One of the reasons for the current bull market in US equities is the limited number of publicly listed companies. As more and more cash enters the market chasing a declining number of firms leads to more concentration. The chart below from a recent article at Schwab shows the dramatic fall in the number of …
Continue reading ‘Falling Number of Listed Companies in the US Market: Chart’ »
The virtual current Bitcoin jumped $400 in one day and reached a new all-time high of $7,454.04 this past Friday. The cryptocurrency has soared a staggering 640% so far this year alone. It should be noted that bitcoin is mostly banned in countries like China. Any time an asset rises so much in a short period …
Continue reading ‘Is Bitcoin heading into a Classic Bubble?’ »
The Bank of England raised the official interest rate from 0.25% to 0.50% for the first time in more than 10 years on November 2, 2017. Higher interest rates are a boon to savers but hit all types of borrowers especially mortgage borrowes whose loans are variable-type loans. Until this recent hike, interest rates have …
Continue reading ‘UK Interest Rates From 1694 To 2014: Chart’ »
I came across an interesting article in the journal this week by James Mackintosh discussing Protestantism and Capitalism. The key argument in his piece is that the more individualistic a country is, the better it is for economic growth and innovation. For example, the US leads the world in iinovation especially in technology. No other place in …
Continue reading ‘WSJ Article: Individualistic Countries Have Higher Economic Growth’ »
Emerging markets are on fire this year. Many of these markets have soared much more than developed markets. Among the major emerging markets India is one of the top performers. The benchmark Sensex reached yet another record yesterday. The Sensex has shot up by 26.5% so far this year. This is higher than the equity …
Continue reading ‘India’s Sensex Reaches Yet Another Record Again’ »