In Search of the Perfect Investment

Slip slidding away. Stocks look awful, except for day trading.

Dump the garbage and move on. It’s the most important investment skill you’ll ever learn.

Today I’m sending my subscription money in for a couple of residential real estate syndications. If you’d like information on them, send me an email. I’m sending out that information after I’ve play tennis this morning. I don’t make a commission on this. It’s a favor for my readers.

There are wonderful joys in life — family, discovering a new useful iPhone app, getting exercise. and watching Homeland, via Slingbox — a truly great gadget.

The absolute best iPhone app every one should have. It’s called Google.

You can ask it questions. It answers quickly with detailed, relevant information. It’s free. It’s puts Apple’s Siri to shame.

My friends believe our grandkids will never have to type. They’ll simply ask questions and talk to their phones.

Now I’ve used this incredible app, I’m inclined to agree. Try it. You’ll be blown away.

The Chinese are buying U.S. real estate: This is the photo illustrating a big story the New York Times headlined “Chinese Cash Floods U.S. Real Estate Market.”

Chinese families are looking for a safe place to invest their renminbi. From rural Texas to Silicon Valley, American real estate is an increasingly popular destination for their cash.

The long article begins:

Canyon Lake Ranch was once a playground for Christian day campers, and then was a corporate retreat with water-skiing, barbecues and cowboy shoot-’em-up shows. Hawks now circle above 108 sunbaked acres occupied by copperhead snakes, a few coyotes and the occasional construction truck.

Soon this ranch will be a gated subdivision of 99 mini-mansions designed for buyers from mainland China. The developer, Zhang Long, a Beijing businessman, is keeping three plots to build his own estate along the site of an old rodeo arena.

This luxury development 35 miles northwest of Dallas is the latest frontier in a global buying phenomenon as Chinese money becomes a major force in real estate around the world. The flood of money is likely to persist despite the current tumult in China. While a currency devaluation and stock market crash have crimped the country’s buying power overseas, the resulting uncertainty is making many Chinese individuals and companies eager to invest anywhere except their home country.

In London, Chinese investors are purchasing high-end apartments in wealthy neighborhoods and big skyscrapers in the financial district. In Canada, they are paying $1 million for modest Vancouver bungalows. In Australia, a Chinese sovereign wealth fund bought nine office towers, one of the biggest real estate transactions in that nation’s history.

In the United States, the home-buying spree began on the coasts, where Chinese buyers snapped up luxury condos in Manhattan and McMansions in Silicon Valley, pushing up home values in big cities. It is now spreading to the middle of the country, where prices are more modest and have room to run.

The homes here in Corinth will feature two master suites, one for the buyers, the other for aging parents. A concierge service will help new arrivals from overseas order Internet service and pay electric bills. Chauffeurs will ferry homeowners until they learn to navigate the loops and spurs of Texas freeways.

“When Chairman Zhang saw the strength of the Texan economy, he decided it was time that the Asian community should be presented an opportunity to invest in the American Dream,” marketing materials for the development read.

The great property rush is part of the tidal wave of Chinese money that is pouring into the global economy and reshaping financial markets. In residential and commercial real estate, the new flow of cash is upending the traditional dynamics of buying and selling.

This year, Chinese families represented for the first time the largest group of overseas home buyers in the United States. Big spenders on new homes are helping prop up local economies in the Midwest. But in dense areas like San Francisco and Manhattan, they are also affecting the affordability and availability of housing, as demand outpaces supply and bidding wars ensue.

You can read the full article here.

I make no apologies for regularly highlighting articles from the New York Times. Fact is they’re one of the very few newspapers left who are prepared to spend real money and real time researching a story. Much of the stuff you read elsewhere (think: The Wall Street Journal) are “opinion” pieces, written off the stop of someone’s head in an hour, and designed to fill space or the owner’s political biases.

 Marriage saver on sale.

I have one of these attached to every TV set I own. This Sennheiser RS 110 RF stereo wireless headphone has two huge benefits:

1. I can hear. And my loud volume doesn’t bother Susan, who likes it lower.

2. Suddenly, my TV is in crystal clear stereo. I can actually follow what’s going on.

The earphones are on sale today — the cheapest I’ve ever seen them and way below what I’ve paid. $49.95 at B&H. Click here.

Places to visit. Bucket List specials. From Conde Nast Traveler:

+ 20 Places That Are Straight Out of Fairy Tales.

You didn’t miss the church?? Click here.

+ 50 Places Everyone Should Visit in their lifetime, including:

The 50 Most Beautiful Places in the World, courtesy Conde Nast Traveler. Make sure you flip through the pictures on the biggest screen you have. The pictures are stunning. Click here.

Swimming the lake.

Officer: “Madam, swimming is prohibited in this lake.”

Lady: “Why didn’t you tell me when I was removing my clothes?”

Officer: “Well, that’s not prohibited.”

Harry Newton, who had a wonderful week with Michael, Anne and Eleanor, who likes having her hair washed.

Your life’s goal: Invent just one tube or bottle of miracle stuff — WD-40, New Skin, Windex or Butt Paste. Michael and Anne swear by it:

Works on the back of my hands,too.

Susan and I are currently in the Coachella Valley desert in California. The local golf course just issued a “Frost Delay.” It’s warmer in New York. Go figure.