Guide to Analysing Companies

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Dotcom stocks
During the internet boom, which ended with a bump at the be-
ginning of 2000, part of the strategy of dotcom companies
(those with the suffix .com in their registered name) was to aim
for an initial public offering of their shares as soon as
possible. Once public, such companies became known as
dotcom stocks. Although many of them made no profits, until
the technology boom turned to bust their shares rose ever
higher.
Double-taxation agreement
It is a fundamental principle of tax law in most countries that
the same income should not be taxed twice. Consequently,
there is a network of agreements between pairs of countries
that seek to avoid taxing income in one country when it has
already been taxed in another. This applies in particular to
income that arises in one country but is then remitted to a resi-
dent in another. Double taxation can also occur when income
passes from one taxable entity (such as a corporation) to
another (such as a shareholder). Attempts to reduce the double
taxation of dividends (paid out of a company’s taxed income
to taxable individuals) have been less popular with govern-
ments than attempts to eliminate the taxation of the same
income in two fiscal jurisdictions.
Dow Jones Indexes
Dow Jones, the company which publishes the
Wall Street
Journal, also gives its name to the most famous stockmar-
ket index in the world. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
(introduced in October 1896) is a closely watched index based
on the average prices of a selection of about 30 companies
quoted on the new york stock exchange. It gives an in-
dication of the rate and direction in which the market as a
whole is moving. Other less widely reported indexes include