Earlier we pointed out that mortgage origination at Wells Fargo – the bank’s bread and butter – is crashing at an unprecedented pace, and as per the conference call, Q1 isn’t looking any better. Naturally, it stood to reason that the bank would seek alternative business and product lines to supplant the declining revenue it used to generate when it would originate some $100 billion in mortgages every quarter, now half that number. However, not even in our wildest dreams did we predict just what this “alternative” product would be. Because, as the FT reports, Wells Fargo, the largest US bank by market cap, is currently exploring Bitcoin as just that revenue replacement source. Per the FT: “Wells’ anti-money laundering chief, Jim Richards, has launched a group to examine how it might safely offer Bitcoin-related services or banking arrangements to virtual currency entrepreneurs, according to people familiar with the initiative.”
More:
Wells chief executive John Stumpf said it was the bank’s practice to examine financial innovations.
“We have made enormous investments as a company and as an industry in a payments system that is secure, and we need to be sure we are up to speed with what other things are going on and their risks and rewards,” he said.
“We want to make sure we understand what it is, what it does and what it does not . . . . The world is changing and will continue to change. Whether Bitcoin will be a big part of that, who knows?”
As the FT accurately points out, “the difficulty in persuading financial institutions to offer bank accounts has become one of the biggest difficulties facing Bitcoin entrepreneurs in the US.” Which of course means it is also a great opportunity for the first entrant, such as what almost certainly appears to be Wells:
Wells’ public-private group, comprising more than a dozen members, was scheduled to meet in San Francisco on Tuesday to debate the security issues surrounding banking and Bitcoin. One possible aim would be to produce a set of anti-money laundering principles for established financial institutions to follow when dealing with virtual currency start-ups, according to a person familiar with the event.
Naturally, the US government’s desire to increasingly regulate Bitcoin has pushed it to scramble in clearing up what the legal status of Bitcoin is: “last month the Congressional Research Service circulated a report on virtual currencies for policy makers, setting out a list of areas where the legal and regulatory approach to Bitcoin remains unclear. These range from national tax issues, because Bitcoin profits are not recorded within the traditional financial system, to concerns among individual states.”
However, as HSBC and various other criminal banks have shown, if a client is willing to pay for a service, regulations and/or laws is the last thing banks are concerned with, so while the US Congress and Fed dither on how to treat Bitcoin first Wells and soon all other banks will provide some Bitcoin-related services.
Then the only question becomes whether the people who have used Bitcoin in the past precisely because it remained at more than arms length away from the big money centers, will continue to do so now that BTC is for all intents and purposes just another institutionalized asset, if not quite currency just yet.
via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/htp19C435D0/story01.htm Tyler Durden
In the global war for energy supremacy, Russia has won another victory over the United States.
This time, the battleground has been South Africa, where Russia's state-owned nuclear power company, Rosatom, has just signed an agreement to build eight new reactors. Once all of them are operational, South Africa's nuclear capacity will increase more than sixfold – from 1.8 gigawatts (GW) to 11.4 GW over the next 15 years.
This means that Russia will help develop the entirety of South Africa's nuclear energy sector, including financing and training.
And just as importantly, South Africa will be using Russia's nuclear fuel.
Rosatom has been busy signing these types of deals with other foreign countries as well—Finland, Turkey, Ukraine, even the United Kingdom—which guarantees that Russia will be able to keep a stranglehold on these countries' nuclear industries.
The strategy is clear: Rosatom is aiming to become the world's largest supplier of uranium in the coming years.
Remember what we said about the ongoing "Putinization" of Europe's oil and gas; how Russia is planning to leverage its control over Europe's energy to gain political and economic benefits?
The same thing is happening in uranium, except the stakes are even higher—because Putin is now looking to dominate the global nuclear market.
Russia and the former Soviet nations (colloquially called "the -stans") already control nearly half of the world's uranium supply:
Similarly, they hold more than half of the world's capacity for uranium enrichment, a necessary part of fuel fabrication:
Note that the United States only controls 3% of global uranium supply—and less than 15% of the enrichment capacity, despite the fact that it's the largest consumer of uranium in the world.
While nuclear energy powers one out of every five homes in America, the US currently imports more than 90% of the uranium required for its nuclear reactors.
