Smart decisions are based on more than government statistics, agency reports, news releases, interest rates and stock quotes. We've selected a few fascinating statistics here that illuminate the markets, the world of financial services and big business.
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Percent of companies that enforce bans on groups of senior execs from traveling together on the same flight: 84%
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Total profits earned by the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank in 2009: $46.1 billion
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Rank of 2009 among the bank's most profitable years on record: 1
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Increase in stock buybacks from 3Q to 4Q 2009: $37.2%
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Rank of IBM among those companies with the greatest number of patents: 1 (with 4,914 patents)
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Number of U.S. university presidents who currently earn more than $1 million per year: 34
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Number who did in 2002: 0
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Number of U.S. university football coaches who earn more than $1 million per year: 81
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Amount South Africa has spent readying for the 2010 World Cup: $4.6 billion
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Number of companies in 2009 with accounting problems sufficiently serious to require restatements: 674
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In 2006: 1,795
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Average reduction in reported earnings, per restatement, in 2009: $4.6 million
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In 2006: $23.5 million
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Change in total salaries and bonuses paid by UBS to its top executives, from 2008 to 2009: +892%
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Change in compensation for members of the UBS board of directors for the same period: -23%
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Change in sales per square foot, a closely watched retail marker, at The Gap, the country's largest apparel retailer, from 1999 to 2009: -40%
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Change in total mall square footage for the company, which also owns the Banana Republic and Old Navy, for the same period: +62%
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Total net worth of Americans, up 1.3% in Q4 2009: $54.2 trillion
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Percent by which it would have to increase to get back to the Q2 2007 prerecession peak of $65.9 trillion: 21%
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Rank of the U.S. among nations with the fastest internet connection speeds: 18
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Minimum number of members the dating site Beautiful People has expelled since December for being too fat: 5,000
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Number of states that saw student enrollment fall while teaching staff increased between 2001 and 2007: 12
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Minimum number of professionals whose job title includes the word “ninja” on their public profiles in LinkedIn: 800
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Total amount of Iranian money frozen to date in the U.S. under existing sanctions: $43 million
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Daily amount that Iran earns from oil revenue: $160 million
Sources: 1 Association of Corporate Travel Executives; 2 Federal Reserve Board of Governors; 3 Bloomberg; 4 Standard & Poor's; 5 IFI Patent Intelligence; 6-7 Chronicle of Higher Education; 8 USA Today; 9 South Africa Finance Ministry; 10-12 Audit Analytics; 13-16 Wall Street Journal; 17-18 Federal Reserve, New York Times; 19 Akaimi Research; 20 Golden Goose PR (London); 21 National Center for Educational Statistics; 22-24 Wall Street Journal
