You ignore tax efficiencies (and tax inefficiencies) when you buy or sell investments or make other decisions with tax consequences.

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For athletes, the reduced-payment clauses introduce uncertainty that makes it hard to buy a house or make other big financial decisions, which is why runners are anxious to see a move away from such penalties.

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Conversely, to the extent that investors do not presently own shares whose price might be altered by good or bad information, the proper pricing of those shares thanks to the inside investor acting on quality information enables buyers to make better informed decisions about whether or not to buy.

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However, people do make decisions about the future, whether to buy, sell or hold, stocks based upon quarterly profit reports.

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Tone matters more in foreign affairs than any other area of policy, but the fact remains that, so far, the administration has not yet had to make any hard decisions, such as whether to deploy force, or which new weapons system to buy or sell.

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