Just six weeks into 2017 and it seems there’s sunshine everywhere.
In fact, according to a recent article, Fannie Mae’s chief economist Doug Duncan told a group of financial professionals he sees no recession in sight.
The Naples Daily Times reports Duncan’s team “forecasts economic activity in the U.S. will grow by a conservative 2 percent this year.”
Duncan is quoted as saying, “From a housing perspective, I think there will be strong growth.”
Nice.
We can’t wait to chit chat about this with Doug during our upcoming Investor Summit at Sea™.
And we REALLY can’t wait to hear the conversation between Doug Duncan, Peter Schiff and Robert Kiyosaki… since ALL THREE will be together with us on the Summit.
After all, both Peter Schiff and Robert Kiyosaki are notorious for their warnings about the 2008 financial crisis. You can watch the skeptical reporters talking with Peter here and Robert here.
Of course, time proved Peter Schiff and Robert Kiyosaki to be right.
Today, both Schiff and Kiyosaki, along with new Summit faculty member Chris Martenson (The Crash Course and Peak Prosperity), think a BIGGER crash is coming soon to an economy near you.
We don’t know who’s right. But by the end of the Summit, we’ll have a MUCH better idea about what each believes and why. So stand by… or join us and hear it first-hand.
Meanwhile, it seems the stock market sees lots of sunshine in the future … and maybe even a unicorn or two.
You may have seen these recent Reuters headlines:
World stocks head towards record high
So even if you’re a die-hard real estate investor, it’s tempting to peek over the fence and flirt with the idea of stashing some cash in stocks.
In fact, we received an email from a listener recently… which we’ll probably take up on a future edition of Ask The Guys.
The listener is being pressured… er… encouraged by their stock broker to “rebalance” some real estate equity into stocks.
Good idea?
Maybe. But we’re guessing most individual investors are naïve to some of the smoke and mirrors surrounding stock prices.
That’s risky. Because when you’re in a game with highly skilled players but have little understanding of the rules, the chances of you coming out on the losing end are higher.
So whether you’re in stocks or thinking about it…. or are a committed real estate investor trying to help giddy stock investors move some of their paper profits into real estate…
We came across a useful piece that helps illustrates a hidden danger in stock investing.
As you read the below excerpt from this blog post by Dave Kranzler at Investment Research Dynamics, ask yourself if it’s likely… or even possible… for a similar problem to exist in real estate…
“Panera Bread stock is a text-book example of the insanity in the stock market right now. PNRA announced earnings yesterday and ‘beat’ the Street. But here’s a synopsis of its numbers:
- System-wide same store sales [SSS] increased just .7%
- Franchise SSS dropped 1.4% (franchised stores are 55% of the store base)
- Operating margin dropped 40 basis points
- Net income in Q4 dropped $22.8 million from $24.7 million in 2015
- Company bought back nearly $400 million in stock during 2016
- It just issued another $200 million in debt
If it wasn’t buying back shares, it would not have needed to issue that debt.
The share buybacks make the EPS [earnings per share] look better but the net income of operations fell quarter over quarter and year over year.
That’s how PNRA ‘beat’: financial engineering because its net income declined quarter over quarter (2016 vs. 2015) and year over year.
For that, PNRA stock is UP 8.4% today.
A $4 million year over year drop in net income has generated a $400 million one-day jump in PNRA’s market cap.”
Did you follow all that? If so, good job!
If not, then does it make you feel just the slightest bit out-gunned when stepping into the Wall Street casinos?
Take a breath…
Now what about real estate?
Is it possible for a property with declining income to go UP in price?
Yes. Never underestimate the bubble forming power of dumb money. But it’s a LOT harder for self-serving actors to game real estate.
That’s because real estate is MUCH more transparent to a buyer than stocks.
There’s simply fewer, if any, places for sophisticated “financial engineering.”
Think about it.
The value of a property isn’t manipulated through the issuance or buyback of shares. The price is the price. You can see it.
The property’s income is based on gross rents, which are EASILY benchmarked against similar properties. Ditto for expenses.
So NOI (Net Operating Income) is fairly easy to accurately estimate… and REALLY hard to effectively manipulate and obfuscate.
There’s a lot more to say about why real estate is arguably safer and more suitable than stocks for real wealth building for the average person. But we’ll save those thoughts for a future episode of the radio show.
For now, here’s the bottom line …
- Even smart people look at the same circumstances through different lenses … so they draw different conclusions. Time will tell who’s right or wrong.
- You can learn a lot when you listen to smart people discuss and debate their positions. And you should.
- High stock prices aren’t the litmus test for a strong economy … or even the success of an individual company. Stock prices can be, and often are, manipulated.
- Real estate is arguably a safer, more understandable, and more suitable for long term wealth building vehicle for average people… even if they don’t know it yet.
The BEST news is that real estate moves slowly, so there’s usually plenty of time to respond to changing circumstances… IF you’re paying attention.
That’s why we seek out smart people like Doug Duncan, Chris Martenson, Peter Schiff and Robert Kiyosaki….and why we share them with you.
Until next time… good investing!
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