The Stock Market and Investing

gagrice

Middle class means different things to different people. Noah is right that most people think they are middle class. Wiki offers an early concept of middle class:

The middle class is a class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class. The common measures of what constitutes middle class vary significantly between cultures.

Hmmm

Another definition equated the middle class to the original meaning of capitalist: someone with so much capital that they could rival nobles. In fact, to be a capital-owning millionaire was the essential criterion of the middle class in the industrial revolution.

Here is another definition of middle class:

The American middle class is a social class in the United States. While the concept is typically ambiguous in popular opinion and common language use, contemporary social scientists have put forward several, more or less congruent, theories on the American middle class. Depending on class model used, the middle class may constitute anywhere from 25% to 66% of households.

Between 25% and 66% is a pretty wide range. I guess if more of your friends in the middle class voted for Obama than Romney that will be your opinion. In my circle of middle class friends. NONE voted for Obama this time.

gagrice

Why is 50K a cutoff?

Why is $30k or $100k or pick a number?

I am not trying to defend Romney or his plan. He did not convince the electorate and lost. End of that story. He had his chance. I do think he would have removed the uncertainty that surrounds our economy. I don't think people would be bailing out of the markets for fear of whatever. Face it Obama is a loose cannon. He says one thing and does another. He is owned by Wall Street and by skid row. That leaves the middle class whoever they are out in the cold.

cdnpinhead

Blame will fall to Obama. . .

Never gonna happen. The collective memory of the great unwashed is about 20 minutes, and with the MSM (as it's called here) posting excuses by the dozen, anything in the past that doesn't fit within their agenda never happened.

1984 was a book written with the wrong title, but many of the right concepts.

gagrice

It is difficult to overcome a mesmerized bunch of MSM Wonks. Don't they know Obama is just a good reader?

I do think the automatic cuts to programs like food stamps will have an impact. Whether it makes any difference we will not know until 2014.

Time to just try and find some safe investment. I know people that are investing in foreign banks as they do not trust our system any more. Be careful not all countries allow large amounts to come in or go out legally.

kyfdx

The fiscal cliff does not worry the Democrats. They want higher tax rates, and that happens on day 1.. The cuts in spending can be back-loaded to the end of the year.

In reality, they have the hammer, once January 1st gets here.. If the Republicans have any negotiating leverage, it's now.... before Congress gets annihilated in the press, if no deal is reached..

gagrice

There are immediate spending cuts also. The current two year Unemployment will end. That could be a shock to a lot of folks that got laid off in the last 6 months. The 2% deduction on payroll taxes will end. A 2% reduction in MC payments to providers. Cuts to Doctors serving MC patients.

A Congressional Budget Office study in May estimated that the fiscal cliff would force tax hikes and spending cuts totaling over $600 billion in the first nine months of next year — or perhaps $800 billion or so over the entire year if allowed to stay in effect.

I think that will look worse on Obama's watch than Congress that never gets any respect anyway.

cyclone4

Speaking of the fiscal cliff, take a loot at this article. He talks about the prospects of the cliff and AAPL in particular. On a morning when AAPL is crashing (due to raising of margin requirements?). This guy makes a lot of sense in my opinion.

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11784577/1/the-ultimate-fiscal-cliff-stock-apple.- html?puc=yahoo&cm_ven=YAHOO

ljflx

Obama got his victory and supposed mandate from the poor, not the middle class. Take out the votes of the big cities where the poor are concentrated and Obama got slaughtered in this election. He hardly has a mandate that is representative of the population, it's all concentrated in people who pay little or no fed income taxes. Of course they would want more taxes on the higher income people. Obama won't pay the deficit with that, he'll dole it right out.

imidazol97

> mandate

The prez has no mandate. Indeed many members of the House were elected with much greater majority of vote than the prez got. The House has a better mandate position than the prez.

The Republicans need to stand firm to thwart the games from the prez.

ljflx

Not really. You have a debt ceiling issue a month later. That's the issue coming up that may be even dicier than the fiscal cliff. Obama wants unlimited power to raise that debt ceiling to whatever he wants or needs. How can anyone not see how sick his spending spree is given he feels that he alone, with no input or approval from congress can keep raising the debt ceiling. It tells you loud and clear where he's going with deficit spending and he's not about to reign it in, he's about to expand it. The Reps may well be just trying to buy time and then let us default on our debt by denying approval. That's the big hammer they have. The dems power is a much higher estate tax which effects the middle class and business negatively. Both parties are playing with fire here. Never have I seen a wider expanse in the parties or in America.

houdini1

Fin, I have had my say on all of this and I'm just not in the mood to argue. Whatever happens is going to happen.

cyclone4

Fin, I have had my say on all of this and I'm just not in the mood to argue. Whatever happens is going to happen.