So what happens when one day Rosatom says "Nyet" to the American utilities? You can be sure that they'll be scrambling to find any source of uranium they can get their hands on.
And they'll pay far more than the current spot price of US$34.50/lb. You should know that the price of uranium accounts for just 3% of the total costs of a nuclear power plant, so whether the utilities pay $100 or even $200 per pound of yellowcake is irrelevant, as long as they can keep the reactors running and the lights on in America.
As the US and other countries scramble to get out from under Putin's heavy thumb, for the right uranium producers outside of Russia's sphere of influence, this will be a bonanza for the history books.
***
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On the other hand, the sale of marijuana is still illegal under Federal law pursuant to the Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. § 801 et seq.
This is true even in California and other states which have allow medical or recreational marijuana. U.S. v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers’ Co-op (2001) 532 U.S. 483 (medical necessity is not an exception to 21 U.S.C., §841(a)(1) governing the federal prohibition against manufacture and distribution of marijuana).
Marijuana remains illegal under federal law, but that has not stopped a fuzzy industry of marijuana farms and dispensaries from rising to serve the 15 states that allow the drug to be used for medical purposes. Under President Obama, the federal government had seemed to make a point of paying little attention — until now.
***
As some states seek to increase regulation but also further protect and institutionalize medical marijuana, federal prosecutors are suddenly asserting themselves, authorizing raids and sending strongly worded letters that have cast new uncertainty on an issue that has long brimmed with tension between federal and state law.
***
In Washington, Ms. Gregoire asked for guidance from the state’s two United States attorneys, Mike Ormsby and Jenny Durkan. In a reply to the governor last month, they said the federal government would prosecute “vigorously against individuals and organizations that participate in unlawful manufacturing and distribution activity involving marijuana, even if such activities are permitted under state law.”
***
When the Legislature was drafting the bill it passed in its most recent regular session, Mr. Ormsby said, “No one consulted with me about what I thought of what they were going to do and did I think it ran afoul of federal law.”
Of the state’s current medical marijuana law, he added, “We believe, of course, under federal law no part of the state law is legal.”
***
Ms. Smith noted that the 2009 memo “says definitively that distribution continues to be a federal offense.”
But since the American government has backed the most dangerous and violent Muslim terrorists for decades – in order to “contain” rival Muslim factions – the government is partially to blame for this banking abomination as well.
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1dOErq3 George Washington
"The Fed's policies have actually led to a lot of problems around the world," Marc Faber begins his discussion with Bloomberg TV's Trish Regan, especially "people in the lower income groups [who] spend say 30% of their income on energy, transportation, and so forth, electricity and gasoline." The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report author goes on to discuss everything from how the Fed is creating a two-class system around the world, the inexorable growth of governments, buying votes, Bitcoin, interest rates, wealth taxes, and overall market valuations. "We are in a gigantic financial asset bubble," Faber explains, "everybody's bullish," but he sees a slowing global economy (as do we e.g. Baltic Dry Index); "[The bubble] could burst any day. I think we are very stretched." Faber is on fire…
Take 10 minutes and listen…
Prepare yourself… "In China, if I say what I am saying about the USA, they would not let me in the country"
Faber on the Fed and how far the 'rubber band can be stretched':
"We have to distinguish between the financial economy, the financial sector, and the economy of the well-to-do people that benefit from rising asset prices, from rising prices of wines, and paintings and art, and bonds, and equities, and high-end properties in the Hamptons and West 15 here in New York and so forth — and the average person, the typical household, the so-called 'median household', or the working class people. And the Fed's policies have actually led to a lot of problems around the world in the sense that they're not only responsible, but partly responsible that energy prices are where they are, they're up from $10 or $12 in 1999 to now around $100 a barrel. Food prices are up and a lot of other prices are up. So on your income, energy prices have very little impact because you at Bloomberg – you, young man – you make so much money. But for the poor people, it has an impact. Some people in the lower income groups, they spend say 30% of their income on energy, transportation, and so forth, electricity and gasoline."
On whether the Fed is creating a two-class system:
"Correct, largely. The problem is then that you have people like Bill de Blasio, they come in and say: 'you know what's the problem? All these rich guys. Because of these rich people, you are poor. They take advantage of you. So, let's go and tax them.' The IMF has come out with a paper in Europe that essentially the well-to-do people should pay a 10% wealth task — a one-time wealth tax. I can assure you, a one-time wealth tax, 10%, will become an every-year's tax eventually."
