The concentration in the US equity market has been running relatively high for the past few years. I have written many times on this topic as can be found here and here and here. Most of the time, I have discussed the concentration using the S&P 500 as the benchmark. However I came across an …
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Recessions are generally negative for equity returns. During recessions, economic contraction leads to lower production and consumption leading to hurt sales for companies. Currently the US economy is holding up but nobody knows if it will slip into a recession later this year or early next year. As a consumption-based economy, the US consumer hasn’t …
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Semiconductor manufacturing is one of the highly technical and complex process in the world. Very few nations have the capability to make them. In fact, according to a report by Matrade agency of the Malaysian government, just 11 countries manufacture them. Out of these 6 of them are Asian countries as shown in the graphic …
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The Australian stock market as measured by the The ASX All Ords index has returned 13% per year for the duration from 1900 to 2023 according to the updated chart from ASX. This return indicates total return which includes dividends reinvested. Of course, no investor invests for such a long term. However the key point …
Cigarette Taxes in Europe are high and vary widely across countries. In fact, smokers pay more in taxes than on the cigarettes themselves. The EU requires member states to charge a minimum excise tax which is a fixed amount per pack of on cigarettes and other tobacco products. In addition EU countries add an additional …