Capital flowing out of US

[mr funny]

http://www.straitstimes.com/Money/St...ry_274336.html

Sep 2, 2008 Tuesday

Capital flowing out of US


FRANKFURT: Global banks have been funnelling more funds out of the United States than into it since market turmoil erupted in August last year, according to a study by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).

It said that from 2000 to the middle of last year, global banks funnelled over US$1 trillion (S$1.4 trillion) more into the US across their balance sheets than they withdrew.

But since the middle of last year, banks have sent about US$321 billion more out of the US than they sent in.

The data suggests that foreign banks hungry for dollars could be sending funds from US branches to their offices abroad, while global lending to US non-financial firms has begun flattening after years of growth, said the Wall Street Journal on its website yesterday.

The BIS also found that prices of a key index banks use to gauge sub-prime-related losses have been dampened partly by factors that have little to do with the risk of mortgage defaulters.

The BIS report could add to growing concern about how markets measure the severity of mortgage-debt problems, the Journal reported.

[watched CNN]

Watched CNN yesterday that claimed that the hot money is moving from West to East, from Wall Street and London to Singapore, HK, Shanghai.

Many ex-Wall St and London bankers also following this trail of money to find jobs in the East. I believe Singapore and HK are best positioned for this influx of finance professionals and all this money that has to be managed and invested somehow.

I believe this report is true.

So many hundred billions just disappeared from US and Europe financial markets in the past year. No, they didn't just disappear - they gone into some people's pockets.

The economy is a zero-sum game. When financial market capitalisation go down, the money did not just disappear into thin air. Many people and institutions lost tons of money, this money just went into the pockets of others.

[Jim Boge]

Panic buying is inevitable and going to be very imminent.

We urge all ppty owners in Singapore to hold on to your ppty. You can sell at much better prices a year from now. We are yet to hit the golden mark, as MM has pointed out over and over again. Don't let the foreign funds acquire our assets at below fair market prices. The best of Singapore is yet to be seen. Good luck.

[Joe6816]

Panic buying is inevitable and going to be very imminent.

We urge all ppty owners in Singapore to hold on to your ppty. You can sell at much better prices a year from now. We are yet to hit the golden mark, as MM has pointed out over and over again. Don't let the foreign funds acquire our assets at below fair market prices. The best of Singapore is yet to be seen. Good luck.

I agree, if you look at the market now, if a owner is to reduced price and goes into panic selling, it's at a point of no return. He will end up getting a lot lesser then what he expected.

[propertyinvestor]

I agree, if you look at the market now, if a owner is to reduced price and goes into panic selling, it's at a point of no return. He will end up getting a lot lesser then what he expected.

Yes. Me too. No point selling and make peanuts. Better hold on. Think market should gradually pick up after all the US mess clears up. Hope 2009 will be a good year for all pte property owners.

[Joe6816]

Yes. Me too. No point selling and make peanuts. Better hold on. Think market should gradually pick up after all the US mess clears up. Hope 2009 will be a good year for all pte property owners.

My feel for property investment,
Apply the following rules and you will gain

1)Timing-Beginning of a new uptrend
2)Location
3)Information-who can get you the best price unit in the targeted area.

Btw, if you investment is not getting what you wan, like there no more potential for price to move up, I would suggest sell it off, cash out and moe to better project. What do you think?

[propertyinvestor]

My feel for property investment,
Apply the following rules and you will gain

1)Timing-Beginning of a new uptrend
2)Location
3)Information-who can get you the best price unit in the targeted area.

Btw, if you investment is not getting what you wan, like there no more potential for price to move up, I would suggest sell it off, cash out and moe to better project. What do you think?

Hi Joe,

My 2-cents on the following.

1) Timing - Beginning of a new uptrend.

We should treat Property investment a mid to long term investment. But if can profit in short term. Why not. Yes. Timing - Beginning of a new uptrend is very important. Like now, the uptrend is for mass market condo near MRT. Thus investors should catch the best opportunity and ride this upward trend.

2)Location

This is always the most important factor in property selection. Whether in bull or bear property market. But be prepared to pay a price premium for good location.

3)Information

Should try to gather more informations from the surrounding development before committing. A rule of thumb is try to get at least a 10 to 15 percent off (if you can)the market price (for subsale projects) if you are very interested in a certain project. I think you still can get something good at this current situation.

If there is no price appreciation in the projects that you are investing, you may want to determine the future potential surrounding the area. If for sure nothing is going to happen in the near 2-3 years term, then I think you should sell it off and research for other better development.

[Joe6816]

Hi Joe,

My 2-cents on the following.

1) Timing - Beginning of a new uptrend.

We should treat Property investment a mid to long term investment. But if can profit in short term. Why not. Yes. Timing - Beginning of a new uptrend is very important. Like now, the uptrend is for mass market condo near MRT. Thus investors should catch the best opportunity and ride this upward trend.

2)Location

This is always the most important factor in property selection. Whether in bull or bear property market. But be prepared to pay a price premium for good location.

3)Information

Should try to gather more informations from the surrounding development before committing. A rule of thumb is try to get at least a 10 to 15 percent off (if you can)the market price (for subsale projects) if you are very interested in a certain project. I think you still can get something good at this current situation.

If there is no price appreciation in the projects that you are investing, you may want to determine the future potential surrounding the area. If for sure nothing is going to happen in the near 2-3 years term, then I think you should sell it off and research for other better development.

WELL SAID:

[Reuters]

Reuters . ~

Alpha to put US$1.2b in Asian properties - September 2, 2008

The group, which closed the Asia Macro Trends fund in July, now has five Asia-focused funds with S$3.9 billion in property assets under management.

"Our strategy is not premised on the fact that Asia has decoupled. We have eight to 10 years horizon and from what we can see, the region will do well in the medium to long-term," Alpha managing director Loh Chin Hua told Reuters in an interview yesterday.

"It is very much a play on increasing affluence of Asian economies and domestic consumption, and the increase in flow of capital and trade within Asia," Mr Loh said.

Mr Loh, who led the Government of Singapore Investment Corp's London based Europe real estate division before helped found Alpha in 2003, said the poor economic and credit conditions, ignited by the US subprime mortgage crisis, provide an opportunity to invest as there is less competition for good assets.

"There could be some dislocations in the short term, but we see it as opportunities rather than a threat. I would rather be investing in market conditions like these where there is less capital chasing assets."

Mr Loh declined to reveal how many more funds Alpha plans to launch or give a target for assets under management, but said he expects fund flows to Asia to grow strongly due to heightened interest from US and European pension funds.

"We would expect their allocations to Asia real estate to increase. And within Asia, we are also seing sovereign funds from countries like South Korea and Japan starting to look outside their domestic market."

Asia's top developers, such as Cheung Kong, CapitaLand and Mitsui Fudosan, have also set up property fund management unitsin recent years, for the fee income and to tap new funding sources for growth.