Despite growing investor anxiety regarding substantial tax increases slated to take effect January 1, Congress remains mired in pre-election ideological squabbling and has decided … to do nothing. Though the clock has not yet run out, we realize that investors must plan, and to that end we provide the table below.

Tax uncertainty is nothing new. Additional charts on page 70 depict the variability in federal tax rates over time. But in terms of the complexity of the tax code these statutory rates are only the tip of the iceberg. Ever changing deductions, exemptions and credits further confound taxpayers’ ability to project their effective marginal tax rate, a crucial variable for the rational investor.

Also in This Issue:

Navigating Structured Products
Spend from Capital
Gold, Taxes, and Money Transfers
The High-Yield Dow Investment Strategy
Historical Variability in Tax Rates
Recent Market Statistics
The Dow-Jones Industrials Ranked by Yield
Asset Class Investment Vehicles