The majority of the G-20 countries recorded a deficit in 2016. Only South Korea and Germany had a budget surplus last year. In all the other countries government expenditures exceeded revenues. The gross debt level also remains high in G-20 countries. The chart below shows that Japan had the highest debt levels that was over …
Continue reading ‘General Government Gross Debt as a Percentage of GDP by Country 2016’ »
Volatility remains low these days. So some investors may be complacent. Below is an interesting chart I came across recently: Click to enlarge Via Leide Smits @ Twitter
US Stocks have performed well so far this year with the S&P 500 up by over 10% based on price returns. However though US stocks can still go higher on a valuation basis, they are expensive relative to other major markets in the world including other developed markets. Though American stocks always commanded a premium …
Continue reading ‘Global Equity Markets: Which Markets are Cheap and Which Markets are Expensive?’ »
The dividend yield on the S&P 500 was 2.01% at the end of July. The yield has stayed around the 2% for many years now. This yield rate is low relative to other developed markets. In the US, investors and companies alike have a preference for share buybacks than dividends due to multitude of reasons. For …
Continue reading ‘The Top 10 Developed Countries by Dividend Yield’ »
Australian stocks have outperformed global shares in the past 30 years thru December 2016. The average annual return for Aussie stocks was 9.1% compared to 7.1% for global shares according to the following chart: Click to enlarge Source: Fidelity Australia Download: Australian vs. Global Share Returns in 30 Years (in pdf) Related ETFs: iShares MSCI …
Continue reading ‘Australian vs. Global Share Returns in 30 Years: Chart’ »