Video #1:
Beginner’s guide to investing: dividend yield
Video #2:
A beginner’s guide to p/e ratios Source: MoneyWeek
Corporate Income Taxes: E.U. vs. U.S.A
Contrary to popular belief, the average corporate income tax rate in the U.S is actually higher than many other developed economies. Some economists and media pundits have suggested that the Federal government should reduce this tax rate to stimulate investment and job growth.
The average corporate income tax rate in the U.S. is 35% compared to just 23% in the EU. The rate is even lower some countries of the EU as the graphic shows below:
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Ireland has the lowest rate at 12.5% in the EU except for Cyprus and Bulgaria. Ireland’s very low corporate tax rate attracted many multinationals to invest there leading to tremendous growth of the economy before the downturn.
The Top 25 Asian Banks (excl. China and Japan) By Tier 1 Capital
Earlier this year The Banker magazine published its annual ranking of the world’s top banks. The graphic below lists the top 25 Asian banks (excluding China and Japan) based on their Tier 1 capital:
Four Australian banks take the top four spots followed by Singapore’s DBS Bank (OTC: DBSDY). Two other Singapore banks are also in this list. Despite having a large economy, India is represented by just three banks. Compared to India, the smaller countries of Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore all have three banks in this ranking of Asia’s top 25 banks.
Household Stock Ownership in Select Countries
According to an article in the Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 44% of households in the U.S. owned shares of mutual funds in 2009. In Germany, only 9.4% of the population owned mutual fund shares in the first half of 2010.
Germans generally tend to be very conservative and avoid the stock markets. Only 6% of Germans directly owned stocks in the first half of this year. Compared to Germany, 15% of the French and 10% of the British population own stocks.
Instead of equities, Germans have 28% of their assets invested in life insurance products. Like Germans, the French also prefer life insurance products. Next to cash and other liquid investments, the French stash away a large portion of their retirement savings in life insurance products. Hence insurers such as AXA (OTC: AXAHY) have a strong leadership position in France. Last year AXA generated 25% of its insurance revenue in France. Allianz (OTC: AZSEY), one of the world’s largest insurance and asset management firms, is headquartered in Munich, Germany.
Some interesting facts from the Investment Company Institute:
“Total U.S. retirement assets were $16.0 trillion at year-end 2009, up nearly $2.0 trillion, or 14 percent, from year-end 2008.
At year-end 2009, retirement assets represented 35 percent of all U.S. households’ financial assets.
More than half of the $2.8 trillion in 401(k) assets at year-end 2009 was invested in mutual funds, primarily in stock funds.”
The List of Diamond Mining Stocks by Country
In an earlier post, we looked at the world’s top diamond producing countries. The table below lists the diamond mining stocks by country:
[TABLE=585]
Global mining giants BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Anglo American have significant operations in diamond mining as well.
Related:
The World’s Top 100 Mining Stocks
Also Checkout:
The World’s Top Diamond-Producing CountriesÂ