Real estate investments are very popular these days. Whether you make commercial property investment or residential property investment, you can pave the way for impressive earnings. However, real estate investing is one option, which requires considerable amount of knowledge about all its aspects and this is where real estate investment firms enter the scene. These firms lend helping hands in making you financially independent and let you relax about your post-retirement years.If it is your fist attempt to earn monetary benefits from investments in real estate, here are few reasons why you should approach one of the real estate investment firms.Evaluation Of Various Investment PlansThe market of real estate investing is flooded with a number of plans like commercial real estate investments and equity real state investment plans. However, you should have the talent to choose most rewarding plan out of these. A real estate investment firm can help you to evaluate various investment plans in this category, so that you can witness your money growing at a dependable rate. These real estate investment firms have huge networks of real estate professionals and investment experts and thus, they can provide you with profit-bearing investment products.Saving Your Time And EffortsReal estate investing certainly requires an individual to spend time and efforts to achieve desirable success as an investor in this market. If you are in a regular job or an active social being, it might be difficult for you to reserve time in this direction. But, you can always take advantage of real estate investment firms to devote time and efforts on your behalf.An Array of Beneficial ServicesThe real estate investment firms offer a wide spectrum of services to its clients. For instance, portfolio diversification, debt analysis, tax related issues and due diligence are some of the issues handled proficiently by these firms. You can seek advice from these firms on any aspect of real estate investing at any point of time.Thus, you can begin your journey towards successful real estate investing with the help of these dedicated investment cradles.While searching for a good investment firm, you might come across a number of options. However, a search under the lens can help you to figure out, which option is better for you. Concrete Equities is a good suggestion, as the firm is positively reviewed by its clients and market spectators.
April 11th, 2010
posted in Investment News
There are a couple of ways that you can invest in a Mutual fund; one is a one time payment and the other through periodic investments. The later is termed to be Mutual Fund SIP. When you go for one time investments, you just hand over the cheque and you get your fund units depending on the value which is called Mutual NAV (Net Asset Value) of the units on that particular day. When you go in for this kind of investments a couple of factors creep in that determines the number of units you get. A small percentage of your investment is charged as an administrative fee and is termed as entry load. The other charge that is levied is the Mutual Fund NAV, which is the price of the unit of a fund. Say if you are investing Rs 9000/ and if one particular unit costs Rs 30/, then the total number of units that you get to purchase is 300. The other type of investment is done periodically instead of a one time down payment. This kind of investment planning is called Mutual Fund SIP (Systematic Investment Planning). This type of investment is done when you tend to go for high capital gains and you need to invest a bigger amount, but find it difficult to invest it at a single time.It is then that the concept of Systematic Investment Planning creeps in. If you intend to invest a sum of Rs 10,000/ into a particular Mutual Fund, but your current financial obligations prevents you from doing so, then with the concept of SIP, you breakdown your investment principle into equal installments month wise. If a monthly investment of Rs 1000 is done at the end of the year you end up investing a sum of 12000/. Unlike general investment where you pay an entry load, SIP usually doesn’t charge any fee, though as of late some companies have started to in the form of exit loads, which is a fee charged when you sell your units. The minimum amount that has to be invested during a one time investment is Rs 5000/, where as incase of a SIP it could be Rs 500/ or more (depending on the company). In most cases payments through SIP is done month wise, but companies also gives their customers the option of making the payments half-yearly or quarterly. Payments are basically made Electronic Clearance Service from your bank; this means the mutual fund will, as per your instructions, debit a certain amount from your account every month. If you don’t have the required money in your account, then for that month, no units will be allocated to you. But, if this continues periodically, the mutual fund will discontinue the SIP. It is a compulsion that you state to the company as to how long you long you would want the SIP. After that during the course of the period if you realize that you can’t continue with the SIP, all you have to do is inform the fund 15 days prior to the payout. The SIP will be discontinued. You can continue to keep your money with the fund and withdraw it when you want. The amount invested till then will be considered as the total investment made. Investing in Mutual Fund through SIP makes your budget more disciplined. Every month you are forced to keep aside a fixed amount. It helps you make money over the long term. Since you get more units when the NAV (charge/unit) drops and fewer when it rises, the cost averages out over time. So you tide over all the ups and downs of the market without any drastic losses. In case of SIP basically no fees are charged, but if you sell your units in a year time you pay and exit load. Hence it pays to invest in a longer run. The best way to enter a mutual fund is via an SIP. But to get the benefit of an SIP, think of at least a three-year time frame when you won’t touch your money.
April 10th, 2010
posted in Investment News
When it comes to investment pursuits, first time investors usually want to plunge in with the needed knowledge and trading. Unfortunately, only a few of these investors find success, which only means stock investing basics are needed to really enjoy excess in these type of investment. Having even a basic knowledge do help big time as investments means either gaining profits or losing your money – and so one must know what he is doing.
Before jumping into the stocks investment, it is advisable to learn more about investing. This can be done by studying and determining what the stock investing basics are. One basic in stock investments is know what your goal is. You should discern what you are trying go get out of your investments. Before deciding on investing a penny, think really hard first on what you want to earn from your investment. The fact is that knowing what your investing goal is will be a big help in your making more intelligent decision on investments.
One of the most important stock investment basics is to create a simple investment goal at first. Unfortunately many people wanted to become wealthy overnight with their investment. It is not a smart idea to begin your road to investment by having high hopes of getting rich overnight. It is best to make a slow but sure investment.
Stock investment basics also dictates that you work with a financial professional that will tell you if such as a wise investment. Your stock planner will provide you with information that will take you to sound investing moves in order to experience financial goals.
Simply put, you must be reminded that investing requires much from you as an investor. You simply cannot just call a broker and tell him that you desire to purchase or sell stocks. It takes a good amount of stock investment basics as well as investing knowledge especially about stock market in order to earn profitably and successfully.
For more articles and discussions on investing ways such as penny stock investment, do visit our Best Investing Strategies and Ideas blog.
