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iShares S&P Global Timber & Forestry Index

  • Yelling Timber!

    By Victor Lai - June 10, 2013 | Tickers: WOOD, PCL, WY

    While this commodity doesn't get as much attention as its popular cousins oil and gold, wood is also a scarce and valuable natural resource.  What's more, I think the secular case for lumber is strong due to how the world is changing.  As countries develop and industrialize, they typically follow a pattern of building and resource consumption.  It starts with demand for concrete to lay out a foundation more »

  • Timber Investing for the Average Investor

    By Jeff Stouffer - April 24, 2013 | Tickers: WOOD, PCL, WY

    Investing in timber has always been one of my preferred alternative investments. Returns are based more on the supply and demand of timber than the overall stock market. One of the key fundamental drivers for timber is new housing construction. Home building appears to be on a rebound, and all the excesses that occurred before the market meltdown of 2008 seem to be absorbed.

    Direct investment in timber has primarily more »

  • Battle of the Hardwoods: Which Timber REIT Stands above the Rest?

    By Matthew DiLallo - March 23, 2012 | Tickers: CUT, WOOD, PCL, PCH, RYN, WY | Editor's Choice

    It’s no secret that I’m a believer that timberlands serve as a better hedge against inflation than silver or gold.  The organic growth characteristic alone is beating inflation as measured by CPI-U as timber grows about 4% per year with inflation running around 3%.  Timber is much less volatile as an asset class than silver or gold, which can be driven more by momentum than fundamentals.  That’s more »

  • Adding Timber to Your Portfolio

    By Andrés Cardenal - January 24, 2012 | Tickers: CUT, WOOD, PCL, RYN, WY

    Timber may not sound like the most attractive investment right now; everybody knows that we are not seeing too much activity in construction. Also, paper use is expected to decline in the following years due to technological change and ecological concerns. Precisely for that reason, it may be a good time to consider adding some cheap timber stocks to a long term portfolio.

    We have seen some early signs of more »