The Sarcasm Report v.39

The son of "legendary" Ken Fisher tells us that China's Real Estate Bubble is a myth. Well, that sure is comforting!

China Real Estate Bubble a Myth - Clay Fisher

The price of real estate in Beijing has been strong, with an average hovering around 18,000 yuan per meter squared, or approximately $240 per square foot.

$240 per square foot seems perfectly reasonable to me.

Poverty gap expands in China

Based on the definition issued by UN, he who earns less than 1 dollar per day falls into the category of extremely poor. A third of China people belongs to this group.

$240 per square foot represents a mere entire year's wages for one-third of the Chinese population. That's what I call pricing power! Wow! Picture working all day long on one square inch of new home construction (you'd only have to do 144 square inches of them in a year to justify your salary). Think of how perfect you could make it. I'd probably hand carve an elaborate pattern to let the world know I was there and that I really matter.

Should it continue we can expect to see 400 million Chinese construction workers at some point. I mean really. Who wouldn't want a part of that? Just imagine the future prosperity.

There's clearly a limit on available land, but that's where skyscrapers come in. How high could they be built?

To infinity and beyond! - Buzz Lightyear

Do you suppose Ken Fisher taught his son all he knows about the real estate market? He had to learn it somewhere. Right?

February 26, 2007
Housing Boom! - Ken Fisher

Don't buy it. For months now the debate has been over whether America will have a hard landing or soft landing, the answer hinging on how big 2007's housing disaster turns out to be. Well, there won't be any housing disaster. We won't have a landing at all, soft or hard. Right now the U.S. and global economies are both accelerating.

You can see right through the housing crash story by looking at the prices of housing stocks. The market knows what the economic worrywarts do not, which is that the housing sector is already making a comeback. In the last six months housing stocks are up 24%, well ahead of the overall market. If housing were destined to fall apart in 2007 these stocks wouldn't be so strong now.

There's clearly a time to be permabullish but there's also a time to be permabullish. This may or may not be one of those times. ;)