance. You can get all of my trade ideas by opting into my free market trend signals newsletter. When the VIX falls to levels below 12~13, this typically very low level is usually associated with an extreme peak in price.

Biotech Stock Hits Record High On Gene-Silencing Cholesterol Drug

Shares of The Medicines Company popped Monday after the biotech company's approach to cholesterol treatment proved itself over 18 months. On today's stock market, Medicines stock flew 12.8%, to 58.65, in above-average volume. The biotech company's stock topped its previous record high, achieved in midday action on Oct. 22 at 58.48.

HP Board Rejects Xerox Takeover Offer

HP Inc. s board unanimously rejected Xerox Holdings Corp. s unsolicited takeover proposal, saying the $22-a-share offer is too low.

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  UPDATE 2-HP says open to exploring bid for Xerox

  Reuters
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  HP to Xerox: we might buy you actually

  Reuters Videos

China reaffirms anti-cryptocurrency stance

A few weeks ago, many members of the cryptocurrency community were praising China's President Xi Jinping for endorsing blockchain technology. The president's pledge to accelerate blockchain development in China unwittingly sent the price of BTC skyrocketing by a massive 42% in just a few hours. Since his endorsement of blockchain, Xi Jinping has been very vocal in his efforts to remind the world that he's not a fan of cryptocurrencies.

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  Crypto backed by crypto: Dai seeks to change 'stablecoin' game

  Reuters
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  China Crypto Crackdown Elicits Binance, Tron Weibo Appeal

  Bloomberg

California gig economy law to strip truck drivers of highest-paying industry jobs

A California law scheduled to take effect in January will reclassify many independent contractors as employees, and that could strip truck drivers in the state of some of their best-paying opportunities, experts warn. The sweeping law is intended to prevent workers from being wrongly classified as independent contractors, and deprived of basic labor protections as a result. The California Trucking Association filed a lawsuit to prevent the measure from being implemented earlier this month because the law would seriously restrict the activities of independent owner-operators.

Why Rich Investors Are Bracing for a Steep Sell-Off as Turmoil Looms

Bullish buyers have sent the S&P 500 Index soaring to a series of record highs this month, but wealthy investors are bracing for a significant market decline by the end of 2020, and now hold, on average, 25% of their assets in cash, according to a worldwide survey by UBS Global Wealth Management that drew more than 3,400 responses. “The rapidly changing geopolitical environment is the biggest concern for investors around the world,” as Paula Polito, client strategy officer at UBS GWM, observed in a statement. UBS polled investors with $1 million or more in investable assets, which include cash and marketable securities, but exclude residences and personal property.

Marijuana Stocks Are Tumbling — Are Any Good Buys Right Now?

Marijuana stocks received enormous hype after legal recreational sales took hold in Canada and sales became legal in some form or another across more than half of the U.S. Producers in Canada listed on the big U.S. exchanges, while their U.S. counterparts sought listings in Canada. Are any marijuana stocks on major U.S. exchanges a good buy now? Overall, the marijuana industry is showing little profit growth as weed producers burn through money to expand.

Union Bank names new regional president in the Bay Area

Sandy Walia has been named Union Bank's regional president for Northern California and the Pacific Northwest branch banking division. Walia will play a prominent role representing Union Bank in the local community, the bank said. Walia, who will oversee a network of 111 branches and almost 600 employees in the region, will continue in her role as managing director and head of client services for PurePoint Financial.

If you have these personality traits, you could be at higher risk of going broke in retirement

Do you have the personality to retire rich — and stay that way? Your personality and other personal traits may have more of an impact on how fast you spend your retirement savings than factors such as your age, marital status, desire to leave an inheritance, and whether you continue to work during retirement, according to a study published Monday in the journal Psychology and Aging. Two traits — conscientiousness (for example, you are organized, thorough, hardworking and cautious) and financial self-efficacy (which is a sense of resilience and control over financial situations) — had the strongest direct relationship with the rate in which people withdrew from their retirement savings accounts.