The Australian equity market is under-performing this year with the benchmark S & P/ASX 200 down 5.5% year-to-date. Australian stocks have been bit due to the ongoing slowdown in China. As Australia is a major trade partner of China primarily exporting commodities, the slowdown in Chinese economy has adversely impacted Australia. Though Australian stocks are down this …

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Dividend yields and payout ratios vary across countries. In the developed world, most countries other than Japan and the US tend to have good dividend yields. In emerging markets, certain countries like Chile, Taiwan have high yields while places like South Korea, India, China, etc. have low yields. The chart below shows the dividend yields …

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The stock of Westpac Banking Corp(WBK) of Australia is currently on a trading halt. Hence the ADR did not trade yesterday (Wednesday) on the NYSE. The halt is in place due to the rights offering the bank announced on Tuesday. So the stock will open for trading on Monday (10/19/15) on the Australian and other exchanges including …

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The banking industry in Australia is similar to the Canadian banking industry in many ways. For example, the market in Canada is dominated by five large banks whereas four Australian banks are the big players in the domestic market. The four large banks in Australia are Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZBY), Commonwealth Bank of Australia …

Continue reading ‘Australian Banks’ Loans to Households and Market Share’ »

Australian bank stocks have fallen recently due to various reasons. Income investors looking to hold these stocks for five years or more can consider adding them at current levels. From a Bloomberg article: After losing A$57 billion ($44 billion) in market value, Australian bank stocks are starting to look more like, well, bank stocks. Valuations …

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