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MYB: Christine Romans on U.S. stock futures and world markets
Christine Romans is minding your business for September 19, 2012 – U.S. stock futures are up after the Bank of Japan announced more stimulus overnight. Are world markets up across the board?
MYB: U.S. files new trade complaint against China
(CNNMoney) - The Obama administration filed a complaint Monday with the World Trade Organization today, alleging that China has illegally subsidized automotive exports and undercut American suppliers.
The complaint accuses China of providing $1 billion in illegal subsidies to auto and auto parts exporters between 2009 and 2011, according to a senior administration official.
On Early Start this morning, Christine Romans breaks down various U.S./China trade disputes and explains how many American job losses can be attributed to China.
MYB: German constitutional court’s decision could affect U.S. economy
CNN is delving into the economic issues facing the United States this week. Today, a big decision from a court in Germany could affect the U.S. economy. U.S. stock futures and European markets are already up due to the court ruling. Christine Romans is minding your business with more on the decision.
Romans says the German court has ruled that “the permanent bailout fund for the European Union is constitutional, but with a catch. Any increases in Germany’s financial exposure to the fund needs to first be approved by the German Parliament.”
Romans says it comes down to the ESM, the European Stability Mechanism. “It’s the $500 billion Euro permanent rescue fund for the European Union nations,” Roman explains. “If the German court had ruled this fund was unconstitutional, we’d see turmoil in the markets.” Romans adds that this ruling critical to the U.S. economy because that the European Union is America’s top trading partner, importing $400 billion of American goods every year. “We have more than a trillion dollars in direct investments in the E.U. And $2.7 in loans and other financial commitments to European government banks and companies.”
What the election means for your money – Christine Romans breaks down what would happen under Romney & Obama's plans
What would happen to your money under Mitt Romney and President Obama's taxes and investment plans? Christine Romans dives 'in depth' into both of their platforms to break it down for us.
In short: Obama wants to tax the rich more.
"I'm not proposing anything radical here," President Obama says. "I just believe that anybody making over $250,000 dollars a year should go back to the income tax rates we were paying under Bill Clinton."
Romney wants to cut income taxes for everyone but hasn't revealed almost any details about how he plans to pay for those cuts. "I will not raise taxes on the American people, on middle income Americans," he says. "We're going to make sure Americans have the money to pay their bills"
Here's what we do know: what would happen to income taxes. Romney wants to cut income taxes by 20% for every income level and Obama wants to split up the higher tax brackets and tax the rich more.
The big question is, what would happen to some big deductions like carried interest, child tax credit and mortgage interest deduction? We just don't know what Romney has planned for those and they're important to the middle class.
When it comes to investments, the differences in the plans comes again with taxes on the rich. High income earners making $200,000 a year or more – their capital gains and dividends are currently taxed at 15%. Romney wants to keep it that way but President Obama wants to increase taxes on capital gains to 20%, and dividends as high as 39.6%.
We don't know how this will be paid for.
Romney's running mate Rep. Paul Ryan addressed this over the weekend, saying they'll be looking at closing loopholes, but "not necessarily what loopholes go, but who gets them. High income earners use most of the loopholes. That means they can shelter their income from taxation. But if you take those loopholes, those tax shelters away from high income earners, more of their income is subject to taxation. And that allows us to lower tax rates on everybody - small businesses, families, economic growth."
But again, no more details about which loopholes would be closed.
We wanted to do a comparison of what would happen to the median income family making $50,000 a year. But you just can't do it given the information available for Romney's plan for taxes.
We actually asked the Romney campaign if they have done an analysis of what would happen to the average family and they said they have not done that.
The official we spoke to, who is involved in setting economic policy but did not want to be named, says anyone who says Romney wants to get rid of the child tax credit is incorrect. But this official would not explain what Romney would do with that or any other credits for that matter.
MYB: Can 12 million jobs be created in four years?
Can 12 million jobs be created in four years? Christine Romans explores the possibilities with an in-depth look at President Obama and GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's job creation plans. Romans also looks at the number of jobs created in the past by former presidents Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Will August jobs numbers be 'anemic'? Christine Romans previews Friday's less-than-optimistic forecast
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) - The stakes are high and the forecast is gloomy, ahead of the August jobs report scheduled to be released Friday by the Labor Department.
A month ago, that report showed businesses added 163,000 jobs in July. Job gains at that level were the strongest in five months, but still were not robust enough to keep up with population growth. The unemployment rate ticked up to 8.3%.
Unfortunately, August doesn't look like it fared much better.
Employers probably added about 120,000 jobs, keeping the unemployment rate at its current level, according to economists surveyed by CNNMoney. The August jobs report is a critical one, given the Federal Reserve meets less than a week later.
This morning on "Early Start," Christine Romans looks at the jobs forecast and explains why she describes it as 'anemic.'
Read more: Outlook gloomy for August jobs report
3 things that could move markets in Sept. – Christine Romans explains
US markets re-open today after the Labor Day holiday, and stock futures are higher right now.
There's the old Wall Street adage "Sell in May and go away" because the summer can be slow in financial markets. But the summer was doing well this year. Stocks are up 7% for the summer, and up almost 12% for the S&P 500 for the year.
But there are three big September events that could shake up the markets:
* ECB meeting Thursday, which will be very important for what happens with Europe's debt crisis
* August US jobs report on Friday. We're expecting 130,000 jobs created and no change in jobless rate.
* Fed interest rates meeting Sept. 12-13th.
Christine Romans looks at how these three events have the potential to affect stock markets in September.
VIDEO: Are you better off now than 4 years ago? Christine Romans breaks down the numbers
Are you better off now than you were four years ago? With the economy ranking as the top issue among voters, Christine Romans breaks down economic indicators to try to answer the big question in this year's presidential election.
What the election means for your kid's education – Christine Romans on what politicians claim they'll do to fix the system
Education issues are starting to play a part in the race for the White House. This morning on "Early Start," Christine Romans looks at what the candidates have been saying and what they claim they'll do to fix our education system.
Tech gadget season kicks off in September – Christine Romans details which tablets you'll be craving
September is just a day away, and you know what that means: A bunch of big gadget releases.
Which gadget will you be craving? Will it be the Applie iPad mini? Or the Microsoft Surface tablet?
Christine Romans looks to the hotly anticipated gadgets scheduled for a fall 2012 release.
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