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LONDON (Reuters)- House prices rose faster than expected in October, data from mortgage lender Nationwide showed on Thursday, though a sustained recovery of the housing market still looks far from certain. House prices in Britain were 0.6 percent higher than in September, Nationwide said, though they were still 0.9 percent lower than in October 2011. "While the data on economic growth suggests that the UK economy has not been performing quite as poorly as feared, there is little doubt that it remains extremely fragile," said Nationwide's chief economist Robert Gardner. "The situation is likely to remain challenging in the housing market," he said. / http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/01/uk-house-prices-idUKBRE8A00AB20121101 Actually, the NSA data are up xx%

Prices in West Kowloon have lagged the General indices Chart http://img24.imagesh...kpersfsep12.jpg They are no higher than 12 months ago, and I am not sure why It might have something to do with the pricing level, versus cheaper flats in the NT, etc. Or maybe they rose too fast into the launch of (overpriced Imperial Cullinan) a year ago. Whatever the reason, I think WK is an area that now provides good value-for-money I see many more Expats moving in recently, especially young couples.

(Post from AX) E---, I saw your comment: "For purchase, asking prices have come down 5-10% from last week. The agents I was working with have already called me to see if I'm still interested.." ======= I don't believe the prices are down 5-10% at all, and would be interested in hearing any specific information on that. I think you might get a few sales at lower prices, and then once the panic sellers are done prices will creep back up over the next few weeks. (I have said this about a previous quick drop, and my supposition proved correct, so it may be right again.) Here are the main reasons I do not expect an enduring price drop: + The new tax only impacts on a tiny percentage of the buyers for secondhand flats (maybe 10%) + I have spoken with some agents, and they are telling me that very few sellers are cutting prices. What has happened is buyers ahve pulled back their bids, and are waiting to see if prices will fall + Interest rates are low, and with money flooding into HK rates could actually dip lower HERE's the BIG ONE (not yet mentioned here): + RENTS ARE STILL RISING FAST (look at the chart in Wed's SCMP): Average rents for 100 estates, up from maybe $19.60 psf perhaps six months ago, to about $22.90 now - that's a 16.8% rise. Why should anyone sell while rates are low and rents are rising ?? The phony drop will be ending soon, within a few weeks IMHO, unless rents fall or rates rise.

Dr RAM: "I took my first hit of LSD with Timothy Leary back in 1964." "They wanted to give it to a genius and see what was happen. I was selected."

Another interesting interview from "Dr Rick 'Spooky' Miller", as Vinnie said he was called by the seals. Here's the MP3 version : xx RAM to Vinnie : "During your lifetime, Japan will disappear as a country." "Japan bought two islands from Russia... (perhaps he meant China?) But I don't know how they will evacuate 41 Million people." WHAT ISLANDS WERE THOSE ?? (1) Russia lures foreign investment to disputed Northern Territories October 12, 2012 .. By DAISUKE NISHIMURA/ Correspondent VLADIVOSTOK, Russia—The Russian leadership is increasingly trying to attract foreign companies to Etorofu, one of four islands that Russia seized from Japan in the closing days of World War II. Japan calls the islands the Northern Territories; Russia calls them the Southern Kurils. They lie off Hokkaido, northern Japan. On Oct. 11, Russia’s Novosti state news agency reported that Aleksandr Khoroshavin, governor of the Sakhalin region, had visited the island the previous day. It said Khoroshavin toured a construction site operated by a South Korean firm, the first foreign business to work on the island's development. "I think foreign investors will come for other projects too," the news agency quoted the governor as saying. One such plan involves the construction of a large sports center on the island. === /more: http://ajw.asahi.com.../AJ201210120079 (2) Boosting Japan's cybersecurity By MIHOKO MATSUBARA .. Special to The Japan Times Tensions between Japan and China are mounting following the Noda government's decision to buy and nationalize the Senkaku Islands, and the repercussions have spilled over into cyberspace. Japan must urgently address its cybersecurity vulnerabilities and prepare for cyberthreats. Vandalism in cyberspace quickly followed the Japanese government's announcement. China's largest "hacktivist" group, the Honker Union of China, denounced Tokyo's nationalization of the Senkaku Islands, calling it a declaration of war, and listed more than 100 Japanese entities as targets of a malicious campaign. For two weeks, Japanese central and local governments, banks, universities and companies experienced cyber vandalism, including the defacing of websites and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. === /more: http://www.japantime...20121026a1.html (3) The world's silliest territorial dispute Why are China and Japan threatening to go to war over a few uninhabited islands in the East China Sea? To whom did they first belong? China says it has records from the Ming Dynasty in the 1300s that refer to the islands as part of its maritime territory. Chinese fishermen used the islands as a fishing platform for centuries, the government claims, before they were ceded to Japan along with Taiwan in 1895 in the wake of the Sino-Japanese War. After World War II, a defeated Japan renounced its claim to Taiwan under the terms of the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco; China, which was not represented in those negotiations, says the disputed islands should have been included in that renunciation. For its part, Japan says that after surveying the islands in 1895, it incorporated them into Okinawa Prefecture and put down a marker to make it official. For several decades the Japanese operated a small factory on one of the islands, making dried fish flakes, and up to 200 people lived there. The U.S. held the islands under a trusteeship after World War II, but in 1972 they were returned to Japan. Why has this flared up now? Largely because of Shintaro Ishihara, the nationalist governor of Tokyo. Early this year, he announced that he would buy three of the islands from their private Japanese owner because he felt their sovereignty wasn't being adequately defended. That compelled first Chinese nationalists, and then Japanese nationalists, to make pilgrimages to the rocks to film themselves waving their respective flags, stirring up patriotic sentiment back home. Last month, the Japanese government bought the three islands and nationalized them — ostensibly to prevent them from falling into the hands of radicals. But even assuming that rationale was sincere, the timing was especially poor, coming just a week before the anniversary of one of the darkest episodes in the two countries' history — Japan's 1931 invasion of Manchuria. How did China react? Chinese nationalists viewed the purchase as an outrageous land grab and a deliberate provocation. They turned the events marking the anniversary of the invasion into a week of anti-Japanese rioting across China. /more: http://theweek.com/a...itorial-dispute

