Posted on 01/22/2005 7:57:43 PM PST by boris
U.S. Immigration Could Spell Big Business
Saturday January 22, 4:01 PM EST
By Reshma Kapadia
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The largest immigration boom in U.S. history is expected to lift earnings at companies from discount retailers to telecommunications providers, putting dollar signs in the eyes of investors looking to cash in on the wave of newcomers, mostly from Latin America and Asia.
Demographics is "one of the top five tools any macro analyst and investment manager should be following," said Robert Justich, senior managing director at Bear Stearns Asset Management. "And there has been no bigger demographic change than today's migration."
The future looks promising.
"If you are forecasting into the next two decades, you are looking at an economy with tremendous opportunities in the realm of immigrant-related activity," said Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, co-director of immigration studies at New York University. "Never have so many highly educated and highly skilled (people) come into the immigration flow."
The last big wave in immigration, from 1900 to 1910, was driven by Europeans. Although slightly higher on a percentage basis, the number of immigrants in the United States then was less than half of what it is today, according to the Center for Immigration Studies based in Washington D.C.
Census data from 2003 show nearly 12 percent of the U.S. population, or about 33.5 million people, are foreign-born, and demographers see an increase in coming years with both legal and illegal immigrants coming to the U.S. seeking greater economic opportunity or religious and political freedom.
The recent wave is more diverse in terms of countries of origin -- from Mexico to India -- and educational levels, said Suarez-Orozco.
The largest group comes from Latin America and tend to be younger and just starting families, he said.
That is certain to drive additional business for those who sell clothing, own apartment complexes and build homes.
Some retailers such as Sears, Roebuck & Co. (S) and Kmart Holding Corp. (KMRT) are already building brand loyalty by targeting potential immigrants in their home countries, Suarez-Orozco said.
Mario Gabelli, fund manager of Gabelli Asset Management, pointed to Spanish-language broadcaster Grupo Televisa SA de CV (TV) and brewer Femsa (FMX) as companies already reaping benefits by catering to the Hispanic market.
Drawing on the desire to stay connected, satellite companies and telecommunications companies benefit as well.
"The cost of communication has come down tremendously and people are communicating with their homeland like never before," said Bear Stearns' Justich, who recently released a paper about illegal immigrants and the underground labor force. "In any immigrant neighborhood, you will see vendors with calling cards and calling centers."
HOMEBUILDERS, BANKS TO STAY BUSY
Low interest rates are a big part of the reason for increased housing demand, but Justich also attributed some of that upside to increased migration.
Many expect the home buying spree to continue.
"Within three to five years of immigrating, they are looking to buy in the low-end entry home market, which will hold up the best," said Harry Dent, investment strategist and founder of Dallas-based H.S. Dent Foundation.
Saving for housing and education is a priority, but many immigrants also send money back to families, creating a major source of foreign exchange for some countries and generating business for financial services companies.
"Banks understand the size of the marketplace and how big the fees are in remittances," Justich said. "People were paying a lot for risk-free transactions and some of the larger financial institutions have come into it."
Growing faster than the average bank are niche banks like Cathay General Bancorp (CATY) and East West Bancorp Inc. (EWBC), which target specific populations, said Randy Watts, a small-cap growth fund manager at Boston Company Asset Management.
"If you look at the mean family income for Asian and Pacific Islanders, it is $78,800. That compares to $73,800 for Caucasians. In addition, 48 percent of Asian and Pacific Islanders have college degrees compared with 29 percent of Caucasians," Watts said.
That bodes well for investments in ethnic banks as well as education-related companies.
"Asian immigrants are conservative savers. Many open up passbook savings, which have a lower cost of deposit for banks, but they also are very entrepreneurial," Watts added.
While the current wave of immigrants is more divided than in the past when it comes to upward mobility, Suarez-Orozco said all still offer opportunities for Corporate America.
"Walk into one of these huge stores, like Wal-Mart, and you can see who the customers are; it's amazing how much Spanish and Chinese is spoken," Suarez-Orozco said. U.S. companies "are most definitely aware of the opportunity."
The only business we will get from illegal immigrants is monkey business. They cost us more than the few bucks Wal-Mart may get selling them stuff.
The anti-immigrant posters who use 9/11 as an excuse to clamp down on Mexican gardeners are no more sincere than the gun grabbers who use 9/11 for their reasons.
Good reason to clamp down on legal immigration too.
More Race Card waving from bayourod. You complain when FReepers use phrases like "open borders" because you say that it's not factual to do so, but then you use phrases like "anti-Mexican" when it's not factual to do so. You're just proving to everybody what a hypocrite you are.
I'd rather have an American be xenophobic than to have somebody like you be anti-American, which you clearly are based on all of the anti-American comments that you've posted on Free Republic.
The people who left California and other border states because there lives were ruined by this invasion of criminals are also saying that.
What the anti-immigrant crowd dislikes is people who speak Spanish. "Illegality" is just their current line of defense. When the guest worker bill is passed they will retreat back to another defensive line.
You may be sincere, but most of the anti-immigrants have already blown their cover.
More La Raza talking points from bayourod.
Based on your reasoning, the 47% of Latino voters who voted in favor of Prop 200 in Arizona are "anti-immigrant" and dislike people who speak Spanish, and "illegality" is just their current line of defense. Right?
