BAC-WT - Bank of America Warrants

[jay21]

Other companies that have benefited from buybacks: azo, an, gps, tjx, aap, pm

 

Those are just off the top of my head (notice 3 of them are current/past ESL holdings).  Personally, I look for "intelligent" buybacks as a sign of smart management.  For instance, in 2012 stra suspended its dividend and for most of the year stopped buying back stock.  Then, in November and December, rather than reinstate their dividend, they bought back almost 5% of their shares in those 2 months alone.  Impressive.

 

Mevsemt.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Cant argue with that.  When I said above that I hate buyacks, I meant the vast majority that are done poorly.  BAC announcing that they were going to do only 5 billion sent my alarm bells up as to "how is this going to make a difference".

 

I don't its fair to say that because the number was determined by the Fed.  With the $5b they could return, they chose to buy stock below TBV rather than dividends.  That seems smart.

[rkbabang]

The top tax rate on dividends is more than 35% in California.

 

Eric, you need to move to New Hampshire. No income tax, no sales tax, no capital gains tax, and a 5% interest&dividends tax applicable to interest and dividends over $2500/yr. 

 

[wescobrk]

Eric, you need to move to New Hampshire. No income tax, no sales tax, no capital gains tax, and a 5% interest&dividends tax applicable to interest and dividends over $2500/yr"

 

Or Florida, no state income tax and you still get lots of sunshine.

[Cardboard]

Even Canada seems better. Lots of sales tax although.

 

Cardboard

[ERICOPOLY]

Even Canada seems better. Lots of sales tax although.

 

Cardboard

 

Miles better in Canada.  Oh my gosh!

 

You guys pay 25% on a short term capital gain, right?  I mean, the tax treatment is the same for all capital gains -- there is no "short" or "long" term.

 

52% is the top rate in California for short term capital gains!

 

I mean, we're talking more than twice as much!

 

[MrB]

The top tax rate on dividends is more than 35% in California.

 

Eric, you need to move to New Hampshire. No income tax, no sales tax, no capital gains tax, and a 5% interest&dividends tax applicable to interest and dividends over $2500/yr.

 

What happens if someone living in California moves to New Hampshire? How long before NH taxes apply?

[sswan11]

How about Singapore - no cap gains tax, low income tax, 'happening' place:

 

http://www.guidemesingapore.com/taxation/topics/singapore-tax-rates

 

Personal Tax Rates (for more details, see Singapore Individual Tax Guide)

Income Tax Rate

Tax rate on first 20,000 0%

Tax rate on next 10,000 2%

Tax rate on next 10,000 3.5%

Tax rate on next 40,000 7%

Tax rate on next 40,000 11.5%

Tax rate on next 40,000 15%

Tax rate on next 40,000 17%

Tax rate on next 120,000 18%

Tax rate on above 320,000 20%

Tax rate on capital gains 0%

Tax rate on income earned overseas 0%

Tax rate on dividends received from Singapore company

[MYDemaray]

Wrote a piece on the whole Countrywide litigation issue: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1354071-did-bank-of-america-just-effectively-limit-its-countrywide-liabilities

 

[rkbabang]

The top tax rate on dividends is more than 35% in California.

 

Eric, you need to move to New Hampshire. No income tax, no sales tax, no capital gains tax, and a 5% interest&dividends tax applicable to interest and dividends over $2500/yr.

 

What happens if someone living in California moves to New Hampshire? How long before NH taxes apply?

 

You'd probably have to file CA taxes as a partial year resident the year you moved for the months you still lived there, but you are no longer subject to CA taxes for any interest/income/capital gains/dividends that you earn the moment you are officially a NH resident.

 

I moved from MA (Taxachusetts) which has a 12% short-term capital gains rate (as well as an income tax, sales tax, dividend tax, higher taxes on gasoline, higher car insurance rates, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc ....) it was more like escaping than moving.

 

[PlanMaestro]

Wrote a piece on the whole Countrywide litigation issue: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1354071-did-bank-of-america-just-effectively-limit-its-countrywide-liabilities

 

Good work Michael.

[ERICOPOLY]

So far only Florida is a reasonable trade for somebody who likes to be warm, lightly dressed, and outdoors.

 

Here in Santa Barbara, it was 75 yesterday, will be 76 today, 75 tomorrow, and 70 on Sunday.  Girls playing volleyball at the beach and they're not dressed like Canadians.  You've probably forgotten what a tennis skirt looks like.

[rkbabang]

http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Bedford+NH+03110:4:US

 

71° right now in my town in sothern NH.  72° high for today.  Yeah, we still had snow on the ground at the beginning of April, and it got down into the 20's a few nights ago, but spring is starting to arrive.

 

 

 

[Straddle]

Even Canada seems better. Lots of sales tax although.

 

Cardboard

 

Miles better in Canada.  Oh my gosh!

 

You guys pay 25% on a short term capital gain, right?  I mean, the tax treatment is the same for all capital gains -- there is no "short" or "long" term.

 

52% is the top rate in California for short term capital gains!

 

I mean, we're talking more than twice as much!

 

Here in Belgium you pay 0%  ;)

 

The only tax I've ever paid on my stock trading gains are the taxes on dividends (25%).

[Olmsted]

http://www.weather.com/weather/today/Bedford+NH+03110:4:US

 

71° right now in my town in sothern NH.  72° high for today.  Yeah, we still had snow on the ground at the beginning of April, and it got down into the 20's a few nights ago, but spring is starting to arrive.

 

Trying to convince my wife to make NH our eventual destination. I love the weather, woods, mountains, and low taxes. The wife is not huge on snow.  Oh well.

[rkbabang]

Snow is definitely something you need to deal with in NH.  I grew up in New England and have never lived anywhere else, so a life without snow is unthinkable to me.  I'm 40 yrs old yet I still get excited the first time it snows every year.  The lack of snow is just one of the many reasons I'd never think to move to southern CA or FL. The snow is beautiful everywhere you look here. Here's a picture I took this winter of my house: House in Winter.  There's nothing like coming in from snow shoeing and drinking tea by the fire.

[fareastwarriors]

Snow is definitely something you need to deal with in NH.  I grew up in New England and have never lived anywhere else, so a life without snow is unthinkable to me.  I'm 40 yrs old yet I still get excited the first time it snows every year.  The lack of snow is just one of the many reasons I'd never think to move to southern CA or FL. The snow is beautiful everywhere you look here. Here's a picture I took this winter of my house: House in Winter.  There's nothing like coming in from snow shoeing and drinking tea by the fire.

 

 

I lived in Northern California all my life but I went to school in New York for 4 years. I experienced snow there.  Maybe I am misguided but I always felt like it was more expensive to live in a snowy area. The cost to heat the home, time/cost of salting driveways and walkways, time/cost of plowing, snow/winter tires, and other expenses and inconveniences...

 

I live in area that is not too hot in the Summer and not too cold in Spring so I don't have a heater or an A/C.

 

Is my preception about expenses in snowy area just wrong?

 

[rkbabang]

If you live somewhere where it is 60-70 degrees all year round and you never need heat or A/C I suppose you would save a ton of money.  If you live in AZ or FL you are going to spend a fortune on A/C and if you live in NH you are going to spend more on heat and only need to turn on the A/C occasionally in the summer. Many house here don't even have A/C.  My house is 240 years old and uninsulated so my costs are higher than average for heat (to say the least) and I only have A/C installed in the bedrooms for sleeping.  But with most modern houses the costs aren't that high.  If you have natural gas you probably would pay around $350/month for an average 3000sqft house in the worst 2 months of the year to heat it, that would drop down every month to nothing in the late spring until ramping up again from $0 starting in the early to mid-fall.  Oil would be a bit more.  I use a combination of oil, an electric heat pump, and a wood stove to heat my house.  I went through 4 cords of wood this winter, but like I said all the walls are uninsulated and the windows are from the remodel the house went through in the mid-1800s, definitely not the typical case.

[ERICOPOLY]

The swimming pool costs more to heat in the winter than I ever spent on my home in Puget Sound.

 

Of course, the difference is the lifestyle:  keeping an outdoor pool heated to 90f is luxurious  :D  In summer the solar heating for the pool takes care of keeping it at 90f.  The heating bill is just for the winter.  We spent most of the Christmas school holidays outside in the pool. 

 

We don't want snow in the neighborhood, it would kill the avocado trees (which are laden with fruit all the time).

 

Here, you get winter on demand.  Just get in the car and drive 5.5 hours to the town of June Lake or Mammoth Lakes.  Awesome downhill skiing whenever it's convenient -- but you don't have to shovel snow at your house or "winterize" the RV.

