[moehoward]

"ALL homeowners are real estate investors, mon ami. I bought my home as an investment, too. But I can't maximize my profit now. Some wealthy developer doesn't want to pay me what my property is worth to me, or what I know it's worth to the developer? No problem! Get the government to invoke eminent domain, and force me to sell out for what it determines to be "just compensation".

Exactly. Imagine you own 2000 shares of a stock. Rumors of a merger are floating around and the stock is shooting up. A week before the merger is announced, the local government steps in and forces you to sell your stock at what you paid, then transfers the stock to an interested party involved in that merger.

[Vicomte13]

"Exactly. Imagine you own 2000 shares of a stock. Rumors of a merger are floating around and the stock is shooting up. A week before the merger is announced, the local government steps in and forces you to sell your stock at what you paid, then transfers the stock to an interested party involved in that merger."

Precisely.