Real Estate Forecasting for 2012 - Investment Property Sector to SeeGrowth - San Francisco Chronicle (press release)

Professionals Realty Group USA (ProsUSA) President Glenn Melton reports that the recent Chinese government's liberalization of restrictions on investing capital outside of the country will have a positive trickling down affect on real estate brokers and agents' business in the United States.

"The relaxing of Chinese foreign investment policies will create an influx of Chinese investment capital overseas," states Melton. "This will spur investments in the Asia Pacific regions, as well as the United States; especially given the concern that central government intervention to contain overheated domestic housing prices will lead Chinese investors to seek other opportunities abroad."

U.S. Congress is also actively finding new ways to spur international investment in the U.S. A new legislative bill introduced by Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Mike Lee (R-UT) proposes to offer a temporary residency visa to immigrants who spend at least $500,000 on a home in the United States.

So what does this mean for real estate brokers and agents in the U.S.? According to Melton, "The real estate investment sector is rapidly evolving with more investors interested in real estate portfolios than one-off transactions - and we will truly see its fruits in the next 18 to 24 months. Real estate brokers and agents have an opportunity to be ahead of the curve and take a bigger position in the investment real estate space, whether foreign or domestic."

He adds, "Establishing easy and safe access to American real estate now will position real estate professionals for a natural flow of investment business down the line."

Investors not shying away from solar power - San Francisco Chronicle

Stion, a new solar manufacturer in San Jose, has raised a total of $234.6 million from venture capitalists and other investors.

Solyndra notwithstanding, some investors are still willing to bet big money on solar power.

Google, for example, reported Tuesday that it will invest $94 million to help build four solar power plants near Sacramento.

And Stion, a San Jose startup that makes thin-film solar cells, said Tuesday that it has raised another $130 million in private investments, much of it from Korean private equity funds.

The high-profile bankruptcy of Fremont's Solyndra in September prompted intense scrutiny of all manner of solar companies and projects, particularly those involved in manufacturing. A flood of inexpensive solar cells pouring from new factories in China has undercut many American solar businesses, pushing several into bankruptcy.

But the plunge in solar-cell prices has been a boon to developers of solar power plants.

The four plants that Google will fund - along with investors Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. - will be built by San Francisco's Recurrent Energy, a subsidiary of Sharp Corp. The plants will sell their electricity to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and should begin operations next year. Three are already under construction.

"The declining cost of solar has really driven demand for us, in our business," said Arno Harris, Recurrent's CEO. "I would say unequivocally that there's a ton of interest in investing in these projects."

Google has already invested in solar-thermal power plants, which use mirrors to concentrate sunlight, generate steam and turn turbines. But the Recurrent project marks the first time the Internet search giant has invested in power plants that use photovoltaic panels, which generate electricity directly from sunlight.

Google's clean-energy investments have now topped $915 million. The company reported in November that it was pulling the plug on an ambitious four-year research effort to make renewable power cheaper than coal, but it has not stopped investing in the sector.

Stion, meanwhile, has now raised a total of $234.6 million from venture capitalists and other investors. The company will use some of the most recent funding to expand its solar-module manufacturing facility in Hattiesburg, Miss.

Stion also will create a subsidiary in Korea to build a factory there, supplying thin-film solar modules to growing markets in Asia. One of the lead investors in Stion's new financing round is Avaco, a Korean company that makes thin-film processing equipment.

"Solar has always been a global business, and this investment enables Stion to address market demand in Asia and beyond," said Chet Farris, Stion's CEO. "We have added world-class investors as well as a strategic partner with deep technical expertise."

Marc Faber Sees No Bubble in Gold as Central Banks Print Money - SanFrancisco Chronicle

Gold's rally above $1,900 an ounce shows no signs of a "bubble" as central banks continue to boost money supply that has helped spur bullion to a record, according to investor Marc Faber.

"I don't think that gold is in a bubble," Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom and Doom report, said in a phone interview yesterday from Chiang Mai, Thailand. "When you buy gold, it's an insurance against systematic failure and problems in the financial markets."
Faber's comments come amid predictions gold may tumble after surging 35 percent this year and touching a record $1,913.50 an ounce on Aug. 23, as investors sought haven asset amid declining equities and weakening currencies. Speculative demand from investors had pushed the gold market into a "bubble that is poised to burst," Wells Fargo & Co. analysts led by Dean Junkans said in a report last month.
"I'd buy every month a little bit of gold," Faber said.
Manufacturing slowed in the U.S. Europe and Asia, adding to signs of slowing global growth that may force central banks to step up stimulus measures.
The Federal Reserve completed its second round of so-called quantitative easing in June, whereby the central bank purchased $600 billion of Treasuries from November 2010, after injecting $1.25 trillion in the first round. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Citigroup Inc. see the Bank of England restarting bond buying as early as this week as the economic recovery weakens and bank- funding costs increase.
Gold Holdings
Holdings in exchange-traded products backed by gold rose to a record 2,217 tons on Aug. 8, and stood at 2,142.4 tons as of yesterday. Bloomberg data show. Trade volume in Comex gold futures and options rose on Aug. 24 to a record 593,405 contracts, according to Jeremy Hughes, Singapore-based spokesman of CME Group Inc.
Spot gold gained 0.6 percent to $1,912.38 an ounce as of 1:33 p.m. Singapore time.
Prices may slump as much as 30 percent from a record as the dollar "outperforms" its counterparts, damping demand for bullion as an alternative currency, Stanley Crouch, the chief investment officer of Aegis Capital Corp., said Aug. 24.