On how to help the people on the lower end of the economic spectrum:
"This is the point I'd like to make. All of these professors and academics at the Fed who never really worked in the private sector a single day in their lives, and write papers nobody reads and nobody's is interested in. Why would they want not write about how you structure an economic system that lifts the standard of living of most people? You can't lift everybody."
"We had that in the 19th century in the U.S. because we had very small government at the time. The entire government — local, state federal — was less than 20% of the economy. Now it is close to 50% of the economy."
On whether the government is spending too much money:
"The larger the government becomes, the less economic growth you have and the more crony capitalism and corruptions you have. Because big corporations — and especially the money printers, they're the most powerful people in the world, they control the governments. The U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the government is one and the same. The Fed, they finance the Treasury, so the government can go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then they finance transfer payments to essentially buy votes so you can get elected."
On bitcoin:
"I prefer physical gold and silver, platinum to bitcoin. Bitcoin can have a lot of competition. Gold, silver, platinum — they have no competition. How do you value a bitcoin? I can value gold to some extent and compare say gold to the quantity of money that is floating around the world, to the wealth increase, and to the monetary base increase, to the credit increase, and so forth and so on, and to the production costs. So I have an idea of where gold should be. I'm not sure because prices overshoot. How do you value Netflix? Is it overpriced or underpriced? Is Tesla overpriced, underpriced?"
On interest rates:
"But one thing I wanted to show you and talk about because you said that lower interest rates help people. Well, if money trending helps everybody, then why does not everybody in the whole world always have zero interest rates? And everybody would be rich. You keep on printing money and you don't need to work here, you don't need to put on makeup. I could stay in bed the whole day and go drinking in the evenings. So, let's just print money and be all happy. It doesn't add up. One thing about the figures you showed: first of all, you live in New York. Do you really think that your cost-of-living increase is a 1.2% per annum? You really believe that? It doesn't feel like more, it feels like five times more, or even ten times more."
"Number two, by keeping interest rates at zero percent on the Fed fund rate — i want to emphasize that this is now going on in March of 2014 for five years. It is not something new. For five years this has happened. You penalize the income earners, the savers who save, your parents, why should your parents be forced to speculate in stocks and in real estate and everything under the sun?"
On his view of overvalued stocks, including Facebook:
"I think it is to a large extent a fad. People they go on Facebook – what they do is they put pictures on and the only people that watch these pictures are themselves. They all want to be stars. It is a very distractive kind of occupation. I can't imagine that this would have a lot of value. I would rather own – I don't own it because I think it is very highly priced – I would rather own a company like Alibaba or Amazon or Google, than Facebook, personally. This is my view. Other people have different views. That's what makes the market. Some people are buying it and some people are selling it.”
On overall market valuation c
oncerns:
"I think we are in a gigantic financial asset bubble. But it is interesting that that despite of all the money printing, bond yields didn't go down. They bottomed out on July 25, 2012 at 1.43% on the 10-years. We went to over 3.0%. We're now at 2.85% or something thereabout. But we're up substantially. Now, this hasn't had an impact on stocks yet. In fact, it pushed money into the stock market out of the bond market. But if the 10-years goes to say 3.5% to 4.0%, then the 30-year goes to close to 5.0%, the mortgage rates go to 6.0%. That will hit the economy very hard."
"[The bubble] could burst before. It could burst any day. I think we are very stretched. Sentiment figures are very, very bullish. Everybody's bullish. The reality is they're very bullish because they think the economy will accelerate on the upside. But my view is very different. The global economy is slowing down, because the global economy's largely emerging economies nowadays, and there's no growth in exports in emerging economies, there's no growth, in the local economies. So, I feel that the valuations are high, the corporate profits have been boosted largely because of the falling interest rates."
