Real estate investment trusts have doubled since early March despite persistent warnings from the Federal Reserve and economists that commercial real estate could be the next big shoe to drop in the financial crisis after the residential housing bust.

Shipping 21 boxes and over 700 pounds of clothes books sheets spoons blenders blankets old letters photographs and half-written sure-to-be-Pulitzer-Prize-winning novels isn’t cheap. (FedEx (FDX) shareholders you’re welcome by the way - I single-handedly supported your bottom line.) But I’m in the minority: Moving across the country just ain’t what it used to be. According to the New York Times Americans are staying put as the souring economy drains us of any inclination toward mobility. The Census Bureau reported Wednesday that people who changed residences reached the lowest number since 1962 - even though 120 million more people live ...

So you’re 34 and have decided to move back in with Mom and Dad.At least you’re in good company. The rise in unemployment along with the shaky economic climate have persuaded millions of adults to pile all their worldy possessions into a U-Haul (UHAL) -- or a Public Storage (PSA) unit if Mom and Dad's basement isn't all that spacious -- and move back in with their parents. According to an AARP survey the number of multigenerational households shot up from 5 million in 2000 to 6.2 million in 2008.Plus more than a third of retired parents have helped ...

With the IShares DJ US Real Estate (IYR) up 50% from the March 6 lows I'm not the only bear on commercial real estate (CRE) wondering whether this sector has seen its worst days and is ready for a comeback. To try to answer that question it may be useful to review how the majority of CRE deals in the last 5 years were put together. I wrote in Small-Cap Recap: What's Behind Real Estate Cap Rates?:“As late as 10 years ago institutional investors had investment time frames of 5-10 years; today they are looking out 2-5 years at ...

When times were good self-storage firms made brisk business out of junk repositories. Now with consumers eager to cut monthly expenses paying to keep useless bric-a-brac just doesn't seem like that brilliant an idea. The Wall Street Journal reports that self-storage companies many of which are organized as real-estate investment trusts or REITs are seeing customers flee en masse. As KeyBanc analyst Jordan Sadler told the Journal “Consumers are having to choose between a mortgage payment a car payment and a self-storage payment. It’s an easy one to get rid of.” When the economy began to sour storage firms ...

NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by WallStSense.com

NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by RothmanResearch.com.

NOTE TO EDITORS: The Following Is an Investment Opinion Being Issued by TheFortuneFinancial.com.