A Review of Investing in Foreign Stocks Via ADRs

One simple and easy way for U.S.-based investors to gain exposure to foreign equities is investing via American Depository Receipts (ADRs). The number of overseas companies listing on the U.S. markets continues to increase each year. Currently about 1,194 companies can be accessed with the sponsored DR programs and another 1,064 trade as unsponsored ADRs …

Continue reading ‘A Review of Investing in Foreign Stocks Via ADRs’ »

Are Emerging Market Stocks Cheap Now?

Emerging markets are lagging developed markets this year. The S&P 500 is up 6.8% YTD. The YTD returns of the major indices of some of the other developed markets are noted below: Canada – 5.1% Germany – 7.4% Italy – 14.3% Switzerland – 4.4% Australia – 4.0% On the other hand, the majority of the …

Continue reading ‘Are Emerging Market Stocks Cheap Now?’ »

Is the current U.S. Income Tax System Fair and Sustainable?

The official unemployment rate in January was 9% and the total number of unemployed persons were at 13.9 million according to BLS data. As of Feb 17th, 2011 the total U.S. debt held by the public is 9,490,705,812,100.38.  Foreigners held about $4.4 Trillion of U.S. treasury securities at the end of 2010. The U.S. spends …

Continue reading ‘Is the current U.S. Income Tax System Fair and Sustainable?’ »

The Evolution of the British Stock Market

In an earlier post, we looked at the Historical Components of Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1896. The chart below shows the evolution of the British stock market since 1899: Click to enlarge Source: The Barclays Capital Equity Gilt Study Reinvestment of dividends is an important tool to increase the total returns earned on an …

Continue reading ‘The Evolution of the British Stock Market’ »

The Top 15 Global Oilfield & Drilling Service Companies

This week oil driller Ensco plc(ESV) announced the acquisition of competitor Pride International (PDE) in a cash and stock deal valued at $7.3 billion. According to the deal, shareholders of Pride will receive a 0.4778 Ensco share and $15.60 in cash for each Pride share they own. This offer represents a 21% premium to Pride’s …

Continue reading ‘The Top 15 Global Oilfield & Drilling Service Companies’ »