http://www.telegraph...wer-prices.html Quote The 0.1pc fall in house prices in October – the third month in a row they have fallen – was mainly down to sellers re-pricing homes that have failed to attract buyers, rather than a significant fall in demand, according to the confidence index from property analyst Hometrack. Demand for housing remains “subdued”, with the market unlikely to recover fully until there is a sustained rise in household incomes, the report said. Prices were flat in London and fell across the rest of England and Wales. The West Midlands saw the biggest drop of 0.5pc, prompting the second biggest increase in sales.

It depends how much you spend on gas, But sure, if the net after tax income is flat, and food and gas prices fall, you may not mind paying a little more for rent

True Tael spreads are about US$5 (and that's on about 1.2 oz)

I basically agree with you. But: + Nominal prices are down too + INCOMES are what really matter, and even more than that: After Tax Incomes (but the data is not so readily available as CPI or RPI data)

Right... A QUIET CRASH has happened in the UK: "House prices in virtually all parts of the country excepting prime London have collapsed. It’s hard to believe if you live or aspire to live in Kensington, Richmond or another prosperous location, but it’s true – and it’s impossible to understand the overall economy, as opposed to the London bubble, and British politics without getting to grips with these statistics. The average home in Britain sold for £163,910 in the third quarter, according to Nationwide. That is 11 per cent below the all time high reached at the height of the boom, when the average home was changing hands for £184,131 in the third quarter of 2007. But these figures are in nominal terms. Since then, inflation has substantially eroded the purchasing power of the pound. The inflation-adjusted figures reveal that the peak to trough real terms decline has now reached around 24.2 per cent"

Yes. There's "some about the Sixties" around him - a touch of Tim Leary perhaps http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6jmGSS955g Timothy Leary ... who at a later stage in his life came to look like Ron Paul* ... Leary was first introduced to LSD in the early sixties, and was very impressed with its effects. He shifted the focus of his research to LSD, but came under increasing fire from his fellow Harvard academics. Also, many of Leary's colleagues had CIA connections, and the CIA wanted to keep their LSD research programs secret. They didn't like that Leary was conducting similar research out in the open. By 1963, Leary's formal academic career was over, as both he and Alpert were fired from Harvard, the first time that Harvard faculty had been dismissed in the 20th century. Leary went on to lead an extraordinary life, including time spent as a convict, a fugitive, a lecturer, publicly debating Gordon Liddy, as well as writing dozens of books with his ideas and research on psychedelic drugs, virtual reality, neurological circuitry, evolution, and other topics. These eight scientists are merely a representative sample of the many brilliant individuals who have been inspired and creatively challenged by the effects of potent mind-expanding substances. We'll be presenting further examples of how our modern world has been shaped by the visions of stoned geniuses in a future issue of Cannabis Culture. Stoned Scientists : http://www.cannabisc...icles/2783.html *I am not the first person to notice the similarity of facial features The only thing more amazing than the striking facial similarities of Ron Paul and Timothy Leary is the fact that Leary actually threw a fundraiser for Paul when he ran for president in 1988. XD /source: http://www.tumblr.co...fore=1336146067

