The growth of the ETF industry in the U.S. in recent years has been phenomenal. ETF providers have sliced and diced equities, fixed income instruments and other assets into every way possible. Yet still new ETFs continue to launched on a regular basis. As of October this year, a total of 1,240 Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) were …
The Periodic Table of Investment Returns for the nine S&P sectors is shown in the chart below: Click to enlarge Source: SPDR Here are a few observations: At the height of the global financial crisis in 2008, financials fell over 55% while consumer staples fell only about 15%. Utilities fell by 23% and …
Continue reading ‘US Sector Periodic Table of Returns 2001 To 2011’ »
The long-term capital gains tax rate is currently at 15%. This rate was implemented as part of the tax cuts package during the Bush administration and is set to expire on Dec 31, 2012. The long-term capital gains rate is applied on gains realized from stocks held for over one year 60 days. Though the …
Continue reading ‘Dividend Tax Rate and Long-Term Capital Gains Tax Rate: U.S vs.Other Countries’ »
The STOXX® Europe 600 Utilities Index can be considered as a proxy for the European utility sector. The index is comprised of 25 utilities from the continent. As of November 25, 2012 the index is down over 58% in the past five years in US $ terms. Since 2008, the index has been on a …
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When considering dividend-paying stocks, some investors tend to select stocks with high dividend yields rather than the long-term total return. However this is not a winning strategy. Instead of falling into the so-called “yield trap”, investors are better off picking stocks based on total return over the long-term, according to a research report by Invesco …