The Indian equity market is under-performing so far this year. The benchmark S&P Sensex index is down 2% year-to-date compared to S&P 500’s gain of 1.05%. Among emerging markets China is down much higher than India but Brazil is up by about 24% as Brazilian equities are recovering due to clarity on the political crisis …
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A country’s economic growth as measured by GDP and stock market returns are not positively related to each other. Economic growth figures show what happened with the economy during a period and is a lagging indicator. On the other hand, stock returns are driven by a variety of factors including expectations of future earnings of …
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Countries in the Middle East have deep sectarian religious divisions. Many people in the western world are not aware that Saudi Arabia for example is mostly Sunni Islam while most in Iran follow the Shia faith of Islam.These two groups do not get along very well. Hence Saudi Arabia opposes the spread of Iranian influence and …
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Many developed European banks have been in a state of suspended animation for many years now. Though years have passed since the global financial crisis banks in Europe are still unable to recover and return to pre-crisis levels. British banks are no exception as well. Once known for their worldwide reach, excellent service and stable growth, …
Foreign-born residents as a percentage of total population in OECD countries is shown in the chart below. Some countries such as Japan are facing severe labor shortage as the country is facing a shrinking and ageing population. Here is an excerpt from an OECD article: Japan’s population peaked in 2010 at just over 128 million …
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