I say Amen to that!! However, I still strongly believe that a deal will get done.

robr2

...up almost 7% today the old fashioned way. They fired 11,000 people today to make year end figures look good.

Merry Christmas.

anthonyp

Looks like the Red states are doing pretty well therefore they don`t want any more taxes, the Blue states need a helping hand therefore they are willing to pay higher taxes

Looks to me that our system --taken with a longer view--is indicative that the nation is fairly balanced , like fifty percent to forty nine percent, and the House in particular represents a fairly high percentage of the population...Our system has worked all along..After all we all came into the world with nothing but our parents to care for us, and we all have now got an opinion, and money in our `pocket`

I hope the Republicans can hold out for meaningful cuts, and concede many of the deductions permitted for the special few.....

No matter what the numbers allude to , I will end up paying more taxes, even if my income were to plummet Just the way it has always been for me....I`l complain but so what....Tony

carnaught

Anybody buying aapl on the free-fall? Tempting at 538 in the after hours. If we only knew where the slide would end cause I truly believe it's coming back.

ljflx

Wish I could tell you. The stock is behaving very strangely and suddenly all the news is bad again. Apple can only fall so much. It has so much cash on hand that it'll break $200bln in cash in 18 months or less. What's it going to trade at 2X it's cash on hand while some green kid tells you he knows more about its market than senior management? It just added 50 countries the iPhone 5 will sell into which should be very bullish. I read today that the iPhone 5 and iPad are losing marketshare. Well if that marketshare is going to be a loss I will gladly take the lower marketshare. Apple invented a category with both products and takes a high percentage of the profits in one and at least half of the profits in another. The categories are expanding in size but in today's articles its written as if the markets were fixed in size and Apple is losing share. I'd rather have the high margin, high EBITDA of the market rather than a loss amount with a maintenance of marketshare. I have no trust in the media reports on this stock. The stock is highly manipulated and you need to take a Warren Buffett LT view of it so you have to have an iron stomach when its manipulated like it was today without a smidgeon of news or a change in fundamentals. Is it a buy? Well a $506bln market cap with what will be about $135bln in cash in a few weeks and earnings of $55bln next year certainly says its a screaming buy. By my math thats a PE of 6.75X future earnings and that is absurd. If you buy into a further drop in share price the PE will get so low that the company can simply borrow and take back a controlling interest. And who in his right mind wouldn't buy Apple bonds? The line will be longer than the iPhone 5 lines we saw.

gagrice

I still go with the idea it all has to do with LTCG. I know a widow lady with several thousand shares her husband bought back when it was under $10. How many of those people are trying to sell before the end of the year? Every time more bad news about the fiscal cliff another selling surge. And buying. Maybe the margin rule change had some negative impact as well.

It said COR Clearing, based in Omaha, Neb., has raised its margin requirement on Apple to 60% from 30%, "citing a 'high concentration'" of ownership.

A higher margin requirement means that investors either must put up more of their own money to buy Apple stock or sell shares so they don't have to put in more cash.

Apple has been a volatile stock of late. Shares tumbled 28% from Sept. 21 to Nov. 16, after hitting an all-time high of 705.07.

robr2

Apple has been a volatile stock of late. Shares tumbled 28% from Sept. 21 to Nov. 16

This has probably more to do with that clearing house raising margin requirements. I had a friend who was a broker at one time. He left the business after the banking crisis because he hated having to call clients that had traded on margin and now had to come up with the cash. The clearing house doesn't want to have to carry any losses on a wild riding stock.

ljflx

OK - this is where the stupidity and the absolute craziness comes in and you have to wonder if this guy is dumb or he thinks everyone else his. He sees a 50-70% decline in Apple shares from current levels. Lets see now - that means a future share price of $161-$268. Market cap wise that means $151bln-$253Bln. Meanwhile the company will have $225bln in cash on hand in 18 months growing at $55bln a year if it stands still. So forget about a company trading below book value because it'll be trading at below its cash on hand. Ever hear of a company just taking itself off the market and still having as much as $70 bln in cash on hand left? Basically that says investors will value the earnings negatively and will pay Apple management $70bln to take a company making $55bln a year private. How stupid can you possibly be? Or how stupid do you think the rest of us could possibly be? Naturally he gives no reason on why this will happen and he's scared to short the stock.

