WSJ By The Numbers - Top 10 for Oct.2
Real-estate
prices logged their biggest rise on record between 2001 and 2005, with an
average annual 9% gain. Some markets, such as Las Vegas, Southern
California, Phoenix and Miami-Dade County saw double-digit returns of at
least 20%, according to the National Association of Realtors. In 2005,
short-term investors in parts of Florida, Nevada and Southern California
posted annualized returns of more than 50% on average, according to First
American Real Estate Solutions. (Property
Play)
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Since the last recession ended in
2001, the U.S. economy has grown nearly 15%, after inflation.
Corporate profits have skyrocketed and the stock market has
rebounded. Adjusted for inflation, the median household income fell
for five years in a row before turning up in 2005. It remains below
its 1999 peak. The Census Bureau reports that the top 20% of
households claimed 50.4% of all the income in 2005, up from 45.6% in
1985. (Democrats'
Risky Strategy: Trumpeting the Wealth Gap) |
15% US Economy |
| Wal-Mart posted a weaker-than-anticipated increase of 1.8% in same-store sales for September. Retail Metrics, an analysis firm, predicts its index of 56 U.S. retailers will post an average increase of 3.9% for the month. (Wal-Mart, Faulting Lofty Comparisons, Posts Weak Sales Gain) | 3.9% US Retailers |
| Data developed by former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Fed economist James Kennedy suggest consumers "extracted" cash from their homes -- such as through cash-out refinancings or home-equity loans -- at an annual rate of $497 billion in Q2 2006. That was down sharply from a peak of $871 billion in the third quarter of 2005. Households in the top 10% of income hold 42% of the value of home-equity lines of credit, according to data from the Fed's 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances. (As Housing Prices Cool, Americans Keep Spending) | $497 Billion |
| India's economy expanded 8.9% from a year earlier in the fiscal first quarter (April-June, 2006), fueled by services and manufacturing and underscoring the strength in domestic demand. India's inflation rate in the week ended Sept. 16 slowed to 4.56% from a year earlier, compared with 4.61% in the previous week. (India's Economy Expanded 8.9% In Latest Quarter) | 8.9% Indian Economy |
| In the past three years U.S. economy has grown 3.7% per year, faster than any other major industrialized economy, and added more than 5.7 million payroll jobs, more than all the jobs added in the European Union and Japan combined. Over the first half of this year, compensation growth has averaged a remarkable 6.3%, at an annual rate adjusted for inflation. This growth is much faster than in previous years. (Coming of Wage) | 5.7M Jobs |
| In the last 100 years, we have created more wealth than in the 100,000 years before that, mostly because new ideas have made it possible for us to work smarter and find easier ways to satisfy our needs and demands. In the last century, work hours have been halved in the Western world. (Humanity's Greatest Achievement) | 100 Years |
| There have been 80 proxy contests for board seats in 2006, more than double the 29 such fights in all of 2004, according to estimates by FactSet Research Systems Inc., of Norwalk, Conn. About 62% of this year's challengers have succeeded, up from 41% two years ago. (Drama in the Boardroom) | 80 |
| MySpace attracted 79.6 million unique visitors in August while start-up Piczo attracted 10.2 million unique visitors, compared with Facebook's 15.5 million visitors, according to comScore World Metrix. (MySpace Has Large Circle of Friends, But Rivals' Cliques Are Growing Too) | 79.6 Million |
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Out of the roughly 8,500 banks in the U.S., 5 of the 20 fastest-growing deposit-gathering banks on a percentage basis from 2000 through 2005 were owned by insurance companies, according to data compiled by SNL Financial. A recent analysis by financial consulting firm Mercer Oliver Wyman shows that while insurer-owned banks rapidly have gained deposits, 23 of the nation's top 30 banks lost deposit market share from 2000 to 2005. (Insurers Win Customers, Profits With Banking) |
8,500 Banks |
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WSJ By The Numbers - Metrics 2.0 |
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