Reading News paper or seating in front of TV or computer in morning with a cup of steamed tea in a hand; enjoying tea while chit-chatting with friends and even while working in the office are some moments which are inseparable parts of many of ours life. In 2737 B.C. the tea leaves accidentally blew in the pot of boiling water of China's second emperor, Shen Nung and the story of this refreshing drink goes on. In China, it's in demand as a...more
It's hard not to notice that the markets have completely forgotten about fundamentals and instead are trying to bring "irrational exuberance" back into style. Raging bull markets that have lasted for years and years with one bubble after another, and a year of economic slump is just too much for everyone to handle. Instead of markets moving up on good news, they are now moving up on bad news with the only silver lining being it's not as bad as...more
Election campaigns are in high gear right now and everyone has an opinion on just about everything when it comes to which candidate would be better for who and what. I lost faith in the common sense of the average voter, not just in the United States but pretty much across the world. What I am finding very curious, is the possibility that many people haven't realized that that the party platforms aren't the same as they were 20 years ago. Little do they know that the platforms have changed right under their nose. One of the greatest examples of this is the never ending pigeon holing claiming that Republicans are good for business and Wall Street while keeping the government small, and the Democrats are anti-business and will spell doom for Wall Street while expanding the government to goliath proportions. In full disclosure, I usually have views that seem a bit more republican in nature but since I didn't disable the reasoning portion of my cerebrum for the last 8 years, I have views that are based on rational judgment instead of a bias based on a political party. No matter what you think a party represents, one must ask themselves which presidential candidate would be best suited...more
If an economic sink hole brought on by creative financing and lax regulatory controls weren't enough, there's nothing like straight forward criminal actions to really paralyze investors. As a fund manager of an extremely transparent fund, there is nothing that brings out more fury in me than a few bad apples scaring people to a point of not even...more
Though there seems to be an endless supply of other shoes to drop into the current economic chasm, there seems to be a general consensus that commercial real estate is going to take a significant hit. The shoe that could end up kicking commercial real estate down further and is relatively unknown or just not thought about is technology. Developed...more
Recently I spoke with my co-managing partner Michael Facchini, of Regent Global Funds, an alternative investment fund, at an Institutional Investor conference on Distressed Real Estate in New York City. The folks at Institutional Investor did a fantastic job putting it together and assembled a group of very knowledgeable and informed speakers from the industry. Usually when you put together people in the upper echelons of the industry, you find that they are out of touch with the reality on the streets. However, what I found to be incredibly interesting about this event and a bit scary at the same time, was that reality has hit all levels of this market and the individuals that are in charge of pulling the trigger on other people's money are paying attention. Of particular note was the general consensus that commercial real estate is going back to realistic levels and maybe just a bit below as a result of the real estate bubble being popped. We all know that residential has popped and crashed, but commercial has always been a question. I have written several times about valuations on commercial real estate getting back to reality instead of popping, and in my reality I never liked...more
It's time to address one of the most incredible misconceptions in the current environment around real estate lending, which is the idea that all real estate lending is high risk. I hear this often and I understand where it's coming from since it...more
With economies in complete disarray on a global basis, one of the few bright spots has been the massive correction in oil. It was widely speculated that oil was in a bubble and that speculation turned into a stark reality with oil dropping below 50%...more
Everyone needs to consider their investments in corporations that have been using job cuts as an alternative to growth, and in essence keeping their bottom line in shape. With the economy in a recession, it's that time again for large corporations to...more
With the absolute implosion of global financial markets, the investment world is learning that alternative investments need to be private. I don't think there has ever been a better illustration of a "pull down" effect within the last 70 years. It...more
Author: John DashfieldWhen you think about it, every single product and service begins its life as somebody's problem. We all have things in life that we'd rather pay somebody else to do, either because we simply don't want to do it or don't have the...more
This investment perspective comes straight from the rooms in banks that are filled with the proverbial bean counters known as underwriters that are making the lives of hard money lenders very easy and very profitable. It's clear that the banks are...more