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petitioner has made clear his business plan: Buy an asset (a
yacht) that he hoped would retain its value and lease (charter)
it out for short periods at rates that will quickly return the
capital cost of the asset. Indeed, petitioner proposes that we
find as facts the following:
Petitioner was an expert at the Firm in designing
investment programs for the short-term utilization of
capital assets at lease rates equal to a high
percentage of their initial cost. * * *
Petitioner noted significant similarities between the
yacht charter business and these programs in that they
both involved assets that retain a high percentage of
their initial value, a benefit accruing to the asset’s
owner.
Petitioner also proposes that we find:
Petitioner believed that he would have an advantage in
obtaining yacht charters because of his contacts with
firms in the securities industry, which he knew from
his own direct experience were potential frequent users
of yacht charters.
Respondent has made various objections to those proposed
findings, and we have not made findings of fact in accordance
with those proposed findings. The parties have stipulated,
however, and we have found, that petitioner had no experience as
a seaman or with the mechanical operation of yachts, and he had
very little personal experience in boating.
Numerous factors lead us to conclude that petitioner had no
objective to make a profit. Petitioner testified that he had
calculated the amount of revenue he needed “to break even”. He
did not testify, however, that he or anyone else determined how
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