Those are words from famed investor Warren Buffett, an advocate of the buy and hold approach to investing. Buy and hold is a long-term strategy in which shares are gradually accumulated over time, regardless of short-term performance. And while Buffett is undoubtedly a successful investor, data from the NYSE suggests that few are actually following his advice. As of June 2020, the average holding period of shares was just 5....
Generally speaking, half of all gold demand is comprised of jewelry sales. About 10% of gold is used in technology, where it is used in devices ranging from computers, cell phones, space shuttles, and defense technology. Lastly, 40% of gold is used as an investment – and this percentage is growing significantly. In this infographic we also look at how gold growth in China will impact the future of the precious metal....
According to ArcView Research, it’s already a multi-billion dollar industry – and by 2022, the legal market could be worth $32 billion globally. As in any nascent industry, the early days of cannabis have been exciting and formative. As it begins to mature, it’ll become clearer what products will drive future growth. In this context, cannabis edibles and beverages have taken center stage – and today’s infographic from Trait Biosciences outlines the magnitude of this opportunity, along with some of the challenges the market faces going forward....
The Advertising Revolution Sponsored by: Market One Media Group Many decades ago, the world was much simpler for advertisers. Buying a ½ page newspaper ad or a 30-second television spot reached thousands of people, and consumers weren’t oversaturated with ads. Today, we are bombarded with over 5,000 brand exposures each day. Of those, 362 are advertisements with only 12 of them “making an impression” on us. Here’s a breakdown of average exposure per day:...
Some unicorns are little-known companies making quiet but impactful strides in software, healthcare, automotive, and other fields. Others have already become well-known industry leaders, like aerospace manufacturer SpaceX and game developer and publisher Epic Games. In total, there are more than 800 unicorn startups globally. That said, this visualization specifically hones in on the world’s decacorns (unicorns with valuations above $10 billion) as of December 2021 according to CB Insights....
Strong brands create an emotional link with consumers, and tech brands are no exception. This graphic from Business Financing compiles 12 months of data from the Google Keyword Planner and other sources, to uncover the world’s most searched consumer brands. Note: Due to data constraints, a number of countries on the map do not have sufficient information available. In Tech We Trust By far, the world’s most searched consumer brand is Google, which seems very convenient....
Of course, once a bubble bursts, it’s all obvious in hindsight. One common red flag is when prices decouple from local incomes and rents. As well, imbalances in the real economy, such as excessive construction activity and lending can signal a bubble in the making. The map above, based on data from the Real Estate Bubble Index by UBS, examines 25 global cities, scoring them based on their bubble risk....
It’s likely you’re very familiar with the standard world map. It’s shown practically everywhere – you’ll see it online, on the news, in books, and even as a part of company logos. In fact, the world map is so ubiquitous that we don’t even really think about it much at all, really. The economist Max Roser from Our World in Data argues that this familiarity with the world map may lead to complacency in understanding global matters....
That’s why on the first trading day of 2016, optimism in the markets was short-lived as news out of China was quick to spook investors. Chinese manufacturing continued to contract for the 10th month in a row in December. The “blue chip” CSI 300 index fell until trading was halted, with losses capped at 7% – its biggest fall in nine years. China also lowered its guidance on the yuan, which dropped to its lowest levels since 2011....
While this is consequential on a global economic level, it also leaves other population trends overlooked. For instance, Nigeria is projected to have more people than the U.S., the world’s third-largest country by population, by the year 2050. This treemap visualization, adapted from PopulationPyramid.net, is an overview of the global population in 2020, showing us the world’s most populous countries. The 50 Most Populous Countries China, with a population of 1....
But did you know there’s a way to get even more out of Visual Capitalist, all while helping support the work we do? New to VC+ in May 2021 VC+ is our members program that gives you exclusive access to extra visual content and insightful special features. It also gets you access to The Trendline, our new members-only graphic newsletter. So, what is getting sent to VC+ members in the coming weeks?...
Even within the social sciences, polarization covers everything from racial segregation, to labor skill levels, to class divide, to political ideology. How Do You Quantify Polarization? Edelman’s data on which countries are the most polarized comes from survey results asking respondents two very simple questions: How divided is their country? How entrenched is the divide? The questions help bring to light the social issues a particular country is facing and the lack of consensus on those issues....
The Demise of the Venezuelan Bolívar Continues [Chart] The Chart of the Week is a weekly feature in Visual Capitalist on Fridays. When the price of oil got crushed in mid-2014, there was no doubt that economies heavily reliant on oil exports would feel a pinch. Russia and Venezuela are no exception, and their currencies have been some of the most interesting stories emerging from this new oil price reality. Russia’s ruble had declined almost 40% against the US dollar over the next six months, only to rebound at the beginning of 2015 along with the price of Brent....
Because of this constant movement, today’s Earth looks a lot different from what it did millions of years ago. Today’s animation looks at the Earth’s tectonic plate movement from 1 ga (geological time for 1 billion years ago) to the present-day, via EarthByte on YouTube. Editor’s note: The video starts at time 1,000 ma (1,000 million years ago), and ticks down at the rate of about 25 million years every second....
The top banks’ forecasts for the S&P 500, treasury yields, and recession timelines charted A bird’s-eye view of the IMF’s inflation, unemployment, and GDP growth outlooks for nations A collection of the “spiciest” and most outrageous predictions from experts for the year ahead Results from our audience prediction polls Also, don’t miss out on our upcoming VC+ exclusive webinar on January 25th. The VC Team will deep-dive into the report’s contents, show predictions that didn’t make the cut, and answer any questions you might have about the year ahead....
For companies looking to create a sustainable competitive advantage in a fast-moving, capital intensive, and nascent sector like manufacturing electric vehicles, this is a simple reality that must be accounted for. Every milestone achieved is met with the onset of new and more sophisticated competitors – and as the industry grows, the stakes grow higher and the market gets further de-risked. Then, the real 800-lb gorillas start to climb their way in, making competition even more fierce....
This seems like a simple question – but in the “fake news” era, things haven’t been so straightforward. As a result, the public’s level of trust in mass media has fallen to a low of just 32%. Examining The Trust Spectrum A new survey by the Trusting News Project helps shed more light on the state of trust in media, revealing the attitudes of 8,728 people in the United States....
Crisis Investing: How 14 Different Asset Classes Performed in Times of Distress Note: to see the bigger version of this infographic, click here. History does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes. This could not be truer for crisis investing. Between China’s stock market and the debt troubles of Greece and Puerto Rico, it is clear that we could be entering a time of potential financial crisis. Every situation is unique, but generally the types of asset classes that protect investors in times of crisis are not necessarily the same as those during a bull run....
At the COP26 conference last year, 40 nations agreed to phase coal out of their energy mixes. Despite this, in 2021, coal-fired electricity generation reached all-time highs globally, showing that eliminating coal from the energy mix will not be a simple task. This infographic shows the aggressive phase-out of coal power that would be required in order to reach net zero goals by 2050, based on an analysis by Ember that uses data provided by the International Energy Agency (IEA)....
In times past, however, access to information was much more limited. It wasn’t until the 1800s that comparison diagrams and maps became widely accessible, and people found new ways to learn about the world around them. The image above, published by J.H. Colton in 1849, is believed to be the first edition of the iconic mountains and rivers infographic map. This comparison chart concept would see a number of iterations over the years as it appeared in Colton’s world atlases....
