When investors think of Latin American countries for investment they usually tend to gravitate towards Brazil and Mexico, two of the largest economies in the region. However Brazilian equities have been average to poor performers in the past few years and the Mexican economy is highly related to the performance of the U.S. economy. Instead of focusing mainly …
Reasons Target to Close Canadian Operations (Euromonitor International) The importance of dividends (Invesco UK) 2020 Vision: Yield Scarcity and the Case for Dividends (Franklin Templeton Investments) Causes of Wage Stagnation (EPI) Oil price slump cleaves divisions between EM winners and losers (beyond brics) 2014 Top 250 Energy Companies (Platts) Does Behavioral Investing Make Sense Anymore? (Alliance Bernstein Blog) China’s long …
Continue reading ‘Knowledge is Power: Dividends, Top Energy Firms, Coal Edition’ »
Oil prices have plunged dramatically since mid-2014.Brent closed at $48.40 today on the NYMEX. This is a far cry from the over $100 a barrel that seemed to be the floor up until a few months ago. Conventional wisdom holds that lower crude oil prices should benefit chemical firms as they use oil as one of the …
Continue reading ‘Not All Chemical Companies Benefit From Lower Oil Prices’ »
In many countries across the world banking industry is dominated by a handful of banks. These banks are the largest in those countries based on factors like market capitalization, market share of deposits, home mortgages, etc. In a few countries just four banks dominate the industry. These banks are called as the “Big Four”. According …
Continue reading ‘A Note on the “Big Four” in Four Countries’ »
Investing in emerging market equities is fraught with risks.Unlike the developed world developing countries are prone to suffer from a myriad of risks including currency exchange risk, political risk, liquidity risk, transparency risk, etc. Investors looking to gain exposure to emerging markets should be aware of these risks and take extra precaution before jumping in. Five …
Continue reading ‘Five Mistakes to Avoid in Emerging Markets Investing’ »