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GFD Adds over 50 years of Equity Data from Imperial Russia

GFD has added data on over 220 companies and over 600 securities listed on the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange between 1865 and 1917 when the Russian Revolution forced the stock exchange to close until the fall of the Soviet Union. Contrary to popular belief, both Imperial Russia and the St. Petersburg stock exchange were booming before the Russian Revolution occurred. The St. Petersburg Stock Exchange Index outperformed shares on the New York Stock Exchange between the end of the American Civil War in 1865 and the onset of World War I in 1914. Although Russia had one of the largest economies in the world before World War I, it was also a developing country where there were plenty of opportunities for investment in banks, railroads, oil, and other booming sectors.
The stock data are monthly, and are priced in Russian Rubles. The equity data were obtained from the International Center for Finance at Yale. GFD provides both the original names of the companies in Russian and the names of the companies translated into English (Russian External Trade Bank (Русский банк вн ешней торговли) or Keller Vodka Company (Водочный завод “Келлер и К”)). Shares have been classified by sector and industry to aid analysis of the data. One interesting aspect of the St. Petersburg stock exchange is that individual securities traded on the exchange rather than company shares. Railroads raised money by issuing new issues of common stock which traded simultaneously with other shares. A railroad or bank might have a dozen issues from the same corporation trading simultaneously, all with equal rights and similar prices. Data on these separate issues is included.  

To make the data more useful, GFD has calculated price-weighted price indices for the St. Petersburg stock market as a whole, as well as for individual sectors and indices. The general share indices include both a Large Cap (Top 50 Most Active Shares) Index and an All-Share index. Since Imperial Russia included a number of different countries, separate indices are calculated for Russia, Ukraine, Poland and Latvia. Data on individual sectors include Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Finance, Industrials, Materials, Transports and Utilities & Telecommunications. Each of these sectors is broken down into individual industries for further analysis. Companies listed on the St. Petersburg stock exchange covered numerous industries and sectors, including Banks, Breweries, Oil, Machinery, Insurance, Metals, Shipping and Railroads. These 220 companies provide a goldmine of information on the Imperial Russian economy. Never before has such comprehensive coverage of sectors and industries listed on the Imperial Russian stock exchange been provided anywhere. GFD’s tools allow you to convert the data for individual stocks and indices from Russian Rubles into US Dollars or British Pounds Sterling to compare the performance of Russian Stocks and sectors with the performance of similar sectors and industries in other countries. There is much to be learned from these indices since Russia exists as an interesting case history for an emerging market in the period between 1865 and 1914. Not only does Russia provide an intriguing contrast to advanced economies of the time, such as those of the United States and United Kingdom, but it can provide insights into the performance of the Russian stock market and other emerging markets today. Information on individual companies that are included can be found by searching the UK Stocks Database and information on the Russian indices can be found by searching the GFD Indices. The data on the individual companies, as well as GFD’s proprietary indices are available to all subscribers to the UK Database. To get more information on these indices, or if you would like a list of the indices and the companies that have been added, call today to speak to one of our sales representatives at 877-DATA-999 or 949-542-4200.

GFD Adds Stocks and Proprietary Indices for the Copenhagen Stock Exchange

Global Financial Data has added monthly data on 88 companies listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange between 1893 and 1937. Using the data for these companies, GFD has also calculated 50 proprietary indices for Danish stocks during this period of time. The data on the individual companies includes both monthly price data and dividends on the top 50 companies listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange between 1893 and 1937. Users can download price data for each company as well as a total returns showing the effect of reinvesting dividends. Shares have been classified by sector and industry to aid analysis. Data can be converted into other currencies and adjusted for inflation.
What is particularly interesting about the Danish stock market during this period of time is the Shipping Stock Bubble that occurred during World War I when Danish shipping companies took advantage of the country’s neutrality to ship goods between European countries. Until now, this bubble was poorly documented. Now it can be analyzed in detail.  

 
GFD has used the data on individual companies to calculate proprietary indices for the Copenhagen Stock Market. This includes a general index, sector indices and indices for individual industries. Sector indices include data for the Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Finance, Materials, Industrials, Transports and Utilities and Telecommunications sectors. GFD has also calculated indices for 19 different industries, including ones for Banking and for Shipping. Indices are price-weighted, and are provided both as price and return indices. Information on individual companies that are included can be found by searching the UK Stocks Database and information on the Danish indices can be found by searching the GFD Indices. The data on the individual companies, as well as GFD’s proprietary indices are available to all subscribers to the UK Database. To get more information on these indices, or if you would like a list of the indices and the companies that have been added, call today to speak to one of our sales representatives at 877-DATA-999 or 949-542-4200.