??? You don't SMOKE Cordyceps ! But it does increase oxygen uptake, and helps performance in sports, apparently Dr RAM makes some big claims for it. I tried the garden-variety stuff here in HK, without any magic results

Impact of New 15% Stamp tax for Non-Permanent residents... Mid-day, on day one: Well, the Hang Seng Index is down, but not by much 21,490.80 -54.77 / -0.25% Property stocks have taken a much bigger hit HK:01 : 111.60 -6.20 / -5.26% : Cheung Kong HK:10 : $45.50 -0.35 / -0.76% : Hang Lung (mostly in China) HK:12 : $52.30 -4.60 / -8.08% : Henderson Land (big land bank) HK:16 : 105.40 -6.40 / -5.72% : Sun Hung Kai HK:17 : $12.00 -0.90 / -6.98% : New World Dev'l ===== The Value of Land : Can One Own too much Land? (Based on article in today's SCMP, Money Post, pg.5) Price of HK Developers after stripping out their non-property assets PROP. DEVELOPER----- : Price* change/ %Chg : Earns. : PER : BkVal. : PtoBk. : ROE === HK01 / Cheung Kong---- : 111.60 -6.20 / -5.26% : 24.80 : 4.50 : 155.00 : 72.0% : 16.07% HK12 / Henderson Land : $52.30 -4.60 / -8.08% : 10.88 : 4.81 : 142.25 : 36.8% : 07.57% HK16 / Sun Hung Kai---- : 105.40 -6.40 / -5.72% : 17.25 : 6.11 : 139.75 : 75.4% : 12.31% HK17 / New World Dev'l. : $12.00 -0.90 / -6.98% : $3.12 : 3.85 : $28.66 : 41.9% : 10.97% ==================== I have adjusted the above figures to reflect this morning's price drop. And in calculating Price-to-Book Value ("PtoBk", above), they subtract out from price and bok value, the value of Non-property holdings, such as huge holdings that HK12 has in HK and China Gas, and in HK Ferry, Miramar Hotels (which taken together are worth HK$72.6 billion.) Other holdings of other developers: ===== HK01 : Hutchinson Whampoa, CK Life Sciences HK16 : SmarTone Telecommunications HK17 : New World Development Store According to the SCMP: HK12 has a lower ROE because it has money tied up in "unproductive" land investments, generating a lower return. I agree with that to a point. But you also need to look at the return on Equity, taking the equity at Market Value (which I do not think they have done), and consider what sort of future returns HK12 might make on its land holdings, and not get to carried away with one or two years earnings.

EXCERPT: (from his own website's Bio-section ) Richard Alan Miller has been at the forefront of many fields during his long and varied career. A solid-state physicist with graduate work at MIT, Miller was involved in groundbreaking work for cloaked agencies in the late '60s and '70s. A colleague of Dr. Stanley Krippner, Miller co-authored in 1973 the paper, The Holographic Concept of Reality - a document whose implications for psychoenergetic systems are only now beginning to be realized. Like so many of the idealists of his era, Miller became quickly disillusioned with the severe ethical compromises forced on him by what he recognized as corporate manipulation. After a brief stint as an engineer at Boeing, Miller left the corporate world in disgust and entered the more spiritually satisfying world of the occult. He opened Beltane Books in Seattle and swiftly became " the Herman Slater of the West Coast." At this time he penned several works including his classic " The Magical and Ritual Use of Herbs." Miller also co-authored, with his wife Iona, THE MODERN ALCHEMIST, hailed by Stanley Krippner as the most "illuminating" study of Alchemy since Carl Jung. Before its publication, Miller had used an electronic form of the book as teaching material for his on-line course in Metaphysics, taught on America Online. Richard was born in Everett, WA into a lower middle-class family, his Mother being a famous psychic, and his Father (retired Navy) working for Boeing in the field of electronics. Both his Junior and Senior High School Science Fair projects (1961-2) were used on the Mariner I (1964) fly-by to discover water on Mars. From then on, he was a top “draft pick” for Navy Intel. His writings reveal a wealth and depth of knowledge and experience in three major fields; Alternative Agriculture, New Age Physics, and Metaphysics. Before many leading edge concepts became trendy topics, Miller was (and is) in the international front lines of research, experimentation and documentation. Miller began working in the "X-Files" world of Navy Intel (Seal Corp. and then MRU) in the late 60s, and now has amazing experiences and conclusions to share. As an original black ops team-member, Miller's research in the field of paranormal began as a graduate physicist working 10 years with Navy Intel/(Anesthesiology.) During this period numerous foundational papers, including "A Holographic Concept of Reality" and "Embryonic Holography" were written. == UNQUOTE === The fact that his mother was a famous psychic, may explain the origin of some of the "woo-woo elements". For those here who were not adults (or at least teenagers) in the 1960's, you may not understand the creativity that existed at that time. I think I recall him saying somewhere that he has taught at Princeton, but it does not show up on his list of teaching experiences, so it may have been a one-off seminar or something... or possibly a top secret program. "A solid-state physicist with graduate work at MIT" - that is something different from having an MIT degree And suggests that he may not have spent many years there

