Who can blame an investor for taking to the bottle?
如果有位投资者迷上了美酒，谁又能责怪他呢？
Andy Pick, a 49-year-old stay-at-home father in Atlanta, recently bypassed the stock market for liquid assets -- $120,000 in champagnes. He bought 400 bottles, mostly 1996 vintage, that he says he plans to 'sit on' for 10 or 15 years and then sell at a profit.
现年49岁、家住亚特兰大的家庭主夫安迪·皮克(Andy Pick)最近避开股市，转向“流动资产”──在香槟酒上投资12万美元。他买了400瓶香槟，大多是1996年产的陈年佳酿，他说计划把这些酒在自己手里一直搁上10年或者15年，然后卖掉赚上一笔。
'It sure beats looking at a Merrill Lynch monthly statement,' he says, adding, 'The worst thing that could happen is that I drink all of it.'
他还说，收益肯定比看着美林(Merrill Lynch)的月度报告要高；可能发生的最糟糕的情况就是，我自己把这些酒喝光了。
Given the gyrations in the financial markets, some investors are abandoning stocks and bonds and seeking refuge in unusual alternatives -- parking spaces, for instance, and condos in Peru. Sales of exotic livestock are up. The U.S. Mint has seen a gold-coin rush.
考虑到金融市场的动荡，一些投资者开始摒弃股票和债券，转而在另类投资中寻求避风港，比如停车位，或是秘鲁的公寓。新奇牲畜的销售有所上升。美国丹佛造币厂经历了一场抢购金币的热潮。
Investors have long turned to hard assets in market downturns, the idea being that if you invest in something real, it won't disappear, even if its value declines. But analysts say this downturn is different in that real estate, the most traditional safe haven, is also sinking. Between July 2006 and July this year, home prices dropped 19.5%, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index.
市场不景气的时候，投资者们常常会转而投资硬资产，因为如果你投资看得见、摸得着的实物，就算其价值下滑，东西也不会消失。但是分析师们说，这次的低迷不同以往之处在于，最传统的安全避风港房地产业也下滑了。据S&P/Case-Shiller全美20大城市综合房价指数，2006年7月至今年7月之间，房价跌了19.5%。
After the market dropped in January, Steve Borter, the 56-year-old president of a heating-and-air-conditioning company, did invest in real estate, but not the usual sort. He became landlord of a single parking space in Chicago. He bought a 12-by-20-foot spot in the Field Harbor Parking Garage for $29,000 and rents it out. 'The stock market is indicative of a lot of uncertainty. With a parking space, at least you end up with something,' he says.
在1月份市场下挫后，供暖空调公司的总裁、现年56岁的史蒂夫·波尔特(Steve Borter)的确投资了房地产，但却不是常见的房地产种类。他成了芝加哥一块停车位的所有者。他用2.9万美元在Field Harbor Parking Garage买了一块12英尺x20英尺见方的停车位，然后向外出租。他说，股市表现出很多的不确定性；而投资停车位，最后你至少会剩下点儿实际的东西。
Peggy Parks, a 49-year-old auditor in Johnstown, Pa., turned to an unusual farm animal. 'I've lost a fortune in stocks, and my 401(k) is falling through the floor. I feel comfortable in alpacas,' she says. She invested $56,000 in a small herd that she believes has a better outlook than most mutual funds because of the animals' breeding potential.
现年49岁、家住宾夕法尼亚州约翰斯顿的审计师佩吉·帕克斯(Peggy Parks)转而投资一种不同寻常的牲畜。她说，我在股市上赔了很多钱，我的401(k)退休计划也跌到了底；我感觉投资羊驼不错。她投资5.6万美元买了一小群羊驼，她认为羊驼比大部分共同基金的前景都要好，因为这种动物有极强的繁殖能力。
The national Alpaca Registry Inc., in Lincoln, Neb., says registrations are on pace to rise 7% this year and currently stand at 140,297. Ms. Parks says a female of 'medium quality' can fetch $10,000 and that prices have been rising, supporting her hopes that she'll see a profit on her alpaca portfolio in five years.
内布拉斯加州林肯的全国羊驼机构Alpaca Registry Inc.称，今年羊驼的登记数量有望增长7%，目前有140,297头。帕克斯说，一头中等质量的雌性羊驼价格为1万美元，而且还在不断涨价，这也让她增强了5年内在羊驼投资组合上获利的希望。
Financial firms are reporting that a growing number of retirees are rolling their money out of ordinary individual retirement accounts -- commonly stocks, bonds and mutual funds -- and into self-directed IRAs, where almost anything goes. 'We've had people invest in a cypress farm in Costa Rica, and a condo in Croatia,' says Tom Anderson, president of Pensco Inc., a San Francisco firm that has $3.3 billion in self-directed IRAs under custody. He says 20% more assets flowed in over the past three months than in the same period a year ago.
金融公司报告称，越来越多的退休人员把钱撤出普通的个人退休帐户──通常是股票、债券和共同基金──转而投向自我导向的个人退休帐户，这类投资包罗万象、无奇不有。Pensco Inc.总裁汤姆·安德森(Tom Anderson)说，我们有人投资哥斯达黎加的柏树林场，还有人投资克罗地亚的公寓。该公司位于旧金山，托管着33亿美元的自我导向个人退休帐户。他说，过去3个月资产流入量较去年同期增加了20%。
In Centennial, Colo., Tim Boykin, 56, a retired engineer, says he pulled his entire nest egg of nearly $1 million out of stock and bond funds in August and put it into a self-directed IRA. He invested some of the money in his niece's company -- which is building condos in Lima, Peru. While analysts warn that real-estate investments in emergng markets are risky, Mr. Boykin says he has done his research and remains confident: 'I can see pictures of the land. I can see steel. I can see people working. When I put my money in a fund, I see a big list of things that don't sound good.'
