Knowledge is Power: American Shareholders Cult, easyJet, Oil Age End Edition

Posted by David Hunkar on 21 November 2015, 9:15 am

How the cult of shareholder value is cannibalizing corporate North America, Financial Post
Why you may need more international stock, Fidelity
How easyJet revolutionised European air travel, This is Money
Fixed Income – What’s the Difference Between Duration and Maturity?, Blackrock Blog
Cyclical vs. Defensive Stocks, SocGen
Going Global: Selecting ADRs or Foreign Stocks, Schwab Note: Old article but worth checking out
Can You Pick the Guys Who Pick the Guys Who Pick the Best Stocks?, Jason Zweig @ WSJ Moneybeat
Rockefeller Fund: ‘The oil age is coming to an end’, Deutsche Welle

Ground Crew in Action at Atlanta Airport

Infographic: The World’s Ten Biggest Oil and Gas Companies

Posted by David Hunkar on 20 November 2015, 3:11 am

Oil prices have fallen below $40 per barrel. However major oil companies have paid their regular dividends and have announced plans to continue to maintain the dividend payouts.This is good news for investors in the oil producers as opposed to investors in oil exploration firms, oil equipment makers and others whose stocks have been crushed hard since last year.

The following infographic shows the world’s ten largest oil and gas companies:

Click to enlarge

Source: Visual Capitalist

Knowledge is Power: Home Sweet Home for Chinese ADRs, Italian Households, Developing World Edition

Posted by David Hunkar on 18 November 2015, 8:53 pm

U.S.-Listed China Firms Hurry Homeward, WSJ
‘I resent the people who got lucky’, BBC
Check out Hulbert’s 15 favorite dividend stocks, MarketWatch
Biggest Emerging Markets Banks 2015, Global Finance
Re-emerging at Last? The Contrarian Case for Emerging Market Equities, Thornburg Investment Management
Should we continue to use the term ‘developing world’?, World Bank
A dash of data: Spotlight on Italian households, OECD Insights
Canadian Pacific’s Underwhelming Bid, Bloomberg

Peacock in a UK Farm

The U.S. Corporate Tax Rate is the Highest In the Developed World

Posted by David Hunkar on 18 November 2015, 3:11 am

The U.S. Corporate Tax Rate is one of the highest in the world especially among the developed world peers. The total corporate tax rate at 39.1% is the highest in the developed world as shown in the chart below. This rate is higher than the OECD Average at 24.8%.

Click to enlarge

Source: The Heritage Foundation

This high tax rate is one reason why U.S. firms have stashed billions of dollars overseas and are unwilling to repatriate them home. As long as the funds stay abroad they are able to escape the high taxes. High tax rates not only prevent the repatriation of cash from overseas, but also the productive use of all that cash. For example, funds could be invested here creating jobs and potentially higher wages offered to workers.