| 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
|
• Is it
possible? Democratic presidential contender, John Kerry said:
"When I am elected president, I will scrub this tax code, which has
exploded from 14 pages to 17,000 pages of loopholes and special-interest
giveaways." Also: "We are not going to give one benefit or
one reward to any Benedict Arnold company or CEO who take the jobs and
money overseas and stick you with the bill."
Who's Benedict
Arnold?
He is one of the
most well-known traitors in history. He was a Military Commander in
the late 1700s. He is known as "Traitor of American
Revolution."
• Once again health-care coverage and affordability are to be
big issues in the presidential campaign. Health-care spending rose
to $1.6 trillion in 2002, a jump of 9.3%. That's the steepest rate
increase in the U.S. economy again. Health-care costs now account
for 15% of the GDP, while 44 million Americans still remain
uninsured.
• China will amend its constitution to provide
for protection of private property rights. The constitutional
amendment has been formally called for by the Communist Party. The
move to give equal status to private and public ownership is a hugely
symbolic demonstration of China's commitment to capitalist economics and
should help promote efforts to nurture private businesses.
• One in four Israeli children now is Muslim.
• A rarity: Democrats are agreeing to put aside
litmus test and policy disputes to pursue what all of them have decided is
a paramount goal: dumping George W. Bush.
• World production of electricity,by source:
| Coal |
36% |
| Natural gas |
18 |
| Hydro-electricity |
18 |
| Nuclear |
17 |
| Oil |
10 |
| Renewable energy, wind, solar... |
1 |
• Estrogen-progestin pills pose more risk to
women than benefits gained in preventing bone loss.
• For more of the Generalist, please visit our website
at ARKCPA.COM.
|
• Home prices in Los Angeles:
The median price of houses in LA in 2003 was $315,000. If
30-year fixes mortgage interest rate reaches 8%, the median price is
expected to drop by at least $45,000 of 14.3%. And so will go
the value of Americans best performing asset over the past two
years. The median price is that, where half of the houses have
higher and the other half have lower prices than the median.
• More than half of CPAs believe they are underpaid for
what they do!
• theGeneralist, a one-page monthly
publication of the accounting firm of A. R. Kakhsaz Company,
is in its ninth year of providing information, presented fairly and
accurately, from sources we can depend upon and trust.
• Top-10 banks in the U.S.
Ranked by assets in billions:
| Citigroup |
$1,209 |
| Bank of America |
934 |
| J.P. Morgan Chase |
793 |
| Wells Fargo |
394 |
| Wachvia |
389 |
| Bank One |
290 |
| U.S. Bsncorp. |
189 |
| ABN AMRO |
149 |
| SunTrust Banks |
127 |
| HSBC |
121 |
• One-third of U.S. children
eat fast food every day.
• Just like steak, milk, yogurt and such, automobile
tires go bad over time. Tire makers know rubber compounds
degrade over time and causes tires to become prone to sudden
failures. But tires often sit in their warehouses or on store
shelves for two years or more. "Even an unused
pristine-looking spare tire shouldn't be used, if more than six
years old." Efforts are now under way to get the tire
makers to show a "use by" or "sell by" date on
their products.
• The IRS is laying off 2,400 people from "outmoded
jobs" and is hiring 2,200 to beef up enforcement.
• We see more in numbers than just numbers...
Ali R. Kakhsaz, CPA, MAcc
www.arkpca.com
|
