Global Real Estate ETFs Take Off

Investors Chasing Global Real Estate ETFs

First Published Date: September 24, 2014

Who would not like the idea of buying global real estate without leaving home? No wonder global real estate ETF investments skyrocketed. As Bloomberg recently reports in an article, investors are gobbling up global real estate companies at a record pace.

According to the Bloomberg article, global real estate ETF the SPDR Dow Jones International Real Estate ETF (RWX) attracted 340 million in August, the most of any ETF that is comprised of property, mainly non-U.S. real estate.

Global real estate demand has dramatically exploded since the global financial crisis as investors started to look for a safe haven to park money and get higher returns.

As I mentioned in this article on A Dawn Journal in March, 2014, a PwC report mentioned that the global real market will grow substantially in the future due to rapid urbanization and demographic changes.

If you are looking for some global real estate ETFs, here are some places to start with your research. The iShares Global Real Estate (CGR) is a popular name trading on the Canadian exchange. On the U.S. exchanges there are SPDR DJ International Real Estate (RWX), SPDR DJ Global Real Estate (RWO), and Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real Estate ETF (VNQI), among others.

Like any other investments, global real estate ETFs are subject to various risks such as market risk, currency risk, interest rate risk, credit risk, and so on. Also, do your homework before getting into any investments.

Hybrid, Electric, and Green Car

GREEN CAR TECHNOLOGY: THE CURRENT WAVES

First Published Date : August 23, 2014

Green car technology is a method that is adapted in an attempt to save our precious environment by avoiding the usage of fossil fuels that makes the environment polluted. Over the years researchers have been experimenting with the technology that facilitates the use of electrically maintained cars and are also trying to find a substitute to the existing vehicles that use fossil fuels. Earlier this century, it was quite shocking to know that our planet was on its threshold with respect to greenhouse effect.  The main reason behind this was known to be the usage of fossil fuels which in turn contributed to the depletion of ozone layer thereby increasing greenhouse effect. With an attempt to reduce this menace, car manufacturers across the globe began manufacturing greener ecologically aware cars.

Presently in this century, the vehicles have been manufactured with a hybrid engine which is nothing but a conservative motor engine, which is combined with the usual electric engine. These are capable of toggling between power of an electric motor and the ignition engine.  With normal speeds, the car is powered by electric motor and at high speeds; the ignition engine powers the vehicle. Here are a few green technology cars presently available:

Electrically powered vehicles have gained a lot of popularity in the recent past as they possess an electric motor, which is powered with battery packs and these packs are a combination of Nickel metal-hydride or Lithium-ion, which are charged with a connection to main power supply typically charged for an entire night.  Also, these electric cars have iterative braking system due to which the batteries are charged when brakes are applied

Currently, hybrid cars use both the electric motors and petrol engines.  The electric motor is powered by the batteries, which are charged and useful at lower speeds, while the petrol engine possesses a small unit which powers it during high speeds thereby allowing this engine to function only at optimum speed.  Also, the renewable energy sources like rapeseed; sunflower or soybean oil is used to produce biodiesel, wherein the carbon dioxide gas emitted is neutralized as it is absorbed by the fuel crop, which facilitates its growth.

Ethanol, which is a sugarcane product, contains high octane content, which increases engine performance and is broadly used in Europe wherein flexi-fuel vehicles are developed on Ford, Saab etc. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) contains propane and butane, which produces less CO2 than petrol and diesel. The internal engine can be modified because of which the vehicle can use petrol or LPG.

Fuel cells are conversion devices which provide energy from electrochemical reaction and electricity can be continually produced with the flow of reactance.  However, this technology is proven to be expensive.  Another fossil fuel is the compressed natural gas found underneath the earth surface, which also produces less CO2 gas and this gas is compressed in the cylinder and mixes well with the air before combustion, thereby making it an efficient fuel.

However with the advent of the green technology, environment awareness is being fast spread to various industries and manufacturers thereby creating efficient business opportunities to the investors. This awareness has led to the creation of vital engines with most advantageous performance and is also eco friendly. Green car technology has revolutionized the vehicle manufacturing process thereby saving our planet Earth to a certain extent.

China’s Yuan Keeps Rising

China’s Economy Improves

Published Date : September 6, 2014

China’s Yuan is on a roll. For the third straight month, it rallied against the U.S. dollar. Last year, the picture was different as the yuan tanked. As China’s economy continues to improve, the yuan has further room to climb up.

Although the yuan has gained 1.5 percent since last year’s low, the yuan is still down 1.9 percent for 2014. As recent economic data shows better growth, especially in manufacturing and real estate, the Chinese government may be lenient and let the yuan go even further.

Chinese stock markets seem to be doing just as well. The Shanghai Composite Index reached its highest level in seven months, making investors grab more blue chip stocks recently. Also, in the offshore currency market, global investors – especially hedge funds – are betting on more positive currency runs.

