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Our team at Forisk just released its 2011 timber (stumpage) forecast for pine sawtimber and pulpwood for the US South and by state. Overall, we show increasing demand for wood raw materials and higher pine stumpage prices for forest owners more…
An interesting report landed on our desk a few weeks ago, further reinforcing the sorry state of timberland market analysis available to timber REIT investors. The report, from Credit Suisse, makes assertions based on a careless and faulty application of more…
Last week, I spoke at the Global Real Assets Investment Forum in New York as part of the panel on “Timber in Institutional Portfolios.” My takeaway from participating in this event: institutional investors seem bored with timberlands. They showed more more…
Forisk Equity Research completed a comparative analysis of timber REIT forest harvesting activities to address the question, “who wins as housing markets return?” The Executive Summary is below. The complete Technical Note (January 2011) is available here. Executive Summary While more…
As a researcher, I enjoy exploring and testing questions related to forest economics, wood bioenergy and timber investments. Why? The finance of forestry brings together a globally available, renewable asset with attractive investment characteristics that continues to generate interesting issues more…
Land consultant and writer Curtis Seltzer interviewed me on the topic of timberland investing and financial analysis. One question in particular got to the heart of how I think about applying finance to forestry-related investment decisions: “Do you use or more…
Several years ago, an analyst from a hedge fund called me to discuss suitable discount rates for timberland investments. We had the following exchange: “A common error with discount rates is that folks use real and nominal rates inconsistently,” I more…
The Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) – like a ravenous, insatiable house guest – continues to feast on pine forests, primarily in British Columbia. Fortunately, according to the most recent update from researcher Adrian Walton of the BC Forest Service (May 11, 2010), more…
“Inflation at 44-Year Low” trumpeted today’s headline from the Wall Street Journal. The news was pause-worthy at our shop because one of the most common arguments for investing in timberland is its purported potential to hedge inflation. Well, does it? more…
The New Yorker magazine published a cartoon in its May 17, 2010 issue of two trees talking in the woods. One says to the other, “Can you believe that people inhale the gases we expel – sick, right?” The cartoon more…