This could be the very best time to buy or sell.

http://tinyurl.com/2qwlz8

quibble?
equivocate??
waffle???

It seems you take umbridge with these 3 words – “this could be”.
Unfortunately, crystal balls that declare 100% certainty are a commodity unafforable to me. Others seem to have cornered the market? Delivering catagorical pontifications on the ups and downs of Real Estate in Vancouver is something better left to them. Making BLUESKY decisions for someone’s financial welfare is beyond the mandate. I merely quibble, equivocate or waffle while they make up their own mind based on provided historical fact. .>)

Really? Its that simple? What numbers did Petrobank have? What were the future prospects? What did you find out about the management team?

And how did that compare to RIM?

Or the Potash company of Saskatchwan? (Wouldn’t you have liked to be working for those guys?)

Stock market: hard to pick big winners, wide variation in the performance of stocks, easy to liquidate, hard to mortgage, requires special knowledge, returns can be unbelievable, but the asset purchased can completely disappear.

Real estate: hard to liquidate, easy to mortgage, does not require special knowledge, all real estate in the market performs in a similar fashion, returns are conservative, but traditionally are improved by leverage, and the asset never disappears.

My conclusion: very tough to compare the stock market and the real estate market. There are more differences than similarities.

Your conclusion (I think): “Stock market returns have been more lucrative than Vancouver real estate returns”

You’ve also said “As a realtor you can pick a house that will appreciate faster and sell quicker, and investors do similar only with stocks”. If you’re implying that some properties will go up 2700%, like petrobank, while others lose value, you’re wrong. In real estate the playing field is much more level.

Management track record
Trading volume
Graphs
Financial Statements
Future prospects/liabilities/lawsuits
Risk
Price/earnings ratios
Dividend yields
Total sales – capitalization/market value

“Ooops and only I said triple digit returns. Less work than flipping houses, better profits.”

First, I said I had some big wins.

Second, I never said all real estate is a better investment that some stocks. That would be foolish. In fact, I’ve never said real estate is better than the stock market. I’ve simply said that bought wisely, and held long term, its an excellent investment (and that’s true).

Third, I don’t recommend flipping houses. Where that’s coming from I don’t know. Whether picking the right stock is less work, however, than flipping houses is debateable. How do you pick the right stock?

I’ll contact my broker and get to the bottom of your last point.

Bottom line, real estate investing and stock market investing are very different. The stock market and the real estate market are very different. Comparing the two through statements like “Stock market returns have been more lucrative than Vancouver real estate returns,” is a pretty tough thing to actually pull off.

You admit, I think, that success in the stock market “really depends on your investment knowledge”. Did double digit returns on real estate (factor in leverage and they become triple digit) depend on specialized knowledge? Or did someone simply have to buy? Its obvious that the two markets are completely different and very difficult to compare on the surface.

Even I said “got cash” last year.

Petrobank went up 2500% in three years. Ooops and only I said triple digit returns. Less work than flipping houses, better profits.

Rim, Apple, Potash Corp. to name a few.

“According to my broker, the majority of stocks on the TSE declined in value last year.”

No, it actually was split. Sounds like your broker is covering their bad recommendations by saying the majority of stocks declined.

As domus pointed out with the NYT article yesterday, there is no longer a consensus that the US is going into recession. Lo and behold, this morning Michael Campbell made use of the same subject matter.

When you say “market bust” I’m guessing that you’re talking about the stock market, right? Both the Dow and TSX are down today.