Thursday, October 16, 2014

Arcadis wins Bid to Contruct Next Phase of Cal High Speed Rail

ARCADIS, and their parent company, ARCADIS NV, are respected industry leaders in construction management, design and consulting. Some of their past projects include the Germany Ebensfeld-Erfurt High-Speed Rail, Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority’s Metro Regional Connector Transit Corridor, the Port of Long Beach’s Middle Harbor. Phase 1 construction, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hurricane Katrina Levee Reconstruction and the Chicago Transit Authority’s Wilson Transfer Station Reconstruction. ARCADIS U.S. Inc. is headquartered in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, but will open an office in the Central Valley. ARCADIS meets the Authority’s aggressive 30 percent goal for Small Business (SB) participation, with a commitment of 30.5 percent. In addition, the company surpasses the Authority’s 10 percent Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) and 3 percent Disadvantaged Veteran Business Enterprise (DVBE) goals; reaching a 15.6 percent and a 4.8 percent commitment, respectively. Work on CP 2-3 will extend in excess of 60-miles through the Central Valley beginning at East American Avenue in Fresno and continuing south to approximately one mile north of the Tulare-Kern County line. The route will bring thousands of jobs to the Central Valley, an area with one of the highest unemployment rates in California and the nation, provide environmental benefits, relieve roadway congestion and spur economic development.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Land as a Hedge Against Economic Collapse

The stock market keeps moving up to all-time highs the past six years, and gold continues to drop, yet many people don’t believe this economies “growth” is real. There are a number of books like Crash Proof by Peter Schiff, The Death of Money by James Rickards, The Coming Collapse by Harry Dent, and the research firm Stansberry & Associates who reference that the US deficit, demographics and a potential collapse of the dollar will bring hard times in the America. There is also loan obligations in mortgage insurance, and underfunded social security and Medicare benefits compound the US deficit into the tens of trillions. The dollar is currently the world’s reserve currency, but in the future that may not be the case due to debt obligations and a dollar currency collapse will change the way of life in America. These authors suggest a number of protective remedies to a collapse, and a main remedy maybe physical gold and silver in the form of coins or bars. These are a hedge against inflation, but they may also may be the money of the future. As currencies may go back to the gold standard. Central Banks may be forced to back fiat currencies with gold in their vaults. Additionally, land is also a means to preserve your wealth or investment in the event of a stock market crash and loss of the dollar as a reserve currency. Farm land can be ideal as it can be used simply to feed your family, and to grow enough to sell in a collapsed economy. Any commodity that can be sold will help you get by when the US has been turned upside down. Land is better than real estate with improvements in an economic collapse scenario as there is no maintenance, taxes are lower and an angry mob can burn down your rental home or building. Also, if there is an economic collapse then residents and commercial tenants can’t pay their lease or rent so a building with a mortgage and taxes can cause insolvency. Land also doesn’t lose a lot of value over time. It may fluctuate with the real estate market, but as long as you bought at a reasonable price then your land will hold its value. Most of the time land is bought with cash so it is a safe haven in hyperinflation When the collapse runs its course then you can sell your land later at a higher price when development comes you way. We have property at vacantlanddeals.com that may just fit a depression or longer term recession scenario.