US equity markets have had a splendid return so far this year. Relative to the performance of American stocks, some foreign markets are performing not great. For example, Chile is down about 14% suddenly when protests erupted in that emerging market a few weeks ago. However this type of reaction can lead to wonderful opportunities …
US markets have soared so far this year with the S&P 500 up by 25.30% based on price returns alone. Semiconductors are the stars of 2019 with a growth of over 48% for the Philadelphia semiconductor index. Even the normally boring bank stocks are up by 28% as represented by the KBW index. The important …
Continue reading ‘Knowledge is Power: Market Headwinds, Peak Oil, Emerging Markets Edition’ »
One of the important factors that investors are advised to consider when selecting a country for investment is the economic growth of that country. Generally higher economic growth leads to higher equity market returns. However this is not always the case.I have written many articles on this topic before which can be found here and …
Continue reading ‘The Relationship Between Economic Growth and Stock Market Returns is Weak’ »
The bull market in Indian equities continues as we approach the end of the year. Yesterday the benchmark Sensex Index crossed 41,000 for the first time ever in its history. Today the it closed at a new peak of 41,130 after reaching an intra-day high high of 41,163. Click to enlarge Source: Google Finance Indian …
Continue reading ‘India’s Sensex Crosses 41,000 and Hits Yet Another Record High’ »
The socialist countries of Europe tend to spend a higher portion of their GDP on public social spending. France has the highest public social spending as percentage of GDP at 31.5%. The next high spenders are Finland, Belgium, Italy and Denmark. The US public social spending is lower than the OECD average. The US is …
Continue reading ‘Public Social Spending as a Percentage of GDP by Country: Chart’ »