03 février 2009
Cigarette Tax Debate
The fight over a proposed online cigarettes tax hike is heating up at the state capitol. Today the Democratic Party of Arkansas held a press conference with former Republican leaders asking for more Republican support.
Governor Beebe has proposed increasing the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 56 cents to fund a trauma system and offer more health initiatives. It would take 75 votes to pass the increase.
Democrats hold 71 seats and so far only one Republican has signed on.
A group of other Republican representatives have filed a bill proposing an increase in court fines to pay for a trauma system.
The issue could be on the House floor by Thursday.
06 mai 2008
Marketshare Muses: Sunglasses at Night and Cigarettes During the Day
Did I really just quote Corey Heart to start off a blog post? A stretch to connect the lyrics at that…
With the 5% hit to the stock today, Altria’s now yielding almost 6%. The stock, that is. I mean, I gotta ask you something — all these idiots who levered 3 and 4% bonds up multiple times to get up to almost 6% yield and now are writing off almost a trillion dollars as a result….well, why didn’t they just buy Verizon when it was at 20-something and yielding nearly 6%. Or buy Altria with that 6% yield right now? With no leverage, that’s GOTTA be a safer trade than 3 to 1 leverage on 3 to 1 leverage on 2 to leverage on a 3% money market…
At any rate, the reason any of this is on my mind tonight is because as I walked through the neighborhood on my way home, I had to weave around and between a quite a few smokers out on the sidewalk in front of bars and restaurants. These same streets are devoid of any smokers during the day. So I wondered to myself — I wonder what percentage of cigarettes in this country are smoked after the workday is over, say, 5pm. I bet it’s about 2 to 1 that more cigarettes are smoked at night than during the day.
And to Flip It, of course — I wonder what percentage of sunglasses are worn during the day. I’d bet it’s about 10 to 1.
PS. This is also my roundabout way of saying I like Altria for a trade/investment of cigarettes
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