Seven Things You Should Know 10/9/2009

Seven Things You Should Know
October 9th 2009

1. The last time the IRS raised its top marginal tax bracket paid by individual taxpayers was in 1993. The top marginal tax bracket of 31% from 1992 was raised to 39.6% in 1993. The top bracket has been 35% since 2003 (source: IRS).

2. The S&P 500 was up 15.6% over the last quarter (July, August, and September). There has been only one 3 month period in the last 10 ½ years that produced a larger total return performance than this most recent quarter (source: BTN Research)

3. The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has climbed 62 percent this year on expectations that developing nations will lead a rebound in the global economy from its worst recession since World War II. Emerging-market economies may grow 6 percent next year, compared with 1.8 percent growth in advanced nations. (source: HSBC Holdings Plc.)

4. The Australian central bank became the first of the G-20 nations to raise interest rates this past week. As the credit crunch shows signs of easing and the threat of inflation begins to show itself, other nations are expected to follow suit, including South Korea and Israel. (source: WSJ)

5. According to Fidelity Investments, 44% of the millionaires in its survey (Millionaires Outlook: Crisis and Opportunity) see stocks as the best investment/ asset class over the next five years, followed by mutual funds (19%) and Real Estate (13%). (source: Fidelity Investments)

6. On the earnings front next week, we’ll hear from Intel, JNJ, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Harley-Davidson, Halliburton and Bank of America.

7. The economic calendar for next week includes the Fed Minutes from September’s FOMC meeting (10/14) and September Retail Sales (10/14).

Have a great weekend!