Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden – are called Nordic countries. Nordic model is a combination of socialism and democracy , which is looked at as a better alternative for capitalism and Marxism. The model is based on 3 tenets: Free trade and promotion of high business activity A regulated labour market (collective bargaining ensuring welfare of the workers) Generous welfare policies The combined result … Continue reading Nordic model

By definition, unemployed are those who have no job and who are actively seeking employment. As of June 2017, the unemployment rate in the US is 4.4 %, which is measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (a division of the Department of Labor). There are 3 types of unemployment: Structural unemployment (occurs because of the mismatch of skills that workers have and the skills employers want). Cyclical … Continue reading Unemployment

New York Stock Exchange was formed as a result of Buttonwood Agreement signed on May 17, 1792. The listing requirements are with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) , which is created based on the Securities Act of 1934 created during President Roosevelt’s tenure. NYSE is the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed companies at US$21.1 trillion as of May 2017 (source: wiki). Here is the list of … Continue reading NYSE

Lets start with some data: GDP (1990) ~3 T USD GDP (1995) ~5 T USD GDP (2012) ~6 T USD Japan’s GDP (2017) is ~5 T USD (3rd in the world; US ~18.6 T USD, China ~11.2 T USD) Main industries: Motor vehicles, electronics, Iron & steel products. ‘Plaza’ Accord’ is an agreement between G-5 nations, with an aim to to correct trade imbalances between the U.S. … Continue reading Stagnation – Japan

India is the biggest consumer of gold in the world. Hence its important to understand the market dynamics in India. In Indian culture gold is considered an auspecious metal – so buying gold for jewelry, as gifts, offering to God are all contributors of the consumption. 95% of the gold is used for jewelry and the purity of gold is usually 22K (Karat is a … Continue reading Gold – Part 5 (Gold business in India)

There are various vehicles to invest in gold – Futures contracts, Derivatives and ETFs. CME (The Chicago Mercantile Exchange) is the largest gold exchange by volume in the world (COMEX joined CME group in 2008). Gold future market exists because the gold industry – the mine producers, refiners, manufacturers and retailers – wants to protect itself from market risk, hedging the exposure to price movements by … Continue reading Gold – Part 4 (Trading Gold)

Gold Bullion is used to trade gold , which typically is in the shape of a coin or bar. Gold is an investment vehicle because it is one of the most liquid assets. When you are looking for diversification , gold stands out. Gold typically has a low correlation with the stock market under normal market conditions and is the only liquid alternative whose stock market correlation … Continue reading Gold – Part 3 (Why invest in Gold ?)

Gold standard , when embraced by a central bank, maintains a link between the currency and gold. A fixed price is set for gold in the currency, which implies, the goverment wouldn’t be able to increase the currency in circulation without the increase of gold reserves. The US operated on gold standard from 1792 to 1933. During the great depression, to gain the ability to … Continue reading Gold – Part 2 (Gold Standard)

In this series of articles, I intend to write about gold, which should explain the prominence of gold. Lets start with some history of gold. In early 1948, gold was discovered in Sacramento valley. The news invited some 300,000 people to California in the following years, from various countries across the globe. The heavy influx of gold seekers in 1849 were famously called 49ers. Because … Continue reading Gold – Part 1 (Gold rush)