Conference nyoss1::market_investing

RE: -1
    
    
    > 3, What percentage of assets in the US (eg real estate) is owned by
    >   non US entities? What is the $ amount of this.
    
    	I can answer part of this one....$90-100 billion invested by
    	British firms and individuals...They are # 1 in buying up the
        US contrary to popular belief that it is the Japanese....I recall
    	that the Japanese have invested around $50-60billion in the US
    
    	Of course, not forgetting that the Japanese and the British hold
    	and buy regularly huge amounts of T-bills....so I am not sure
    	what one can call that 'their investments' or 'our debt'. 
    
    	Standard Disclamiers apply.....
    
    
    AK 

    .1 is in the right order of magnitude, but those numbers include
    plants, machinery, land, mineral rights...    I think The Netherlands
    is right behind Japan.
    
    Note:
    A confusing factor is the definition of a foreign entity:  A
    company whose ownership is x% foreign??? US subsidiaries of
    foreign interests???
    
    Anyway, I can give you the place to look:  The Statistical Abstract 
    of the United States - Any Library (e.g. Town of Maynard) has it.
    Numbers may be two years old, though.  You'll get a breakdown by
    country such as the numbers in .1, or by property as in my first
    sentence or by state.  You'll also see that these foreign-owned 
    interests employ around 3 million Americans.
         

    Also need to look at the currency.
    
    How much forein currency does the US hold, and how much US currency do
    foreign nations hold.
    
    US currency held outside of the US, means that the US owes the holders.
    And that if those same holders call in for payment all at once, the US
    currency could suffer a serious inflationary surge.
    
    Just look at what just recently happened to half of the European
    currencies. Forced devaluation that will delay that much longer their
    recovery.
    
    It just goes to show that currency also represents governament debt,
    one not often called in,  but that is there never-the-less and that 
    should not be ignored.   Less it hit you when you lest can aford it.
    
    	Gil

    I have read that U.S. foreign currency holdings amount to ~ $33 billion

    When the dollar was backed by gold (until 1972 for international
    exchanges), this was an issue, but it no longer is.
    
    If Germany, to take an example, holds N billion dollars, it can
    buy US products and services, but it can't "call for payment" in
    anything else.  This might create a slight upward blip in prices,
    but in a multi-trillion dollar GNP it wouldn't be huge.
    
    If Germany were to sell the dollars on the markets for marks (or
    yen or pounds...), that would drive the dollar down a bit, which
    would raise import prices, but again without a big impact.
    
    If all the holders of dollars were to simultaneously use them to
    buy US goods, land, and so on, there would be a biggish upward
    blip.  But not a huge one--and it would be a one-time event, not
    a trend.
    
    		-John Bishop

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    re: .6 
    
    John,
    
    	Do you have the phone number to call from the US?
    
    Thanks,
    	John

    Voice 1.800.927.8222
    
      Fax 1.803.298.0221
    
    Sorry about that.
    
      John