Charles Schwab??

[Anonymous]

Nice call on investing in the RMB. I believe that political pressure is what allowed the RMS peg to the dollar to slide. That quote you took is from a text book so we can assume it of no real use 🙂 it’s completely theory, based on the assumption there is no arbitrage opportunities through buying a item cheap in one currency and selling in the other.

I have not myself invested in currency and am definately interested. I was just pointed out that often there IS a reason that some country is offering a high CD rate. Before investing, it is wise to find out if that particular reason puts you at a lot of risk, e.g. currency risk, risk of default, political risk or whatever. I agree that currencies can be very profitable. Some US companies I know did well by asking clients to pay in euros when they realized the dollar was too strong in comparison with trading partners currencies. A simple measure like Purchasing Price Parity showed that for a tourist, things had cost more in the US. eg the cost of a big mac in the US converted to a foreign currency was greater than the cost a of big mac in foreign country or Ef/us * Cus > Cf. You could have also measured that the currency was overvalued in terms of trade balance (would need to depreciate to eliminate trade deficit).

I have also heard people borrowing from countries with low interest rates and investing in other countries CDs. Stockstradr, do you know anything about this or how to find such opportunities when they arise? Also, anyone have any recommendation on good resources or books that are relavent.

[Coronita]

[quote]My wife and I bought an investment property in China because we not only wanted our money out of dollars and into RMB, we also wanted some leverage which we got to the tune of 5X through a 20% down mortgage from a Chinese bank.[/quote]

I hope you have plans an exit plan. You think RE is bad, just wait until the cards fall apart over there. The primary reason for appreciation has been foreign speculation which has driven prices up that no local can afford. Coupled with recent changes in lending standards in the Chinese RE to curb foreign speculation + policy changes that can happy overnight, it’s a big risk. Plus, I hope you have looked into RE laws. I doubt you have a legal claim to the property. You’re wife might as if she is still a citizen of PRC. If not, you’re probably using a proxy company and/or relative in the relative’s name. I hope you have done you’re due dilengence in RE laws there.

RE in china is interesting. Because there are so many “tiers”. Most foreign investors and/or most people without connections buy retail, which is alreday inflated. Then there’s the unofficial “friends and family” track, which gives you preferential access to RE at much lower price, typically given to friends and family of “priveleged people” (government officials, bank officials,employees,etc). In short, these folks get a first cut out of prospect RE from the builder and in recent times flip this directly to your traditional buyers at already inflated prices. It’s really complicated, a lot of red tape, and really requires a lot of connections if you want to minimize the risk.

Plus how do you plan on moving money back into USD if you need to? It thought the chinese government curbs maximum amounts of exchange from RMB back to USD. There are ways around this, like setting up a shell company and treating it as “necessary” currency conversion to perform a business transaction…It’s been a big problem with us despite having a linked account between BofA and China Construction Bank (partner in China).

[Coronita]

[quote]My wife and I bought an investment property in China because we not only wanted our money out of dollars and into RMB, we also wanted some leverage which we got to the tune of 5X through a 20% down mortgage from a Chinese bank.[/quote]

I hope you have plans an exit plan. You think RE is bad, just wait until the cards fall apart over there. The primary reason for appreciation has been foreign speculation which has driven prices up that no local can afford. Coupled with recent changes in lending standards in the Chinese RE to curb foreign speculation + policy changes that can happy overnight, it’s a big risk. Plus, I hope you have looked into RE laws. I doubt you have a legal claim to the property. You’re wife might as if she is still a citizen of PRC. If not, you’re probably using a proxy company and/or relative in the relative’s name. I hope you have done you’re due dilengence in RE laws there.

RE in china is interesting. Because there are so many “tiers”. Most foreign investors and/or most people without connections buy retail, which is alreday inflated. Then there’s the unofficial “friends and family” track, which gives you preferential access to RE at much lower price, typically given to friends and family of “priveleged people” (government officials, bank officials,employees,etc). In short, these folks get a first cut out of prospect RE from the builder and in recent times flip this directly to your traditional buyers at already inflated prices. It’s really complicated, a lot of red tape, and really requires a lot of connections if you want to minimize the risk.

Plus how do you plan on moving money back into USD if you need to? It thought the chinese government curbs maximum amounts of exchange from RMB back to USD. There are ways around this, like setting up a shell company and treating it as “necessary” currency conversion to perform a business transaction…It’s been a big problem with us despite having a linked account between BofA and China Construction Bank (partner in China).

