Iceland is reeling from the collapse of its banking system, so it’s no surprise that Credit Suisse considers the nation among the riskiest in which to invest. The firm’s “country risk scorecard” ranks nations based on current account balance, net external debt and whether the country is a net importer or exporter of commodities, among other measures. Iceland carries a top risk score of 229 among the 35 nations studied.
The United States, meanwhile, got a higher risk score than several developing nations, including Brazil, India and China, due to its relatively high private-sector borrowing. But the United States does rank as safer than the United Kingdom. The British were hurt by higher external debt levels.
Obama plan spurs capital-gains worries.
Barack Obama is leading in the polls, and that has at least one mutual-fund manager and the owner of at least one National Football League team worrying about taxes. Obama’s tax plan would raise the top capital-gains tax rate to 20 percent from 15 percent for families with incomes above $250,000. In its latest quarterly letter to shareholders, the Muhlen kamp fund said it’s considering making capital-gains distributions this year, so that they’re taxed at 15 percent rather than 20 percent for those families. Mutual funds have some flexibility as to when they distribute capital gains to shareholders. H. Wayne Huizenga, meanwhile, is considering accelerating the sale of a big chunk of his interest in the Miami Dolphins due to Obama’s plan.
OPEC promises, promises.
How trustworthy is OPEC? Hoping to prop up tumbling crude prices, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries recently pledged to cut oil production by 1.5 million barrels a day. OPEC’s history of following through on such promises has been spotty, according to Barclays analyst Costanza Jacazio. In 2001, OPEC pledged to cut 4.9 million barrels per day; it ended up cutting 4.4 million. In 2003, the gap was more pronounced: It pledged to cut 1.9 million barrels per day but cut 249,000.
Jacazio says the market seems to have little faith OPEC will follow through this time. But she thinks it might, as production outside the cartel looks relatively weak.
Exxon: a billion here, a billion there.
Ho hum. Exxon Mobil reported another record quarterly profit last week, enough to give a little more than $2 to every man, woman and child on Earth. Its $14.83 billion profit from operations in the third quarter tops the prior $11.68 billion record it set in the prior quarter. For the trailing 12 months, Exxon Mobil has now earned $49.06 billion. The figure puts Exxon Mobil just ahead of the 2007 gross domestic product of Luxembourg.
Stan Choe, Ji Qi, The Associated Press
