30 August 2019 FT — Articles to Read

30 August 2019

 

Question: According to MSN: Money, what is the median household income for Washington-Arlington-Alexandria?

 

Russians feel weight of debt burden – Pg. 2

  • Average real incomes in Russia have stagnated for five consecutive years
  • On average each person in Kalymkia…owes 83% of the local monthly salary – the highest rate in Russia
  • Total consumer debt has grown 25% in the past year to about Rbs16tn, ….nearly double the total before sanctions and a commodities lump plunged the country into recession in 2014
  • Half of that figure is the result of a boom in unsecured loans, which typically carry interest rates of 20 to 25%. GDP growth, which has dipped to 0.9% this year, would probably have been zero were it not for the rise in lending, ….

 

Falling yields on US Treasury paper act as incentive for investors to pick stocks – Pg. 17

  • The plunge in yields on US Treasury bonds means investors can make more from dividends on S&P 500 shares than on the longest-dated government debt
  • The upending of the traditional relationship between stocks and bonds has the potential to drive more savers towards the stock market
  • The yield on 30-year Treasuries has this week fallen decisively below the 1.98% dividend yield from US stocks. On Wednesday the 30-year yielded 1.94%.  shorter-dated Treasury bonds and notes have offered less than dividends for some time
  • While companies aim to increase their dividends and are loath to cut them even in times of crisis, the collapse in long-term bond yields and the inversion of the yield curve – in which short-term yields are higher than long-term yields – has in the past heralded a recession. A slowdown could put dividends at risk, not to mention the danger of a big fall in share prices, which were until recently setting record highs
  • As a result, a higher dividend yield is no guarantee of stock market outperformance. The dividend yield for European stocks has been consistently above that of benchmark 30-year sovereign bonds yet European equities have underperformed global stocks
  • The US-China trade war has hit investor confidence, and a waning profit outlook for US companies increase the risk that listed groups may curtail the dividends and share buybacks that have also helped prop up prices. S&P 500 companies are on course to increase earnings per share by 2.4% this year, against 7.7% anticipated at the start of the year

 

Answer: $99,669 also #8 for middle class not being able to afford housing