"The Fed's policies have actually led to a lot of problems around the world," Marc Faber begins his discussion with Bloomberg TV's Trish Regan, especially "people in the lower income groups [who] spend say 30% of their income on energy, transportation, and so forth, electricity and gasoline." The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report author goes on to discuss everything from how the Fed is creating a two-class system around the world, the inexorable growth of governments, buying votes, Bitcoin, interest rates, wealth taxes, and overall market valuations. "We are in a gigantic financial asset bubble," Faber explains, "everybody's bullish," but he sees a slowing global economy (as do we e.g. Baltic Dry Index); "[The bubble] could burst any day. I think we are very stretched." Faber is on fire…
Take 10 minutes and listen…
Prepare yourself… "In China, if I say what I am saying about the USA, they would not let me in the country"
Faber on the Fed and how far the 'rubber band can be stretched':
"We have to distinguish between the financial economy, the financial sector, and the economy of the well-to-do people that benefit from rising asset prices, from rising prices of wines, and paintings and art, and bonds, and equities, and high-end properties in the Hamptons and West 15 here in New York and so forth — and the average person, the typical household, the so-called 'median household', or the working class people. And the Fed's policies have actually led to a lot of problems around the world in the sense that they're not only responsible, but partly responsible that energy prices are where they are, they're up from $10 or $12 in 1999 to now around $100 a barrel. Food prices are up and a lot of other prices are up. So on your income, energy prices have very little impact because you at Bloomberg – you, young man – you make so much money. But for the poor people, it has an impact. Some people in the lower income groups, they spend say 30% of their income on energy, transportation, and so forth, electricity and gasoline."
On whether the Fed is creating a two-class system:
"Correct, largely. The problem is then that you have people like Bill de Blasio, they come in and say: 'you know what's the problem? All these rich guys. Because of these rich people, you are poor. They take advantage of you. So, let's go and tax them.' The IMF has come out with a paper in Europe that essentially the well-to-do people should pay a 10% wealth task — a one-time wealth tax. I can assure you, a one-time wealth tax, 10%, will become an every-year's tax eventually."
On how to help the people on the lower end of the economic spectrum:
"This is the point I'd like to make. All of these professors and academics at the Fed who never really worked in the private sector a single day in their lives, and write papers nobody reads and nobody's is interested in. Why would they want not write about how you structure an economic system that lifts the standard of living of most people? You can't lift everybody."
"We had that in the 19th century in the U.S. because we had very small government at the time. The entire government — local, state federal — was less than 20% of the economy. Now it is close to 50% of the economy."
On whether the government is spending too much money:
"The larger the government becomes, the less economic growth you have and the more crony capitalism and corruptions you have. Because big corporations — and especially the money printers, they're the most powerful people in the world, they control the governments. The U.S. Treasury, the Federal Reserve, and the government is one and the same. The Fed, they finance the Treasury, so the government can go to war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then they finance transfer payments to essentially buy votes so you can get elected."
On bitcoin:
"I prefer physical gold and silver, platinum to bitcoin. Bitcoin can have a lot of competition. Gold, silver, platinum — they have no competition. How do you value a bitcoin? I can value gold to some extent and compare say gold to the quantity of money that is floating around the world, to the wealth increase, and to the monetary base increase, to the credit increase, and so forth and so on, and to the production costs. So I have an idea of where gold should be. I'm not sure because prices overshoot. How do you value Netflix? Is it overpriced or underpriced? Is Tesla overpriced, underpriced?"
On interest rates:
"But one thing I wanted to show you and talk about because you said that lower interest rates help people. Well, if money trending helps everybody, then why does not everybody in the whole world always have zero interest rates? And everybody would be rich. You keep on printing money and you don't need to work here, you don't need to put on makeup. I could stay in bed the whole day and go drinking in the evenings. So, let's just print money and be all happy. It doesn't add up. One thing about the figures you showed: first of all, you live in New York. Do you really think that your cost-of-living increase is a 1.2% per annum? You really believe that? It doesn't feel like more, it feels like five times more, or even ten times more."
"Number two, by keeping interest rates at zero percent on the Fed fund rate — i want to emphasize that this is now going on in March of 2014 for five years. It is not something new. For five years this has happened. You penalize the income earners, the savers who save, your parents, why should your parents be forced to speculate in stocks and in real estate and everything under the sun?"
