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The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association released its c of Wall Street's second-quarter results today. It found that for the quarter, which ended in June, US-based broker-dealers eked out a pre-tax profit of $4.8 billion, after three Read More

The possibility of increasing the city's resident personal income tax was broached by Council Speaker Christine Quinn in her before the Citizens Budget Commission yesterday. Today's Times on the subject includes some comparisons of the Read More

Update: The Times reports that the MTA put off a planned debt issue Tuesday because of the still-inhospitable capital markets. Ohio and Hawaii did the same. The good news is that despite increasing pressure on both revenues and Read More

The good news is that despite increasing pressure on both revenues and expenses, Standard and Poor’s has affirmed the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s “A” rating, with a stable outlook. Read More

Japanese financial-services group Nomura, in its late September purchase of bankrupt Lehman Brothers' European and Asian divisions, is one institution willing to invest new money in the future of high global finance. So how does one key Nomura figure Read More

The chart below depicts the 25-year trend in what I call the "Tax Stability Quotient" -- the share of all New York City tax receipts composed of real property, sales, utility and commercial rent taxes, which tend to be the city's most stable revenue Read More

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon today: "New York tries to tax everything we do around the world. If you have a choice where you put a job, it will not be here. That’s a terrible thing to say." [courtesy ] Read More

One of the most famous episodes of the old Star Trek TV series was in which the crew of the Enterprise found themselves in an alternative universe populated by their nasty lookalikes.  The old DC comic books featured "Bizarro" characters w Read More

The Times has a piece today exploring whether an increase in crime will inevitably follow an economic contraction in New York. The is worth a read, but the best comments are from Ray Kelly, the NYPD's current commissioner, and Bill Bratton, Read More

Ohio sold $240 million worth of long-term municipal bonds yesterday. The bonds carried an annual yield of 5.21 percent, 18 percent higher than last year. Ohio's long-term general-obligation credit is rated two notches above New York State's, which Read More

In an op-ed called "," the Daily News's Errol Louis says that the idea that "federal, state, and local governments all need to cut spending" is a "dangerous myth." Louis quotes economist James Galbraith in saying that state spending cuts, sp Read More