April 9th, 2010
posted in Investment News
Creating a goal plan is half the fun of beginning real estate investing. It’s all about starts at the end, when you are beginning a real estate investing remember to begin with the end in mind, as you start down the path to beginning real estate investing. What kind of lifestyle you would like to have, how much time you want to put in, and where and how you want to live. What you would like your real estate investing activities to provide for you, Spend some time thinking about exactly what you want to accomplish. Don’t think only in financial terms. Be specific, and write down your goals. When you can see them clearly in your imagination, you’re well on your way to achieving them.In real estate investing goal setting step has fail to notice in short interval, this is very unfortunate because taking a few moments to complete this simple task effectively can have a huge impact on your long term results but also on how seriously you are treated by professionals. A great way to describe creative real estate investing is to describe what it is not, here are examples of what it is and isn’t. Real Estate has classified in five types they are Flipping real estate, Probate real estate investing, Virtual real estate investing, Lease option real estate investing: Part I is Lease option real estate investing and Part II is Flipping real estate. Flipping real estate is one of the most used terms in real estate investing. The term flipping real estate means different things to different people depending upon who you are. Probate real estate: Motivated seller, an unemotional is one of the great benefits of probate real estate investing. This benefit is usually from out of town, but not familiar with the property and therefore not emotionally attached to it. Virtual real estate investing: There is many an elaborate and systematic plan of action such as virtual real estate investing, it is an ideal virtual real estate investing system would allow you to work and never leave your house. For example leads are automatically generated through automated e-mails, websites and direct mail, which are directed to a prerecorded message and or answering service.Lease option real estate investing Part One: Now a day investing real techniques are accessible which creates multiple rewards by combining techniques. Lease option real estate investing Part Two :If your are beginning real estate investor making money by doubling cash flows is slam dunk. It gives you what ever you wanted.The most often asked questions by new or aspiring real estate investors have to do with beginning real estate investing. You would want to read this to learn some specifics associated with real estate investing if you are an avid goal setter, if not a frequent goal setter please read on and consider that setting goals which are really a powerful tool. It does have some magic about it, and is critical to you to become successful in real estate investor.
April 8th, 2010
posted in Investment News
It looks like another banner year for the triple net leasing market, with demand far exceeding supply in most areas of the country. Thanks largely to the baby boomer population seeking out new types of retirement investments, demand continues to be high, and the demand, for the most part, comes from people who are in the midst of 1031 tax deferred exchanges. And even in light of interest rates trending upwards, cap rates tend to remain low with prices holding steady. Shopping Center Business recently spoke with several companies that are active in the triple net market to find out more about these trends and what we can expect for 2006. Demographic Shift The main reason for the current state of the triple net market is the significant demographic shift of baby boomers moving into their retirement years. According to Bruce McDonald, president of Net Lease Capital Advisors, there are about 75 million baby boomers, the oldest of which are just hitting the age of 60, so there are a lot of older Americans who have built up substantial wealth in real estate portfolios. Their ability to go into the net lease market allows them to avoid paying capital gains tax and move from management-intensive real estate to passive real estate that provides a stable income. “There are a lot of people who have built their portfolios out of single-family, duplexes or triplexes, and they are getting too old to bother with that and now have a yin for a management-free investment that produces a regular cash flow,” says Ralph Bunje, president of Reverse Exchange Services, Inc. “The traditional triple net model for these investors was a single-tenant property, such as a Burger King or post office because it fit their criteria. Now, as a result of this demographic shift, there has been the creation of the TIC [tenant in common] industry.” In addition to a management-free investment, a lot of these retirees are looking for “safer” investments as opposed to the traditional stock market approach. “There are a lot of people who had perhaps previously invested in the stock market or other investment opportunities and feel more comfortable getting into the triple net market now,” says Leith Swanson, president of Prime Net Realty Advisors, Inc. “There are a lot of very wealthy investors — individuals and entities — that are in the market and, at the same time, there has been a shortage of quality investment-grade net lease properties available for that pool of investors to buy. So what you’ve ended up with in the last couple of years is a huge pool of investors that are investing because of 1031 requirements or simply because they’re in the market and they are doing a dozen deals a year.” Though most agree that triple net investing is becoming more and more popular, one person we talked to thinks the stock market still has some appeal. “I think the media has been successful in helping create the perception of the real estate bubble out there,” says Keith Sturm, principal with Upland Real Estate Group. “I don’t think there is a bubble, but certainly clients have been a bit more hesitant about real estate just based upon what they hear on TV. With that, I’m noticing that the stock market has become sexy again. People have very short term memories and have forgotten how their 401Ks turned into 101Ks over the last stock market ‘crash.’ Those memories have been fading, and people are thinking about jumping back in.” Gaining Interest Interest rates on triple net investments may be rising, but cap rates so far have not necessarily followed, according to several people we talked to, and pricing still remains steady. “The demand continues to be strong because folks are simply looking for non-management properties and net lease seems to fit the bill,” says Jay Bastian, senior vice president of acquisitions for Commercial Net Lease Realty. “If treasuries stay where they are or trend lower, I think cap rates will probably maintain their current levels, but obviously treasuries are a driver of cap rates in some respects. Everyone talks about increasing interest rates, but I don’t see the demand sliding because of it; it’s just going to change pricing on deals.” “It’s still an incredible seller’s marketplace,” notes James Dwoskin, president of ICA Realty. “Sellers are still holding tight to prices that were originally put in place at a lower interest rate environment, but there doesn’t seem to have been any movement in the cap rates on the highest credit deals. On the lesser credit deals, there’s always been more flexibility and play in the pricing.” According to William H. Winn, president of Passco Companies, LLC, supply is still constrained and there is more demand by buyers. “However,” he