On his view of overvalued stocks, including Facebook:
"I think it is to a large extent a fad. People they go on Facebook – what they do is they put pictures on and the only people that watch these pictures are themselves. They all want to be stars. It is a very distractive kind of occupation. I can't imagine that this would have a lot of value. I would rather own – I don't own it because I think it is very highly priced – I would rather own a company like Alibaba or Amazon or Google, than Facebook, personally. This is my view. Other people have different views. That's what makes the market. Some people are buying it and some people are selling it.”
On overall market valuation concerns:
"I think we are in a gigantic financial asset bubble. But it is interesting that that despite of all the money printing, bond yields didn't go down. They bottomed out on July 25, 2012 at 1.43% on the 10-years. We went to over 3.0%. We're now at 2.85% or something thereabout. But we're up substantially. Now, this hasn't had an impact on stocks yet. In fact, it pushed money into the stock market out of the bond market. But if the 10-years goes to say 3.5% to 4.0%, then the 30-year goes to close to 5.0%, the mortgage rates go to 6.0%. That will hit the economy very hard."
"[The bubble] could burst before. It could burst any day. I think we are very stretched. Sentiment figures are very, very bullish. Everybody's bullish. The reality is they're very bullish because they think the economy will accelerate on the upside. But my view is very different. The global economy is slowing down, because the global economy's largely emerging economies nowadays, and there's no growth in exports in emerging economies, there's no growth, in the local economies. So, I feel that the valuations are high, the corporate profits have been boosted largely because of the falling interest rates."
The Chinese military, especially the navy, made great strides last year in improving its combat capabilities, enabling it to better defend the nation against threats to its sovereignty, according to analysts. As China Daily reports, less than a month after being named the head of China’s Central Military Commission, President Xi Jinping asked PLA officers to adopt realistic combat criteria in military training. “It is the top priority for the military to be able to fight and win battles,” he said during an inspection to the Guangzhou military theater of operations in December 2012. While some have suggested the rapidly expanding PLA navy is driving a seismic shift in Asia’s military balance, Chinese experts have refuted such rhetoric, saying military moves by China are only aimed at creating improved self-defense by providing capabilities to match the other parties in the region.
“China should have a military that can match its power status,” said Ma Gang, a professor at the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University. “It is the only big country that has not achieved reunification and faces serious challenges to its sovereignty and several territorial disputes.”
…
In November, China announced the creation of the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone, which requires aircraft to report their flight plans and establish identification communications while flying through the zone.
…
Japan’s illegal purchase triggered strong protests from China and prompted it to start regular patrols around the islands last year. In July, five PLA warships steamed out of the Sea of Japan, through the Soya Strait and completed the Chinese navy’s first circumnavigation of the Japanese archipelago.
Cao Weidong, a researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said such activities would not increase tensions and that China’s stance remains defensive, while its naval forces are still dwarfed by traditional maritime powers.
“Instead, Washington is shifting 60 percent of its warships to the Pacific and Tokyo is gearing up to build a fully fledged military. China is suffering from the threat of escalating conflict,” he said.
James Holmes, a maritime strategist at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and a former US Navy surface warfare officer, said, “Naval commentators suggest the bellicose rhetoric shows that both sides are struggling to adjust to their new rivalry.
“And, the Japanese do regional tranquility no service by being alarmed when China’s navy transits international straits in a perfectly lawful manner,” Holmes told Reuters.
…
A stronger Chinese military will be able to play a bigger role in serving global peace, he said.
Of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, China is the largest contributor of personnel to UN peacekeeping missions.
In the past five years, China has sent 16 fleets composed of 42 warships to the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia, escorting 5,465 vessels and rescuing 42 ships attacked by pirates.
“It is normal for the world to have some suspicions about the Chinese military build-up, while mutual understanding can only be improved through communication.“
via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/4pPo43-DFVg/story01.htm Tyler Durden
The Chinese military, especially the navy, made great strides last year in improving its combat capabilities, enabling it to better defend the nation against threats to its sovereignty, according to analysts. As China Daily reports, less than a month after being named the head of China’s Central Military Commission, President Xi Jinping asked PLA officers to adopt realistic combat criteria in military training. “It is the top priority for the military to be able to fight and win battles,” he said during an inspection to the Guangzhou military theater of operations in December 2012. While some have suggested the rapidly expanding PLA navy is driving a seismic shift in Asia’s military balance, Chinese experts have refuted such rhetoric, saying military moves by China are only aimed at creating improved self-defense by providing capabilities to match the other parties in the region.
