The S&P 500 is down 1.67%. The benchmark index for major US banks, KBW Nasdaq Bank Index, has declined more with a loss of 2.79% so far this year. The chart below shows the 5-year return of the index: Click to enlarge Source: Yahoo Finance Though banks are lagging the S&P 500, over the past …
Continue reading ‘Though US Bank Stocks Are Under-Performing Now, Future Looks Bright’ »
The CAC-40 Index, the benchmark index for the French equity market is down 4.4% year-to-date. In the past 10 years, the index is still in the negative with a loss of around 11%. Overall on a average French stocks have yielded a positive return over many years. Since dividends account for a high portion of …
The Manufacturing industry has been declining for many years now. While in the past an average American with a high school diploma could get a well-paid job in a local factory and settle down by raising a family, today’s average American with the same diploma might be lucky to find a job flipping burgers at …
Continue reading ‘Chart: US Manufacturing as a Percentage of GDP and Income Inequality’ »
German stocks have performed worse so far this year relative to other developed markets. For instance, the FTSE 100 is down just 1.38% compared to the DAX’s decline of 7.70%. The actual loss is even more since the DAX returns includes dividends when other indices do not. From a May 20th article in the WSJ on …
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Investing in foreign stocks involves many costs. One of the costs is the taxes paid to foreign governments on dividends earned by US investors. Such dividend withholding taxes can be huge for some countries such as Switzerland and while others such as Singapore do not withhold taxes. While paying a substantial portion of dividends earned …
Continue reading ‘Foreign Taxes Paid: How To Claim in U.S. Tax Returns’ »