says, “the movement of the interest rate has changed the market somewhat. Rising interest rates have, and will continue, to put downward pressure on yields, and as the trend continues, demand will be reduced on the buyer’s side.” Winn continues: “If sellers do not lower their price expectations, the result will be less transaction volume because buyers and sellers will not be able to agree on purchase price.” McDonald says he has yet to see a change in pricing. “Everyone would think that the cap rates will track interest rates,” he notes. “If interest rates continue to go up, there may be a change in pricing at some point, but so far it’s early. There’s usually a delay anyway, but I think in this market, there’s likely to be a longer delay between the interest rates and the cap rates.” Jonathan Hipp, president of Calkain Companies, takes a similar view. “There’s a lot of activity with tax-motivated buyers and plenty of fresh equity that’s not tied to an exchange,” says Hipp. “Although interest rates have gone up, cap rates have not correspondingly seemed to move in conjunction with the interest rates, so there are some pretty aggressive cap rates compared to what the debt is.” According to Sturm, the lower-priced, quality properties are holding their cap rates, and in the category of non-investment-grade properties that are in the $1.5 to $5 million range, there’s real pressure to increase cap rates. “The trend I’m seeing now is there’s incredible pressure on cap rates, based upon interest rates rising, that is causing a little bit of a slow down in the market until cap rates can adjust to interest rates,” says Sturm. 2006 Market So what effect will the demographic shift and rising interest rates have long term? The great risk is that people are buying at a market high, according to Bunje, but how long that will last is the burning question. “The demographic shift will probably continue to push for this type of investment for the next 10 years, at least,” he says. “But the question is, will these investments be popular and will the demand be there if the housing market should fall apart? If housing values go down, the whole focus is going to have to be on long term interest rates. So you just watch the 10-year Treasury rate and that will tell you what happens in that marketplace.” There are several forces that are going to cause cap rates to ease in 2006, says Barry Silver, senior partner with Silver Willis Investment Real Estate. “For the first time in my experience, investors are not willing to accept such small returns and they’ve turned to the TIC market,” he notes. “And they are being sold a higher current return without giving a tremendous amount of thought to the ramifications of what’s going to happen when the debt adjusts up to the interest rates that they’ll be seeing in 5 or 10 years.” Swanson says cap rates for net lease properties are going to be higher in 2006. “We may not see a fourth quarter that will look as good as the third quarter results are looking. But cap rates historically have lagged behind movements in interest rates, and though cap rates have continued to drift lower in September, October and November, interest rates have been fairly stable overall. But there are some inflationary pressures, and we’ll see an increase in cap rates possibly late next year.” “An average cap rate for a long term triple net property is between 8 and 10 percent,” adds Bunje. “Many of them are selling at 5 and 6 percent today, and that’s largely because of low interest rates. If interest rates go up, then cap rates go up, and as cap rates go up, investors who invested will lose their money because the cap rates will change.” While competition remains fierce, it may be a tougher market in 2006, according to Paul Domb, asset manager for United Trust Fund. “As interest rates increase, the primary players — the large REITs and the CNLs — will continue to do business, and I think a lot of the Johnny-come-lately’s will not be able to compete and will find a very tough market.” Hot PropertyWhat, where and how 1031 investments are being made. With the success of triple net leasing and 1031 exchanges, what types of investments make the most sense these days? Shopping Center Business recently talked to James Dwoskin, president of ICA Realty; Paul Domb, asset manager for United Trust Fund; Ben Simon, partner with The Simon Companies; Leith Swanson, president of Prime Net Realty Advisors, Inc.; Bruce McDonald, president of Net Lease Capital Advisors; Jonathan Hipp, president ofSusan H. Fishman ; Keith Sturm, principal with Upland Real Estate Group, Inc.; Michael Shephardson, executive vice president of Trustreet Properties; and Dan McCabe, president of Investment Exchange Group to find out more about the types of properties and investments that are at the top of the list for today’s investor. SCB: What types of properties are hot for 1031s right now? Domb: From our perspective, one type of property is no better than the other, and we do everything — office, retail, industrial, bank branches, pawn shops, 7-11s, you name it — all single tenant. Simon: On the seller side, it’s the Eckerd’s and CVS’s that are popping out of the ground. If you can get with a builder that’s doing those, then you might be able to get your arms around a newer product. McDonald: All properties are sought after for 1031. I think that what typically separates it is the size of the 1031 buyer in terms of how much money they have to reinvest. On a typical bell curve, there are just a lot more 1031 people who have smaller dollars — $1 million to $5 million — to invest. You have a large volume of smaller retail properties, such as drugstores and fast food restaurants. If you put it in a larger perspective, retail has the most transactions, but it’s not as high because industrial and office tend to be larger deals. Hipp: It used to be mainly retail, but now there is a lot more office and industrial. But I’d still say retail because it’s the most produced product out there — like a 7,000 square-foot Advance Auto or a 3,000 square-foot video store. The most sought-after property is any pure triple net property with reasonable or good credit behind it and rental increases. More than ever, I’m seeing buyers who have to buy something other than what they had hoped for and at yields lower than they had expected. Sturm: The single-tenant net lease, good-credit, well located properties are what’s really selling most today. We do a lot of retail, and it’s what we classify as the minimal management properties. The best-selling ones we see currently are passive real estate investments, where the owner just gets a check on a daily basis. McCabe: There are a wide variety of sought-after properties for 1031s. I’ve seen everything from large industrial complexes that are broken down and the typical semi-regional shopping center to gas and oil interests and multi-tenant office buildings. It almost depends on what the originator can find. I’m seeing a significant number of multi-tenant product, i.e. office buildings, medical facilities. There are too many inexperienced dollars chasing too few good deals. SCB: How hard is it to find properties? Dwoskin: The better properties are very hard to find. There are a lot of lesser credit, specialty type buildings, things like net-leased franchisee restaurant properties — those are always readily available. The harder things to come by are leased properties that are significant assets, such as warehouse distribution facilities, office buildings or well located retail facilities that are leased to investment-grade credit tenants. Over the last several years, most of the high-credit big-box users, like Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, Home