Every country in the world has industries that are both symbols of the economy and carry more weight than other industries. If you think about the US, in the 1900’s you may think of US Steel and steel making, in the 1950’s it was GM and automobiles and present day it is Silicon Valley and AI. While the focus is on these industries all others exist, but one group of companies seemingly carry more than their share.

In an article by Eshe Nelson of the New York Times News Service, for the past few years in the country of Denmark, the pharmaceutical industry in particular Novo Nordisk has been the symbol for the country. Novo Nordisk was founded in 1923 and has many years of success, but in the last 5 years its blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss drug – Ozempic changed everything.

Novo Nordisk accounted for 11% of the Denmark’s growth, according to nation’s statistic office. ?Hiring by Novo represented 1/5 of employment in 2023, while it was the largest single contributor to corporate tax revenue.

This year, Novo Nordisk warned that its sales growth would slow, this has resulted in Danish Economy Ministry slashed the country’s growth rate by half to 1.4%.

Novo had doubled its workforce by 34,000 and is reducing its workplace by 5,000. In addition, last year the stock market capitalization put Novo as the biggest company in Europe, its shares have fallen.

Linking to dividend paying stocks, all stocks go up and down or fluctuate, in your portfolio if you are fortunate to own shares which rise, remember at some point it is important to take profits, either the money you put in and a little bit, then as the price goes up and down it matters less. With the profits you can diversify into other companies or use for lifestyle. In that fashion, you worry less about the price because you have made profits and have the ability to have patience and can do your homework in a more leisurely manner.

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.