5% Returns (In Stock Market) Will Be 'Upper Echelon' for Years: Gross

[Joseph M.]

Today there was an article on CNBC stating that Pimco's Bill Gross believes the MAX future returns in the stock market will be 5% per year. URL: http://www.cnbc.com/id/45474748

Just wanted to hear what everyone thinks about this. Are there any real estate investors out there that sold off their stocks and purchased real estate recently..taking advantage of the depressed real estate values? .

I don't see how anyone could get excited about a 5% return, especially if you are trying to BUILD wealth/capital. If you have several million dollars then I can see how 5% might be an OK passive return.

Also I am wondering what the returns have been (Cash on Cash) for real estate investors in today's market. Of course this is probably a bit harder to calculate than in the stock market, but it would be interesting to hear returns that people are making on their invested capital.

How does this compare to your stock market investments (if any?)

[Craig Longsderff]

There are a lot of folks that believe in the time worn threat of inflation. It appears to me though that we're in a deflationary period. The stock market can't get out of its own way. The RE market is still flat or drifting down. I think we can all agree that until the bulk of the shadow inventory, call it what you want, but all the bank owns are cleared out, this RE market is going nowhere. Probably for several years. Commodity prices are still high but I think not for long. As the world economy continues to slow so will oil, gas and the hard metals. Cash flow RE, for me, is where I see the best and most secure(if there still is such a thing) investment.