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A. R. Kakhsaz Company
an accountancy corporation
Member
American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants
International associates:
Tavana & Co.
Chartered Accountants
Toronto, Canada
Tel.416-229-2221
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ARE THERE NO LIMITS? For the first time,
the U.S. trade-deficit as measured by the current-account imbalance, exceeded 4% of U.S.
gross domestic product. The deficit is now projected to measure $411 billion for the year
2000. That's 24% higher than the 1999's and an
unprecedented 4.2% of the entire U.S. economy. Meanwhile, the U.S. savings rate hit an all-time
low of negative 0.2%. So, what's the big deal? Well, a trade-deficit indicates that a country
imports more than it exports, and borrows from foreigners to cover the difference. At some point,
foreign creditors or investors will wonder whether the borrower is capable of
paying them back. If they abruptly lose confidence in the U.S., they will unload their dollar-investments
in a hurry and the dollar value will take a nose-dive. Naturally, an excessive increase in
interest rates will ensue as the dollar's crash will make the U.S. to pay more for imports - pushing
up inflation. Needless to say, the stock market will become a mess. Alan Greenspan worries
that: "At some point, something has to give, and we don't know what it's going to be. We don't
know whether it'll be protracted over a very long period of time, in which case, the adjustments
[to the trade-deficit] will occur in the normal manner without any significance, or whether they
will occur more abruptly." The encouraging phenomenon, however, remains to be the strong
U.S. productivity which has kept the economy going inflation-free at 4% a year.
FIRESTONE RANDOMLY TESTED NEW TIRES in 1996 and found nearly one in 10 had
tread-separation problems!
THE NEW ECONOMY / SHIFT IN PRIORITIES: Small-business owners now are more
concerned with training, education and staffing than with taxes.
SOME 7.5 MILLION HISPANICS ARE REGISTERED to vote. Over 90% of them plan to vote this fall.
TWO THINGS CAUSE A STOCK PRICE TO MOVE, the expected and the unexpected.
GASOLINE NOW ACCOUNTS FOR 20% of the cost of owning and operating a midsize car, the
highest amount since 1988, when fuel was 18% of the cost. But way below the 35% in 1976.
COMPUTERS FOR THE ELDERLY: Older people like touch screens, voice commands, compact
machines and Internet access through the television.
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PREVENTION IS KEY TO COMBAT ALZHEIMER'S,
because reversing it may not be possible. Researchers have recently found further evidence
that the disorder destroys significant brain capacity years before obvious symptoms show
up.
I'M PUZZLED, is the name of a shop that sells and rents puzzles.
DAVID LETTERMAN'S TOP-10 LIST of good things about dating the President's daughter
included: "Number 7: Any professor who fails you is looking at one mother of an IRS audit."
UMBILICAL-CORD can serve as an equally effective substitute for marrow transplants in
childhood leukemia, reports a study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
BAGS OF SHREDDED OLD MONEY were awarded to "smart visitors" to the booth of
Chicago Federal Reserve at the Iowa State Fair. "Smart?" Well, they had to pass a quiz on
personal finance.
theGeneralist, a one-page monthly publication of the accounting firm of A. R. Kakhsaz Company,
is in its sixth year of publication.
CAPITAL GAINS DISTRIBUTIONS FROM MUTUAL funds would be tax-exempt by up to $3,000
annually for singles and $6,000 for couples. That's a proposed legislation in the U.S. House
of Representatives. Such distributions are decided upon by the mutual funds' managers
and not their individual investors who have no control over their decisions. As the result, some
investors have to liquidate their investment just to be able to pay the taxes. The bill, if passed,
would lessen such ill-effects that hinder saving and investing.
"GARLIC GOLF," was among the festivities at the annual garlic and herb festival last month
in Wilmington, Vermont.
IF PEOPLE SHOPPED as aggressively for auto insurance as they do for items like underwear,
they'd be in better financial shape, concludes a study by Progressive Auto Insurance.
WE SEE
MORE IN NUMBERS than just numbers… We see opportunities for you.
WE SEE
MORE IN NUMBERS than just numbers… We see opportunities for you.
Ali R. Kakhsaz, CPA, MAcc
www.arkpca.com
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