Depot and Lowe’s, have decided that they no longer want to be tenants if they can avoid it and want to own all of their properties. So those deals are evaporating; there are very few, if any, in the marketplace. So what’s left of the investment-grade credit deals is coveted, and people will pay more for them. Hipp: Properties are not hard to find; it’s hard to find something that makes sense. It still continues to be a market where, if you see something you like, you’ve got to go after it. Shephardson: We’re very niche-focused and work in two primary sectors – 90 percent of our business is in the restaurant arena and the other 10 percent is just general retail that includes drugstores, banks and convenience and gas stations. We’ve found that because we’ve been in the business for so long and know so many restaurant operators, and because we have a very strong acquisition business in our origination efforts, we don’t have any challenge finding product. SCB: Where are people looking for property? Domb: To the 1031 investor, private ownership is a big factor, so local properties would be key. Credit and the type of real estate are secondary or tertiary considerations. The 1031 investor is hard-pressed to find quality investments. Swanson: We typically deal with clients in the $7 million to $10 million range and above, and the area doesn’t seem to matter, although obviously they’re not buying a lot of property in Louisiana and Mississippi. The driving catalyst behind the growth in the net lease market is the fact that the investor can move across state lines and not be relegated to his own backyard. McDonald: The product is spread across the country; there are certain areas for different product types. Florida and the whole Southeast are big growth areas and so are the western states. Office and industrial headquarter building deals are being done all over — they tend to be in the distribution hubs, such as Memphis or New Jersey. SCB: Are TIC structures still on the rise? Swanson: TIC structures offer the individual investor who doesn’t have $3 million to $7 million an opportunity to jump in, so that’s really propelled the market growth that we’re seeing. McDonald: They are certainly on the rise. In 2001, they did about $160 million in equity and in this year, they’re expecting to do $4 billion of equity — and that’s just on the securities side. So there is obviously a huge demand, and that ties into the fact that the majority of 1031 buyers have less equity and TICs allow them to have somewhat of a passive investment. So it’s clearly a product that there is substantial demand for. Hipp: They are becoming a very popular vehicle and much more publicized and well known. There are a lot of people out there with $200,000 to $300,000, and it’s hard to buy something without taking on a lot of leverage. They would much prefer to partner with a group of others to buy a more quality asset and let somebody else worry about the management. Hipp: The TIC market is certainly becoming more popular, and I think they serve a purpose. But when people start buying properties with interest-only loans so they can cash flow, I think it’s a double-edged sword because when that loan comes due in 5 years, they’re going to be out to the market looking for debt in a different interest-rate environment. I’m not sure they realize exactly what they’re buying. Sturm: We think the TIC structure is really the future for passive real estate investments. The baby boomer generation as a demographic group just turned 59 and a half, and it’s not long until their 401K plans are going to be available to them to start pulling down money on a tax-deferred basis. But what we’re finding is that the quality TIC properties that are investment-grade are able to attract very good financing right now. We’re able to get long term fixed financing in the 5 to 6 percent range, while the 1031 or net lease properties we’re talking about have been financed in the 6 to 7 percent range. Shephardson: TICs have wonderful application in the larger 1031 arena where you are selling a pool of assets or you’re going to sell one large asset at $10 million to $20 million and you want to syndicate it amongst many buyers. So the only thing that’s holding the TIC market back is the potential ruling on whether it’s a real estate product or a securities product. We expect that we’ll be doing TICs sometime in the not too distant future because it expands the buyer’s universe.
by Susan H. Fishman
April 7th, 2010
posted in Investment News
Most people, at least, in the West, know that art can have value. After all, they have been reading about Van Gogh, Picasso, or Klimt paintings selling for millions of dollars for decades. However, most people do not know that you do not have to be a millionaire to invest in and make money from art. Art is simply another investment asset class that savvy investors include in their arsenal. Therein lays the key to understanding.
The sad truth is, also, that most people who invest in the more common investment assets, like stocks and bonds, do not understand investment in those more common investments. I always hear people talking about “playing the market”, yet, as any professional investor will tell you (it just so happens that there are so few that odds are that you never met one), although it is a game, it is not a game for novices.
The first person to formalize a mathematical framework for economics and finance was John VonNeumann, a mathematical physicist, who invented game theory as the basis for studying those fields, in the early part of the twentieth century. Indeed, until the 1980’s, most of economics and finance sprang from this basis, and the focus was to assume, just like in playing dice with perfectly symmetrical cubes or flipping a so-called fair coin, that investment was a fair game: there was equal probability of gain or loss and the distribution of outcomes was the bell-shaped curve.
Since the 1980’s the behavioral school has gained ground, in the theoretical realm, by assuming that since people are not perfectly rational, we should examine the actual behavior of people in business and investment situations. Of course, that is something that investment professionals have been doing for centuries. Dow and Jones, in the 1880’s, said, for example, that at market tops the professionals are already well out of the market. After a crash, which will always happen because emotional human beings are markets, professionals quietly begin to buy. Their buying, eventually excites technical market analysts’ technical market indicators, which are somewhat based on supply and demand analysis, in real markets, and technicians begin to buy and recommend buying. Eventually, the general public catches onto this news, which is really very old news, and they jump onto the band wagon. Everyone tells everyone how smart they are and how much money they made yester day trading on-line. Meanwhile the professionals have begun to quietly exit the market. A peak comes; a crash comes. Then, all of those self-proclaimed investment mavens console each other and support each other in their ecstasy turned agony. Some run to the authorities and claim that they were duped because they did not understand the complex nature of the mini-bonds that they bought: translation – they were so greedy when they were told that they could make unbelievable returns, and they did not want to hear about the risks. Another lesson that the theoreticians finally came to admit after the stock market crash of 1987, which, statistically, should not have happened in the whole history of the solar system, was that the distribution of returns is skewed with a longer tail on the down side.