He's been out of the spotlight, growing Herbs (cordyceps etc) for many years He has only recently re-emerged to share his knowledge beyond the herbal world, and it seems to be extensive : on Physics and even some areas of Black Ops.

Dr. Richard Alan Miller Your World and Consciousness / Video- Removed / /see: http://www.richardal...=132&Itemid=158 Related? ( ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRXuvTTosTM / / And this? ( ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPBiOGwtt2A

Something Dr RAM said, in the second video got me to do a search, and I found this: A follower of Aleister Crowley's teachings - Richard Alan Miller richardalanmiller.com/blog/?p=764 - Cached 10 Jun 2012 – One Response to “A follower of Aleister Crowley's teachings”. vonSeewald Says: June 11th, 2012 at 1:50 am. A good new video clip, quite ... /more: http://richardalanmi...com/blog/?p=764 If you read it, Miller is not necessarily a follower, but he is well aware of Crowley's material. About religion, Miller says (in the video): "I am a Quaker, believe it or not."

Lorien Fenton with Mary Electra / Dr Rick Miller http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz4JsOaXxIs Lorien Fenton -- Mary Electra/Dr Richard Alan Miller -- 21 Oct 2012 Revolution Radio/Freedomslips.com -- Lorien Fenton interviews Mary Electra, an advanced sound healer - and Dr Richard Alan Miller, who shares with us his scientific research into resonant frequencies. Edited -- focus on main interviews.. http://www.maryelectra.com/home.html http://alchemyinactionsacredjourneys.com/ http://www.richardalanmiller.com/ram/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkWYYqeTm0o (Later Removed, along with most other Freedom Slips interviews) Broadcast Date 10/03/2012 Dr. Richard Alan Miller who is a former Navy Seal discussed how to use your psychic potential to make a person a superman or woman. He was joined by psychic Tammy Marsh who chimed in as my guest co-host.www.freedomslips.com Some Interesting Comments ===== + Carrington Event : There was a Close Encounter at that time, and humanity was split into two groups + Mars : Water has been found. "Mars has more water than Earth... they revealed last week." Mars could be part of the solution if Fukishima continues to meltdown. Japan will no longer exist as a country in our lifetimes

