The United States of Clickbait

Blackstone, Starwood, and fear mongering… [Altucher Confidential] December 14, 2022 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( Unfortunately, the draw of easy profits from clickbait is just too tempting for media companies to ignore. [Hero_Image] The United States of Clickbait By James Altucher [External Advertisement] 66,000% upside on tiny biotech? The Wall Street Journal reports that this medical breakthrough is "Transforming Medicine." One analyst calculated that it could be worth $1 Trillion, making the upside potential of this small-cap 66,000% above today's price. [Get all the details here ]( [James Altucher] JAMES ALTUCHER One of the most underrated risks to the financial system is clickbait. For the unfamiliar, ‘clickbait’ is the practice of writing sensationalized or misleading headlines in an attempt to attract clicks on a piece of content. Over the past 10 years, clickbait has become a cornerstone of the internet. With only 24 hours in a day, our limited attention simply can’t keep up with seemingly unlimited content on the web. And, in the fight to win our attention, content creators have had to come up with clever ways to create provocative content that demands our attention. In the latest example of how financial media is broken and awful, are headlines suggesting that funds from Blackstone and Starwood could be in trouble. For background, Blackstone and Starwood operate real estate investment trusts (REITs). As the name suggests, these are basically funds that invest in various real estate assets. Although there are publicly traded REITs on the stock market, the REITs operated by Blackrock are private REITs. Unlike publicly traded REITs (which can be bought and sold by investors at any time), investments in private REITs cannot be traded… and investors can only redeem their investment when the fund sells off its real estate holdings. And, as anyone with a brain can tell you, real estate is not a liquid asset. **Crash Warning for Wednesday** [An “Economic Bloodbath” is heading for America.]( The ones who see this coming have the chance for massive profits… The ones who don’t could be facing a lifetime of financial ruin… You don’t want to be one of the victims caught in the coming storm. [Find out what you need to do to prepare now.]( Unlike stocks, real estate can’t be sold immediately. It’s not very easy to sell a house or an apartment building or a farm… it takes time and patience. Which means that when an investor in these funds wants their money back, it cannot happen overnight. If the fund is doing its job right, investors' dollars have been spent on real estate. This means investors cannot just wake up one day and decide they want their money back. But that didn’t stop the media from fear-mongering a scenario that is basically all noise. This past week, numerous media sources reported that REITs run by Starwood and Blackstone were unable to meet investor demands for their money to be returned. The stories painted portray a situation almost like FTX where the funds are unable to return money to investors… and investors are rushing to get their money out before a collapse. However, the reality is wildly different. These funds are simply not designed to give investors the possibility of redeeming their funds whenever they want. And while some investors might be frustrated they cannot redeem their investments, they probably should be grateful that this is the case. Blackstone’s fund has performed exceptionally well over the past 6 years, far surpassing the returns of publicly traded REITs (which are liquid and can be easily sold). However, the reason Blackstone’s fund has done so well is exactly because it is not liquid. If Blackstone were required to return investors' money whenever they asked for it, the fund probably would have performed much worse. By locking up investors' money, Blackrock essentially prevents its investors from selling assets at discounted prices whenever they get impatient. But none of that sounds quite as interesting as a story about a financial firm having trouble returning investor money. The reality is, Blackstone and Starwood are fine. The fact that investors cannot get their money back is not actually news at all. But that hasn’t stopped the media from publishing the story. Unfortunately, the draw of easy profits from clickbait is just too tempting for media companies to ignore. Sincerely, James Altucher For Altucher Confidential “The Situation Is Getting Worse By The Day” That’s what the President of the US Chamber of Commerce just said about the supply chain. If you thought the supply chain issues were over, think again… Things are about to get much, much worse. And everything from your local grocery store to your gas station could be impacted. That’s why I’m urging everyone I can to prepare now… [To see the #1 move to make before this problem gets any worse, click here now.]( [Paradigm]( ☰ ⊗ [ARCHIVE]( [ABOUT]( [Contact Us]( © 2022 Paradigm Press, LLC. 808 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore MD 21202. By submitting your email address, you consent to Paradigm Press, LLC. delivering daily email issues and advertisements. To end your Altucher Confidential e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from Altucher Confidential, feel free to [click here.]( Please note: the mailbox associated with this email address is not monitored, so do not reply to this message. We welcome comments or suggestions at feedback@altucherconfidential.com. This address is for feedback only. For questions about your account or to speak with customer service, [contact us here]( or call (844)-731-0984. 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