The following comes from a collection of data tidbits assembled by Morgan Housel at Mötley Fool. They used the click-bait title, 50 Amazing Numbers About Today’s Economy — but I decided to just ignore that hyperbole and check it out anyway.
Here are a few of my favorites:
50. The S&P 500 is down 3% from 2000. But a version of the index that holds all 500 companies in equal amounts (rather than skewed by market cap) is up nearly 90%.
40. In 2009, 5% of Americans accounted for 50% of all health care costs.
39. As the market was “flat” from 2000 to 2010, S&P 500 companies paid out more than $2 trillion in dividends.
29. The average vehicle on the road today is 10.8 years old — an all-time high, and two years older than in 2000.
28. Just five companies, Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Cisco, (CSCO) Google (GOOG), and Pfizer (PFE), now hold nearly one-quarter of all corporate cash, equal to more than a quarter-trillion dollars.
21. Netflix (NFLX) is now responsible for about one-third of all Internet bandwidth.
12. For the first time since 1949, the U.S. is now a net exporter of fuel products like gasoline and diesel.
11. The period from March 2009 to March 2012 was one of the strongest three-year market rallies in history — stronger, in fact, than the 1996-1999 bull market.
2. As the economy tanked in 2009, the top 25 hedge fund managers collectively earned $25.3 billion. On average, that works out to about $2,000 a minute for each manager.
If this sort of stuff floats your boat — and you know it does mine — then go check out the full piece. Fun stuff . . .
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Source:
50 Amazing Numbers About Today’s Economy
Morgan Housel
Motley Fool April 5, 2012
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2012/04/05/50-amazing-numbers-about-todays-economy-.aspx
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