Dr Richard Alan Miller : Insider Scientist re-emerges This fascinating Interview with Project Camelot is likely to trigger more exposure for Dr.RAM / VIDEO (edited, no breaks):Whistleblower Radio -- Kerry Cassidy/Richard Alan Miller 03 October 2012 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDZj_wMD5j0 Richard Alan Miller -- Physicist, Princeton, MIT, Emeritus Professor (see background, in post#9 below) -- SEAL Trainer, Explorer of State of Consciousness, X-Files contributor, Herb Farmer. Discussions included (..but too many to itemise!): Monsanto (DuPont) is part of the military industrial complex - GMO food is a bio weapon; Consciousness Studies; His development of protocols for Navy SEALS to bypass conscious state; Personal Development using the same techniques; Bio Feedback; Military use of microwaves as bio weapons in Iraq and Afghanistan - Frey Effect (see link below); Alphas (TV), Blue Sky Research in the 1970s; Alternate Universes; Holographic Universe; Plutonium main bio hazard to the planet; Water on Mars; Fractal Maths; Commando Solo. Rick worked (and has a handler) for Naval Intelligence. === === I discovered him about a year earlier, and carried some podcasts on my HERB thread Some say that Dr Miller and his ex-wife Iona are the real life versions, and the inspiration of Fox Mulder and Dana Scully of the X-files. ( see also post #50 ) Dr.RAM got out of Black Ops, and became "a dirt farmer", when he realised that his work was being weaponised. === === Physicist and author : Dr. Richard Alan Miller. / Bio : born 1944, Everett WA, etc RICHARD ALAN MILLER, PhD is a physicist, herbalist, horticulturalist, bestselling author of 7 books, and former special skills trainer for the US Navy Seals. Miller began his military work as an original black ops team-member in the “X-Files” world of Navy Intel (Seal Corp. and then MRU) in the late 60s, and now has amazing experiences and conclusions to share. Miller is the author of numerous foundational papers, including “A Holographic Concept of Reality” and “Embryonic Holography.” His books include Power Tools for the 21st Century, The Non-Local Mind, in a Holographic Universe and others. === === Guido Fox Interviews : (at 9/28/2014) / from Playlist : Dr.RAM favorite interviews ========= Dr.RAM #1 : "Food for Mars / Holographic Universe" (2,160, +11) Dr.RAM #2 : "The Web is conscious; Mexico" (2,996, +23) Dr.RAM #3 : "Living in the Flow, Connecting Dots" (1,069, +10) Dr.RAM #4 : "Changing The Movie : Away from Endless War" (1,019, +14) : recommended ! Dr.RAM #5 : "Power Tools" (a summary of his newest book) - primary website : www.richardalanmiller.com - His book titles--- : www.oak-publishing.com - Video Playlist---- : http://tinyurl.com/RAM-playlist Summary of his book : POWER TOOLS for the 21st Century LINK to here :: http://tinyurl.com/GEI-DrRAM

VOIDS: Seem to be shorter in London than in HK. One month or more would (per annum) would be normal in HK, since a flat normally needs to be vacant before it can be shown, and then new tenants will expect weeks, or even a month for free. This, plus the "hassle" of filling in forms for taxes etc., was why I sold down a large portfolio of BTLs in HK

THE NEWS / Link: http://www.thestanda...5&icid=a&d_str= ... how it is being reported ... A surprise property tax hit home as fast as it came - within 24 hours of the introduction of a higher stamp duty, people were shunning flat sales across the city. Ministers rallied behind the tax and other new measures. They expressed confidence they would cool Hong Kong's super-hot property market; if not, they had plenty more initiatives "up their sleeves", one said. The measures came into effect at midnight on Friday, just hours after Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah had announced them. He imposed a 15 per cent stamp duty on home purchases by non-permanent residents and companies, extended the special stamp duty on quick resales and raised the rates for the duty. In less than six hours, buyers snapped up 100 flats at a Yuen Long development to beat the new stamp duty on buyers. Secretary for Development Paul Chan Mo-po said on radio that the government needed to act swiftly. He dismissed concerns the measures would affect the city's competitiveness, saying they were aimed at tackling a fast inflow of hot money. "We have to react to the market. For things coming fast and fiercely, our measures have to be [launched] faster, more fiercely and accurately," Chan said. The government raised by 5 percentage points the rate at which it levies the special stamp duty on sellers introduced two years ago to curb speculation, and extended its effect on resales from two to three years. The rates now range from 10 to 20 per cent. On another radio show, Secretary for Transport and Housing Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung said that without new initiatives, the property bubble could burst, dealing a serious blow to livelihoods. Chan expects prices to drop by 10 to 20 per cent. /source: http://www.scmp.com/...-home-hong-kong Personally, I do not think it will impact as much as that on secondhand prices here: (1) Most will not want to sell... and will try to wait it out. But the developers HAVE TO SELL, and so this new tax will narrow the huge premium of new flats over secondhand. And will also reduce the appetite of developers to buy new land (2) It was the most obvious POLITICALLY ACCEPTABLE measure: "HK Property for HK people"... and why not ? I can understand it, even though it may cost me money. But as I have said, I think it will impact mainly on new properties, where the premium-to-secondhand has become ridiculously high

If support holds (as I expect), it could shoot up to new highs, and beyond

Link?