World’s Best Banks 2007

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Each year the Global Finance magazine ranks the best banks in the world based on many factors. In October last year it published this list of top banks for 2007.

The banks are selected based on both subjective and objective factors.Objective factors considered include: “growth in assets, profitability, geographic reach, strategic relationships, new business development and product innovation”. Subjective factors include: “the opinions of equity and credit-rating analysts, banking consultants and others in the industry’.

Hence the banks in this list are the best in everything. For example – The Royal Bank of Canada(RY) is the best bank in Canada because it has the best customer service, great consistent earnings growth and is the most profitable bank in Canada.

This list can be used for picking the best banks in each country for investment purposes as well.

“The World’s Best Banks for 2007” is listed in the chart below.

Worlds Best Banks 2007

Note: Click on the thumbnail to enlarge this image.

Courtesy : Global Finance Magazine

Related Posts:

The Best Banks of the World 2008

For “The Top Ten Banks of China 2007” click here.

For “The World’s 20 Biggest Banks 2008” click here

For “The Top 10 Banks in the World 2008” click here.

For “The World’s Best Banks 2007” click here.

For “The Top 5 British Banks” click here.

For “The Top 10 German Banks” list, click here.

For “The Top Banks of Canada” click here.

The Top South Korean Banks

The Top Singapore Banks

The Top Chile Banks

For “The Top 5 Banks of Australia” list, click here.

Peruvian ADRs

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Compania de Minas Buenaventura (BVN) and CreditCorp Ltd.(BAP) are two Peruvian ADRs trading in the NYSE.

1.Company: Compania de Minas Buenaventura (BVN)
Ticker: BVN
Country: Peru
Beta: 0.5

Buenaventura is one of Peru’s public traded precious metal company with interests in mining gold, silver, copper,etc. The company is a major holder mining rights in Peru and was established in 1953. Revenues and EBITDA for the past 5 years has been increasing due to the incredible run in the commodity markets.

BVN stock split for 2:1 on July 23,2008. The dividend yield is just 0.74%.But most mining companies are growth companies not to be bought for dividend yields. Some don’t even pay any dividends. Investing in commodity stocks especially mining stocks is extremely risky since prices can go sky high rapidly and collapse dramatically as well . So invest with caution.The stock is down over 25% from its 52 weeks high.

2.Company: CREDICORP LTD.
Ticker: BAP
Country: Peru
Yield:2.06%

Credicorp Ltd. is Peru’s largest financial services holding company. The company operates in commercial banking , insurance and investment banking.

The PE ratio for BAP is 13.02 and the stock is down about 15% from 52 week high. BAP is a high beta stock (risk) with a beta of 1.1.

5 Years BAP Performance example:

Invested: $1,000 on 7/25/03
Closing Price: $9.73
# of Shares Today: 102.15
Current Value: $7,497.45
Growth: 649.74%

5 Years – BAP Vs. SP 500 Growth Comparison Chart:

bap-sp500-5-year-performance.png

In recent months both Fitch and S&P have upgraded Peru’s rating to investment grade.So anyone interested in adding a few aggressive picks to their portfolio can analyze the above two Peruvian stocks.

Related articles:

Gold Dividends: 11 Mining Stocks That Pay Them

Top Silver Mining Stocks

Photo: Machu-Picchu, Peru

Machu Picchu

The Top 10 Banks in the World 2008

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The following is a list of “The World’s Top 10 Banks for 2008” based on assets held as of April 30,2008:

[TABLE=87]

Source: BankersAlmanac.com‘s ranking of the world’s largest banks.

Related Posts:

The Best Banks of the World 2008

For “The World’s Best Banks 2007” click here .

Top Banks of the World available as ADRs

Top Canadian Dividend Stocks available as ADRs

Top 10 European Utilities available as ADRs

Hi-Yield Portfolio(HYP)- Asian Pacific Banks

Hi-Yield Portfolio (HYP) – European Banks

Top German Chemical ADRs

** New October-2008: For “The Top Ten Banks of China 2007” click here.

For “The World’s 20 Biggest Banks 2008” click here

For “The Top 10 Banks in the World 2008” click here.

For “The World’s Best Banks 2007” click here.

For “The Top 5 British Banks” click here.

For “The Top 10 German Banks” list, click here.

The Top South Korean Banks

The Top Singapore Banks

The Top Chile Banks For “The Top Banks of Canada” click here.

For “The Top 5 Banks of Australia” list, click here.

Pickup some paper ADRs

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In this time of volatile markets, it may be a good idea to look into some of the “unloved” sectors such as paper,chemicals,etc. In this post lets review three stocks in the paper and pulp industry. While these stocks may not grow like railroads or offer high dividend yields like financials they do provide some stability to a portfolio that is diversified with other sector stocks.

1. Company: Sappi Ltd.
Ticker: SPP
Country: South Africa
Dividend Yield : 2.95%

Sappi is a leading maker of coated fine paper and chemical cellulose (dissolving pulp) in from South Africa. Some of the top investors in the company include State Street Global Advisors,The Boston Company Asset Management,Vanguard Group, Inc and Barclays Global Investors. The stock trades in the NYSE. The PE is 7.72 and its EPS and Revenue growths are high compared to the industry.

2. Company: UPM-Kymnene Oyj
Ticker: UPMKY
Country: Finland
Dividend Yield :7.05%

UPM-Kymnene is a Finnish company that makes printing papers, specialty papers, label materials and wood products. Today the company weak earnings for the second quarter.

3. Company: Stora Enso Oyj
Ticker: SEOAY
Country: Finland
Dividend Yield :7.35%

Stora Enso is another pup and paper manufacturers from Finland. The company was formed by the merger of Stora of Sweden and Enso of Finland in 1998.Today Stora Enso is one of the world’s largest producer of pulp and paper. Total sales exceeded 11B EUR in 2007.

The Government of Finland is the largest shareholder. Today the company announced decreased profits for the second quarter of 2008.