It will be beneficial to understand the basic framework of a market, investing, and basic economics. Economics assumes that people are self-interested. Its only fault is that it assumes that people follow enlightened self-interest: no greed, lying, or cheating. Finance says that there is a difference between price and value: value is what someone thinks that something is worth, while price is the amount that someone actually paid for something. People make markets. A market is not, necessarily a place, like the New York Stock Exchange. Indeed, many people do not even realize that the NASDAQ market is not like the NYSE, it is simply a network of dealers, connected by computers, who maintain bid and ask prices for NASDAQ stocks. This is referred to as a dealer market or an over-the-counter market (OTC), as opposed to the NYSE, which is one physical exchange through which all orders to buy and sell are funneled. In fact, many people do not even know that the NYSE is a very special exchange, in that all of the stocks on the exchange are assigned to specialists who are the only one that you can buy a particular stock from. The specialist maintains an order book of bids and offers, and he has the ultimate in information about supply and demand for his stocks at any moment in time. As part of his job as a specialist, he can invest his own capital, in his stocks. All the other layers of the business that deal with the investing public, after that, are in marketing. A stock broker, for example, is just trying to make commissions when he calls you with a hot tip. Even at the level of institutional sales, salesmen, analysts and block traders are just trying to get commission dollars. None of them risk their own capital. There are also investment bankers who help companies raise capital by issuing new stocks and bonds, and there is a large market effort accompanying that. An underwriter might risk his capital by agreeing to underwrite the deal at a price for leftovers and may support the stock, in the secondary markets, by buying for a month or so.
So, let’s look at the art market. A market is where supply and demand sort out price and volume. Art buyers, collectors and investors make up the demand side. Retail investors are smaller buyers of art, while high-net-worth individuals, trusts, corporations and museums fulfill the role of institutional investor. Art dealers act as brokers, dealers, and investment bankers for art. They act as brokers by taking consignments for sale or request to buy from customers. They buy and sell art for their own account as dealers. By taking on new, undiscovered artists, by having shows for artists at galleries (much like the road show investment bankers do for IPO’s of stock), and by acting as agent or dealer for an artist, they fulfill a role, much like investment banker. Ultimately, supply is limited, depending on the artist. Once an artist is dead, supply is fixed.
Value begins, as in all of economics, with scarcity. It is the same principle that drives the precious metals market, the crude oil market, and the art markets. As with anything else, quality also plays a role in determining an appropriate price. However, also, like with many other things, including any type of investment, marketing plays a major role. Galleries, dealers, and art critics try to tell people what is good and what is bad art. Sometimes, I wonder about their opinions. Other times I have benefited, as in the sale of a table made of roots onto which birds were carved, and as one of only two found examples by this unknown folk artist from the 1800’s. Sale of the table brought over $4,000, back in the mid-1990’s. These art market analysts play the same role as securities analysts, in the stock and bond markets. They might even make buy and sell recommendations, and they might estimate values of artworks. Since art is supposed to make you feel good, your basic starting point should be to look to buy things that you, personally, like, then, check out the price.
In the securities markets, smart investors value things on a comparative basis. Instead of trying to figure out what prices or returns should be, stock analysts use comparative P/E ratio analysis, comparing one company to other companies, in the same industry, and comparing P/E’s of stocks and industries to those of the general market. In bonds, the yield-to-maturity (YTM) of a bond is compared to current market YTM’s of bonds of the same company and to general bonds with similar maturity, coupon rate, and risk. In the same manner, the value of works by an artist can be compared to one another and to those of other artists. Normalization, in the context of paintings, involves an artifice: converting prices to price per square meter or per square inch. One might make similar size normalizations for, e.g., teapot art and sculpture. However, price per unit of size might vary over an artist’s work with larger ones, perhaps, trading for lower price per unit of size, and their more famous works trading at higher price per unit of size.
Having built a comparative pricing system for art, one can compare the prices of one artist to another and the average prices of one artist over, a school, a movement or a period by construction single artist or composite price indexes and looking at their evolution over time. That also allows you to calculate returns since return is defined as the percentage change in price over time. You can compare prices from galleries, which is the retail market. The next layer of the market, much like in other investment markets, is an inter-dealer market. The final layer is the auction market, which in some respects is like the exchanges, in the securities markets, but it is a stop-out market: a market of last resort for sellers. The auction markets are more fragmented than the auction markets, in securities; they are not open every day, either, unlike their counterparts in securities. Price information of one sort can also be garnered from the auction markets for artists for whom there are auction records. There are also research and information services, in the art markets, mirroring similar services in securities and commodities markets.
I bought my first piece by a famous artist, Joan Miro, in the mid-1980’s. I was surprised to find that the price was only several thousand dollars. By the time that I bought my third Miro, I had learned about and used information from the auction record to pay the proper price. In succeeding years I bought art by many famous artists. Although the art that makes the headlines makes it seem that all art is out of reach of the man on the street, you will be surprised to find out that art by many known artists, past and present, is not that expensive. Another little known fact is the good returns that can be made in art, especially when one approaches the market with the tools and techniques as one would in any other investment asset market. During my decades of trading art, in the U.S., I cannot recall a time when I lost money, and returns have always been exceptionally good, especially when compared to returns of other investment assets. I can even recall times that I have continued to earn a profit, in art, even during downturns in securities and real estate markets.
Now, we are investing in and have set up a dealer in Chinese art. I moved to China four years ago to teach finance and economics at South China Normal University. I have been immersed in the Chinese social and economic scene, and I have concluded that the best current market in China, today, is the not the export market or the stock market or real estate, but, instead, the art market. Returns, in art, in China, have been above twenty percent per year over the last decade, in local currency, and the continued undervaluation of the Yuan versus foreign currencies, coupled with other socio-economic factors, make investment, in this market, appear to offer good opportunities over the next several years, especially for foreign investors.
