Yesterday, I posted The Difference Between Money and Wealth and Why You Can Easily Print One But Must Actually Create The Other [12], and as if on cue, global inkjet nozzles 'round the world started whizzing - to wit:
- ECB Cuts Rate to Record Low of 0.75%, Deposit to Zero [13] and Bank of England Prints Money Again to Boost Economy [14]
- China Cuts Rates for Second Time in Month [15] and China Set to Post Worst Growth Since 2008 Crisis [16]
- BOE Restarts QE Amid Euro Crisis [17]
Why such rampant printing? The whole world's afraid Europe's impending implosion will engulf global economies. They very well shoud be, this was quite evident 3 years ago (Pan-European sovereign debt crisis [18]) and the can kicking is nearing the end of its useful cycle... ECB's Draghi: We See Now a Weakening of Growth in Whole Euro Area [19]
Here's the secret that BoomBustBlog subscribers know yet seems to be lost on much of the European powers that be: cutting rates and printing will absolutely NOT prevent the nuclear winter in Real Assets. Since loans behind real assets are anywhere between a vast chunk and the majority of bank loans, when this thing goes the European banking system goes with it. This will manifest itself stateside (see sidebox), but the Europeans will get hit harder, at least initially... The reason? Well, it doesn't really matter how low interest rates are - if banks don't lend, borrows will not gain access to capital. Banks are too weak and skittish to lend despite "so-called" record profits, billions in bonuses and compensation, and trillions in bailouts. I repeat, and I repeat again, the only solution is to let the insolvent fail.
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The REIT analysis referred to in the chart can be found here forsubscribers [20] (the property by property valuations are for Professional/Institutional subscribers only):
I have just revisited the performance of this company (last update was at least a quarter ago). If my paid subscribers recall, we valued the company at rougly 10% of its current market price (see Since then the company has released its full year 2012 results and 1Q2012 quarterly performance. There is no visible improvement in the performance of the company. The company is struggling to handle massive leverage, industry average defying LTVs, proportionately large debt liabilities coming due - the bulk of which is expected to face the music sometime in 2012 in view of upcoming liabilities of over nearly $700 million during the remainder of the year. |
Fire Sale Scenario AnalysisReference the quite informative post from which the graphics below were excerpted: Watch As Near Free Money To Banks Fails To Prevent Nuclear Winter For European CRE [25]
[26]Slide21
[27]
So are there any concrete examples of all of this Reggie style pontification? If course there is. Do you see that chart above where the tiny country of the Netherlands is one of the largest per capita contributors to these bailouts? Well, you don't think all of the expenditure (to be) is free do you? Here are some screenshots of a prominent Dutch property company, on its way down the tubes - subscribers reference (click here to subscribe [20]):
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[31]
Fastforward to today, and NIEUWE STEEN INVESTMENTS N.V. - NSI (one of our shortlisted REIT) suffered the most due to revaluation of their Dutch office portfolio. It therefore witnessed 26% decline in last 4 months.
NSI is simply a microcosm of what's to come for many larger real asset investors. I have warned that the Dutch, with what many consider to be a strong and relatively stable economy, was not immune to the European contagion, reference Are The Ultra Conservative Dutch Immune To Pan-European Economic Contagion [32]...