Sometimes price action seems inconsistent with the fundamental story.  One of the ways we use our ETF rankings is to highlight developments that deserve further investigation. While financial sectors in general earn continued strong ratings, the most noteworthy feature of the new ratings is the rapid rise of two Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) ETF's.  (The complete current rankings are at the end of the article, along with an explanation of our methodology). Surprising REIT Strength Investors who choose REIT's general seek high yield and tax advantages.  The REIT must return 90% of income to unit holders to avoid taxation at the trust level.  Since certain non-cash expenses like depreciation reduce income, investors determine value as a multiple of adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) rather than a PE multiple.  The REIT provides smaller investors the opportunity to add real estate of various types ...

I’ve pointed out many times here in my Money and Markets column that interest rates and economic growth are always the two primary fundamental drivers of currency prices. Therefore, it’s no stretch to conclude that housing has been the Achilles’ heel for the U.S. dollar.

But what if there’s another major currency country that has a much worse outlook for its housing market? Would we then expect bad housing news to play a similar role in pushing its respective currency lower? I think the short answer is: Yes!

It’s fitting on this Independence Day holiday weekend that we examine the incredible exposure to housing prices in our motherland — the UK — compared to the U.S. …

I'm in China right now. Every time I return, I am amazed at how drastically the skyline has changed. The pace of construction here is dazzling. In fact, I've seen estimates that as many as 75% of the world's construction cranes are in China. What were empty lots now contain office towers and condominium complexes so tall that you can't see the top of the buildings through the smog. The quaint hutongs, or traditional residential lanes and small streets that originated during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), have been razed and replaced with shopping malls. The reason for the juggernaut growth is simple: China Is Experiencing the Largest Human Migration in the History of Mankind Reminiscent of other industrial revolutions around the world, a massive tidal wave of working class Chinese from ...

Checkbook IRA accounts, also called self-directed IRA accounts, provide many options for account holders to increase their portfolio value through investing in real estate. As real estate investing is the number one way to make money in the U.S., it’s no wonder that many want to capitalize on this.

Real estate investing is a very diversified field, which can stymie some investors when it comes to determining how to invest their money. It needn’t be at all, however. Asking yourself a few questions will help you to quickly put together a real estate investment strategy for your self-directed IRA account funds.

3 Questions to That Help Formulate a Real Investment Strategy

Investor Personality: As in, what type of investor are you? Do you like to take chances, are you super conservative. Or, do you fall somewhere in between the two. Knowing your investor personality will guide in selecting the most appropriate investment that …

by Daniel Cordoba

Though not as glamorous as investing in a tropical resort hotel, storage facilities can return strong profits on smaller initial investments. Storage properties benefit from a relatively high demand in urban centers and in outlying metropolitan areas where competition may not be as great. A nearly unavoidable fact of life is that as families grow and as individuals start to make more money, their volume of possessions increases while their available storage space decreases.

Storage facilities also usually have fewer associated costs than do properties that will be occupied by people rather than things. Operating costs for a storage facility are far below the operating costs of resort hotels or office towers. Non-recurring costs like repairs and renovations are also usually spaced much farther apart and are usually less costly. On the other hand, rental prices per square foot can be less, too.

Storage facilities also usually have …