General: Is the US still the center of the world?

A good 20 years ago the answer was simple, it would be a solid yes, but now the world has changed, there were wars, mobs, changes all around, crisis and it makes you wonder if the US is still the center of the world.

Well that depends where you are looking at, the US is no longer the most developed country in the world (the stats point at Canada for that), it's not the one with the highest standard of living, i could go on and on about this, the US is currently not the best country for anything good, there isn't a single positive statistic the set US as a top country for anything good, but it doesn't mean that it isn't the center of the world.

The US always has that energy and image that no other country has, it is an example for anything you want to prove, for a stat, as a base, inside that country ideas grow and spread in an incredible rate, a rate higher than no other, TV series are all set there, the film industry is all there and if you have a website you know that you will have more visitors from the US than from any other country, so what is the answer?

Even though the US is not the top country in the world i would have to say that it is still the center of the world, there are so many things based on it that you just can't refute that possibility, it isn't as clear as it was 20 years ago but it is still true, the US has a dynamic that no other country has, ideas and opportunities grow and spread in there like a wildfire and if you think big you think of it, if you are an important financial advisor you look at their financial sector, if you a tech fanatic you wish you'd live there, it's a flair that you can't find anywhere else and the cities like New York or LA that either make you the best or eat you alive are the heart of the deal. It's not all roses but when you think big you think of nothing else.

The American dream is no longer just for Americans, it has spread all over the world and everyone wants a piece of it. Granted, the US isn't what it used to be but everyone knows that in there are the most ridiculous opportunities and the big money, and for that there's no way around it, the US is still the center of the world and i bet that 10 years from now it will still be.

General: Apple is now the most valuable company in the world.

Apple logo, the logo of the most valuable company in the world

Apple has already surpassed the 600 billion dollars milestone and is currently the most valuable company in the world, it's a great example of how companies can bounce back and make a tech boom that 10 years ago no one expected.

Apples shares are now being traded at almost 650$, it's quite expensive but so far everyone is happy with it, if you think that just in February the stocks were being traded at 500$ and in 97 a sock wasn't even worth 4 dollars, apple had an amazing increase in value, just think that if you had invested 1000 dollars in 97 you would now be holding more than 200.000$ and i am not even counting dividends, it shore makes you want to go back and put all you money in there, of course that in that time Microsoft was in a boom so no one even cared about Apple, but look at it now.

Now all the analyst are expecting another boom for this corporation that seems not to have any boundaries for growth, i can just say great job and for the ones that have money invested for more that 3 years, nice bet, it was really worth it.

General: World stock exchanges

Every part of the worlds has it's own stock market.
Some are more active then others, some are safer, others are unstable, and some sometimes come to unbelievable losses in months or less.
Some examples are given in the Capital loss blog.

Chances are you don't invest, but if you do you probably look into your country. Take time to watch other markets, some may really surprise you.

Even though most people think investments are just blind luck, they are not, if you take time to watch financial programs, news and you don't skip the economic part of the newspaper you will start to gain some insides on business and markets, you will realize that some companies are doing better than others.

Even if you have no training in finance it's not so hard to learn how to invest, you can pick your stock based on many information, critical thinking, news, market knowledge, insights on a company, you name it, if you can find a logical way to pick stocks you are already thinking like a stockbroker.