在科罗拉多州百年市，56岁的退休工程师蒂姆·波依金(Tim Boykin)说，8月份他把自己将近100万美元的资产尽数撤出了股票和债券基金，转投自我导向的个人退休帐户。他将其中的一部分投到自己侄女的公司，该公司正在秘鲁首都利马盖公寓。虽然分析师警告说，在新兴市场进行房地产投资是有风险的，但是波依金说，他已经进行了调查研究，对此非常有信心。他说，我能看见这块地的图片，看见钢材，看见人们在工作；当我把钱投入一只基金的时候，我看到的是一张长长的清单，上面的东西都看起来不妙。
Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.Not everyone thinks alternative investments are a great idea. The Alabama Securities Commission over the weekend issued an 'investor alert' urging caution. People are 'panicking,' says securities director Joseph Borg. He worries that investors who yank their money out of the stock market are prey for con artists hawking things like phantom oil wells.
并不是所有人都认为替代投资是个好主意。阿拉巴马证券委员会周末公布了一份“投资者警示”，督促投资者保持谨慎。证券主管博格(Joseph Borg)表示，投资者处于恐慌之中。他担心，从股市大举撤资的投资者会成为骗子的目标。
Mr. Borg, past president of the North American Securities Administrators Association, adds that in past market downturns he saw people turn to chinchillas, worm farms and super-breeds of rabbits. Emus, too, were big. 'Eventually, people got tired of them and just let them go,' he says. 'To this day, you'll be in West Texas and a big emu running wild will just come up next to your car.'
博格曾担任北美证券管理者协会(North American Securities Administrators Association)总裁。他还说，在过去市场下滑时，他见过人们转养龙猫、蚯蚓和兔子，还有火鸟。他表示，最后人们对这些东西感到厌倦，于是就放生了。今日你去西得克萨斯，还能看到火鸟在你的车边狂奔。
Hard-asset gurus like Howard Ruff, a best-selling author who rose to fame in the inflationary 1970s, are convinced their moment has come again. 'This is a big, big time, a very big time -- and this is just the beginning,' says Mr. Ruff. He has been advising people to buy bags of pre-1965 U.S dimes and quarters, which are 90% silver and in limited supply.
在七十年代通货膨胀时期名声大噪的畅销书作者鲁夫(Howard Ruff)等鼓吹投资硬资产的旗手相信，他们的时代再次来临了。鲁夫表示，这是个大时代，而且是刚刚开始。他建议人们大举收购1965年以前的美国一角硬币和25分硬币，这些硬币含有90%的银，而且是限量供应。
Gold coins also are in great demand. Last week, the mint suspended sales of American Buffalo 24-karat gold coins because it can't keep up with soaring sales. Last month, a record 14,000 bidders -- 17% more than the previous high -- turned out for a coin-and-currency auction in Long Beach, Calif., that generated $35 million in sales.
金币也面临着巨大需求。由于需求飙升导致供不应求，上周美国造币局停止销售24K“美国水牛”金币。上个月，有14,000名竞标者参加了加州长滩的一个钱币拍卖会，这一人数较此前纪录多出了17%；此次拍卖会销售金额高达3,500万美元。
Bob Sale, a Blue Bunny brand ice-cream distributor in Colorado Springs, Colo., says he purchased American Eagle gold coins last week after his 401(k) retirement account tanked. 'Holding them in your hand is like no other feeling,' he says.
科罗拉多泉市Blue Bunny品牌冰激凌经销商赛尔(Bob Sale)表示，在401(k)退休金帐户投资失败后，自己上周投资购买了“美国鹰”金币。他表示，拿着金币的感觉真是难以形容。
Mark Craddock, manager of Comic Book World, in Florence, Ky., says stock-market investors also are turning to superheroes. 'There's kind of a buying frenzy' in vintage comic books, he says.
肯塔基州佛罗伦斯的Comic Book World经理克拉多克(Mark Craddock)表示，股市投资者也把目光转向了漫画里的超级英雄们。他说，老漫画书也遭遇了收购狂热。
The 'Silver Age Comic Book Pricing Index' of 32 frequently traded '60s comics, was up 14.2% in the 18 months ending in July, while the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index was down 11% in the same period. Mark Haspel, president of Certified Guaranty Co. in Sarasota, Fla., which grades comic books, often for investors, says it's on track to handle 200,000 books this year, up from 150,000 in 2007.
截至7月份的18个月，包括32种经常交易的60年代漫画书的“白银时代漫画书价格指数”上涨了14.2%，而标准普尔500指数同期却下滑了11%。佛罗里达州萨拉索塔的Certified Guaranty Co.主要为投资者进行漫画书评级。该公司总裁哈斯佩尔(Mark Haspel)表示，今年公司估计要处理20万册漫画书，明显高于去年的15万册。
'Spiderman is going to be here in 20 years -- he's not going away,' Mr. Haspel says.
哈斯佩尔表示，蜘蛛侠20年后还会回来，他不会离开。
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