Chinese Plan to Add US Jobs (You Scaredy Cats)

If you're investing for retirement that is still more than 20 years away and you do not have inclination to sell when stocks take a dive, is there any advantage to owning bonds at all? Or are bonds only for scaredy cats who will sell their stocks during a market plunge? -- Tom McCarthy, Wilmington, Delaware

ByCranky: It's time to check in on the 2012 performance of the Scaredy Cat Vanguard Dividend Appreciation Portfolio SCVIG. Click these articles, here for the total returns and here for the dividend growth history of the SCVIG and how it was given its feline moniker.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba plans to spend at least $200 million in acquisitions and other investments in the next few years.

As previewed previously, one half of the hurdle to enforce a universal online US sales tax has now been crossed, with the Senate voting moments ago to pass a Wal-Mart backed bill 69-27 allowing states to collect taxes on out of state Internet and catalog sales. The bill would end the era of tax-free Internet shopping. During the debate, senators offered examples of consumers who examine products in stores and then shop online to avoid paying sales tax. The pretext?

ByCranky: In a previous article, I looked at the Top Ten holdings of Vanguard's Dividend Appreciation Portfolio (VIG). As you'll see it's a handsome group of US large cap companies.Here are those ten companies with their current yield:

Online giant eBay is leading the charge against legislation that would require sales tax to be collected on Internet sales. The mandate would be an unfair burden on small businesses, eBay says. And yet who are among the bill’s strongest supporters? Yep, small businesses. For years, online sellers have benefitted from what brick-and-mortar retailers call the “internet sales tax loophole.” For the most part, e-retailers are only required to charge customers sales tax if the vendor has a physical presence in the state where the purchase is being made.

Online giant eBay is leading the charge against legislation that would require sales tax to be collected on Internet sales. The mandate would be an unfair burden on small businesses, eBay says. And yet who are among the bill’s strongest supporters? Yep, small businesses. For years, online sellers have benefitted from what brick-and-mortar retailers call the “internet sales tax loophole.” For the most part, e-retailers are only required to charge customers sales tax if the vendor has a physical presence in the state where the purchase is being made.

This weekend Shanghai factory workers took 10 of their Japanese bosses hostage at Shinmei Electric Company factory, the Japan Times reports.