Observations: 36,000 Feet Over Kazakhstan At 36,000 feet, 2 hours from Lahore. Severe clear skies and staring out window for the last hour as we’ve turned SE over Kazakhstan, then Uzbekistan, and then Kyrgyzstan. Nothing but rolling dunes and bone dry flatlands. I mean nothing: not a shack, not a vehicle, not one tree, not a sign of human civilization, just a surreal brownish-gray moonscape which reminds me of the history, tribalism, and isolation of the peoples of this elusive part of the world.Finally: a settlement of one large building and 6-7 small ones, connected to who-knows-where via a razor thin road stretching forever…
Why I’m Bearish on the Chinese Yuan [This article isn’t really about EB-5 or immigration; rather, it is one of my occasional detours into tangential subjects which are closely related to foreign direct investment in the U.S. Just humor me….(-;] The global financial world, for the most part, remains very bullish on the Chinese currency, commonly known as the “yuan”. Through purported “loosening” — a process where China’s all-controlling central bank trickles a bit of free market freedom into the artificially-priced currency — conventional thinking in currency circles would lead one to believe that it will rival the dollar as a global currency sometime soon. Before I tell you why I don’t believe that can happen, let’s take a Wiki Moment to explain the yuan: The yuan ( /jʊˈɑːn/ or /ˈjuːən/; sign: ¥; code: CNY… Continue Reading →
EB-5 Extended 3 Years by House, on President’s Desk! Yesterday, September 13th, the U.S. House of Representatives passed S. 3245 (412-3) – providing in part a three year re-authorization of the EB-5 Regional Center Program through September 2015. (As I told you back in August, the Senate passed the bill on August 2nd.) Now that both chambers of the U.S. Congress have approved the extension, it goes to the White House for President Obama’s signature. Here’s what this means to EB-5 investors:Although others online are reporting that the President is expected to sign it into law this week, a former State Department colleague who works in the White House says not to hold our breath: the violence in the Middle East means their energies are on other priorities. That being said, I would say that it is virtu… Continue Reading →