Why Ben Carlson’s Views on Buybacks and Dividends Are Not Entirely Correct

Earlier this month Ben Carlson, Director of institutional asset management at Ritholtz Wealth Management and author of the popular A Wealth of Common Sense blog wrote an article in Bloomberg discussing stock Buybacks and Dividends. The gist of the article is that investors can expect to earn a higher rate of return in the stock market …

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How Concentrated Are Some Foreign Equity Markets?

One of the many risks that investors have to take into consideration when investing in foreign stocks is Concentration Risk. This risk simply means a market is highly concentration with one stock accounting a large percentage of the allocation. Or to put it another way, one stock dominates the market. So a benchmark index that …

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The Sizes of World Stock Markets in 1899 vs. 2016

At the beginning of the 20th century the US stock market accounted for 15% of global stocks. But since the end of World War II, the US market has made up more than half of the global market capitalization and the country has continued to maintain this dominance. Click to enlarge   Source: Credit Suisse Yearbook 2017: …

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The US Has The Highest Obesity Rate Among OECD Member Countries

The growing epidemic of Obesity is one of the major challenges facing member countries according to a new report published by the OECD. Obesity rates have continued to rise in the past decade and today nearly half of the adults in the OECD region are obese. According to their data, nearly one in three adults in …

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Value of Assets on Central Bank Balance Sheets vs. the SP 500

Quantitative easing and negative interest rate policies followed by major central banks in the past few years have been a disaster for savers. However these policies have been a boon to equity investors as asset prices have soared. The following chart shows the relationship between the value of assets on central bank balance sheets vs. …

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