The U.S. social security system is the largest government-run social benefit program in the world. As most employers have eliminated or reduced pensions in the past few decades millions of Americans depend more on social security after retirement. In fact, social security payments help keep a significant number of retired persons out of poverty. This …
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Most foreign banks have rebounded strongly since the depth of the credit crisis. Some of them have written off all of the losses and have shored up their balance sheets. Investors who avoided bank stocks in the past few months many want to consider adding some of the stronger banks at current levels. Another round …
Gold prices closed at $1,458.80 an ounce today. The demand for gold continues to rise as investors seek shelter from volatile equity markets. According to The Wall Street Journal, despite record high prices the price of gold is still below the inflation-adjusted price of $2,348.21 reached in 1980. Gold prices have increased by 146.58% in …
Continue reading ‘Is Gold the Sponge that Absorbs All Perceived Risks?’ »
In an earlier post we reviewed about why diversification matters in building a portfolio. In this post let us take another look at a two charts that show the importance of diversification across various asset classes and sectors. The period table of investment return below shows the performance of various asset classes from 1991 to …
Continue reading ‘Another Take on Why Diversification is Important’ »
In the most recent M&A deal in the chemical industry, Belgian chemical and plastics maker Solvay (SVYZY) agreed to buy French speciality chemical maker Rhodia(RHAYY) for 3.3 billion Euros. This represents premium of 50% to Rhodia’s closing price on April 1, 2011. This is an all-cash deal with Solvay offering 31.60 Euros for each Rhodia …
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