Offshore Property Investment Tactic

June 8th, 2004

One might be able to use known relationships between income and value to derive interesting new real estate investment strategies — using fundamental value drivers, rather than the supply/demand estimators typically used by real estate investors.

Real estate investors typically use interest rates and supply forecasts (building permits, etc.) in their trading decisions. But these measures don’t forecast demand. Here is a thought on how to do that, and what it might suggest as an income investment tactic.
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Avoiding the Calamity

June 7th, 2004

Smart investors are abuzz these days over what they call the “Calamity” — shorthand for a set of potential catastrophes to U.S. markets in the next few years. Scenarios include a dollar collapse, financial system failure, or a combination.

Triggers might include:

  • Central banks of east Asia stop supporting the dollar.
  • Interlocking web of derivatives contracts between major U.S. financial organizations could contain an unforeseen concentration of exposure in those firms, causing a cascade of failures as one fails to meet its obligation to others.

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