S&P 500 Companies’ Sales By Country

Last year I wrote an article on why investing in U.S. multinationals is not the same as investing in foreign companies. From that article: Michelle Gibley of Charles Schwab discussed the reasons for investing in foreign firms instead of U.S. multinationals in an article back in May. From the article titled “4 Mistakes to Avoid in International …

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Knowledge is Power: Paternoster, Tsar Bomba, Market Corrections Edition

David Rosenberg: Why investors’ fears about China are overblown (Financial Post) Buying the Dips Doesn’t Work for Everyone (Jason Zweig, WSJ) Lost Decade in Emerging Markets: Investors Already Halfway There (Bloomberg) Lovin’ their elevator: why Germans are loopy about their revolving lifts (The Guardian) Once, firms cherished their workers. Now they are seen as disposable (The Guardian) …

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On the Importance of Dividends to Total Returns

Dividend stocks offer cushion to a portfolio during volatile market conditions such as the one we are seeing now while helping to grow the portfolio steadily when markets are strong. Investing in stocks that pay no dividends is highly risky since one is betting on pure price appreciation which may or may not happen. Studies …

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Winners And Losers Of Falling Commodity Prices

Lower crude oil prices benefit some countries while others suffer. Similarly cheap oil helps some sectors more strongly than others. For example, airlines and shipping firms benefit heavily as they are direct users of large amounts oil. It is not just crude oil that has declined dramatically in the past few months. Other commodities such …

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Review: The Year-to-Date Performance of Chinese ADRs

A few years ago Brazilian equities were the top attraction for global investors when the country was booming. These days the communist country of China has become the focus of attention for investors. Though China is being widely mentioned as the culprit for causing the latest meltdown in world equities, many other factors can be attributed for the crash. …

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