Spending follows income, and as long as both of them are going up, that's good for the consumer. The market right now seems to want to tread water. These figures aren't enough to make it go in any direction.

They're taking on more risk. They're more aggressive.

The bottom line is really the bottom line [on income statements] in the stock market and earnings just don't look good. The jobs data wasn't terrible but the economy has run into a wall. Basically, there's nothing to churn the market to the upside. And another 800-pound gorilla in the room is Iraq.

[To lower his taxable income, Hitler resorted to many of the perfectly legal tax avoidance strategies that Germans still use extensively today. He tried to write off his new Mercedes in 1925 as a] company car. ... only a means to an end.

The only thing worse than paying income tax is not paying income tax

Lenders now feel the agenda has changed, with inquiries looking at virtually every source of income. Some aspect of these inquiries appears to be based upon an assumption of excess profitability. This seems dubious when you look at the numbers.