Water: Is It Really All That?

WSJ takes a look at water investment, which, despite a seemingly rock-solid thesis, haven't held up as well as other scarce commodity investments:

Water use drops in a recession: 40% of fresh water in the U.S. is consumed in industrial applications. That is why many water utilities have fallen recently on recession fears.

Two of three exchange-traded funds that track water-related stocks have sunk since their mid-2007 debuts. The third, First Trust ISE Water Index, is up 4.1% since its May 11 launch. But measured since June 13, after all three began trading, it has posted a gain of 1.9%. Over that period, Claymore S&P Global Water ETF has lost 6.3% and PowerShares Global Water Portfolio dropped 11.9%, compared with the S&P 500-stock index's loss of 13.2%.

As for the real water economy:

The economics of water treatment and delivery itself look compelling. An acute shortage of clean water in many regions has been worsened by population growth and by competition from industry and agriculture.

More than one in six people lack access to safe drinking water, according to the World Water Council. Global spending to treat and purify water, and to improve the often-dilapidated infrastructure that stores and distributes it, amounts to hundreds of billions of dollars a year, and rising.

Investors can't trade water like other commodities, because it isn't priced on a global market. It is heavy and the cost of transporting it is many times its value, so it lends itself to regional markets.

The other thing is, in the developing world, people probably drink too much of it. 6-8 glasses a day? Gimme a break. 2-3 is fine.

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[ティンバーランド]

１０日が初出席となる大阪府の松井一郎知事は、安全確認を前提としながらも「被災地は大変な状況。日本中で支えなければいけない」と受け入れに前向きな発言をしている。

　ティンバーランド一方、９月の台風１２号による紀伊半島豪雨で発生した大量のがれき処理が問題となり、他府県の応援を受けている和歌山県は、東日本大震災の被災地を支援する余裕はなく、担当者は「受け入れ可能な状況にはない」。