Kaizen Wealth Management

Facebook – already the 23rd Largest U.S. Company

Kaizen Wealth Managment — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:13:02 +0000

Source: InvestmentNews Daily, Capital IQ

Labor Force Participation Rate Lowest in 30 Years

Kaizen Wealth Managment — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:27:20 +0000

Last week:

The labor force participation rate fell to 63.6% in April; when was the last time it was this low?

Answer:

The last time the labor force participation rate was at 63.6% was in December 1981.

Next week:

According to the JOLTS survey, how many job openings were there as of the end of March?

Source: BLS, J.P. Morgan Asset Management

Facebook…and friends

Kaizen Wealth Managment — Wed, 16 May 2012 21:03:56 +0000

Source: The Economist

The Euro Area is Ever-more Reliant on Germany

Kaizen Wealth Managment — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:20:45 +0000

Source: The Economist

How America Really Chooses It’s President {Video}

Kaizen Wealth Managment — Wed, 09 May 2012 17:44:29 +0000

Source: The Economist

Earnings Season Off to a Good Start

Kaizen Wealth Managment — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:34:55 +0000

Source: Standard & Poor’s, FactSet, J.P. Morgan Asset Management

GDP Purchasing Power

Kaizen Wealth Managment — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 13:28:00 +0000

Last week:

Since 1980, how many years has global GDP shrunk on a purchasing power of parity basis?

Answer:

Global GDP has not shrunk on a purchasing power of parity basis since 1980.

Next week:

According to Moody’s, what percentage of U.S. non-financial corporate cash is held overseas?

Source: IMF, J.P. Morgan Asset Management

South Korea May Soon Be Richer Than Japan

Kaizen Wealth Managment — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 22:54:38 +0000

For years, Japan was Asia’s richest and most powerful economy. It was the first Asian economy to industrialise, and the emerging Asian tigers—Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and later China—merely followed in its tracks. Now, however, Japan is steadily being overtaken. China’s economy is now bigger than Japan’s, but less noticed is the fact that Asia’s so-called newly industrialised economies are becoming richer than Japan. Most economists reckon that the best way to compare living standards is to take GDP per person measured at purchasing-power parity, which adjusts for differences in the cost of living in each country. On this gauge, Japan was overtaken by Singapore in 1993, by Hong Kong in 1997 and by Taiwan in 2010. But the most humbling re-ranking will be when South Korea becomes richer than Japan. The latest forecasts from the IMF suggest that this could happen within five years. That would be a remarkable turnabout. In 1980 South Korea’s GDP per person was barely a quarter the level of Japan’s.

Source: The Economist, IMF

Social Security and Medicare Solvency

Kaizen Wealth Managment — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:33:30 +0000

The main fund paying out Social Security benefits in America will run out in 2033, three years earlier than projected, according to the trustees’ annual report. The trustees also forecast that Medicare, which provides health care for the elderly, will go into the red in 2024. But that assumption is based on the cost savings from payments to doctors that will kick in under Obamacare; if that law is overturned Medicare could become insolvent much sooner.

Source: The Economist, US Social Security Administration

Emerging Market Cities

Kaizen Wealth Managment — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:34:49 +0000

Source: The Economist, Credit Suisse