Elmat, thank you very much for the ground-level report in the first person. Dubai sounds like a fine place.
The rental value sounds right in Dubai, because they are not making new land (just new islands :0)
Gasoline sounds expensive at USD 1.00 per gallon. Venezuela gasoline goes for USD 0.12-0.18 depending, or so I understand, and their oil wells are no further away to their drivers than is the case in Dubai.
The property boom, otoh, always feeds itself until it doesn't, just like the internet boom and various other booms, including the current and future oil boom and commodities boom. Because some folks who buy them actually use them, and when they get expensive, the boom stops, by and by.
The perfect boom is always a boom in something that is totally useless ... such useless things have no correct price, and is perfect for soaking up flight money looking for a boom.
Oh, yes, speaking of something totally useless and has no correct price, how is the gold situation in Dubai?
Of course, gold is only useless until it is useful, like that last parachute on the kaput airplane, or that reset button on the old PC.
As to <<Sounds like a can't miss opportunity>>
... Maurice advises this as an investment, in tranche strength yet ... of course then Maurice lives in New Zealand.
I have highlighted the word "money laundering" in the article to alert Maurice that the Hawaii real estate boom in the 80s was in part engendered by the S&L acts, but was certainly supported by the Japanese Yakusa doing money laundering. When there is money laundering in Japan, Yakusa can be found nearby, and so can Japanese parlimentarians. Maurice may not be wise ... to such details in Japan's history and current schema, whereas it ought to be intuitively obvious to the most casual of passing observers riding fast on horseback while blindfolded.
online.wsj.com
"Japan Regulator Files Complaints Against Livedoor
By JAMES SIMMS
February 11, 2006; Page B3
TOKYO -- Japan's Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission filed criminal complaints against Japanese Internet conglomerate Livedoor Co., its former president Takafumi Horie, three other former executives and Livedoor Marketing for alleged violations of the securities law.
The commission is looking into other possible legal violations by Livedoor, its affiliates and executives, as well as foreign financial institutions, brokerage firms and funds that might have helped them, said an SESC investigative official.
Japan has been rattled by the popular Internet portal's fall from grace after a raid on Livedoor's offices on Jan. 16 and the arrest of Mr. Horie and three other executives a week later on suspicion of securities-law violations.
In order to lift Livedoor Marketing's share prices, Livedoor, Livedoor Marketing and its former executives pretended to conduct a stock swap of a company that Livedoor already owned through a series of shell investment funds, the official said.
Livedoor Marketing also had said in October 2004 that a third party had fairly evaluated the value of the firm to be acquired, publisher Money Life.
However, the appraising firm was Livedoor Finance, which had capital and personnel ties with the Livedoor group, and inflated Money Life's value to an unreasonable amount, the official said.
Livedoor Finance is 100% owned by Livedoor through a holding company, according to Livedoor's Web site.
Moreover, Livedoor Marketing, then known as ValueClick Japan Inc., allegedly falsified revenue numbers in the fiscal third quarter ended in December 2004, the watchdog said.
The official said investigators are also looking at other possible illegalities, including insider trading and money laundering. He declined to elaborate, but said Japanese regulators have established ties with foreign investigative authorities and are looking into foreign firms' possible involvement in the Livedoor activities.
Livedoor said it will cooperate with the investigation and do everything it can to "find out the facts and strengthen its internal management structure." Livedoor Marketing also said it will do its utmost to help the investigation.
---- Kanji Ishibashi contributed to this article
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