Up through the 1970’s and early-1980’s, investment in stocks and bonds seemed outside the reach of the man on the street. By the 1990’s everyone and their brother was trading stocks on-line through discount brokers. Now that we are in the twenty-first century, the next time you think about art, remember that it is just like any other investment asset, like stocks, bonds, and commodities, it is not outside the realm of investment possibilities for the average investor. Think of the analogies that we have laid out between art and securities investing and markets. You can also find out more information about investment, art, China, and investment in art in China on various parts of our website.
February 24, 2009 Craig Mattoli, CEO, Red Hill Capital, owner of Leona Craig Art, Guangzhou, China
April 6th, 2010
posted in Investment News
Europe’s largest country by area, Ukraine combines the advantages of the longest border with the EU, some of the richest agricultural lands in the world, large and growing domestic market, as well as skilled workforce with labour rates of one tenth of the European average. The location of Lviv oblast on the crossroad of trade routes from Europe to Asia as well as from Scandinavia to South lands provides the access to 100-million consumer markets of Ukraine, Russia and other CIS countries.
Attractiveness of Lviv oblast is ensured by:- dynamically developing market,- highly educated and skilled labour force that easily adapts oneself to market requirements (150 thousand students graduate from 62 higher educational establishments located on the territory of Lviv oblast annually),- significant share of modern industries in the economy of the oblast, increase in the amount of innovation enterprises, wide network of research institutions,- developed telecommunication infrastructure,- modern market of financial services,- low-expense production base and rich recourses,- International airport “Lviv” as well as transport corridors that run through the oblast’s territory,- unique charm of Lviv city, which is included in UNESCO World Heritage List, and lots of recreation opportunities,- ancient traditions of trade with Russia and countries of CIS,- implementation of a number of international development programs in the oblast.
The priority task of the regional state authorities and local self-governments of all levels is to increase investment inflows to Lviv oblast. The Investment Program Welcoming Investors was adopted in the region. The regional Investment Program will provide achievement of the four following goals of the Strategy of Lviv Oblast Development 2015:
1. Lviv oblast is a region of sustainable economic and entrepreneurial development.2. Lviv oblast is a gateway of Ukraine into the EU.3. Lviv oblast is a region of highly qualified people, innovation potential and technologically advanced companies.4. Lviv oblast is a region of clean and attractive natural environment, culture, tourism and recreation.
The investment policy will be based on the well-defined partnership of the state and private sectors and realized taking into account the following principles:- providing investors with the equal rights and terms for investment activity,- providing investors with guarantees against non-commercial risks (deterioration of investment terms, caused by the actions of state officials or local regulatory documents),- matching potential investors’ interests and tasks of strategic economic development of the oblast,- improving investment infrastructure,- promoting Lviv oblast on the investment markets.
Preparation for Euro 2012 Final Tournament and creation of the possibilities for the implementation of wide-scale and small investment projects are the primary tasks of the Investment Program.The information for investors including propositions of land lots, unfinished construction and other investment projects is available at the official Internet Portal of Lviv oblast. www.invest.lviv.ua
Priority Investment Projects1) Reconstruction of International airport “Lviv”International airport “Lviv” is an air junction in Western Ukraine that provides air transportation between the city of Lviv and regions of Ukraine as well as the whole world. 100 thousand passengers and approximately 40 tons of high value cargo run through the airport annually. The airport is included in 2nd geographical zone of the world air space. The Austrian company Airport Consulting Vienna worked out the concept of International airport “Lviv” development. Modernization of Lviv airport was also included in the State Program of Preparation for the Final Tournament of Euro 2012 Football Championship. The project cost USD 166.1 million, including investor’s contribution of USD 97.2 million.
2) Construction of a stadium in LvivA brand new stadium is planned to be constructed in Lviv within the preparations for Euro 2012. The new stadium will be favourably located 12 km from the city centre, near the hugest residential area within the transport corridor # 5. 25 hectare land plot has been opted for the construction of the stadium, its infrastructure together with car parking. According to the project plan, the stadium will be able to host 40 thousand people and that will allow to play quarter-final games. The project of the stadium was developed by the German company HOCHTIEF. The construction of the stadium and its infrastructure requires USD 290 million investments.
3) Construction and maintenance of Lubelska Mine.Lviv oblast is rich in coke. The project foresees extraction of coal with the help of highly effective innovative technologies. The coal from Lubelska Mine is eligible for carbonization and belongs to the most valuable sorts of “K” mark. Its reserves are reported to be estimated at 86 million tonnes. After the completion of mine construction there will be partly national deficiency for cock coal reduced. General need for investment is USD 400 million.
State and Dynamics of Investment Processes
The trend of stable investment inflows to the oblast’s economy is observed: – for the 9 months of 2007 foreign investors invested USD 164.7 million and that is 2.2 times more than for the corresponding period of 2006.- the total investments in Lviv oblast made up USD 653.2 million. By the volume of investment inflows in Ukraine Lviv oblast belongs to the 10 most attractive investment regions holding 8th position, among the western regions it is ranked as the most attractive investment area.Currently 61 countries successfully invest in Lviv oblast. The most significant investments come from Poland, Germany, Denmark and Hungary. Foreign investments were attracted in 1206 companies of Lviv oblast. By the number of the companies that received foreign investments, Lviv oblast holds the 2nd place after the capital of Ukraine Kyiv. The largest investment inflows were directed to the basic branches of the oblast’s economy as well as its banking sector.
The following cities and rayons of the oblast were the most active in attracting investments:- the city of Lviv – USD 425.1 million or 65.2% of the total volume of investments (Laura Ltd. (Italy) – clothing manufacture, Subsidiary Gangso Ukrayina (Denmark) – furniture production, Merkuriy Ukrayina Ltd. (the USA) – transportation services);- Stryy Rayon – USD 52.3 million or 8.0% of the total volume of investments (Leoni Waering Systems UA GmbH (Germany) – automobile wire systems production, Halychyna Zakhid Ltd. (Germany) – pig farming);- Yavoriv Rayon – USD 35.9 million or 5.5% of the total volume of investments (Provimi Ltd. (Poland) – production of fodder, Yevroshpon Ltd. (Spain) – wood processing).