Global Financial Data Launches its Own Proprietary GFD Indices

Global Financial Data is launching its own proprietary indices to help its customers analyze the trends in global stock markets that have occurred over the past 300 years. Global Financial Data has the most extensive historical database of data on individual securities available anywhere. Data on individual securities from the United States begins in 1786 and includes information on over 75,000 securities. Data from the United Kingdom begins in 1690 and includes information on over 19,000 securities.
Before World War I, the London Stock Exchange was at the center of the global economy. The London Stock Exchange listed thousands of domestic companies that can be used to trace the rise of the British economy through the industrial revolution. From the Canal revolution of the early 1800s to the South American bubble of the 1820s to the railroad bubble of the 1840s and on to the rise of the industrial economy in the last half of the 1800s, the UK Stocks Database allows its users to document these changes. The London Stock Exchange was truly a global stock market. The UK Stocks database also includes data on over 2500 companies from 80 countries. Companies in British colonies, or former colonies, and in countries without developed local financial markets listed their securities on the London Stock Exchange because they could raise capital in London more effectively than they could anywhere else. Foreign securities traded in London because many countries had no local stock exchange. The first Canadian shares listed in London in 1825, but the Montreal Stock Exchange didn’t open until 1874. Australian shares first listed in London in 1834, but the Melbourne stock exchange didn’t open until 1861. Using data from the London Stock Exchange, GFD will provide global historical indices on emerging markets that otherwise would be unavailable. The US Stocks Database enables its users to study similar trends in the American economy during the 1800s. After World War II, the United States stock market represented almost half the capitalization of all the stock markets in the world. The US Stocks Database includes not only data from the New York Stock Exchange, New York Curb/American Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, and regional exchanges such as Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago, but also data on thousands of companies that listed over-the-counter. Global Financial Data is using this extensive database to put together its own set of proprietary indices that document the changes in the global economy over the past 300 years. The indices will include not only general, sector and industry indices for the United States and the United Kingdom, but also for the countries that had shares listed on the London and New York Stock Exchanges. As Global Financial Data collects data from other exchanges throughout the world, it will add indices for those countries as well. GFD Indices for Russia and for Denmark have already been added. The GFD Indices will include both bond and equity indices. The GFD Indices will be available both on a daily and a monthly frequency. Data on UK stocks is available daily back to 1693. Data on US Stocks is available daily through 1903 and from 1957 to date. Monthly data is available for more companies than daily data, so monthly indices will be used to supplement the daily indices and provide broader coverage than the daily indices. Global Financial Data has share outstanding information for most companies that are included in the US and UK Databases. This will enable GFD to calculate both cap-weighted and price-weighted indices. The databases also include extensive dividend information and by calculating the effect of reinvested dividends, GFD can calculate both price and total return indices. Since the GFD Indices rely upon data on individual securities that are included in the U.S. and U.K. Stock Databases, we will provide constituent membership information so users will know which shares are used in the indices at any point in time. Users can drill down to the individual securities to see how their behavior has impacted the indices we have calculated. A special tab in the search engine is set aside for the GFD Indices. Go to the GFD Indices tab and you can discover which indices are available to subscribers. Tabs for the U.S. Stocks Database, U.K. Stocks Database and Fixed Income Securities allow you to search almost 100,000 current and historical securities that GFD provides through these databases. The GFD Indices provide a unique set of data not available from any other source. The indices provide a motherlode of information on the history of stock markets over a 300-year period from throughout the world. GFD Indices that use the U.S. Stocks Database are available to all U.S. Stock Database subscribers. GFD Indices that use the U.K. Stocks Database are available to all U.K. Stock Database subscribers. GFD Bond Indices are available to all Fixed Income Database subscribers. If you would like more information on the indices and the US Stocks Database, the UK Stocks Database, or the Fixed Income Database, please feel free to contact one of our sales representatives at 877-DATA-999 or 949-542-4200.

World GDP and Purchasing Managers Indices Added

Global Financial Data has added new data for GDP, including measures for Global GDP, regional GDP and data on several countries not previously covered. GFD has also added data on the Purchasing Managers’ Index for 50 countries. GFD users now have access to a global measure of GDP, both in real and nominal terms, which they can use as a benchmark against the GDP other countries and regions. The nominal World GDP file (GDPWLD) goes back to 1960 and the Real World GDP file (GDPCWLD) goes back to 1950. Both files have 20 years of quarterly data.
In addition to this, GDP files based upon region and income have been added as well. This includes real GDP data for high-income, middle-income and developing countries. GDP files for high-income countries are further broken down into GDP files for OECD and non-OECD countries. GDP files for developing countries are broken down by geographic region, providing indices for Latin America, East Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. GFD has expanded its quarterly GDP data to include Qatar, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Azerbaijan, Qatar, Vietnam and Ghana. The Purchasing Managers’ Index provides a useful tool for analyzing macroeconomic trends. Purchasing managers form a near ideal survey sample base, having access to information often denied to many other managers. Due to the nature of their job function, it is important that purchasing managers are among the first to know when trading conditions, and therefore company performance, change for the better or worse. Markit, which calculates the indices, uses such executives to produce data on business conditions. In each country, a panel of purchasing managers is carefully selected by Markit, designed to accurately represent the true structure of the chosen sector of the economy as determined by official data. Generally, value added data are used at two-digit SIC level, with a further breakdown by company size analysis where possible. The survey panels therefore replicate the actual economy in miniature. A weighting system is also incorporated into the survey database that weights each response by company size and the relative importance of the sector in which that company operates. Particular effort is made to achieve monthly survey response rates of around 80%, ensuring that an accurate picture of business conditions is recorded over time. Data are collected in the second half of each month via mail, email, web, fax and phone. To get more information on these indices, or if you would like a list of these indices, call today to speak to one of our sales representatives at 877-DATA-999 or 949-542-4200.

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Our comprehensive financial databases span global markets offering data never compiled into an electronic format. We create and generate our own proprietary data series while we continue to investigate new sources and extend existing series whenever possible. GFD supports full data transparency to enable our users to verify financial data points, tracing them back to the original source documents. GFD is the original supplier of complete historical data.

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