So we're at war again...

Once again, the United States is flexing its military muscle in the Middle East. With Tomahawk Missiles flying and our unveiling to the world of the amazing F-22 fighter plane, one can't help consider the impact all this might have on domestic markets, i.e. your stock portfolio.

Interestingly, it isn't likely to have much effect at all, according to most pundits, and if it does have an effect, it will likely benefit your portfolio of domestic securities. And the professionals at Neikirk, Mahoney & Smith CPAs want you to get the best advice possible.

According to Mark Arbruster in Inside Investing, "With the stock market at an all-time high, we are frequently asked about the situation in Syria, and whether now might be a good time to beat a hasty retreat from stocks.  To address these concerns, we reviewed historical capital markets performance during times of war."

Certainly worth a read at http://blogs.cfainstitute.org/insideinvesting/2013/09/25/u-s-capital-market-returns-during-periods-of-war/

Mark Suster's Great Piece on Startups

Mark Suster is a successful entrepreneur turned venture capitalist. He joined Upfront Ventures in 2007 as a General Partner after selling his company to Salesforce.com. This is a really good read for anyone considering opening a new business.

Suster says he usually tells people that everything he learned about being an entrepreneur he learned by F’ing up at his first company.

"I think the sign of a good entrepreneur is the ability to spot your mistakes, correct quickly and not repeat the mistakes," Suster said. "I made plenty of mistakes."

Below are some of the lessons Suster learned along the way.  Read more
After reading what Suster has to say, check with the small business experts at Neikirk, Mahoney & Smith. 

2014 Statistics of Income Bulletin is available

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced that the summer 2014 issue of the Statistics of Income Bulletin is available at IRS.gov. 

The Statistics of Income (SOI) Division produces the online Bulletin on a quarterly basis. Articles provide the most recent data available from various tax and information returns filed by U.S. taxpayers. This issue includes articles on the following topics:

Foreign-Controlled Domestic Corporations, 2011. Foreign-controlled domestic corporations (76,793) accounted for a small share (1.3 percent) of all U.S. corporation income tax returns filed for tax year 2011. Collectively, these corporations produced 16.2 percent ($4.6 trillion) of the total receipts reported by all U.S. corporation income tax returns for the year; however, a small portion of these corporations accounted for most of this amount. 

FCDCs accounted for 14.4 percent ($11.7 trillion) of the total assets reported by U.S. corporations for 2011.  

Municipal Bonds, 2011. The municipal bond market was still dominated by the more than 21,000 tax-exempt governmental bonds issued in 2011, raising $297.3 billion in proceeds for public projects, such as schools, transportation infrastructure, and utilities. Tax-exempt bond proceeds totaled nearly $384.3 billion, accounting for almost all (98.4 percent) municipal bond proceeds for the year.

SOI Bulletin articles are available for download at IRS.gov/taxstats. For more information about these data, write to the Director, Statistics of Income (SOI) Division, RAS:S, Internal Revenue Service, 1111 Constitution Avenue NW, (K-Room 4112), Washington, DC 20224.

If you have any questions, contact Michael Maier at http://nmscpas.com/contact or call (502) 896-2999.

Related Items:          

SOI Bulletin: Summer 2014

Historical Tables and Appendix

Tax Statistics