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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Amount Weyerhaeuser is distributing to shareholders via a special dividend as it converts to a REIT, a move that will shield most of its earnings from taxes: $5.6 billion
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Percent by which the average gain in stock price for United Airlines, McDonald's, Motorola, and Trans Union (13.2%) outperformed the S&P 500 (6%) 30 days following the lunch their CEOs had with President Obama on March 9, 2010: 120%
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Of the seven CEOs invited to dine with President Obama at the White House in 2009 and 2010, the number that have seen their organizations' shares outperform the S&P 500: 5
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Average salary of employees at Goldman Sachs in 2010: $544,000
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Amount of fine, the largest ever imposed by the SEC, against Goldman Sachs for failing to provide vital information to clients about a CDO called Abacus 2007: $550 million
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The expected amount of money that the average worker is expected to amass in a 401(k) retirement plan given ideal conditions over 30 years: $400,000
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Actual average due to 401(k) “leaks” (withdrawals, borrowing, etc.) over 30 years: $60,000
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Average number of annual stock-splits for S&P 500 companies over the past 50 years: 49
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Number so far in 2010, up from only 1 in 2009: 3
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Of 17 stocks in the S&P 500 that closed at more than $100 as of June 30, 2010, the number that have never been split (AutoZone, CME Group Inc., First Solar, Goldman Sachs Group, Google, IntercontinentalExchange and Mastercard): 7
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Fee to process a petition for a foreigner seeking to live in the U.S. guaranteeing to invest at least $500,000 and creating at least 10 jobs, up $65 in 2010: $1,500
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Total insured value that the 175-year-old FM Global covers for clients such as Caterpillar, GlaxoSmithKline, and Hasbro: $8 billion
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Revenue of FM Global in 2009: $3.6 billion
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Total amount of direct premiums written by U.S. insurance companies for commercial property in 2009: $475 billion
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Average annual pension income for U.S. retirees: $28,437
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For Luxembourg, Britain, and Spain, respectively: $37,630, $22,053, $15,505
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Rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage in July 2010, the lowest since Freddie Mac started keeping track in 1971: 4.58%
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Proportion of homeowners with mortgages in excess of $1 million that are “seriously delinquent:” 1 out of 7
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Proportion with mortgages of less than $1 million: 1 out of 12
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Number of barrels of whiskey and scotch transferred by Diageo, maker of Johnnie Walker blended whiskey and Talisker, single malt scotch, to its pension fund to help cure a pension deficit: 2.5 million
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The value of global debt offerings in the first half of 2010, 39 percent less than the same period in 2009: $1.17 trillion
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Additional income, relative to existing salary, required by a job relocation to make up for the decrease in happiness that the average employee experiences when he or she leaves family, friends, and existing support network: $133,000
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Price of the new Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, the fastest (268 mph) street-legal car available in the U.S.: $2.5 million
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Rank of Facebook, with 500 million citizens, among the most populous nations in the world: third
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Amount that Facebook litigant Paul Ceglia will get if his claim of 84 percent of the company's value is upheld, based on the average of five valuations ($9 billion to $42 billion) of Facebook in July: $15 billion
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Americans over the age of 65 who have been the victims of a financial scam, at a cost of $2.6 billion per year: 1 out of 5
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Number of years of the last nine that tech stocks trailed the S&P 500: 7
Sources: 1-3 Business Week; 4 New York Times; 5 Reuters; 6-7 New School for Social Research, Teresa Ghilarducci; 8-9 Standard & Poor's; 10 Bloomberg; 11 U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services; 12-14 Highline Data; 15-16 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; 17-19 Freddie Mac; 20 Wall Street Journal; 21 Bloomberg; 22 The University of London, Prof. Nattavudh Powdthavee; 23 Automotive News; 24 Facebook; 25 Registered Rep.; 26 Investor Protection Trust, Washington D.C., MetLife; 27 Bloomberg.
