Well that was one heck of a week.  While I certainly was not smart enough to predict the results of the election, it has had a profound impact on my expectations for us as investors.  For the last 7 years, I’ve been one of the most vocal advocates of financial stocks that I am aware...Read More

I came across a prescient article discussing the dangers of mortgage REIT’s, particularly as interest rates begin climbing.  These companies’ use huge amounts of leverage to buy mortgage backed securities, and because they pay out the vast majority of net income as a dividend to shareholders’, the companies’ benefit from better tax treatment on the...Read More

Bill Ackman appears to be shedding some light on what is really going on with General Growth Properties (GGP).  Respected real estate investors Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) seems to be attempting to buy GGP outright pending financing, but has been unable to do so while Simon Property Group (SPG) has shown interest in the past...Read More

Blackstone Group LP (BX) and other private equity rivals such as KKR, are intelligently diving into the rental property business.  By buying foreclosed homes and renting them out these companies are able to capture attractive cash flow yields, while benefiting from likely appreciation into the future.  The key to these investments is scale and property...Read More

This is an interesting article as several clients are suing a couple of the custodians for not doing the proper research on fund managers in which they processed paperwork for.  While regulation is problematic more often than not it seems, stricter requirements on what is allowable for self directed IRA’s probably isn’t the worst idea....Read More