Downloads: Dow Jones Select Dividend Indices

Posted by on

Stocks paying dividends are back in fashion among investors worldwide. Of course financial stocks that usually pay high dividends are not the favorite now. But other dividend stocks in sectors such as consumer staples, utilities, transportation, etc. are definitely worth looking at for long-term investment options.

Dividend stocks in some countries have performed much better than dividend stocks in other countries. For example, the components in the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index have generated an annualized total return of 4.97% in the last 10 years. Total return is the dividend return + capital appreciation. The yield of this index as of Dec 31,2008 is 5.48%.

On the other hand, the stocks in the Dow Jones Canada Select Dividend Index has yielded 7.80% total return per year in the same 10 years. Thats 2.83% higher than the US index. If we take the foreign exchange into consideration that may be a bit smaller. The yield of this index as of Dec 31,2008 is is 6.06%.

One easy way to identify high dividend stocks is to review the various dividend indices published by providers such as S&P, Dow Jones, etc. Click on the following links to download the Factsheets of Dividend Indices offered by Dow Jones (files will open in pdf):

1. Dow Jones Global Select Dividend Index

2. Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index

3. Dow Jones Asia Select Dividend 30 Index

4.Dow Jones Asia Pacific Select Dividend 30 Index

5.Dow Jones Australia Select Dividend 30 Index

6.Dow Jones Canada Select Dividend Index

7.Dow Jones EPAC Select Dividend Index

8.Dow Jones France Select Dividend 20 Index

9.Dow Jones Germany Select Dividend 20 Index

10.Dow Jones Italy Select Dividend 20 Index

11.Dow Jones Japan Select Dividend 30 Index

12.Dow Jones Netherlands Select Dividend 15 Index

13.Dow Jones SWX Select Dividend 20 Index

14.Dow Jones Spain Select Dividend Index

15.Dow Jones Sweden Select Dividend 15 Index

16. Dow Jones U.K. Select Dividend 20 Index

For more indices such as:
The S&P/TSX Canadian Dividend Aristocrats Index
The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index
The S&P Europe 350 Dividend Aristocrats Index

Click here.

Emerging Markets: Will Latin America Be The Winner This Year?

Posted by on

Emerging market economies are projected to perform better this year than the developed economies. Based on the year-to-date (YTD) performance of the foreign stocks trading as ADRs in the US, it appears that the above estimate might come true.

The Bank of New York Mellon Asia ADR Index is down 15.25% YTD and the Bank of New York Mellon Latin America ADR Index is off 4.12% YTD. However the Bank of New York Mellon Europe ADR Index is down 19.68% and the Bank of New York Mellon Developed Markets ADR Index is off 18.74%. These two indices are performing worse than the Asian and Latin American Indices.

As seen above, the Latin American ADRs are leading the Asian ADRs by a significant margin. In fact, the ADR indices for Brazil and Chile are in the positive territory YTD with returns of 0.23% and 9.08% respectively. However Argentina, Mexico and Colombia have fallen by double digit percentages. These impact of these losses are lessened by the performance of Brazil and Chile helping the regional Latin American ADR index to beat the Asian index.

Of the Asian ADR Indices, China and India are off 14.27% and 21.44% so far this year. The Korea ADR index has fared worse among the Asian countries with a loss of nearly 28%.

This year there will be strong competition among emerging economies to attract international capital. According to the “Capital Flows to Emerging Market Economies” report released by The Institute of International Finance, Inc. the net private flows will be” $165 billion this year, after an estimated $466 billion in 2008, which compares with the record 2007 volume of $929 billion. ”

The net private capital flows into the emerging markets in 2009 is projected to be:

Emerging Europe = $30 B
Latin America = $43 B
Asia = $65 B

The overall growth in emerging markets will be 2.7% this year compared to 5.7% in 2008.

Chart – Net Private Capital Flow to Emerging Markets (as a % of GDP):

The Ten Most Profitable Companies in Asia

Posted by on

Asia has two of the most populous countries of the world – China and India. They are also among the largest emerging markets in the so-called BRIC countries. Some of the countries in Asia are showing signs of recovery. For example, the Shanghai Composite Index has grown by 27% year-to-date until last Friday due to the Chinese government’s efforts to stimulate the economy. A Marketwatch news report on Feb 13 said “Loans extended by banks rose to a record 1.62 trillion yuan ($237 billion) in January, accelerating from 771.8 billion yuan issued in December, according to data released Thursday by the People’s Bank of China.”

