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The Independent Investor: Workers Get to Save More in 2015
By Bill Schmick,
01:48PM / Friday, October 31, 2014

The IRS has given us all a New Year's gift. As of Jan. 1, the tax-deferred contributions on a variety of employee-sponsored, retirement savings plans have been increased, but not for IRAs.

Readers may already be familiar with the traditional 401(k) plan. It was established as an alternative to the nation's pension plans that are fast disappearing. Most companies offer 401(k)s to their employees (or 403(b)s if working for the state or a non-profit) as a fringe benefit. These plans allow employees to contribute as much as $17,500 a year plus an additional $5,500 catchup if you are over 50. The contributions come right off the top of your W-2 wages so there are considerable tax

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@theMarket: All Clear
By Bill Schmick,
04:09PM / Friday, October 24, 2014

If investors needed proof that the market's bottom is in, this week provided it. It was the best week of the year in stock market gains and it looks like we have more on the way.

That's not to say we couldn't have another pullback, but it won't be to the levels we saw nine days ago. The S&P 500's 200 DMA is around 1.905. That would be the logical limit to a decline if traders wanted to do a little profit-taking, but I don't see much downside beyond that.

One catalyst that is providing support for the market is another good earnings season. Although there have been a few spectacular misses by some big technology companies, by and large, companies have

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The Independent Investor: The Elephant in the Room
By Bill Schmick,
03:27PM / Thursday, October 23, 2014

Mid-term elections are less than two weeks away. Issues, for the most part, have fallen by the wayside as pure politics runs amuck. No wonder voter turnout is traditionally so poor in this midterm madness.

Republicans are running against an unpopular president and are expected to sweep both houses of Congress. All they have to do is keep the focus on President Obama while mobilizing their die-hard base.  That strategy appears to be highly effective so why worry about mundane things like issues? After all, if voters don't care, why should they?

Both parties' campaigns are now dictated by whatever voters are worrying about on a day-by-day basis.  The fear of an

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@theMarket: So far, So Good
By Bill Schmick,
03:35PM / Saturday, October 18, 2014

This week's behavior in the stock market went according to plan. We broke through several technical supports, reached a fairly critical level, and then bounced back. However, October isn't over and the probability that we experience more downside remains high. Here's my take on the week ahead.

Readers who read my column last week were prepared for the S&P 500 Index to break its 200-day moving average at 1,905. I expected prices to overshoot on the downside and they did The S&P 500 Index dropped further to an intraday low of 1,820 on Tuesday. That was thirty points lower than my best guess. But before the end of the day on Wednesday, the markets rebounded to close

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The Independent Investor: OPEC's Oil Ploy
By Bill Schmick,
01:29PM / Friday, October 17, 2014

Over the last four months, Americans have received an early Christmas present. The price of oil has dropped precipitously, benefiting both corporations as well as the consumer. But that could be a two-edged sword for this nation.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark in the futures market, has declined 23 percent since its June price of $115 per barrel. Today it is trading below $83 per barrel, providing an enormous windfall in cost savings for all of us. The retail price of gasoline has dropped 15 percent during the same time period to a national average of $3.17 a gallon. Every one-cent decline in gas prices equals about a $1 billion drop in energy spending, according to

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