I swear, you're the cutest troll I ever met, freck. Priceless.

Love the top one…at least now you admit to speculation and crystal balling  – up until now you kept calling it "mathematical certainty". I quit, have fun playing with your graphs.

And on the other hand –

Immigration reform: Could this be Abe’s new growth strategy?

38 Percent Rise in Japan Property Investment

he's not doing the wrong things, I'll give him that much. And it's way too soon to evaluate, so not seeing all…[Read more]

Quote:
they've been doing it for 20 years. How's that working out.

Depends on your point of view. Some of us (and PLEASE spare me the linking battle again, I'm sure you can find these opinions with ease, same as I can) actually think that, considering the magnitude of the fall they had, they've done spectacularly well – when similar things…[Read more]

Not really, freckle, its just that you don't like the answer you've received.
Abe's current fiscal policy CAN kick start reasonable inflation and create growth, the Japanese CAN increase workforce participation and immigration, other countries CAN improve their own economic conditions and resume imports from Japan, and local holders of government…[Read more]

Yes, that existence is under threat (as its been for the last twenty years), yes, there are rocky times ahead, yes, it'll take a lot to pull them out of the fire, and yes, it also depends on how the rest of the world fares (as it does for every country in the globe). All of the above is correct. But to try and portray this as a certainty, or even…[Read more]

This is getting tiresome, Freckle, particularly since we've had the exact same discussion in length several months ago.
with your permission, I'll leave you with the following excerpt from "The Independent" which sums up both sides of the argument – because really, we're just rehashing the same old tunes, and i think we both agree there won't be a…[Read more]

Freckle wrote:
The yen borrow rate is has always been cheap as chips. For 20 years its been a textbook FX play. Borrow yen invest somewhere else bank the difference.

. I'm well aware of how carry trade works, thanks. The lady specifically mentioned "other places, where the currency will go up" – not "other investment vehicles in other…[Read more]

And by the way, if you think Abe will think twice before re-vamping immigration due to some of his supposed "old-fashioned" views – think again – I'm very far from in love with the guy, but his policies are as flexible as they need to be in this day and age -…[Read more]

Very interesting barrel of speculation there, with echos of Bass' presentation from a few months back (and another a month or so ago, I believe, which I was already too tired to watch rehashed again).

Aside from the obvious semi-vendetta in “how dare they outmaneuver the mighty US of A in its currency wars, look what they’re doing to our bond…[Read more]

That's cool, oh-mighty-Freck-of-graphs and upcoming disasters, I think I finally get where our constant disagreement (or really, your basic dis-satisfaction with real-estate investing in any way shape or form) really comes from.You're looking at things from your preferred investment philosophy viewpoint, which says the world is a disaster, one…[Read more]

Freckle wrote:
“Our pricing policy is demand-based and not cost-based, so it’s not because of increasing material price,” he said.

Yeah right. 

So you’re basically saying the increase IS due to increasing material price…considering McDonald’s Japan pride themselves on using local produce, it almost sounds as if the two decade long trend of…[Read more]

Freckle wrote:

When (not if) the USD looses its reserve status then Japan will have to rejig its foreign currency holdings. That's likely to affect its ability to control its own currency to a certain extent. Given the parlous state of the Japanese economy the degree of control they could exert in a crises may or may not be a good thing.

I…[Read more]

Not sure what you wanted to say with those abandoned houses there – here's the summary of the article your zerohedge friend, who's intent, like you, on spreading his agenda of "short Japan, all hell is breaking loose!!!" conveniently forgot to incorporate into his so-called article/post – as he copied and pasted only the relevant parts, then added…[Read more]

My mistake, your BRIC conspiracy saga came directly after the JGB graph – I naturally assumed it was a continuation of the same line of thought. I stand corrected – please, enlighten me, how is Russia's document relevant to this discussion and the news items originally posted?

Freckle wrote:
— The legality of rights among family members is complicated and multiple heirs are involved.
— The heirs live far away and do not have a good understanding of how to maintain vacant houses.
— The heirs cannot afford to maintain the house.

not believing the above shows very little understanding of the Japanese people who…[Read more]

These guys are banking on you taking their guarantee for the next 4-5 years – you will, indeed, make 25% – they'll make much more – then, if and when everything blows over, as it likely will, you're left with nothing, and they're laughing all the way to the bank (because they haven't built these places to last much longer in any case, and guess…[Read more]

Not at all actually, just limited personal experience and that of family members and acquaintances – my forte is japan, as mentioned. in aus, my impression was that good locations seem to net app. 3-5% pre-tax. Sold our last family property in caulfield last year, after 5 years of almost zero growth and 3.8% cashflow p/a (so yes, positive – just).…[Read more]

Good stuff, thank you.

Cattleya – just curious – why do you think Australia (pretty wide area compared to London is better investment potential?