Hedge funds and other speculators are holding over $35 billion in net short positions, betting against further declines in the US Dollar.

Often, that has led to a short squeeze and a rise in the exchange rate; and often a $USD rally is negative for risk assets (stocks).
The majority of the short positions are skewed in three currencies, though.

The Euro, Japanese Yen, and New Zealand Kiwi Dollar.
Have we seen a regime change (change in trend) for the USD?

If true this will have a major impact on various asset classes & regional economic growth in the world.

History shows during $USD downtrend lead to European real estate + Emerging Markets & Asian stocks outperformance.
If the regime is changing, and if the $USD is entering a prolonged downtrend period,

large net short positions by hedge funds have less importance and oversold price levels can become even more oversold as momentum takes over.

1985-87 and 2001-03 are great examples of this.
Brazilian Real, typically a weaker Emerging Market currency, continues in its downtrend against the $USD...
...while Czech Krona, typically a stronger Emerging Market currency, is now breaking out of its downtrend against the $USD.
We aren't going to be investing in Brazil, for a variety of reasons.

But we do continue to invest in Czech Republic (Prague).

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More from @TihoBrkan

25 Jan
1/ Howard Mark's Oaktree on the attractiveness of real estate debt:

"Oaktree's broad range of credit strategies affords us a unique vantage point from which to compare the relative value, and we believe that private real estate credit presents an attractive proposition."
2/ "BB-rated corporate bonds are trading at around 4.5% yield-to-worst, and B-rated bonds are in the 4-6% range. Publicly traded CMBS are faring slightly better, with single-asset single-borrower B-rated bonds trading in the 6-7% yield-to-worst context."
3/ "Compare those with private real estate loans, which are anticipated to be performing throughout their term and are regularly pricing in the 5-8% range for first mortgages and the 9-12% range for more junior positions in the capital structure."
Read 5 tweets
24 Jan
"Sixty-three percent of affluent children between the ages of 18 and 22 say financial stability in retirement will depend on inheriting money."

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Should inheritance tax be increased meaningfully to battle inequality and wealth/capital hoarding?

"Inheritance tax dates back to the Roman Empire, which collected 5 percent of inherited property in order to pay soldiers’ pensions. Today, the practice is widespread."
“Relatively high level [of inheritance] is a sign of the continent’s low social mobility, keeping education, income and social connections from evolving over generations.”

European old money is at least one of the causes for lack of opportunities and below average growth rates.
Read 6 tweets
24 Jan
Almost every real estate and private equity GP out there will tell you they looked at 100s of deals before they found this special one, which they are presenting to you.

They will deny it but honestly, 99% of the time, we all know that’s not the case. 🤥

(Continues)
Their motivation and overall purpose isn’t quality, but quantity.

The more deals they do, the more fees they earn (entry, exit, management, refinance, profit share, etc).

There is a difference between an investor who buys their own deals, and an asset gather chasing larger AUM.
The finance industry is fee driven money machine — whether it’s the big towers of NY, London or HK,

or the general partners & fund managers syndicating deals.

Yes, it is possible to find great people out there... but it’s rare.

Advice to LPs: be careful with your money!
Read 4 tweets
23 Jan
Russell 2000 small-cap index.

A year ago we were very bullish on the small-cap index. It is the only thing we bought during the Covid crash.

We are not bullish anymore.

The way I got taught is: "Vertical, euphoric & parabolic moves are terminal, bull market ending events."
The worse thing in this business is to have someone — who never called the bottom — attempt to call the top.

Here is my call on small-cap stocks back in late March 2020.

Small caps like the Russell 2000 index look extremely unattractive now.

In real estate, agents tell you "this is a buyers market" or "this is a seller's market".

With that in mind, we believe this is not a great buying opportunity, instead this is a great selling opportunity.
Read 4 tweets
19 Jan
Assets move from uptrends to downtrends, sentiment changes from bullish to bearish & vice versa.

Unless you're dollar-cost averaging, the start point of valuations is VERY important.

Gold has done very well over the last 20 years, but very poorly over the last 10!

$GLD $GDX
On the other hand, US stocks did poorly during the 2000-2010 period, while they've done great over the last 10 years.

Furthermore, the US stocks returned 5.9% inc dividends from the year 2000 until Feb 2020 (before the Covid crash).

Even bonds outperformed them. $SPY $QQQ
Whether it's private or public equity, core real estate or developments — valuations matter.

You make your money on the BUY.

"Whether we're talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down." — Warren Buffett
Read 5 tweets
15 Jan
Doing RE underwriting at high valuations after a 11-year bull run tells you exactly what you need to hear.

RISK is here!

Whether your focus on the unleveraged yield on total cost or development feasibility studies — it's getting ridiculously hard to find anything attractive.
One London deal from earlier today.

Loss-making propositions start popping up everywhere as the market becomes overpriced.

As my mentor used to say: "Tiho, are you going to work for free?"

It wasn't like this 5 years ago, while almost every deal worked 8-9 years ago!
A deal from Prague, also from today (in Czech Krona).

Agents are in la-la land & this owner believes money grows on trees.

Yes, it is an amazing property in a great location — but you buy it, do the hard work & exit at realistic market comps with a €1.5 million loss.
Read 4 tweets

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