Ten DJ Euro STOXX Select Dividend Index Components

Posted by on

One of the dividend ETFs for European stocks is the iShares DJ Euro STOXX Select Dividend. This ETF offers exposure to European companies that have historically paid out high dividends.

The Top 10 holdings in the iShares DJ Euro STOXX Select Dividend ETF are listed below together with the current dividend yields and ticker if listed in the US markets as ADRs:

1.Banco Santander (STD)
Current Yield: 4.32%
Country: Spain

2.Erste Bank(EBKDY)
Current Yield: 2.13%
Country: Austria

3.Banco Popular Espanol
Country: Spain

4.Vallourec
Country: France

5.Metso Oyj (MXCYY)
Current Yield: 3.29%
Country: Finland

6.Enel Spa(ENLAY)
Current Yield: 4.71%
Country: Italy

7.WERELDHAVE NV
 Country: The Netherlands

8.RWE AG (RWEOY)
Current Yield: 6.32%
Country: Germany

9.WARTSILA
 Country: Finland

10.DEUTSCHE POST
 Country: Germany

Ben Bernanke gets Grade C

Posted by on

US  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke received Grade C for preventing a global economic disaster but failing to see it coming. He also shares the blame for plating the seeds of the next crisis due to the growing massive US debt. In the Central Banker Report Cards 2009 by Global Finance, there was a handful of central bankers who got Grade A.

Central-banker-Ranks

Source: Global Finance

Grade A was awarded to:
Zdenek Tuma of Czech Republic
Jean-Claude Trichet of European Union
Glenn Stevens of Australia
Zeti Akhtar Aziz of Malaysia
Lee Seongtae of South Korea
Fai-Nan Peng of Taiwan
Stanley Fischer of Israel

Incidentally Reserve Bank of Australia today  raised the interest rate to 3.25% from 3% , the first developed country to do so. Asian countries of Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan weathered the credit crisis better due to the effective policies implemented by their central banks.

The World’s 50 Biggest Banks based on Assets

Posted by on

The 50 biggest banks in the world based on total assets was released by the Global Finance magazine. The number of banks with more than $1 Trillion in assets grew to just 25 from 24 due to the credit crunch last year.

Biggest-banks

Source: Global Finance

The total assets of banks of Citibank(C), Royal Bank of Scotland(RBS) dropped by the end of 2008. Assets of Lloyds Banking Group(LYG), Wells Fargo (WFC) and JPM Morgan Chase(JPM) grew due to acquisitions.

European banks especially British banks dominate the top 10 rankings.None of the Latin American made it to this list. The growing power of Chinese banks is evident from the appearance of four Chinese banks in the above table as opposed to just one last year.

Related:
The World’s Biggest Banks by Assets Held

List of Latin American ADRs Up More Than 100% YTD

Posted by on

Emerging markets are the best performing markets this year. In the emerging markets, the main market index of countries like Brazil have skyrocketed year-to-date (YTD) relative to other countries. For example, the MSCI Brazil Index ETF (EWZ) is up an incredible 99.42% as of September 30,2009. Some of the Latin American ADRs have also have great runs.

The list below shows the Latin American ADRs which are up 100% or more as of Oct 6, 2009:

GRUMA – GMK
Gafisa – GFA
Ternium – TX
Nortel Invesora – NTL
Braskem – BAK
MetroGas – MGS
AFP Provida- PVD
Companhia Siderurgica Nacional- SID
Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes – GOL
Banco Macro- BMA
Grupo Financiero Galicia – GGAL
Telecom Argentina – TEO
Gerdau – GGB
Companhia Brasileira de Distribuicao – CBD
Vivo – VIV
Net Servicos de Comunicacao – NETC
AmBev – ABV
TIM Participacoes – TSU
Votorantim Celulose e Papel – VCP
Banco Bradesco – BBD
BRF – Brasil Foods – PDA
Edenor – EDN
AmBev – ABV
Aracruz Celulose – ARA
Vale – VALE
BBVA Banco Frances – BFR

The World’s Best Banks 2009

Posted by on

The Global Finance magazine has published the best banks for 2009 in the global, regional and country categories. The list includes the best banks in 123 countries and 11 key banking categories.

The winners were selected based on both objective and subjective criteria.”Objective criteria included growth in assets, profitability, geographic reach, strategic relationships, new business development and product innovation. Subjective criteria included the opinions of equity and credit-rating analysts, banking consultants and others in the industry, as well as corporate and financial executives.”

The World’s Best Banks 2009 List

Best-Banks-1

Best-Banks-2

Best-Banks-3

In the global level, the winners were JPMorgan Chase (JPM), HSBC (HBC), Credit Suisse (CS) ,Bank of New York Mellon (BK), Citibank (C), BNP Paribas (BNPQY), State Street Global Advisors – part of State Street Bank(STT), Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank (DB).

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) was ranked the best bank in the United States in Canada the ScotiaBank (BNS) was selected as the best bank. For the BRIC countries, the top banks were:

Brazil – Itau Unibanco (ITUB)
Russia – VTB
China – ICBC
India – HDFC Bank (HDB)

In Europe, notable country winners include HSBC (HBC) for UK, Commerzbank (CRZBY) for Germany, BNP Paribas(BNPQY) for France and Santander(STD) for Spain.