Cheapo Groovo

Just say NO to LIVING WAGE SERVICE FEES...

“Any non-discretionary charge added to a restaurant or bar customer’s bill, regardless of what it’s called, is a service charge,” Mollie Steinemann, the Colorado Restaurant Association’s manager of government affairs, told Denverite in a written statement. “Auto-gratuities fall into this category, as do things like health and wellness charges, back-of-house service charges, and anything else that a customer can’t opt into. Service charges are considered revenue and operators are required to collect sales tax on them.”

Service fees do not function like tips, which are non-compulsory gifts from the customer directly to the staff. Instead, service fees are simply an additional form of revenue. They bring in additional funds that owners can then distribute as they see fit.

Wall Street Cheating - Compare Apples to Oranges

The S&P 500 Index started tracking stocks 64 years ago. The problem is most of those stocks are no longer in the index.

To remain indicative of the largest public companies in the United States, the index is reconstituted quarterly.

The S&P 500's most recent restructuring was on Mar. 12, 2021. NXP Semiconductors, Penn National Gaming, Generac Holdings, and Caesars Entertainment were added, replacing Xerox Holdings, Flowserve, SL Green Realty, and Vontier.

So when you see the chart, it is not giving you the performance of the same 500 companies over time. Rather it is  skewed to high-performance companies each and every quarter.

Wall Street Cheating - Precious Metal Miners - Earnings Don't Matter?

The $GDX tracks the biggest gold miners in the world. Over the last 15 days, the top 5 companies (in the $GDX) reported their 2nd quarter earnings. Only one missed.

• Newmont (ticker: NEM) reported adjusted earnings of 83 cents a share, ahead of Wall Street’s consensus estimate at 78 cents.
• Barrick Gold (ticker: GOLD) reported a profit of 29 cents a share, beating forecasts for 28 cents.
• Franco-Nevada (FNV) came out with quarterly earnings of $0.96 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.94 per share.
• Agnico Eagle Mines Limited (AEM) reported adjusted earnings per share at 68 cents, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 58 cents per share.
• Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. reported adjusted earnings per share of 36 cents in second-quarter 2021, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 37 cents by a whisker.

But Wall Street doesn't care. This chart plots the price action over the last 10 days.

A top silver miner reported earnings yesterday. First Majestic reported 6 cents / share in the second quarter.Estimates were 1 cent / share. And the bots bounced this stock as well.

Wall Street Cheating - Create Endless Buyers

I posted all the problems with retirement programs in my 401(Kaos) post. Download and read the eBook for all the reasons. Here are my takeaways

1) retirement plans give you few investment choices
2) those choices do not replicate market returns
3) the plans are not individually tailored
4) no financial education is provided in any meaningful way
5) plans are long only, no hedges for bearish markets
6) changes can be made only quarterly

Never the less, Wall St. got the politicians to pass legislation that totally favors them!

Regulations have permitted employers to automatically enroll employees in retirement plans since 1998. Now the Secure Act 2 would require 401(k), 403(b) and SIMPLE plans to automatically enroll employees once they are eligible to participate in the plan. The initial enrollment amount must be at least three percent. Each year thereafter the amount is increased by one percent until it reaches the 10 percent limit.