Why Land?
Cities Where The Recession Is Easing
Good Fortune In The Lone Star State
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If one state is a poster child for economic recovery, it’s Texas, home to four of the 10 cities on our list. There’s more to why Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston are faring well than just the state’s energy industry. The tech, government and education industries supplement the oil state’s riches. As for housing, cities in Texas didn’t see the same run-up in home prices and rampant speculation that led to the spectacular bubble burst elsewhere in the country.
“The housing market got lucky, if you want to look at it that way,” says James P. Gaines, research economist at the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. “We didn’t have excessive overbuilding, so we don’t have a big overhang of unsold new homes, and because Texas has among most affordable housing in the country, the demand sustained.”
Like Austin and Dallas, Houston, tied for No. 4 on the list, is expected to experience a three-year 7.03% rise in jobs. But nowhere are jobs projected to grow more than in San Antonio, where four military bases should help drive its expected 8.32% increase.
Top 5 Cities Where The Recession Is Easing
3. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
Unemployment Rank: 9
Home Price Rank: 25
Metropolitan Gross Domestic Product Rank: 11
Three-Year Job Growth Forecast Rank: 3
Job Growth, 2007-2009 Rank: 5
Five Gold Investment Alternatives
All that Glitters is Not Gold
By Luke Burgess
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
Gold prices are soaring.
Last month, the price of gold breached a new all-time record high of over $1,387 an ounce.
But with gold increasing almost 20% in three months, speculators concerned with a correction in prices may want to consider other hard asset commodities as an alternative investment.
So with that in mind, today I bring you five hard asset alternatives to gold to consider.
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Gold Investment Alternative #3: Land
Will Rogers famously said, “Buy land. They ain’t making any more of the stuff.”
The world’s supply of land is rapidly being eaten up by an explosion in the growth of cities, suburbs, and farmland.
In fact the amount of arable land per person has been reduced in the past 40 years by half.
Like gold, land has historically served as a hedge against inflation. And owning a lot of land has traditionally been a popular investment for gold bugs and the autonomous.
Investors can get easy exposure to land through a handful of equities. You’ll want to check out an article I wrote back in February that outlined the six best land stocks to own.
Without land, the next two gold investment alternatives couldn’t grow. [read full article]
Greetings From Recoveryland
Where can you go to escape the recession? Try any of these 10 places. Oh, and be prepared to wear red.
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THE TEXAPLEX
For sheer economic promise, no place beats Texas. Though the Lone Star State’s growth slowed during the recession, it didn’t suffer nearly as dramatically as the rest of the country. Businesses have been flocking to Texas for a generation, and that trend is unlikely to slow soon. Texas now has more Fortune 500 companies—58—than any other state, including longtime corporate powerhouse New York. [read full article]