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飞黄腾达第七季之名人篇

我最喜爱的米国reality show飞黄腾达(Apprentice)迎来第七季，地点从LA搬回NYC的Trump Tower。不知是否Donald Trump也受到了次按（Subprime）的影响，这一季没有打算请人，而只是找来14位名人为他们各自喜爱的慈善组织募款，冲冲publicity。就算Tump Org亦遭遇不测（touch wood），也可以看出除了身家以外，Donald Trump的号召力也是超强的。除了有重量级拳王刘易斯的参与外，NYC市长Micheal Bloomberg第一集也出来陪Mr.Trump游街巡察。

比赛首先分成男女两组，而男子组在第一第二集则先下两城。因为他们懂得正确运用他们的名声来募得更多善款，而女子组却迟迟未能意识到她们真正的价值所在。比赛中也不难发现一个道理，就是金钱随名声而来。随便一瓶水可以卖个5k（单位：美元)，一个热狗可以卖到10k，一天光卖这些东西就可以换来50-60k。我就算倾巢而出，一天赚的顶多只能跟他们买瓶水和一个热狗。想想电视机前的观众们心理能平衡吗？先不讲其他国家的观众，就拿米国的老百姓来说。希拉里在竞选中将米国的中产阶级定义为家庭年收入100k，亦就是说夫妻两人各赚50k。看着名人们卖一天的热狗就能赚到他们一年的薪水，看来贫富悬殊无论在哪个国家都是一个让人有点哭笑不得的问题。

算了，还是不要再瞎掰挑起阶级矛盾。讲回Donald Trump，这位地产大亨相信无人不知。他在建的项目中我比较感兴趣的是一个在芝加哥的超大型项目。不知何时我才能存够钱缴首期？做梦！但是另外还要看它究竟建不建得了起来，建起来会不会留着不卖。原因？Subprime咯。我个人认为，米国和英国的房屋市场比较，英国的如果要死的话一定比较难看，但相对的若复苏的话也会比较快。我猜等到recovery period英国可能要两年，米国也许是3-5年。有钱没地方使的人们可以趁火捡些便宜货。为了看清事情本质，我想当个undercover economist，希望今年有空再到米国考察考察……

Tags: Apprentice, Celebrity Apprentice, Donald Trump, Micheal Bloomberg, Real Estate, 飞黄腾达

Alternative Investment 101

Charateristics

Charateristics that generally apply include:

• Lower liquidity than traditional investments
• Accurate market values difficult to determine
• Limited historical performance data

Exchange Traded Funds (ETF)

Special type of fund that invests in a portfolio of stocks or bonds designed to mimic performance of a specified index

Advantage of ETFs

• Efficient method of diversification
• Trade similar to traditional equity investments
• Some ETFs patterned after indexes with active future/ option market and better risk management
• Exact composition is known at all time
• Typically, very efficient operating expense ratio; no load to purchase or redeem shares
• Decreased capital gains tax liability

Disadvantage of ETFs

• Some countries have fewer indexes than U.S. for ETFs to track (results in mid- or low-cap stocks no being well represented)
• Ability to trade intraday may not be significant to investors with longer time horizon
• ETFs with low trading volume may have large bid-ask spreads
• Larger investors may choose to directly invest in an index portfolio, resulting in lower expenses/ lower tax consequences

Valuation of Real Estate Investments

• Valuation method: cost method, sales comparison method, and income method.
• Income method uses a discounted cash flow model similar to that for a perpetuity:

Value = NOI/ Market cap rate

• Net operating income (NOI) equals gross operating income less estimated vacancy, collections, and other operating expenses, (including property taxes, but excluding income taxes). NOI does not include depreciation of financing costs.

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Tags: Alternative Investment, ETF, Real Estate