In addition to China and India, the former “Asian Tigers” of Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea are also in Asia. Singapore has become the new “Switzerland of Asia” due to its favorable status as a off-shore banking haven. Besides these countries, Japan – one of the top economies in the world, is also in Asia. The oil-rich Middle East countries hold some of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world. On the political front, China is a community country but follows a unique type of economic system called “Market Socialism”(capitalist market with communist political system). India is the largest democratic country in the world. Except Israel, most of the Middle Eastern countries are monarchies. So overall Asia is an interesting continent to monitor with its different types of economies and political systems. From an investment perspective, my research to identify the top 10 companies led to the FinanceAsia.com site which publishes the top 100 companies in Asia.

The following is a brief overview of the Ten Most Profitable Companies in Asia:

1. PetroChina Co. Ltd. (PTR) is an integrated oil and natural gas company in China. All of of its production-related assets located in China. PetroChina had a total revenue of $159B last year. The P/E is 7.15 and the dividend yield is 4.65%. Annual EPS in the past 5 years increased by 23%. Currently S&P has a “Five-Star” rating on PetroChina.

2. HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC), one of the largest banks in the world, pays a dividend of 10.23%. HSBC is incorporated in the UK but FinanceAsia lists it in the top Asian companies since HSBC has huge operations in Hong Kong. HBC is currently not an investor’s favorite since its a bank stock.

3. Samsung Corp(OTC: SSDIF) is a top digital equipment and home appliance maker from South Korea. In the US, the stock is thinly traded on the OTC market. Samsung does not pay a regular dividend.

4. A provider of mobile telecom services in mainland China and Hong Kong, China Mobile Limited (CHL) has a subscriber base of 399.5 as of August, 2008. CHL has a profit margin of about 27% and the annual earnings growth is 17%. The market cap. is $178.9 B and the yield is 3.84%.

5. China Construction Bank Corp. trades on the OTC market with ticker CICHY.

6. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Co Ltd (SHI) is another petrochemical company in China. The current yield is 5.39%.

7. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is not listed in the US markets.

8. Bank of China (3988.hk) trades in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

9. One of the world’s largest integrated steel producer is POSCO (PKX) of South Korea.Due to the collapse in steel prices PKX has fallen 59% in in the past 52 weeks. PKX does not pay regular dividends.

10.India-based Oil & Natural Gas Corporation(ONGC.NS) trades on the New Delhi Stock Exchange.

SocGen Raises Dividend

Posted by on

Societe Generale SA, one of the largest banks in France raised the dividend today by 33% to 1.2 Euros a share. SoGen trades in the US in the OTC market with ticker SCGLY.

Some of the key points in the 4th Quarter,2008 earnings report:

  • French consumer lending helped the bank offset losses in international operations
  • Net Income was 87 million Euros
  • SocGen said 2009 will “probably remain challenging”
  • At the end of 2008, the Tier 1 capital ratio stood at 8.8%

Last year the bank suffered heavy losses due to a rogue trader named Jerome Kerviel. Since the bank owns Komercni Banka AS in the Czech Republic the bank may report more losses this year due to severe economic issues in Eastern European countries. SocGen also owns Rosbank and BRD-Groupe Societe Generale, Romania’s second- biggest bank.

Source: Bloomberg

SocGen Reports Fourth-Quarter Profit on French Retail (Update2)

More from SocGen’s IR site:

Fourth Qtr and 2008 Full year Results Report

Detailed Financial Data Presentation

Disclosure: Long SCGLY.

Composition of Loan Portfolios of FDIC-Insured Institutions

Posted by on

Have you ever wondered how much of the total outstanding loans in the USA is related to residential mortgages? Residential mortgage loans have been attributed as the main culprit behind the credit crisis. To be more precise, it is the sub-prime residential mortgages.

Some say that other type of loans such as credit cards, commercial construction loans, etc. will be the next to collapse. To get a clear picture, I found the following chart from the FDIC’s Quarterly banking Profile for 3Q, 2008:
(Click to enlarge)

Residential mortgages constitute the largest portion of all loans.Construction and non-farm non-residential real estate loans add up another 21%.Hence overall real estate related loans form the most of all loans. Unless the toxic loans in this real estate assets are cleaned up the housing sector will continue to spiral down more.