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One reality of market and investment research is that if a data set “should” exist, it doesn’t. And if it does exist, it’s probably out of date (especially in forestry). Therefore, my team views the systematic aggregation, tracking and analysis 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…
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…
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…
When studying exchange rates and currency markets, I sometimes think of the old joke “the quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and stick it back in your pocket.” Currency markets shake more than more…
Last Friday (September 16, 2011), Rayonier (RYN) announced its intent to acquire 250,000 acres of timberlands in the US South for $330 million. Expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, the deal would bring Rayonier’s timberland ownership more…
It’s December 31, 2010 and you’re sitting on a pile of cash. Do you invest in the S&P 500, an all-REIT index, private timberlands or publicly-traded timber REITs? Based on the performance of key indices, putting your chips in with more…
Who buys the trees grown by timberland-owning REITs? Timber REIT returns depend on strong demand from end-use markets for forest products such as lumber, plywood, pulp and OSB. This explains the dependence that timber REITs have on housing markets. Low more…
How can timber REITs leverage their available capital, given the fact that they must distribute, and cannot retain, earnings? Over time, timberland-owning REITs have identified and employed multiple investment strategies to leverage available capital. These strategies include: “Recycling capital” through programs more…
According to Forisk tracking of timberland ownership, 58 firms currently own or manage in excess of 100,000 acres of timberlands in the United States. These firms feature the following descriptive statistics: As a group, they own/manage 57.6 million acres of more…