01.26.09
The Weekly Kickoff
Will preference actions heat up? Most assuredly, you’d think. Before the 2005 Bankruptcy Act, preference actions were more common than hangovers. Trustees and unsecured creditor committees went after past due payments to creditors during the 90-day preference period like frat boys after kegs. The 2005 Act made it easier for creditors to defend against preference actions, and I haven’t seen nearly as many. Still, the Act still allows for them. Don’t let your creditors get too deep into you as the economy deepens into problems, or you might find yourself in the double whammy: Your customer stiffed you, but you have to pay your customer. For more about preferences, I found this site reliable.
BTW: Confused by bankruptcy in general? The U.S. Courts has a great online primer. Check it out.
So I downloaded some American Bar Association tax podcasts earlier this month. I figured, “I’ll go for walks, listen to some tax news, get some fresh air. I’ll be buffer [yeah, right] and smarter.” Mercy me, it didn’t work. The podcasts were horrible. The subject matter was extremely narrow in scope (an hour discussion about housing credits?) and the participants seemed to be trying to emulate a morning radio talk show . . . but without the humor and personality (“That . . . is . . . a . . . good . . . point . . . Frederick. I . . . want . . . to . . . talk . . . about . . .”). Picture Don Imus and crew acting like Ben Stein’s character in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, but more wooden. I’ve since found a different series of tax podcasts that concentrate on S corporations. They hold more promise.
You find last week’s news about GE depressing? Consider this piece of nostalgia: “The oldest company in the Dow is General Electric, and it’s the only one that has been there for more than 100 years.” William Bonn and Lila Rajiva, Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets (Wiley, 2007), p. 349.
Living in extraordinary times? Yeah, maybe: Interest rates are the lowest they’ve been in England since 1694 (that’s not a typo).
Fearless Predictions for the Week: Cardinals win, Dow Jones down, gold up, someone cries on American Idol, Obama does something Hollywood movie actors like, someone gets sued.