He would have 90% of FR "terminated" if he had his way, that's what it would take to get rid of everyone who disagrees with him about illegal immigration. Someday he'll be sitting in his hovel playing with himself. If anyone doubts it, I hope there will be a new FR poll on the subject. But then FROBL's don't even believe FR polls. They only believe one...one that can't be seen unless you pay!
In a single decade -- 1900 to 1910 -- 8.8 million immigrants entered the United States. (Immigration reached a peak in the decade between 1900 and 1910 during which almost 1 million immigrants per year entered the country.) From 1900 to 1910, almost 95 percent of the immigrants arriving at Ellis Island were joining either family or friends.
Only two percent of the immigrants seeking refuge in America would fail to be admitted -- in saner days they had health and fitness exams. There are still requirements it appears. ILLEGAL aliens are exempt, of course.
http://www.visalaw.com/04mar1/2mar104.html
http://www.americanparknetwork.com/parkinfo/sl/history/journey.html
http://showme.missouri.edu/~socbrent/immigr.htm
As a percentage of total population, the foreign-born population rose from 9.7 percent in 1850 and fluctuated in the 13 percent to 15 percent range from 1860 to 1920 before dropping to 11.6 percent in 1930. The highest percentages foreign born were 14.4 percent in 1870, 14.8 percent in 1890 and 14.7 percent in 1910.
As a percentage of the total population, the foreign-born population increased from 4.7 percent in 1970 to 6.2 percent in 1980, to 7.9 percent in 1990, and to an estimated 9.7 percent in 1997. The posted article said that it was 12 percent in 2003.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/documentation/twps0029/twps0029.html
It makes me trust the article more if I can verify portions of it.
Good article.
Now if only the people cheering the article's cheery economic prospects could answer a simple question.
Why are you guys so nonchalant about ILLEGAL immigration?
An answer would serve the discourse more than screaming Racists! Bigots! at us who oppose ILLEGAL immigration. IMO.
"Why are you guys so nonchalant about ILLEGAL immigration? "
They're not,WmofCarmichael. They have a vested interest. Victor Davis Hanson describes their attitude well.
--snip
Illegal immigration is a moral issue
"Is it moral for employers to count on illegal industrious workers, usually without English or education, to undercut the wages of American citizens as if a laborer remains youthful and hale in perpetuity with no need of social entitlements when disabled or impoverished years later? No wonder employers claim that they are only providing a service to Mexico's poor
Is it so fair to assume that the unemployed in our midst over 10 percent of the work force in many counties of the American Southwest that are most affected by illegal immigration cannot find entry-level work? No wonder we insist that no one can discover a citizen to mow the lawn or cook his food as if 30 years ago our yards were weedy and we did not eat out, as if states without illegal aliens have poor landscaping and empty restaurants. Picking an illegal worker up at the local lumber yard, paying him in cash for a day of digging, and then dumping him on the curb at twilight "out of sight, out of mind" is neither liberal nor humane even if done in Santa Cruz or Carmel
And is it equitable that laws must be sacred for most, but not for some? Do we really want a bureaucratic system near collapse from fraudulent Social Security numbers, off-the-books wages, false names, cars without registration and insurance, even as millions abroad queue up to enter our shores lawfully? Are we to tell waiting Punjabis or Filipinos to certify their education, skills and method of support even as we ask far less of those who break the law to cross the border from Mexico?
Who, then, is the real moralist? Is it the police officer who stops an illegal alien but cannot call immigration authorities? The contractor who knowingly accepts falsified identification and pays untaxed cash wages? The La Raza ("The Race") activist who promotes ethnic chauvinism for those to whom it will prove most deleterious? Perhaps the grandstanding Mexican consul who faults the United States for his own country's callousness? "
http://www.jewishworldreview.com/0105/hanson2005_01_20.php3
So it's avarice and amorality?
Then all they have is name-calling. That 'splains it.
Oh well, those kinds of stupid liberal tricks wore out after almost forty years at the end of last century. They are sooooooooo 20th century.
bayourod is Free Republic's resident illegal immigration cheerleader so you'll have to excuse his very narrow and firmly held point of view on the subject of illegal immigration. But be aware that bayourod likes to smear other posters with phrases like "anti-Mexican", "anti-Hispanic", "anti-immigrant", and "xenophobic" in order to try to derail the discussion and debate on illegal immigration threads.
As living in the US becomes less and less affordable for all. I'm glad I at least had a childhood during the years between mass immigrations when houses and medical care were relatively cheap, and you could still see the stars at night.
I'm in San jose area of california, in the local Taco bell they have stickers you can purchase " Viva Mexico" etc etc, if mexico is not so great, then why do they glorify mexico, and it bother's me when they fly their mexican flags on their cars in our country and then they have their "Mexican pride", mexico is great stickers on their cars. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarghhh MATEY, get me some ROPE :P
Polls show that the majority of Americans are opposed to rewarding foreigners who violate our immigration laws. That's the only "excuse" people need to be opposed to a guest worker program if illegal aliens are allowed to apply for it.
What the anti-immigrant crowd dislikes is people who speak Spanish. "Illegality" is just their current line of defense. When the guest worker bill is passed they will retreat back to another defensive line.
I don't know many Americans who are anti-immigrant, but I know that the majority of Americans are anti-illegal immigrant.
You may be sincere, but most of the anti-immigrants have already blown their cover
Can you name some of these anti-immigrants? Remember, being anti-immigrant and being anti-illegal immigrant are two different things.
I did multiple searches on words in the title and found nothing whatsoever.
It isn't a dupe. I was just making a list.
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