[Coronita]

[quote]My wife and I bought an investment property in China because we not only wanted our money out of dollars and into RMB, we also wanted some leverage which we got to the tune of 5X through a 20% down mortgage from a Chinese bank.[/quote]

I hope you have plans an exit plan. You think RE is bad, just wait until the cards fall apart over there. The primary reason for appreciation has been foreign speculation which has driven prices up that no local can afford. Coupled with recent changes in lending standards in the Chinese RE to curb foreign speculation + policy changes that can happy overnight, it’s a big risk. Plus, I hope you have looked into RE laws. I doubt you have a legal claim to the property. You’re wife might as if she is still a citizen of PRC. If not, you’re probably using a proxy company and/or relative in the relative’s name. I hope you have done you’re due dilengence in RE laws there.

RE in china is interesting. Because there are so many “tiers”. Most foreign investors and/or most people without connections buy retail, which is alreday inflated. Then there’s the unofficial “friends and family” track, which gives you preferential access to RE at much lower price, typically given to friends and family of “priveleged people” (government officials, bank officials,employees,etc). In short, these folks get a first cut out of prospect RE from the builder and in recent times flip this directly to your traditional buyers at already inflated prices. It’s really complicated, a lot of red tape, and really requires a lot of connections if you want to minimize the risk.

Plus how do you plan on moving money back into USD if you need to? It thought the chinese government curbs maximum amounts of exchange from RMB back to USD. There are ways around this, like setting up a shell company and treating it as “necessary” currency conversion to perform a business transaction…It’s been a big problem with us despite having a linked account between BofA and China Construction Bank (partner in China).

[Coronita]

[quote]My wife and I bought an investment property in China because we not only wanted our money out of dollars and into RMB, we also wanted some leverage which we got to the tune of 5X through a 20% down mortgage from a Chinese bank.[/quote]

I hope you have plans an exit plan. You think RE is bad, just wait until the cards fall apart over there. The primary reason for appreciation has been foreign speculation which has driven prices up that no local can afford. Coupled with recent changes in lending standards in the Chinese RE to curb foreign speculation + policy changes that can happy overnight, it’s a big risk. Plus, I hope you have looked into RE laws. I doubt you have a legal claim to the property. You’re wife might as if she is still a citizen of PRC. If not, you’re probably using a proxy company and/or relative in the relative’s name. I hope you have done you’re due dilengence in RE laws there.

RE in china is interesting. Because there are so many “tiers”. Most foreign investors and/or most people without connections buy retail, which is alreday inflated. Then there’s the unofficial “friends and family” track, which gives you preferential access to RE at much lower price, typically given to friends and family of “priveleged people” (government officials, bank officials,employees,etc). In short, these folks get a first cut out of prospect RE from the builder and in recent times flip this directly to your traditional buyers at already inflated prices. It’s really complicated, a lot of red tape, and really requires a lot of connections if you want to minimize the risk.

Plus how do you plan on moving money back into USD if you need to? It thought the chinese government curbs maximum amounts of exchange from RMB back to USD. There are ways around this, like setting up a shell company and treating it as “necessary” currency conversion to perform a business transaction…It’s been a big problem with us despite having a linked account between BofA and China Construction Bank (partner in China).

[Coronita]

[quote]My wife and I bought an investment property in China because we not only wanted our money out of dollars and into RMB, we also wanted some leverage which we got to the tune of 5X through a 20% down mortgage from a Chinese bank.[/quote]

I hope you have plans an exit plan. You think RE is bad, just wait until the cards fall apart over there. The primary reason for appreciation has been foreign speculation which has driven prices up that no local can afford. Coupled with recent changes in lending standards in the Chinese RE to curb foreign speculation + policy changes that can happy overnight, it’s a big risk. Plus, I hope you have looked into RE laws. I doubt you have a legal claim to the property. You’re wife might as if she is still a citizen of PRC. If not, you’re probably using a proxy company and/or relative in the relative’s name. I hope you have done you’re due dilengence in RE laws there.

RE in china is interesting. Because there are so many “tiers”. Most foreign investors and/or most people without connections buy retail, which is alreday inflated. Then there’s the unofficial “friends and family” track, which gives you preferential access to RE at much lower price, typically given to friends and family of “priveleged people” (government officials, bank officials,employees,etc). In short, these folks get a first cut out of prospect RE from the builder and in recent times flip this directly to your traditional buyers at already inflated prices. It’s really complicated, a lot of red tape, and really requires a lot of connections if you want to minimize the risk.

Plus how do you plan on moving money back into USD if you need to? It thought the chinese government curbs maximum amounts of exchange from RMB back to USD. There are ways around this, like setting up a shell company and treating it as “necessary” currency conversion to perform a business transaction…It’s been a big problem with us despite having a linked account between BofA and China Construction Bank (partner in China).

[Author]

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