Oh Brazil, what have you done?

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff tells a fish story.

One of our members has been doing some freelance writing (which qualifies as contract work for tax purposes). Fortunately, he made less than $600 doing it last year. If he had made more, he would have received a 1099 and owed income tax on it at his normal rate, plus self employment tax. This would mean that he would be making less money until he got around the $900 mark (at his current income tax rate), which would then make up the difference.


Checking in on our portfolio:


SPY is still way up.

EWZ is way down:
The CEO and some executives from Petrobras resigned as a result of accusations of                     wrongdoing, which might affect the Presidential election. The current president is a former                 chair of the Petrobras board. Furthermore, it is startling that this may completely                                 restructure the Brazilian political landscape, and possibly even the nation's economy. The                   company is majority-owned by the Brazilian government, so any troubles with the                               Petrobras will have far-reaching consequences. Check out this article from the BBC for                       more info.

NORW is down:
For such a small dollar amount change, it has dropped a ton because we have so many shares (comparatively). If you lose a dollar a share, at thirty shares that adds up. It is best to look at the percentages, which are far more telling.

For next time:

We need to do our taxes, check our credit scores, and definitely looking into making a buy. Also, one of our members wants to buy a house, so that will be worth discussing.

Profit!