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/paul-schatz-apple-is-going-down-down-down.htm- - - - - - - - l/

gagrice

I got tired of waiting on "C" to move. Sold it all at a loss. I may need losses the next few years in CA with their taxation plans. At least until we take up residence in another state.

Thanks to passage of Proposition 30 last month, high-income Californians would pay the nation's highest marginal income tax rates -- nearly 52 percent -- if President Barack Obama and Congress fail to make a deal to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff," according to a new study.

http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2012/12/high-income-californians-may-- pay-nations-highest-tax-rate.html

fintail

Which president has had a "mandate that is representative of the population"? They do as their special interest funders say, nothing else. New guy comes in every 4-8 years, same sacred pigs still continue to feed at the trough, etc.

Also take votes out of places where people tend to be literate, and no doubt Willard didn't fare as hot as some imply (without evidence).

And Willard had a mandate of the 1%, which was soundly rejected by a majority of Americans. End of story. Move on. Instead of being sore losers, the defeated should be looking forward to the next election, just a few years away. Can they pull it off, can they put up, as they are certainly not going to shut up?

Wow, some people with unrepeatable fortunes are very bitter that their "destined" savior couldn't put it together. But the markets still don't seem to care. Hmmm

fintail

I'd call it close to 25% than 66%. Yes, there is no standard definition. But I can't see any reasonable person saying a family with a 50K income is "middle class". I make a bit more than that, am single, and I don't feel like I am making any real money. But I also feel fortunate for what I do have.

And depending on how you look at it, there isn't much of a middle class. There is about a top 5% or so who can survive any economic crisis, and the rest are kind of at their disposal - even affluent people, or people who think they are. There's varying degrees of serfdom, and 21st century gentry. Little middle ground, and the greatest gap since the gilded age. Makes sense, as this is a new gilded age.

Certainly closer to 25% than 66% have any noteworthy (say 25K+) investment portfolios, too.

fintail

That's right, and it doesn't matter much who we vote for. The same structural and fundamental problems exist. Politics become a distraction from real issues (trade, debt, education, infrastructure).

fintail

Funny, the same people are out in the cold no matter who would have won. I don't see either candidate as being able to help my lot - so then one might ust choose the devil they know, and one who doesn't always act like a trust fund [non-permissible content removed]. Weren't we promised a 5 point economic plan? I'd love to see it now.

ljflx

Fin - you win. All you want is an argumeent and it's fruitless. I've made my points and I'm done with it and tired of the subject.

gagrice

Tell me the fat cats are not playing with AAPL. 20 million shares traded in an hour and a half. With a $30 price swing. It is more fun watching the market from the sidelines right now.

cyclone4

Here is Brian White's (an Apple bull with Topeka Capital) reasoning for yesterday's collapse. He thinks it is definitely tax related. I did buy 10 more shares yesterday but it certainly was not at the low. My price was about $552.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ericsavitz/2012/12/06/apples-slide-was-it-really-abo- - - ut-year-end-tax-selling/?partner=yahootix

houdini1

I bought 25 shares at $521 early today. So far so good. To celebrate and help the stock price, I bought an iPad mini. I am posting on it as we type.

ljflx

If RIM gets some profits it'll be trading at a higher multiple than Apple.

fintail

Duly noted.

Anyone want to start a bet that the nation won't plunge off the cliff? I suspect the financial/business community along with many who want to be in it, think there will be some kind of deal.

cdnpinhead

Crickets.

fintail

And at the same time, I think there's a segment out there (not only those bitter about last month) who is hoping not just for a run off of some hyped cliff, but for some degree of economic collapse. Just to have their thoughts about politics or economic issues validated. Wouldn't be for the best though, if they lost it all and had to rebuild in hard times, they probably wouldn't be able to "build it" again.

robr2

...interesting article.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100271018?__source=yahoo%7Cmacmadeinusa%7C&par=yahoo

Lemme guess - the market will bash AAPL because doing so will cut margins.

anthonyp

HI Charlie

The `Fool` has a good balanced report on Apple.....If you don`t subscribe to it I think it to be worth the forty nine dollar a year cost.....

The report does deal with alot of the different cross currents , but as we both are a `believer` this writeup does give many details and is helpful to understand different issues ...Tony

gagrice

Judge not impressed in the trial.

