Initially marketed to investors as Index Participation Shares, this innovative new product was meant to be a proxy for the S&P 500 that also traded on an exchange like a stock. After being launched, this early ETF prototype was immediately targeted by lawyers of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) for illegally behaving like a futures contract. A lawsuit ensued, and a federal judge in Chicago ruled that they needed to be withdrawn....
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine early last year, talk of global recession has dominated the outlook for 2023. High inflation, spurred by rising energy costs, has tested GDP growth. Tightening monetary policy in the U.S., with interest rates jumping from roughly 0% to over 4% in 2022, has historically preceded a downturn about one to two years later. For European economies, energy prices are critical. The good news is that prices have fallen recently since March highs, but the continent remains on shaky ground....
However, the country’s neighbors to the north and south are not the only trade partners that U.S. states rely heavily upon. This map from HowMuch.net uses flags to show which country each U.S. state is importing the most from. Below, there is an additional graphic showing where each state is exporting the highest amount of goods and services to. Who are the States Importing From? The U.S. has a few natural and obvious trading partners, whether due to geographical closeness or strong economic ties....
Mapping Monthly Disposable Income Around the World Monthly disposable income, or the amount of money made after income taxes, is a key indicator used to give an idea of a state’s economic strength. This infographic maps monthly disposable income around the world, using information from Numbeo, the world’s largest database of information contributed by users about costs and income in cities and countries. Leading the pack is Switzerland with $6,301 per month in disposable income....
In just a few decades, it’s possible that some of today’s most recognized companies may no longer be household names. Corporate longevity, or the average lifespan of a company, has been shrinking dramatically. In the 1960s, a typical S&P 500 company was projected to last for more than 60 years. However, with the rapidly transforming business landscape today, it’s down to just 18 years. The Companies With the Strongest Staying Power Even with companies skewing younger, there are always exceptions to the rule....
After all, the speed of technological change is exponential – and if a company like Microsoft or Google misses one important trend, it can drastically alter the direction of future prospects. For the above reasons, both tech giants and unicorns are laser-focused on hiring the best engineering talent available, and deploying it to come up with the new innovations, business models, and game-changing products that they feel comfortable betting their futures on....
[Slideshow] Powering New York Imagine that overnight all power infrastructure in New York were to disappear. Then, starting from scratch, we could build anything we wanted: a giant solar array that stretches to the horizon, the world’s biggest windfarm, or a mega nuclear facility. What would it take to power the Big Apple for a year with each individual energy source? We’ve crunched the numbers for oil, natural gas, liquefied natural gas, solar, wind, and hydro....
Today’s infographic from Pasha Brands dives into the huge consumer demand for craft products, and why investors should pay attention to this trend as it extends into cannabis. The Perfect Craft Product Chances are, you may have encountered any of the following at least once: microbrewed beer, specialty coffee, premium wine, or organic food. They’ve become so popular, that craft versions of all these are steadily carving a valuable niche in their original markets....
The Earth’s growing waste problem can be traced back to a culture that treats virtually every item we buy and own as disposable. Rapid urbanisation, population growth, and industrialisation are key contributors to the burgeoning volumes of waste that humans are producing each year. But what if there was away to get around that? Introducing the Circular Economy Today’s post from BlackRock highlights the key benefits of adopting a circular economy, and examines the factors that will make the biggest impact in the years to come....
This region is integral in both U.S. and Canadian histories, and it’s still the most vital trade corridor in North America today. In fact, every year 230 million metric tonnes of cargo pass through these important waterways, and it’s estimated that an impressive 30% of total U.S.-Canada economic activity takes place in the broader Great Lakes region itself. Today’s infographic comes to us from the Chamber of Marine Commerce, and it uses data from the a recent report covering the economic impacts of maritime shipping in the Great Lakes-St....
Platinum’s supply is concentrated in medium-to-high risk jurisdictions, while demand is strongly tied to worldwide auto production. on Did you know that nearly one-fifth of all the gold ever mined is held by central banks? Besides investors and jewelry consumers, central banks are a major source of gold demand. In fact, in 2022, central banks snapped up gold at the fastest pace since 1967. However, the record gold purchases of 2022 are in stark contrast to the 1990s and early 2000s, when central banks were net sellers of gold....
In some ways this is great news for consumers. The rise of mobile and electronic payments means faster, convenient, and more efficient purchases in most instances. New technologies are being built and improved to facilitate these transactions, and improving security is also a priority for many payment providers. However, there is also a darker side in the shift to a cashless society. Governments and central banks have a different rationale behind the elimination of cash transactions, and as a result, the so-called “war on cash” is on....
It’s a very simple question, but it’s also hard to get an accurate sense of the answer by browsing through a lengthy table of country-level population data. That’s because there are close to 200 countries spread around the globe, with populations ranging from near 1.4 billion (China or India) to countries a mere 0.001% of that size. How is it possible to do the mental math in interpreting such a wide range of data points simultaneously?...
China’s rapid spending and investment has come at a price. The country is now saddled with a massive debt bomb that could detonate at any moment. Further, economic interests have helped to create a precarious situation in the South China Sea, which many experts see as having escalating potential for armed conflict. Such actions would disrupt trade along one of the most important sea routes in the world. To be fair, no one ever said that executing on five-year plans would be easy....
However, just over a century later in 146 B.C., Carthage was burnt to the ground by the Romans. The destruction of Carthage was so thorough that many things are still not known about their civilization today. Carthage went from being a major power to literally being wiped off of the map. A few decades after the annihilation of Carthage, it was Rome’s turn to become the world’s largest city for close to 500 years....
The news cycle is sensational enough when we’re dealing with the regular issues of the day. But add in some uncertainty and urgency – such as when the world is dealing with an outbreak like SARS, Mad Cow Disease, Ebola, or even Y2K – and each headline seems to get more provocative or speculative than the last. Today’s graphics come to us from Information is Beautiful, and they show the intensity of news mentions for different topics that stoked frenzies in the media from 2000-2017....
To this end, nations in the region have been working towards an ambitious plan to create the world’s largest trade area. The Gambia recently became the latest country to ratify the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), helping the agreement reach critical mass to move forward. Today’s graphic helps put the region – and the status of AfCFTA – into perspective. The Patchwork Problem One key to unlocking the region’s economic potential is making it easier for Africa’s 55 countries to trade with one another....
In today’s graphic from Reddit user Udzu, flags serve as the visual raw material for experimentation. The visualization uses flags to show the “weight” of a country’s population or land area within its respective region – a unique thought exercise worth digging into. Vexillology, Visualized When all the world’s flags are averaged, the result is a hazy rectangle with outlines of popular flag layouts (e.g. tricolor, triband). That said, one feature that does stand out is the Union Jack in the top left corner, showing that Great Britain’s historical influence lives on even through flag design....
Visualizing U.S. Millionaires by State of Residence There are literally millions of millionaires in the United States. In fact, there are 7.1 million households in the country that have investable assets of $1 million or more. Impressively, this gives the U.S. a higher total population of millionaires than any other country in the world, even though China’s rapidly rising wealth is also quite notable. Millionaires by State Today’s visualization comes to us from HowMuch....
Investors are bracing for longer inflation. The Federal Reserve indicated that more restrictive monetary policy is in the cards amid strong employment gains. In Europe, while inflation has fallen, it is still far above the 2% target. Across the Euro area inflation is estimated to have reached 8.5% in January. At the same time, some countries have managed to tamp down inflation. Slower growth, cheaper import costs, and foreign exchange policy are some of the factors keeping inflation subdued....