The highest rates of investment resources increase are expected in the following areas: production of details for machine-building industry, production of packaging materials and plastic items, agriculture sector, cargo and passenger transportation industry. Significant investments are expected in the development of the construction sector and production of modern construction materials. In 2008 the financial and banking industries will be developing as well.
April 5th, 2010
posted in Investment News
Investors today want to know: “Where can I find a legitimate high yield investment with low risk for my money?”
Many people have seen their retirement savings wither in the current global financial calamity. And, as a result, we are seeing an exodus of investors out of the stock markets and into the safest money investments they can find to shelter what’s left of their lifetime savings until the economy stabilizes.
We’re seeing many investors now moving their money into investments such as Certificates of Deposit and U.S. Treasury Securities whose returns likely won’t keep up with the rate of inflation because of their very low yields. But, people are settling for these low returns versus the risk of losing more in the stock markets or elsewhere. They’re scared and many don’t know where else to turn.
The truth is that investors today don’t have to settle for these sub-inflation or break-even investments. They can still find legitimate high yield investment opportunities with very low risk to principal if they just knew where to look.
So, here’s the problem: most people don’t know where to look to find legitimate high yield investment opportunities. They are so ’shell-shocked’ from their portfolio and stock market declines that they’re scared, cynical and skeptical when presented with opportunities that claim to be “high yield investments”. And, they turn a deaf ear to investments that they might have welcomed in better times.
But who can blame them? We’re seeing a resurgance of Ponzi schemes and other scams, identify theft, etc.
Fact #1: You can still find legitimate high yield investment opportunities today with low risk to your principal.
Fact #2: Many of the richest people in the world today, made their fortunes when the economies hit rock bottom. These investors chose to look for opportunities when the masses focused on despair. They recognized how stock markets and economies are cyclical by nature and they looked to the future.
So, let’s see if we can’t look to the future and spot a legitimate high yield investment opportunity staring at us right now:
Two realities that are public knowledge in America today are:
1) There is a limited amount of undeveloped, raw land available in the U.S.
2) The U.S. population is projected to grow +29% between 2000-2030.
In other words: “We’re making more people, but we can’t make any more land.”
What does this information tell us?
i) We will have approximately 82,000,0000 more people living in the United States by the year 2030. (According to the U.S. Census Bureau.)
ii) These new people will need new homes, new schools, new shopping, new businesses and new communities to support them.
So, what legitimate high yield investment opportunites does this present?
Let’s talk about “Raw Land Development”. Ever heard of it? If not, you should seriously consider learning about it right now.
This situation, of limited supply (limited amount of raw land) and growing demand (population growth) is a fundamental economic illustration of what happens when demand for a product is greater than its supply. By definition, the product becomes more valuable. Yes?
Well, the products, in this situation, would be the new homes, new schools, new shopping, new businesses and new communities needed to support the growing demand created by population growth.
This poses a tremendous opportunity for what legitimate high yield investment? How about “Raw Land Development”, the essential ‘building blocks’ of new community construction.
In December of 2004, the highly acclaimed Washington DC think-tank, Brookings Institution commissioned a research study conducted by Virginia Tech University. This study was titled “Toward a New Metropolis: The Opportunity To Rebuild America.”
According to the study, to accomodate the projected population growth, America’s future raw land development and construction needs require approximately 209 BILLION square feet of new land development between 2000 – 2030.
Estimated cost? $25 TRILLION. And, the bulk of this massive raw land development and construction expansion will be spent in 10 major metropolitan regions, which the Brookings study calls ” Megapolitans”. Plus, the study tells us exactly where these 10 Megapolitans are located.
By the way, this is happening right now!
How can investors profit from this legitimate high yield investment opportunity?
1st) By educating themselves asap about Raw Land Development
2nd) By researching the Brookings Institution study findings.
3rd) By investing in the companies that will be driving this new raw land development growth.
Raw Land Development Investment Benefits:
A) Legitimate High Yield Investment:
A proven investment option is to invest as a ’silent investor partner’ with a professional raw land development company. The key is finding seasoned, reputable companies in this field.
Professional raw land development companies or ‘land developers’ often seek outside investors as silent partners to raise capital for their raw land development projects. Silent partners have no involvement in the day-to-day management activities of the business, but they share in the net profits of the project. In addition to profit sharing, some professional raw land developers also will pay high yield interest to their silent partners for the use of their money until the principal is returned.
B) Legitimate Low Risk Investments:
It is regular practice for professional raw land development companies to back their silent investor partners’ principal investments with project assets (e.g. the value of the land itself). This means that in the event of a developer default (heaven forbid), the project assets can be sold and the silent investors can recoup some or all of their principal plus any net profits.
In addition, for added security, silent investor partners are commonly placed in First Position for the raw land development project’s assets and revenue. This means that in the event of a developer default, if the project’s assets must be sold, the silent partners will be the first in line to be paid. (Similar to when a bank holds the mortgage or first deed on a home.)
IMPORTANT NOTES:
I. Per industry averages, a professionally managed raw land development project will increase the value of raw land by 2-5 times its original cost. In other words, a professional land developer will typically sell a completed raw land development project for 200-500% more than they paid for it originally as undeveloped, raw land.
II. It is widely held that real estate investment has created more riches than any other form of investments. Taking that one step further: Raw Land Development is the most profitable form of real estate.
III. For these reasons, professionally managed raw land development investment has been the cornerstone for many of the world’s wealthiest investors’ investment portfolios for generations.
Until recently, participation in raw land development projects was restricted to the very rich due to the exorbitant minimum investments required (often $1 Million +).
However, this has changed in the past several years, with some professional land developers dramatically reducing their minimum investment rquirements to allow smaller-scale investors to now participate in these legitimate high yield investments.
