Nope, it’s not Brazil. The gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for Brazil was lowered from 2.2 percent in January 2014 to 1.8 percent in June 2014, according to The Economist. That means Brazil is expected to grow more slowly than the United States this year. (more…)
Soothing words from Federal Reserve Bank officials helped settle investors’ fears last week, and U.K. & U.S. stock markets moved higher. The FTSE 100 was up and the Standard & Poor’s 500 gained 0.9 percent.
According to an April 2012 Gallup Poll, Americans believe gold is the best long-term investment. Overall, real estate, stocks, and savings accounts were near-followers. When Gallup broke the statistics down demographically, they found men prefer gold while women prefer real estate, independents prefer gold while Democrats and Republicans prefer stock, and wealthier people prefer real estate and stocks while middle and lower income Americans prefer gold. (more…)
Lexington were delighted to see that U.K. stock markets finished the week – and the quarter – on a positive note!
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s accommodative monetary policy and strong profit growth helped provide the lift needed to propel the FTSE 100 to a 5-year high. The U.S. Dow Jones Industrials Index also finished the week above its previous record close. For the quarter, the FTSE 100 was up about 9 percent, the FTSE Small-Cap index was up about 11.3 percent, and the FTSE AIM index was up about 3.4 percent.