China, the world’s second largest economy, averaged 10 percent growth yearly for 30 years in the past. However, recently China is struggling to achieve its target of 7.4 percent growth per year. The IMF recently predicted that China’s economic growth will be 7.1 percent in 2015 and will slow down further in the future.

In the past, especially in early 2014, there were many reports and predictions pointing out the collapse of the Chinese economy. None of them proved to be correct, however, as several recent economic data show that the Chinese economy is not going downhill, but rather climbing upward.

How To Go Green With Bamboo

The Power of Bamboo

Published Date: May 07, 2010

One of the greatest gifts the Earth has given us to go green is a plant that has been used in Asia for thousands of years; bamboo. In the west, bamboo is not used as much as it is in Asia, but that is beginning to change as more and more people discover just how amazing this plant is.

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant in the world, usually growing about one foot every single day. This means that rather than reach maturity in 30 years like trees in North America, a bamboo stalk can reach maturity within three years. In addition, one bamboo stalk can be harvested many times as each time the stalk is cut; a new stalk will continue to grow.

However, the fast growing ability of bamboo is not the only thing that makes the plant so great. There are several facts about bamboo that most people do not realize which show how versatile the plant is.

1.    Bamboo stalks are used in Asia to reinforce concrete because it has the same tensile strength as steel.

2.    While bamboo stalks are as strong as steel, fabric made from bamboo is actually as soft as silk.

3.    Bamboo towels are much better than cotton towels because bamboo is better for the environment, it does not take as much space to grow and bamboo towels are 1.5 times as absorbent as cotton towels.

4.    Bamboo can grow nearly anywhere and where it does grow; it helps to protect the soil from erosion.

5.    Bamboo can be made into a variety of environmentally-friendly products including floors, countertops, furniture, clothes, towels, baby clothes, baby products, toys, scaffolding and construction materials.

One of the biggest concerns about bamboo is that people feel that it costs more. This is not true at all. In fact, bamboo is beginning to fall in cost because it is becoming so commonly used throughout the world now. Even Wal-Mart, is beginning to sell bamboo products for a very low price. Many studies have also been done and found that bamboo is going to be one of the biggest exports and imports throughout the world in the 21st century. Many countries are starting to jump on this and grow their own bamboo. Currently though, China accounts for about 80 percent of all the bamboo exports in the world, and China grows all the bamboo it uses. The United States, Canada, Europe and Australia account for some of the bamboo exports and their hold on the market is beginning to grow.

So, if you are thinking of going green in your home, you can do no wrong by implementing bamboo everywhere you can. The floors are strong, the countertops are beautiful and the fabrics are soft. In addition, if you are thinking of investing in something that will increase in value in the coming years, then you should look at bamboo.

What other plant on Earth is as strong as steel, as soft as silk, waterproof and more absorbent than cotton? Bamboo is the wonder plant of the 21st century.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Thegreenlivingblog.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Mar 7, 2010

Samsung 32 Inch 1080P LED Smart TD Review

Samsung Full HD 32 Inch Smart TV

First Published Date: September 17, 2014

The reason I wanted to upgrade to a smart TV was not because of how smart it was or anything else, but its incredible low electricity consumption. For example, my old 23-inch LED 1080P HD TV consumed about 100 Watts of electricity. However, even with a bigger screen and much more features, the Samsung 32-Inch LED consumes only 40 watts. That’s a lot of savings if you look at in terms of years or its lifetime.

Some of the features:

– 32-Inch Full HD 1080P 1920×1080 resolution

– Samsung Smart Hub features apps that let you stream content including YouTube and Netflix.

– You can stream content from your smart phone or table. You can even cast your device’s screen on TV.

– Surf web on TV using Samsung web browser, or you can browse web on laptop and cast screen on TV using Chromecast.

What I Like

The price is very low in terms of what you are getting. Stunning crisp clear picture quality will grab your attention right away once you turn this on. You will be paying $100 to $200 more for similar smart TVs from other manufacturers. Also, I noticed that those from other manufacturers consume more electricity as well. Audio quality is also good with its Dolby Digital Plus/Dolby Pulse sound. There is no need to use a separate sound system.

What I Don’t Like

At times, the Samsung 32-Inch 1080P LED Smart TD can be a little slow, if you try to access its apps via the Internet, or if you try to load up its built-in TV guide. The reason model UN32H5203 is a little slow is because it uses a standard processor. However, there is another model UN32H5500 that uses quad-code processor and it’s a lot faster (and pricier as well).

Another thing to mention it’s not super slim as it has a 0.5 inch bezel. Same here with model UN32H5500 – which comes with a thinner 0.3 inch bezel and it is very thin.

Last Word

Even with some minor flaws, the Samsung 32-Inch 1080P LED Smart TD is definitely a smart buy and you can’t go wrong due to its reasonable price.