Salient to Investors: A Consumer Federation of America and Primerica study says middle-income Americans roll the dice when making financial decisions, leading to expensive financial mistakes. 67% of people with household annual income between $30,000 and $100,000 have made at least one really bad financial decision, costing them an average $23,000. But only
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Main Street Investor Survey reports that advisers rank second only to independent auditors of public companies on investors’ trust scale, ahead of financial analysts, journalists, credit ratings agencies, corporate leaders and government regulators. Douglas Elliott at The Brookings Institution said investors are now used to 2% annual growth.
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Charles Elson and Craig Ferrere at the University of Delaware say CEOs can’t readily transfer their skills from one company to another, debunking the “pay ’em or lose ’em” defense. They say the idea that companies must constantly compare their executives’ compensation with that of similar companies is bogus. They find little
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: 10,000 people will turn 65 every day for the next 18 years. Delaying the start of Social Security adds 8 percent to it each year. Hang on to the full-time job for as long as you can. It is harder to return to work if necessary or
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Brazilian small-caps are at 1.59 times book versus 3-yr low of 1.33 in June and the highest versus the Bovespa since February 2009. Consumer stocks account for 30 percent of the small-cap index, almost three times as much as their share in the Bovespa, where commodities producers account for 43 percent. Herculano
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Bjorn Hanson at NYU said $1.85 billion in fees and surcharges was collected in 2011 for hotels alone versus $1.2 billion in 2000, expects $1.95 billion in 2012. loan deposit Airlines collected over $3.3 billion in baggage fees and over $2.3 billion in reservation cancellation and change fees in 2011. Carlson Wagonlit Travel
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Rich investors make portfolio decisions typically that are better-informed and with sufficient diversification to ride out rough markets. Blending a small amount of exotic holdings with traditional core holdings of stocks, bonds and cash lowers overall volatility. King Lip at Baker Ave says capital preservation is the key – stay diversified, protect
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The need to constantly adapt is the new reality for many workers, including virtually everyone whose job is touched by computing.. Going back to school for months or years is not realistic for many workers, so they turn to bite-size instructional videos, peer-to-peer forums, and virtual college
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The Stoxx 600 is at 12.3 times estimated earnings, its highest multiple since December 2010. Peter Garnry at Saxo Bank A/S said the divergence in the purchasing managers’ index figures between France and Germany shows that Europe is diverging into an A and a B team, with France joining the B team
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates said: The euro will survive because austerity measures deterring growth will be balanced by ECB intervention, says southern Europe will suffer a managed depression lasting as long as 15 years. Countries in northern Europe are more likely to leave the euro currency bloc than indebted countries in the
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