April 4th, 2010
posted in Investment News
The stock market has been fairly flat since the beginning of December, and that means its a good time to assess your relationship with your investments.This is a good time to look at your entire relationship with the market. It doesn’t matter whether you trade stocks, options, commodities, or even Forex. It’s a good time for a little self reflection.
The first thing to do is determine what your actual motivation for trading is. What is the reason behind your specific strategy? Maybe your strategy is to hand your money to a major broker like Smith Barney, AG Edwards, Fidelity, or any of the others. Does that mean that your main strategy is to not deal with investing… to just give your money to someone else and let them hopefully make money for you. Maybe your strategy is to put your money with a company like Scottrade, eTrade, or Ameritrade and actually make the trades yourself. Are you doing that for the thrill of winning and losing kind of like Las Vegas? Maybe you do it to have something to impress your friends and co-workers with. It’s importantthat you understand your underlying motivations. The ones beyond the automatic response of wanting to make riches.
With that bit of self analysis under your belt, it’s an excellent time to ensure that your trading mode is in order because the market will not stay flat forever. Now is the time to put together a winning trading methodology. Here are some ideas to help you be ready for the up swing in the market.
No matter why you trade, you’ve got to divorce your emotions from your investing. If you get excited when you win and sink into the pits of depression when you lose, then you will find out that you lose and lose and lose. Really, this emotion-based trading is a lot like a compulsive gambler. So act like an android and get your emotions out of the picture.
Now that you are clear about your motivations and have your emotions out of the picture, decide on your goals for trading. There are a few basic things to think about. How much time are you ready to spend on your investments? How much ROI are you looking for? How much risk will you assume on the money you invest… in other words, how much are you willing to lose? How much are you willing to spend on learning to invest? Come up with a statement of objectives in the form, “I am ready to invest ____ dollars and I am looking for a ____ percent annual return on my investment where I spend ____ hours per week/month managing my investments after spending _____ dollars and ______ hours learning how to invest.”
Next you need to do some reality checking on your goals. If you are looking for a risk free investment returning 100% annually, that is not likely to be found. This is also a great time to see how effective the investment techniques you have been using really worked.
Next, come up with your overall investment strategy for moving forward. Are you going to put your money in a bank? Are you going to put some money into guaranteed municipal bonds and some into mutual funds? Get specific about how you intend to reach your objectives.
Before you actually invest a dime, you’ve got to have an investment plan. The investment plan defines when you will actually put your money into an investment and when you will take your money out of an investment. If you are investing in a stock, then this plan will tell you when you should invest in the stock. What value should it be at? What should it’s recent history look like? Does the performance of the stock meet certain technical analysis criteria? Does the company meet some fundamental analysis criteria? Your plan should also tell you when to sell the stock. That tells you the risk you are taking. If you purchase 100 shares of a stock for $50 and are only willing to risk 100 dollars, then you must exit if the stock drops by $1. That’s not a very good plan, but it gets the idea across.
Many people don’t think they need a plan for things like mutual funds or 401K plans with their company. Frankly, those are the people that lost the most between June and December 2008. The plan that you make should get you the results that you seek in terms of ROI and risk. That’s why it’s called a plan.
Successful traders follow their investment plans to the letter… and this is where the android mind comes in. If you prepared your plan correctly, then if you follow it to the letter you will get the results that you seek. It’s really strange though, that most people stop following their plan. The winning technique consists of three steps. Follow the plan, follow the plan, and follow the plan.
After you exit the investment, then you need to do a de-briefing in your own mind. Take a look at what happened, how your plan served your objectives, and what you could have done better. With this simple analytical approach to investing you will be much more successful no matter what your overall investment strategy.
April 3rd, 2010
posted in Investment News
The Real Estate Investment is an expectation that uses investor’s money to invest in real estate properties or mortgages. A financial device that invests for the most part of the real estate such as apartments, offices, hotels, shopping centers, or warehouses. In real estate be inclined to pay high returns making them charming investment opportunities, especially when the stock market is falling. In high service requires them to pay out at least 90 percent of their taxable income each year in order. There are three main types of real estate investing mortgage, equity, and hybrid. Get various encouraged manners to invest in real estate, reasonable cash flows, and mobile homes. In real estate investment has raised to speculation capital trades on a reserve market just as a mutual assets. There are so many real estate investing articles, and find out how to get in progress, save money, make money, increase cash flows, and space rocket to success.In real estate be inclined to pay high returns making them charming investment opportunities, especially when the stock market is falling. In high service requires them to pay out at least 90 percent of their taxable income each year in order. There are three main types of real estate investing mortgage, equity, and hybrid. The Real Estate Investment is an expectation that uses investor’s money to invest in real estate properties or mortgages. A financial device that invests for the most part of the real estate such as apartments, offices, hotels, shopping centers, or warehouses. The real estate investing offer fundamental to members strategic real estate in order during monthly educational in investment opportunities to appeal the cursory in the real estate investing and they with investment alerts, network buying power, Investment Weimar’s, Quarterly, Portfolio Proven, Investment Strategies, Personal Attention, and Satisfaction Guaranteed. Control their trade power and knowledge to design commercial opportunities for all its members, property vectors is a group of sense real estate investors. Vision is to build high net worth for each member of investment group. The severe of real estate investor of leader service featuring limited venture. As such design available to the world class services and resources to investors to empowering them to make wealth capably and successfully because of real estate investing. The real estate is regarding more than presently finding a position to call home. Is stagnant the nearly everyone reliable form of investment in the banks. While the real estate market have sufficient of opportunities for creation a big gains, in real estate it just does not matter whether getting opened investing in pre foreclosure in real estate investing. Investing in the real estate have become gradually more then popular to over the last fifty years and has become a common investment vehicle. The standard home doubles in value, which is rather an arrival on funds. In arrange to be profitable need to learn the secret of real estate investing. In this article find further than trade a home and commence the real estate as an investment.
April 2nd, 2010
posted in Investment News
« Older Entries