At Thursday's hearing, Koh was clearly exasperated by the bickering between the world's two leading smartphone makers.

"When is this case going to resolve?" Koh asked the parties after more than three hours of testimony, the FT reported. "I think it's time for global peace ... . If there is any way this court can facilitate some sort of resolution, I'd like to do that. I think it would be good for consumers and good for the industry."

Both Apple and Samsung have filed separate lawsuits covering newer products, including the Samsung Galaxy Note II. That case is pending in U.S. District Court in San Jose and is set for trial in 2014, Reuters reported. The two companies are engaged in similar patent infringement lawsuits in Europe and Asia.

http://news.investors.com/technology/120712-636157-apple-samsung-argue-over-tria- l-damages-injunctions.htm#ixzz2EPn25G2B

Trial in 2014, hmmm, they will be selling the Note 4 by then. No one but the attorneys profiting from this ignorance.

cyclone4

Tony,

If you are talking about the Mötley Fool, I have been reading a lot of their articles and litterly dozens of others recently. I have indeed read some balanced reports on Apple. I have also read some moronic ones as well. As Len already stated, it is beyond belief why these sites would give the time of day to make nonsensical predictions. For example, one guy (Ed Zabinsky) has been predicting the stock to plummet to $270 for a year now. Anyone that has followed his advice, must be bankrupt by now since he started making these predictions when the stock was trading at around $425-450.

Keep the faith Tony!

ljflx

Gotta love that $270 prediction with Apple building to $200bln in cash which is about $222 a share in cash. So excash he'd price Apple at less than 1X PE. But now I've seen the absolute absurd that makes the $270 look bullish. There's one prediction of a further 50-70% drop which would put the stock as low as $160, well under it's cash per share by the time it gets there and at a valuation pre iPhone and iPad. In fact that prediction is barely over Apple's current quarter cash per share of about $135. Clearly these predictions are senseless and written by frontmen for hedge funds that want to scare the daylights out of retail investors who only track stock price and don't understand financial statements. All hedge funds need is a tiny change in prices to make volumes of money and they feed off of negative or positive press that will drive that change. IMO - after they can't move Apple anymore (which was a great target because of so many LT holders that will sell for better cap gains treatment) they will move on to Amazon and/or Google. I actually look for common sense articles on why Apple's stock can go a lot lower, the problem is other than on technicals, you can't find any. The problem I have with technical analysis is that they are usually based on trading that is taking a stock lower because fundamentals don't support the price, and when thats the case they are good, but that is not the case at all with Apple. We are seeing expansion into 50 more countries with the iPhone, a newly refreshed product cycle, phenomenal demand for Apple products etc etc. None of this supports weak fundamentals and margin suppression, if it exists at all, is very small while sales volume increases. Those trying to explain the fall thru fundamentals point to margin suppression and lower marketshare as if the sales volume and market size have peaked and are frozen or falling. Truth is Apple is not chasing the market that is looking for price dumped iPad copied products, or cheap iPhone ripoffs, so of course they are going to lose marketshare if you count that in. It would be like Mercedes chasing cheap Hyundai cars. But Apple owns the profitable side of the tablet marketshare and along with Samsung's higher quality smartphones it owns the highly profitable smartphone marketshare. The other thing I love is that the same guys that knocked the Surface and window phones from here to kingdom come now portray them as monster threats. Meanwhile Microsoft can't sell the surface though I think it will eventually sell to the corporate crowd if they can price justify it.

ljflx

Read thru this article to see what hedge funds will do to drive price changes in stocks or anything for that matter. They will resort to anything - whether legal or illegal and I'm sure most of the time it is the latter.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/08/business/insider-trading-persists-and-gets-ste- - althier.html?_r=0&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1354990562-o50bz4ccz6xTAWgRU2m0rA

anthonyp

Although the cash aapl has, it largely offshore....I really don`t understand how they use it. Unfortunately aapl could build plants and employ many foreign people...They could also build and fund research plants abroad.....Now if the government gave them the chance to bring those profits back to the U S, maybe with the tax being ten or fifteen percent, they would do so, and further return some of that to the shareholders...

Jobs would never have permitted the company to do stock buybacks, but I bet he would have given into a dividend......There is no reason for them to have such a horde of cash , and I think they should increase their dividend, and that would stop this mini crash in it`s tracks.....

I personally an going to take another chance on this if this decline continues....large investment....as I believe in the company......Man I am getting killed on not letting the `kid` buy fb......Wonder what is going to happen with that one? Tony

robr2

Man I am getting killed on not letting the `kid` buy fb......Wonder what is going to happen with that one?

