📅 On This Day
London's Markets Absorb Terror Shock and Recover Almost Entirely
On July 7, 2005, four coordinated suicide bombings struck London's transport network during the morning rush hour, killing 52 people and sending the FTSE 100 plunging roughly 200 points within two hours — its sharpest intraday drop since the Iraq invasion. The exchange activated emergency measures to curb panic selling. Yet the index closed down just 71.3 points, or 1.36%, and fully recovered the following trading day, becoming a quiet testament to how swiftly modern markets can absorb even the most harrowing geopolitical shocks.
A 200-point freefall that nearly vanished by close — markets, it turns out, can grieve and recalibrate at once.
🇬🇧 GB
Source: London Stock Exchange; BBC
🌍 Around the World
Spain Withholds 19% on Dividends, Treaties Trim Rate to 15%
Spain applies a 19% withholding tax on dividends paid to non-residents, but eligible investors under treaties such as the U.S.-Spain agreement can see that rate reduced to 15% — often applied at source for major ADRs like Banco Santander (SAN) and Telefónica (TEF). The 4% excess, where withheld, is reclaimable through Spain's Agencia Tributaria, typically within six to twelve months. IRA holders, however, permanently forfeit the 15% treaty rate, creating a meaningful drag on high-yield Spanish holdings.
For IRA investors in SAN or TEF, that unrecoverable 15% treaty tax quietly trims yield every single year.
🇪🇸 ES
Source: PwC Tax Summaries
🔥 Dividend Streak
Cincinnati Financial Fires Holdings That Cut — Even Its Own Core Stake
Cincinnati Financial has grown its dividend for 65 consecutive years since 1961 — but what sets it apart is that it holds its own investment portfolio to the same standard. Founded in 1950 by four independent insurance agents, the company built a notably stock-heavy portfolio, with heavy concentration in Ohio companies. When Fifth Third Bancorp cut its dividend in 2008, Cincinnati Financial sold down its stake. A Dividend King that practices exactly what it preaches.
Holding a streak since 1961 is impressive; enforcing that same rule on your own portfolio is something else entirely.
CINF — Cincinnati Financial Corporation
Source: Encyclopedia.com; Cincinnati Financial Corporation
🔥 Dividend Streak
Cincinnati Financial Fires Holdings That Cut — Even Its Own Core Stake
Cincinnati Financial has grown its dividend for 65 consecutive years since 1961 — but what sets it apart is that it holds its own investment portfolio to the same standard. Founded in 1950 by four independent insurance agents, the company built a notably stock-heavy portfolio, with heavy concentration in Ohio companies. When Fifth Third Bancorp cut its dividend in 2008, Cincinnati Financial sold down its stake. A Dividend King that practices exactly what it preaches.
Holding a streak since 1961 is impressive; enforcing that same rule on your own portfolio is something else entirely.
CINF — CI Global Infrastructure Private Pool - ETF C$ Series
Source: Encyclopedia.com; Cincinnati Financial Corporation
💡 Did You Know
Where a Stock Trades Tells You Nothing About Its Tax Home
A common misconception: dividend withholding tax follows the exchange where you buy the stock. It doesn't. Withholding is governed by the company's country of tax residence — so an ADR trading in New York carries the withholding rules of its underlying home country, and a stock listed in London may source its dividends somewhere else entirely. The right question for any international holding is always: where is this dividend legally sourced, and what treaty applies?
Exchange address and tax address are different things — and for dividend investors, only one of them costs you money.
Source: PwC Tax Summaries; OECD Model Tax Convention