| 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
|
•
When the house-prices boom ends: The housing
boom has been an enormous boost to the U.S. economy. It has boosted
construction, increasing the net worth of millions of families and
allowing Americans to borrow against the rising value of their
homes. The housing boom accounts for some 40% of the four million
jobs created by the U.S. economy during the past two years. And when
the boom finally ends, among the most vulnerable would be: people who may
have to sell in a weak market because of job loss or transfer, those with
little or no equity in their homes and big mortgages, and those counting
on big gains in home equity to make up for a lack of retirement savings.
•
Here's the median sales price
for existing U.S. homes in last June and percentage increases from same
period in the year before, by region:
|
$,000 |
|
| Entire U.S. |
219 |
15% |
| West |
317 |
17 |
| North East |
250 |
14 |
| South |
193 |
9 |
| Midwest |
177 |
13 |
• More is less in mobile
phones: One of the latest models from Vodafone has no camera, no
browser and hardly any icons. But it's easy to use. Here's the
percentage of people interested in Internet browsing, picture messaging
and other advanced features in their cell phones:
| Age |
|
| 15-17 |
64% |
| 18-24 |
46 |
| 25-34 |
40 |
| 34-44 |
33 |
| 45-54 |
32 |
| 55-75 |
25 |
Now, that's generation gap.
• Suicide bombers, unlike
serial killers, share very few specific traits, which makes them difficult
to profile by the law-enforcement.
• Drastic action is needed to
meet its global antipoverty goals, says the U.N.
•
For more of the Generalist, please visit our website
at ARKCPA•COM.
|
• theGeneralist,
a one-page monthly publication of the accounting firm of A. R.
Kakhsaz Company, is in its 11th year of providing information,
presented fairly and accurately, from sources we can depend upon and
trust.
• Two kinds of skin
cancer have risen threefold in women under
40 in the U.S. since the late 1970s. That's a sign tanning is
popular, says the American Medical Association Journal.
• Toyota has 45% of
the car market in Japan. But the car-maker had never marketed
its luxury brand, Lexus, in its home country until last
August. With Japan's stagnating car-market and its population
aging rapidly, Toyota is determined to lure wealthy Japanese away
from their coveted German autos. Will Toyota be able to
replicate its U.S. success with the Lexus brand, in Japan?
• More
audits result in much more revenue for the IRS: Last year the
IRS audited 200,000 high earners (people earning $100,000 or more a
year). That's double the number audited four years
earlier. The IRS collections from increased enforcement
resulted in a record $43.1 billion of additional revenue.
That's up 15% from the year before. The IRS's tougher position
reflects concern about the widening tax gap which is the difference
between all taxes owed and the actual amounts collected. The
gap was $353 billion in 2001, the last year it was calculated.
That is more than twice the amount in 1981 and three times the
amount in 1973, calculated in 2001 dollars.
•
1.1 million U.S. children live in homes
where guns are kept loaded and unlocked.
•
The U.S. is purchasing 80 million smallpox-vaccine
doses to stockpile against bio-terror attack. The cost may
exceed $1.2 billion.
• We see more in numbers
than just numbers...
Ali R. Kakhsaz, CPA, MAcc
www.arkpca.com
|