 

March in Death Valley was 100 -- you can camp here year round if you aren't a skier.

 

I don't know, I grew up in California and I just think it has everything.  Highest elevation in the lower 48 (Mt. Whitney which I've been to the top of).  Lowest elevation (Death Valley).  Beaches.  Desert.  Redwood forests.  Cities.  Country.

 

But, the taxes!  It's just crazy and I was "okay" with the bargain coming in to the place knowing 1/2 of the money is in the RothIRA.  Take that away though... I don't know, that drives the cost of living here way up.

[Parsad]

The swimming pool costs more to heat in the winter than I ever spent on my home in Puget Sound.

 

Of course, the difference is the lifestyle:  keeping an outdoor pool heated to 90f is luxurious  :D  In summer the solar heating for the pool takes care of keeping it at 90f.  The heating bill is just for the winter.  We spent most of the Christmas school holidays outside in the pool. 

 

We don't want snow in the neighborhood, it would kill the avocado trees (which are laden with fruit all the time).

 

Here, you get winter on demand.  Just get in the car and drive 5.5 hours to the town of June Lake or Mammoth Lakes.  Awesome downhill skiing whenever it's convenient -- but you don't have to shovel snow at your house or "winterize" the RV.

 

March in Death Valley was 100 -- you can camp here year round if you aren't a skier.

 

I don't know, I grew up in California and I just think it has everything.  Highest elevation in the lower 48 (Mt. Whitney which I've been to the top of).  Lowest elevation (Death Valley).  Beaches.  Desert.  Redwood forests.  Cities.  Country.

 

But, the taxes!  It's just crazy and I was "okay" with the bargain coming in to the place knowing 1/2 of the money is in the RothIRA.  Take that away though... I don't know, that drives the cost of living here way up.

 

Hah!  It doesn't have everything, ok!  What about rain? 

 

You don't have all of the rain we get over here.  So stop moaning about how perfect California is and that it has everything.  Oh, wait a sec!  Cheers!

 

[fareastwarriors]

The swimming pool costs more to heat in the winter than I ever spent on my home in Puget Sound.

 

Of course, the difference is the lifestyle:  keeping an outdoor pool heated to 90f is luxurious  :D  In summer the solar heating for the pool takes care of keeping it at 90f.  The heating bill is just for the winter.  We spent most of the Christmas school holidays outside in the pool. 

 

We don't want snow in the neighborhood, it would kill the avocado trees (which are laden with fruit all the time).

 

Here, you get winter on demand.  Just get in the car and drive 5.5 hours to the town of June Lake or Mammoth Lakes.  Awesome downhill skiing whenever it's convenient -- but you don't have to shovel snow at your house or "winterize" the RV.

 

March in Death Valley was 100 -- you can camp here year round if you aren't a skier.

 

I don't know, I grew up in California and I just think it has everything.  Highest elevation in the lower 48 (Mt. Whitney which I've been to the top of).  Lowest elevation (Death Valley).  Beaches.  Desert.  Redwood forests.  Cities.  Country.

 

But, the taxes!  It's just crazy and I was "okay" with the bargain coming in to the place knowing 1/2 of the money is in the RothIRA.  Take that away though... I don't know, that drives the cost of living here way up.

 

+1

 

Love being close to everything.

All I am missing is some nice beaches up here. 8)

 

 

[Rabbitisrich]

Wrote a piece on the whole Countrywide litigation issue: http://seekingalpha.com/article/1354071-did-bank-of-america-just-effectively-limit-its-countrywide-liabilities

 

Good article.

[Ross812]

There was some discussion about this earlier. I had time to graph it today.

Bank of America rising share count:

 

[jay21]

There was some discussion about this earlier. I had time to graph it today.

Bank of America rising share count:

 

 

If you have some time, could you please graph it in terms of YoY or Q to Q change?  I want to see how different 2003 to 2007 is from recently.

 

Thanks

[Liberty]

Thanks for the graph. If you feel like graphing some more, it would be really interesting to see how that compares with other big banks (though the starting point will matter a lot for that, so maybe a table comparing yearly percentages would be better..).

[Ross812]

Thanks for the graph. If you feel like graphing some more, it would be really interesting to see how that compares with other big banks (though the starting point will matter a lot for that, so maybe a table comparing yearly percentages would be better..).

 

I'll get to it this weekend.