how much hope and denial I’m seeing in the market place. The debate in the media seems to be whether the U.S. is heading for a recession or not. What a joke! Sorry to break the news, Mr. Bernanke and friends, but you ARE already in a recession. Even today, he’s still saying he expects the U.S. economy to avoid a recession and only incur a slowdown.. meanwhile, the Bush government is scrambling to figure out how it can stimulate the U.S. economy in such a way to create immediate results and prop up the numbers. It doesn’t seem they learn any lessons as they go .. this is partly what landed the U.S. economy in trouble to begin with! Recently, a self-proclaimed ‘financial expert’ in Canada suggested that they believe the U.S. housing market downturn is going to hit a bottom in March (like, in 2 months from now!), and they’re going to be buying property en masse immediately at that point. He indicated that he’s going to look at the numbers from March, and if foreclosures aren’t as bad as what the experts are predicting, that is a buy indicator and they’ll start buying. Because there are a record number ARM mortgages resetting in the U.S. in March, his theory is that the foreclosures will spike in that same month.. so if they’re lower than expected, that’s a good sign and it’s time to load up on U.S. real estate! Unfortunately, this ‘expert’ is exhibiting both their complete lack of knowledge about real estate, as well as a ridiculously naive understanding of fundamentals. The reality is that the result of a record number of mortgages resetting in March will NOT increase foreclosures in that same month, or even in the month or two after that .. it takes you at least a few months to get behind on your payments! So looking at April’s numbers gives you absolutely ZERO information about the impact of March’s mortgage problems — yet this ‘expert’ is using at as their determining factor to pull the trigger. Frankly, it’s scary how many people are out there pretending to know what they’re talking about. So many people are afraid and looking for guidance right now. I’ve been saying since fall 2007 that things WILL get worse before they get better. Lo and hehold, the stock market’s down about 1,000 points in the last couple of weeks, and the carnage is REALLY just starting. And, things WILL continue to get worse. It is TOO EARLY to be buying in the U.S. markets in general right now. There are still too many unknowns, and problems coming in the equities market we haven’t even seen yet. The opportunities ARE coming, and I’ll let you know what I think that is coming. Based on how things are shaping up right now, I don’t expect we’ll be buying in the U.S. until at LEAST the end of 2008, but more likely into 2009. So, if you are honest with yourself about your investing efforts, and the word HOPE figures anywhere into your strategy .. you need to think carefully about what you’re doing .. because things ARE going to get even worse than they are now. The good news is .. that will scare almost everyone out of real estate, and then you’ll REALLY be able to make massive profits. The next wave in U.S. real estate will be the ONLY wave you need to set yourself up for infinite wealth in the future, so don’t let what is happening now scare you. See it as an opportunity that’s coming. Your job is to get ready for it.]]>