Published at February 20, 2009
in Money.
This is from a Bloomberg that has been circulating around- I don’t know how to verify it, but it does sound pretty accurate.
* If you purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you will have $49.00 today.
* If you purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you will have $33.00 today.
* If you purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you will have $0.00 today.
* But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank it all, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refunds, you will have received $214.00.
It just goes to show in this crisis, your best returns would have been from buying beer and getting drunk.
Published at February 5, 2009
in Money.
The Economist comes out every year with the Big Mac Index, and although I would like to take credit for it, it is a simple and easy way to see if a country’s currency is under or over valued based on the cost of the Big Mac in that country. Or as they put it ” The Economist’s Big Mac index uses the concept of purchasing power parity which states that the dollar should buy the same amount in all countries. Over time, the exchange rate between two countries should move towards a rate that equalizes the price of an identical basket of goods and services in each country.Comparing the cost of a Big Mac in one country against the price in another should indicate whether a currency is over- or undervalued.”
Here are this years rsults:
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
===============================================================================
—————– Big Mac Price in U.S. Dollars —————-
Argentina 3.30 3.64 2.67 2.29 1.55 1.60 1.43 1.43
Australia 2.19 3.36 2.95 2.44 2.44 2.46 2.33 1.86
Brazil 3.45 4.73 3.61 2.78 2.74 1.99 1.76 1.48
Canada 3.36 4.08 3.68 3.14 3.01 2.60 2.34 2.21
===============================================================================
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
===============================================================================
—————– Big Mac Price in U.S. Dollars —————-
Chile 2.51 3.13 2.97 2.94 2.98 2.56 2.47 1.95
China 1.83 1.83 1.45 1.31 1.30 1.26 1.23 1.20
Czech Rep. 3.02 4.56 2.51 2.67 2.60 2.45 2.19 1.96
Denmark 5.07 5.95 5.08 4.77 4.49 4.97 4.72 4.10
Hong Kong 1.72 1.71 1.54 1.55 1.55 1.54 1.55 1.47
Hungary 2.92 4.64 3.33 2.71 2.71 2.85 2.38 2.18
Indonesia 1.74 2.04 1.76 1.57 1.54 1.57 1.93 1.84
Japan 3.23 2.62 2.29 2.23 2.19 2.50 2.47 2.19
Malaysia 1.52 1.70 1.60 1.52 1.47 1.33 1.33 1.33
Mexico 2.30 3.15 2.69 2.57 2.66 2.12 2.21 2.18
Philippines 2.07 1.96 1.85 1.62 1.56 1.42 1.24 1.24
Poland 2.01 3.45 2.51 2.10 2.09 2.06 1.68 1.62
Russia 1.73 2.54 2.03 1.77 1.60 1.49 1.42 1.32
Singapore 2.61 2.92 2.59 2.27 2.20 2.19 1.95 1.86
South Africa 1.66 2.24 2.22 2.11 2.29 2.44 1.97 1.84
South Korea 2.39 3.14 3.14 2.62 2.56 2.36 2.80 2.73
Sweden 4.58 6.37 4.86 4.53 4.28 4.46 4.15 3.60
===============================================================================
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
===============================================================================
—————– Big Mac Price in U.S. Dollars —————-
Switzerland 5.60 6.36 5.20 5.21 4.93 5.46 5.11 4.59
Thailand 1.77 1.86 1.80 1.56 1.51 1.52 1.51 1.38
Turkey 3.13 4.32 3.66 2.72 3.07 2.80 2.94 2.34
USA 3.54 3.57 3.41 3.10 3.15 3.00 2.80 2.71