I dollar cost averaged into it over the course of 8 weeks. I'm up 34% since August. Analysts have raised the high target price to $38. I'm holding for now.

ljflx

This is OT to this forum but the car boards are absolutely dead these days so I post it here. The new S-class looks great in this pix:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://media.emercedesbenz.com/magazine/wp-c- - - - - - ontent/uploads/2013-s-class-feature-635x360.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.emercedesbe- - - - - - nz.com/category/autos/mercedes-benz/s-class/page/2/&h=360&w=635&sz=60&tbnid=V-xw- - - - - - 5o7rOaSRRM:&tbnh=68&tbnw=120&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dnew%2Bmb%2Bs%2Bclass%2B2013%26tb- - - - - - m%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=new+mb+s+class+2013&usg=__VtXiRI9AHXZbd-jpgWveAMo9HV- - - - - - 8=&docid=pse6IbdQ5LlODM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=MMzEUPqmG46z0QGG4IDICA&sqi=2&ved=0CFQQ9QEw- - - - - - Ag&dur=854

Looks too Taurus/Chrysler 300 like in the rear in this one:

http://www.qaccipinho.com/new-mercedes-benz-s-class-2013.html/mercedes-benz-s-cl- - - - - - [non-permissible content removed]-2013-1

And looks too much like an e-class follower rather than an s-class leader in this one.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://cdn3.worldcarfans.co/2012/5/22/big/17- - - - - - 03884457990157729.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.worldcarfans.com/112052244562/2013-me- - - - - - rcedes-s-class-rendered--speculated&h=444&w=660&sz=57&tbnid=uvni8hhhSdAIuM:&tbnh- - - - - - =90&tbnw=134&prev=/search%3Fq%3D2013%2Bmercedes%2Bs-class%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du- - - - - - &zoom=1&q=2013+mercedes+s-class&usg=__E7fVF-m0UYTePals5wUtnlx4WK0=&docid=hvy8aNv- - - - - - uBzXnTM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=18zEULvIIZOP0QHZ7oD4CQ&sqi=2&ved=0CGEQ9QEwAg&dur=1

Well - I've got 9 months to decide and a bunch of Obama tax issues to go through before I get there. I didn't like the S550 at first either but then the more I saw it the more I loved it. Maybe when I see this one in person it will be the same. Need to see the interior and the supposed revolutionary technology it's supposed to have. Based on pix today I might be tempted to take a leftover 2012 which I'm sure will be heavily discounted. But I have never taken an exiting model in my life.

BTW - daimler shutting down Maybach which makes the Maybach like 2012/13 S-class tempting:

http://www.edmunds.com/autoobserver-archive/2011/11/daimler-to-drop-maybach-bran- - - d-focus-on-new-mercedes-s-class.html

houdini1

Hmmmm.....All those pics are disappointing to me. Just too extreme looking for my taste. I'll stick with my LS 460.

fintail

Some pretty poor renders there, but I will predict it is similar to the first and third - a taller CLS. Some MB execs seem to be a little jealous that BMW has a more youthful/sporty image, and are trying (too) hard to make MB look a little edgy. Not fundamentally different from the "no attention is bad attention" recent Lexus front end treatments.

I'd also say there's some chance we won't see a new S until model year 2015 (with a very early release - current style S-class starting model year 2007 was on American roads by Jan 06). Europe gets the cars well before us, so if they see it next year, there will be a delay here. The tech is indeed impressive - these cars set the stage for what trickles down (it works for cars!) to normal cars about a decade later.

If money is an issue (noticed tax concerns), use real smart money and buy a low miles slightly used one with a good long warranty. They depreciate like day old bread.

Second link is just a mildly stretched Hyundai Equus - maybe the least stylish large lux car.

ljflx

No - you're wrong about that. The dealership maintenance depts already have been trained on the new model (they need a 3-6 month window ahead of sales) and it's due out soon based on what they told me when I serviced my GL. They may be trying to time it with the NY auto show.

fintail

That would be a huge change from the past, guess I will have to see it to believe it. A very experienced salesman at my local dealer also told me the C diesel is just around the corner - 2 years ago.

Current model S-class, starting here for model year 2007, was unveiled at Frankfurt and was in production from summer 2005. Next S-class hasn't been seen yet, isn't in production yet (I was at the factory last month - but I did see a couple prototypes driving around). They must really be speeding things up if it is to be here so soon. Earliest I could imagine seeing one on the road here would be summer, which might make sense for a 2014 MY launch rather than doing it in January.

gagrice

Looks like a person looking for prime real estate better get the move on.

Chinese buyers lead foreign investment in US housing market

As the U.S. housing market slowly starts to recover, foreign investment is helping it along.

According to the National Association of Realtors, non-American buyers accounted for $82 billion in home sales last year. More than $7 billion of that is by the Chinese, who are now the second largest foreign home purchasers after Canadians. They're buying high-end, multimillion-dollar homes from California to New York and paying cash.

"They're probably the top 1 percent of the Mandarin speakers that are coming from China," said Brent Chang, a Coldwell Banker realtor in Southern California. "They're really the people who have their own businesses or maybe were part of the government."

Some of these homes are specifically catered to Chinese buyers. Fox News visited a home listed at $8 million in Pasadena, Calif., that had two kitchens, the smaller one had ventilation for the cooking for aromatic or "stinky" foods like fish. It also has a lower level in-law suite and even a koi pond.

"People from China do a lot more business in their homes so they want their homes to really scream that they've made it and they're successful, " said Chang.

The Chinese like the U.S. because their money goes further. In Shanghai, $2 million might only get you a two-bedroom condo.

"You get a huge bang for your buck, you get land, you get good schools, you get a safe environment, nice community life, " said Linda Chang, a realtor who works with her son, Brent, in the San Marino and Pasadena areas of California.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/11/27/chinese-buyers-lead-foreign-investment-in-u- s-housing-market/

gagrice

Chinese Investors Buy 80% of AIG Plane Unit for $4.2 Billion

A Chinese group agreed to buy an 80.1 percent stake in the plane-leasing unit of American International Group Inc. (AIG) for $4.23 billion, the largest acquisition by that nation’s investors in the U.S.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-10/chinese-investors-buy-80-of-aig-plane-u- nit-for-4-23-billion.html

cyclone4

Len - As you know, when the new LS was introduced a couple months ago, I thought I was going to buy one. I really like the looks of it. However, after thinking about it for a while, I don't think I am going to buy it and here are my reasons:

1. I am disappointed that the gas mileage has not improved over the previous LS generation.
2. Lexus raised base price by about $4,000-5,000.
3. It does not have the heads up display nor the night vision as an options.
4. The advanced pre collision system is not available in the SWB model.
5. In order to get all the options I want, the cost will reach about $92 - 94K for the SWB. Perhaps when AAPL rallies to over $700 again, I will reconsider, but I doubt it at this this time.

I gave very serious consideration to the 2013 GS450h. I love the fact that it gets about 34 mpg on the highway and it is nice looking as well. However, it is not available in AWD. Also, it does not have some options found on the LS. For example, power closing doors, folding mirrors, cross traffic alert, and power trunk (I believe), are not available.

Thus, as it looks like right now, I am going to keep my 2008 LS 460L for another year. By the way, I am not crazy about the looks of the new MB on your linked photos.

fintail

What is that, the EB-5 visa or something? Buy your way in, no matter how bloody or dirty the money.

"part of the government"...lol, realtors.

Successful business owners and government workers, yep

AIG thing is funny, as the money pretty much came from the US in exchange for junk, and is now being used to buy an operation from another junk seller (that being AIG).

gagrice

More than a million public servants have sent large sums abroad.

The Chinese must be slow learners, we have public servants that have been doing that for over 100 years. Joe Kennedy refined it 80 or so years ago and now the Chinese have perfected it. The worst part is they bring their offspring and buy their way into prestigious Universities and steal more of our dwindling technological secrets. And the "People's" regime does NOTHING.

AIG thing is funny, as the money pretty much came from the US in exchange for junk

Isn't that proof of our current regime's corruption? At least the Chinese end up with real property in the form of leased biz jets. We end up with nothing but paid off politicians.

Not all Chinese millionaires are leaving the country.

New data from WealthInsight shows that Beijing and Shanghai each have more multi-millionaires now than Los Angeles. The study measures the segment of the population worth $30 million or more, known in wealth-industry parlance as "ultra-high-net-worth individuals."

But the BRICS are catching up. Sao Paulo, Brazil, has 1,310 ultra-highs – more than San Francisco, Washington and Miami combined. Moscow is now on par with Chicago when it comes to ultra-highs, while Mumbai has more than Dallas.

http://times247.com/articles/emerging-economies-dwarfing-america-s-millionaires