Last month we looked at the beer taxes in Europe and how they vary widely. In this post, let’s take review the taxes on cigarettes in the EU. Ireland levies the highest cigarettes tax followed by France and Finland. The lowest taxes are in Bulgaria, Poland and Croatia. Click to enlarge Source: Cigarette Taxes in …
Continue reading ‘Cigarette Taxes in the European Union: Chart’ »
The Federal Funds Rate has increased sharply since the spring of 2022. After slashing interest rates to almost zero during the Covid pandemic the Federal Reserve embarked on a relentless process to raise interest rates to current target levels of 5.25% to 5.50%. Accordingly rates on Money Market Funds have rise to over 5%. No …
Continue reading ‘Fed Funds Rate vs. Money Market Assets: Chart’ »
US equity markets are expensive relative to other markets of the world based on the CAPE ratio according to research by Schroders UK. US stocks have been expensive for more than a decade as shown in the chart below. As the market is concentrated in tech, soaring tech stocks have accounted for the majority of …
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The Crown Jewels of the United Kingdom housed in the Tower of London are fascinating to look at. The Coronation Crowns in the collection are some of the wonderful crowns in the world. While visiting the Tower of London one does not feel like enough time was spent to admire the jewels due to the …
Continue reading ‘The Chemistry of the Coronation Crowns: Infographic’ »
Diversification is one simple way to reduce risk. A well-diversified portfolio among various asset classes tend to perform well over the long run. Another reason why diversification is necessary because market leadership changes over time. A few years ago we discussed this topic in my post titled The Largest 10 US Stocks at the Start …
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