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The wood bioenergy sector in the United States continues its extended round of musical chairs. As of January 30, 2012, Wood Bioenergy US reports that projected wood demand for all announced projects in the U.S. dropped 7.4 million tons year-to-date, more…
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Albert Einstein once said, “the hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax.” On the other hand, actor Wesley Snipes reportedly said, “taxes are only complicated if you pay them.” (Actually, that might have more…
The Buddha tells the private equity fund he can fulfill one of its wishes. A managing director asks, “could you simplify the tax code?” Seeing the Buddha frown in silence, the person suggests another wish, “could you make our cellulosic more…
People who cite a rising stock market as evidence of economic health (1) make me nervous and (2) remind me what Timber REIT said to Timberland as they walked out of the gym: “You’re such a hard asset.” Roiled and more…
In 2011, timberland-owning REITs, as a sector, outperformed the S&P 500. As measured by the Forisk Timber REIT (FTR) Index, publicly-traded timber REITs returned 5.69% versus 0.00% for the S&P (see tables). The FTR Total Returns Index, which accounts for more…
Executive Summary: all timberland investment vehicles exceed US Treasury benchmarks over long time frames; timber REIT dividend distributions enhance yields to help offset short term share price volatility. U.S. Treasuries remain a common benchmark for private timberland investments. Why? Relative more…
This month I met with the Lt. Governor of a state with a substantive forest industry. The discussion centered on ways to support forest owners, wood markets and job creating projects. Then the conversation turned to the potential of wood-based more…
Years ago, I held shares in Crown Pacific Partners, a timberland-owning firm headquartered in Portland, Oregon. During market declines in the late 1990s, the firm subsidized its shareholder distributions through borrowing and cash generated from non-organic business activities. In other more…
The “80/20 rule” – also called the “Pareto principle” for Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto – posits that approximately 80% of your results or effects derive from 20% of the causes. Look around and examples materialize. 80% of your revenue more…
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported on the rush of investors buying into publicly-traded real estate investment trusts (“Real-estate investors target neighborhood that is looking up,” Wall Street Journal, 11/15/11). According to Citigroup Global Markets, investors, year-to-date, invested 18% more…