“China should have a military that can match its power status,” said Ma Gang, a professor at the People’s Liberation Army National Defense University. “It is the only big country that has not achieved reunification and faces serious challenges to its sovereignty and several territorial disputes.”
…
In November, China announced the creation of the East China Sea Air Defense Identification Zone, which requires aircraft to report their flight plans and establish identification communications while flying through the zone.
…
Japan’s illegal purchase triggered strong protests from China and prompted it to start regular patrols around the islands last year. In July, five PLA warships steamed out of the Sea of Japan, through the Soya Strait and completed the Chinese navy’s first circumnavigation of the Japanese archipelago.
Cao Weidong, a researcher at the PLA Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said such activities would not increase tensions and that China’s stance remains defensive, while its naval forces are still dwarfed by traditional maritime powers.
“Instead, Washington is shifting 60 percent of its warships to the Pacific and Tokyo is gearing up to build a fully fledged military. China is suffering from the threat of escalating conflict,” he said.
James Holmes, a maritime strategist at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and a former US Navy surface warfare officer, said, “Naval commentators suggest the bellicose rhetoric shows that both sides are struggling to adjust to their new rivalry.
“And, the Japanese do regional tranquility no service by being alarmed when China’s navy transits international straits in a perfectly lawful manner,” Holmes told Reuters.
…
A stronger Chinese military will be able to play a bigger role in serving global peace, he said.
Of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, China is the largest contributor of personnel to UN peacekeeping missions.
In the past five years, China has sent 16 fleets composed of 42 warships to the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia, escorting 5,465 vessels and rescuing 42 ships attacked by pirates.
“It is normal for the world to have some suspicions about the Chinese military build-up, while mutual understanding can only be improved through communication.“
via Zero Hedge http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/zerohedge/feed/~3/4pPo43-DFVg/story01.htm Tyler Durden
Because of pre-emption by live
event coverage, tonight’s episode of The
Independents will first air at midnight ET instead of 9 PM
on Fox Business Network. The show will mix pop culture banter with
the heaviest of heavy topics, the latter including yesterday’s
not-guilty verdict of the Fullerton cops who beat the homeless
and schizophrenic man Kelly Thomas to death in 2011. Thomas’ father
Ron—who Kelly was desperately crying out for on the infuriating,
heartbreaking video of
his fatal beating—will be on the show to discuss his reaction to
the verdict. Read Reason’s coverage of the case at this link.
In
teenagers-misbehaving news, nosediving heartthrob Justin Bieber had
his house ransacked by cops who reportedly found an ecstasy variant
called “Molly” while investigating, um, a potentially $20,000
egg-tossing incident; also, new study proves* that MTV’s 16
and Pregnant leads to
fewer teen births. Plus:
The Pope auctions his Harley, Kanye West sues the
Bitcoin-inspired “Coinye
West” out of existence, and more.
Again—tune in at midnight ET for the assembled
Independentsage. And heckle what you see on Twitter at @IndependentsFBN
When you buy shares in a company, you want to make money.
However, there is no guarantee that the shares will rise in price. Indeed, if you are investing simply because you believe prices will rise, you are essentially betting that someone else will want to pay more for your shares at a later date.
No matter how much research you perform, there is no guarantee this will happen.
Dividends, however, DO make sure you make money. Because the company is actually paying you to own shares. And this makes a heck of a difference.
If you had invested $1 in stocks in 1950 and held onto your position until 2010, you would have made EIGHT TIMES more money through dividends than share appreciation.
Let me restate that: by receiving and reinvesting dividends you’d make 800% more money than without them between 1950 and 2010.
The difference is even more incredible if you go back further.
Historically dividends have accounted for 70% of all stock market gains.
According to a study performed by the London Business School, when you remove dividends, stocks have returned a mere 1.7% in average annual gains over the last 109 years. To put this into perspective, this is less than you’d make from owning long-term US Treasury bonds (2.1%) over the same time period.
Indeed, if you’d invested $1 in stocks in 1900 and reinvested your dividends, by 2009, you’d have made $582 (adjusted for inflation). Take out dividends and you’d have only seen $6 from price appreciation. Yes, $6 from 109 years’ worth of capital gains.
