A coordinated response by the world’s leading central banks to the Eurozone crisis led U.S. stocks to score their biggest daily percentage gains yesterday (November 30), with three benchmark indices ending with at least a 4% gain.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) closed at 12,045.68, up 490.05 points or 4.24%. It was the Dow’s biggest one-day gain since March 23, 2009.
The S&P 500 also surged, ending the trading day up 51.77 points, or 4.33%, to 1,246.96. It was the S&P’s highest daily gain since August 11, 2011.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index also soared yesterday closing at 2,620.34, up 104.83 points or 4.17%.
The “Greek Debt Crisis” explained
Financial markets worldwide are still on a decline and are being dragged supposedly because of the Eurozone debt crisis. Foremost among these problems is Greece — a country of 11.3 million people with external debt reaching more than $500 billion — currently at the brink of debt default.
What exactly happened? What led Greece to reach this unenviable position? Why are Greek people protesting?
Here’s a simple explanation of the Greek debt crisis.
Top 10 Countries with Highest Unemployment Rates
Without a doubt, the Philippines suffers from unemployment. Thousands of new graduates every year find it hard to land a job while some who have already graduated years ago are still looking for one.
The unemployed would rant and complain about their predicament but, apparently, the Philippines still has reasons not to worry too much. Filipinos, it appears, are comparably better off than the citizens of some countries who have been experiencing tremendously high unemployment rates during the past few years.
Take, for instance, Zimbabwe. As of 2009, the country’s unemployment rate is 97%. This figure means only three (3) out of 100 individuals looking for a job are able to get one. Even developed countries are not spared. European bigwigs such as Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy, for example, have higher unemployment rates than the Philippines.
The table below summarizes the top 10 countries with the highest unemployment rates in the world during the past 5 years.
Salary & Compensation of top CEOs in the Philippines
Most of us know Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Danding Cojuangco, Tony Tan Caktiong, Manny Pangilinan, Andrew Tan and various others who head the largest corporations in the Philippines. We know how daunting their task is of managing their companies on a daily basis striving to achieve profitability and to maximize their shareholders’ wealth.
Given the enormity of their roles, we are curious: How much are they paid as President or Chief Executive Officers of these companies?
Top 10 stocks with high Dividend Yield
Many newbie investors in the stock market seem to forget that capital appreciation is not the only way to earn money. As we’ve explained before in an article on How to make money using stocks, another form of income that stockholders receive is the dividend.
Dividends may come in the form of cash or stocks. Cash dividends are, obviously, cash amounts distributed to stockholders on record during a certain date. Stock dividends, on the other hand, are additional shares of the company given to stockholders at no cost.
In the Philippines, several stocks have high dividend yields which further increases the income potential of a stock or compensates for its price decrease.
Steve Jobs, 56, dies from cancer
Steve Jobs, the legendary icon behind Apple Inc., is dead.
The company announced today that Steve Jobs has passed away after years of battling cancer.
In 2004, Jobs announced that he has been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his pancreas and in 2009, he was forced to get a liver transplant. After several years of failing health, Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple Inc. on August 24, 2011.
Stocks are falling: Is this the same as 2008 recession?
This feels like deja vu.
Markets fluctuating wildly due to rumors of another global recession, stock prices freefalling in unprecedented levels, wary investors holding on to paper losses while hoping everything will be all right — this looks like 2007-2008 all over again.
PSE trading hours until 1 pm starting Oct. 3
It’s finally happening. After more than 2 years of planning to extend trading hours, the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) will implement starting next week an additional one (1) hour before fully extending trading hours to 3:30 p.m. by January 2012.
The PSE announced that effective Monday, October 3, stock trading in the local bourse will last until 1 p.m. Currently the Philippines is one of the countries in the world with the shortest trading hours — that is, only 2 and 1/2 hours, running from 9:30 a.m. until 12:10 p.m.
The move to have longer time for trading is meant to prepare the local stock market with the planned cross-border trading with other Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia.