Are you a seller or a buyer these days?

With a market drop like yesterdays and the sickening erosion in prices we've been experiencing of late it's hard to imagine many are happy with stocks. Top it off with the hard reality that the dollars you have to invest are worth less now - by about 50% - than they were last year and it sort of makes you want to find a hole to crawl into.

The news is all bad and shows no signs of improvement. This pesky credit crunch brought on by the housing debacle continues to roil the financial industry. Prices are headed up. It costs double just to get to the grocery store and back. Floods in the midwest are sure to put even more upward pressure on food prices. To make matters worse, the dollar's value is miniscule so your savings valued in dollar terms are worth less in real terms.

Invest? Me? Now? You have to be kidding!

Plenty of interesting numbers in the news yesterday.

• Economic growth at a 0.6% annual growth rate
• Consumer spending advancing by 1%
• The Fed's interest overnight interbank lending rate is now 2%

I have to ask, how can anyone not now believe we're in a recession?

Now the question becomes a matter of how long this particular downturn will last. Anyone else think we're in for more than a year of this?

A buddy of mine this weekend complained to me how his company wasn't letting him work on a couple of projects he thought were critical to the long term success of his company. He's the Senior Vice-President in charge of new product development for a medium sized, yet global business.

The reason they won't let him continue with the projects doesn't have much to do with whether they can afford them. To hear him talk about it, the company has plenty of resources. Business is good. He says the reason he can't get approval to work on the projects he thinks are important has to do with a recent change in the executive suite.

A new CEO recently brought on board caused a shakeup in the political structure at the executive level. Old alliances and allegiances have fallen apart. New alliances are taking their place. My friend feels like he's no longer in the inner circle.

I know it's early, but tomorrow being tax day and all it seemed appropriate to present a list of some of the most important Federal Income Tax limits for your tax year 2008. After all, when is a better time to list these than when you're as familiar as you're likely to get with them?

Personal exemption amount			$3,500
Income at which personal exemption phases out
	Single                    		$159,950
	Married filing jointly    		$239,950
	Head of Household         		$199,950
	Married filing separately 		$119,975
Standard Deduction
        Single                    		$5,450
        Married filing jointly    		$10,900
        Head of Household         		$8,000
        Married filing separately 		$5,450
Additional deduction for the elderly and/or blind
        Single                    		$1,350
        Married                   		$1,050
Income at which itemized deductions phase out
        Single                    		$79,975
        Married filing jointly    		$159,950
Kiddie tax standard deduction     		$900

Now, your job this year is to get out there and earn enough to bump into one or more of these limits. I hope you are successful.

This morning I received an email informing me of upcoming changes to my 401(k) plan:

This message is intended to inform you of a change being made to [your] 401(k) Plan. ...

The Investment Review Committee recently evaluated the 401(k) Plan’s existing fund offerings and has decided to remove the [unnamed fund]. This fund has been under performing relative to its benchmark and similar funds for quite some time. ...

Concerned about making too much money and bumping into the limit on how much you can sock away in an employee retirement plan this year? Looking to max out your SEP IRA contributions? You've come to the right place. Listed below are the the limits to all federally sponsored employer retirement plans.

Contribution Limits
Elective deferrals for 401(k), 403(b), 457 and SAR-SEPs   $15,500
401(k), 403(b), 457 and SAR-SEP Catch-Up Contribution     $5,000
Defined Contribution Plan Limit                           $46,000
Maximum SEP IRA Contribution                              $46,000
SIMPLE IRA and SIMPLE 401(k) Contribution                 $10,500
SIMPLE IRA and SIMPLE 401(k) Catch-Up Contribution        $2,500

SEP Minimum Earnings Limit                                $500
Maximum Annual Defined Benefit Limit                      $185,000
PBGC Maximum Monthly Benefit                              $4,312.50

Maximum Includable Compensation                           $230,000
Highly Compensated Employee                               $105,000
Key Employee                                              > $150,000

That was some ride we enjoyed yesterday. It was nice seeing stocks pop like that again - everything from top to bottom was nice and green on my portfolio listing.

Yesterday was the biggest up day in 5 years, so they say. The odd thing for me was that while yesterday was certainly a big day, it didn't feel like I'd had the best day in 5 years. A quick check proved my suspicions. While yesterday had been a good day for me, it wasn't the best. Not in the last 5 years anyway. I had had better days.

Word this morning in the NYT that the golf world is concerned about an 8 year long decline in the number of golfers in the US.

The total number of people who play has declined or remained flat each year since 2000, dropping to about 26 million from 30 million, according to the National Golf Foundation and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association.

More troubling to golf boosters, the number of people who play 25 times a year or more fell to 4.6 million in 2005 from 6.9 million in 2000, a loss of about a third.

The industry now counts its core players as those who golf eight or more times a year. That number, too, has fallen, but more slowly: to 15 million in 2006 from 17.7 million in 2000, according to the National Golf Foundation.

Reasons cited for the decline include: the economy, changing family dynamics, too many golf courses and, believe it or not etiquette rules.

This one they should open up for comment and let the golfing, or ex-golfing, public educate them to some of the real reasons.

Personal exemption               $3,500

Phaseout of personal exemption
       Single                    $159,950
       Married filing jointly    $239,950
       Head of Household         $199,950
       Married filing separately $119,975

Standard Deduction
       Single                    $5,450
       Married filing jointly    $10,900
       Head of Household         $8,000
       Married filing separately $5,450

Elderly or blind additional deduction
       Single                    $1,350
       Married                   $1,050

Phaseout of itemized deductions
       Single                    $79,975
       Married filing jointly    $159,950

Kiddie tax standard deduction    $900

Traditional IRA Contribution Limit:      $5,000
Roth IRA Contribution Limit:             $5,000

Traditional IRA Catch-Up Contribution:   $1,000
Roth IRA Catch-Up Contribution:          $1,000

IRA Deduction Phaseout for Active Participants
           Single                        $53,000 – $63,000
           Married filing jointly        $85,000 – $105,000
           Married filing separately     $0 – $10,000

IRA Deduction Phaseouts for Spousal Contributions
           Married filing jointly        $159,000 – $169,000

Roth IRA Contribution Phaseout
           Single                        $101,000 – $116,000
           Married filing jointly        $159,000 – $169,000
           Married filing separately     $0 – $10,000

Roth IRA Conversion Phaseout
           Single                        $100,000
           Married filing jointly        $100,000
               Note: both of these limits will be eliminated in 2010
           Married filing separately     ineligible