Put another way, by focusing solely on capital gains when it comes to stock investing you’re only doubling your money about every 18 years (remember, this analysis simply focuses on the returns generated by the market… which outperforms most professional and individual investors).
So unless you’re buying stocks with dividends, you’re likely not making diddly in the long-term.
Again, if you’re going to buy stocks… make sure you get PAID. And there’s no better way to do this than with dividends.
For a FREE Special Report outlining how to protect your portfolio from this, swing by: http://ift.tt/170oFLH
Best Regards
Phoenix Capital Research
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/1iQVDzE Phoenix Capital Research
It is a well-known fact that when it comes to ownership of rental properties in the US, Wall Street, and particularly Blackstone, has become the single largest landlord in the country. But what about undeveloped land? As summarized by Vizual-statistix, according to The Land Report published by Fay Ranches, the top 100 owners of US land collectively have 33 million acres in their private holdings. This equates to about 1.5% of all USA land – that may seem like a small percentage, but it’s actually a massive area. The chart below lays out the top 10 largest private landowners with the areas of Puerto Rico, Delaware, Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C. included for scale. As can be seen, all of the top 10 own a piece of the USA that is bigger than Rhode Island, and five have a piece that is at least as big as Delaware. John Malone, who is the largest land owner in the country with 2.2 million acres, owns private property the size of Puerto Rico.
Investing in rural, undeveloped land continues to be a popular strategy among the affluent, according to the 2013 Land Report 100, the latest annual survey and ranking of the largest private landowners in the United States just published by The Land Report and presented by Fay Ranches. Increasingly seen as a “safe deposit box with a view,” acreages continue to be purchased by leading landowners at solid rates. In 2012, the country’s top 100 landowners cumulatively increased their private holdings by 700,000 acres to a total of 33 million acres, nearly 2 percent of U.S. land mass.
Liberty Media Chairman John Malone and his 2.2 million acres under ownership topped the Land Report 100 list, which focuses exclusively on deeded acreage owned by individuals, families, family-owned companies and family-controlled foundations and excludes leased and public lands. Malone edged out Ted Turner, who currently possesses more than 2 million land acres. Rounding out the top five in order were: the Emmerson family, Brad Kelley and the Irving family. The 2013 edition of the Land Report 100 presented by Fay Ranches can be downloaded at http://ift.tt/1cl6OuU.
“It’s refreshing to continue seeing large landowners find value in aggregating their land for conservation and agriculture purposes versus parceling it out and developing it,” said land broker Greg Fay, founder of Fay Ranches, which is sponsoring the Land Report 100 for the third straight year and is a longtime supporter of the magazine. “Everyone at Fay Ranches congratulates leading landowners for their commitments to the land, to conserving our wild places and preserving our agricultural heritage.”
This year saw a shake-up in the top ten as Stan Kroenke elevated his position from No. 10 to No. 8 after his recent purchase of the historic Broken O Ranch, described nationally as “one of the largest agricultural operations in the Rocky Mountain West.” Kroenke also owns the 540,000-acre Q Creek Ranch, the largest contiguous ranch in the Rocky Mountains.
There are several landowners new to this year’s 100 list, including No. 28, Dan and Farris Wilks, billionaire brothers who recently purchased more than 400 square miles of land, mostly in the eastern half of Montana. Oil field services entrepreneurs, the Wilks brothers own the prized N Bar Ranch in Montana, which is known for its wildlife and fishery resources. Another new addition to the Land Report 100 presented by Fay Ranches is No. 96, Arthur Nicholas. The co-founder of Nicholas Investment Properties owns Wyoming’s historic Wagonhound Land and Livestock, an AQHA Ranching Heritage Breeder.
“America’s largest landowners continue to recognize land as a compelling asset, one whose numerous attributes go well beyond ROI,” said Eric O’Keefe, editor-in-chief of The Land Report. “It’s a story you’ll see again and again in the Land Report 100, one that features familiar faces and some new ones I’m sure readers will instantly identify. ”
So here is how Bernanke’s trickle down supposedly works: US millionaires – rich in assets – become billionaires, increasingly buying up US land, i.e., more assets, while everyone else, read the not so wealthy, buy Made in China trinkets, purchased mostly on credit so loading up on liabilities, i.e., debt.
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