Exotic Foods

By JOE LIGHT

Amid last year’s flat stock performance, there was at least one bright spot: real estate.

No, not shaky U.S. home builders. We mean the stocks of real-estate investment trusts, which manage portfolios of commercial properties such as office parks, malls and apartment buildings, and generate high yields.

The MSCI U.S. REIT Index returned 8.7% in 2011, more than four times the return of the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index. That came on top of a decade that saw average annual returns for REITs of more than 10.4%—despite the worst financial crisis in modern history.

With that kind of performance, you would be forgiven for wondering how much longer the run can continue. Indeed, investors might have missed most of it already, says Jason Ren, a REIT analyst for investment-research firm Morningstar.

“Most of what I see is either fairly valued or overvalued,” Mr. Ren says.

Good Buys

But there still are good buys lurking in the sector, analysts say, particularly for investors looking for better yields than can be found elsewhere.

Real-estate investment trusts own income-producing properties and make or lose money as occupancy rates and rents rise or fall. While most companies typically reinvest the bulk of their earnings in their business, REITs are required to pay out at least 90% of their taxable income to investors each year.

Recently, that has made them attractive to yield-hungry investors, Mr. Ren says. For example, the Vanguard REIT Index exchange-traded fund, which tracks the MSCI U.S. REIT index, has a dividend yield of 3.54%, versus a 2.06% yield for the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.

But those high yields can blind investors to vulnerabilities underlying the sector. A sudden reversal in the U.S. job market or in Europe could cause the stocks to stagnate, analysts say.

In 2011, for example, REITs were jostled by economic worries, turning down sharply during the summer’s European debt fiasco and rebounding as those fears subsided.

Even though the prospect of a full-blown financial crisis seems less likely now, such macroeconomic risk could haunt stocks’ overall performance this year, says Michael Bilerman, head of the REIT and lodging analyst team at Citigroup Global Markets.

Also weighing against REITs: The industry seems to be valued at about its historical average.

Rather than using a price/earnings ratio to measure value, many REIT analysts divide price by “cash earnings,” which includes depreciation and amortization. At the beginning of 2012, the price/cash-earnings ratio of the MSCI U.S. REIT Index stood at 17.4, nearly as high as it was at the end of 2006.

According to Morningstar, the price/fair-value ratio of the Vanguard REIT Index ETF’s holdings is about 1.07, making the sector more expensive than the S&P 500 as a whole, which has a 0.88 ratio.

That means investors hoping for a repeat of last year’s performance could be disappointed, Mr. Ren says.

Better Shape

Yet the industry is in better shape than it was before the financial crisis, says Jay Leupp, manager of the Lazard U.S. Realty Income mutual fund.

Over the past three years, REITs have raised about $50 billion in common stock, bringing their total debt relative to market value below 40%, versus the historical average of 50%, Mr. Leupp says.

Many REITs also have spread out the dates their debt will come due, making it less likely they will suffer a cash crunch, he says.

Some companies and REIT sectors look like good buying opportunities. While brick-and-mortar retailers have been threatened by the growth of Internet shopping, they have continued to expand in outlet malls. Enclosed malls with destination stores like Apple and H&M also are attracting shoppers. says Andrew Rosivach, who leads the U.S. REIT analyst team for Credit Suisse.

That would bode especially well for REITs like Simon Property Group, which owns a large retail portfolio. You can find broader exposure to retail REITs through ETFs like iShares FTSE NAREIT Retail Capped Index.

REITs that specialize in multifamily housing also might perform well in 2012, as rising demand, driven by demographic trends and a stronger job market, meets a supply of apartments that’s still below its historical trend line, Citigroup’s Mr. Bilerman says. Colonial Properties Trust and Post Properties, which both manage apartments in the South, are among his favorites.

One possible area of weakness: REITs that manage suburban office complexes, Lazard’s Mr. Leupp says. Job growth so far has been driven by big businesses, which tend to locate in central business districts, leaving suburban office spaces in a lurch.

Mr. Leupp also thinks that health-care REITs—which operate medical offices and hospitals—are overvalued.

By SARAH E. NEEDLEMAN

Many start-up founders and owners of existing small businesses wonder what their companies could possibly gain from yet another new form of social media. Finding adequate time to properly manage business profiles that already exist on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is enough of a challenge.

But the newcomer Pinterest could offer advantages for some small businesses, particularly those specializing in e-commerce.

The social network lets entrepreneurs create online scrapbooks featuring photos of their newest or most popular products. Importantly, it also provides them a platform to write compelling descriptions of those products, and to embed links that direct consumers to their websites or to order forms.

A product could potentially go viral because of the way the social network allows its users to “follow” other users, including businesses. If someone follows say, Etsy.com, the online crafts marketplace, his or her own Pinterest profile will then display all of the images on Etsy’s Pinterest profile.

Keep in mind: Etsy’s brand is particularly suitable for Pinterest, because both sites are popular with women and creative types. Since joining the social network in October 2010, Esty’s main profile already has accumulated more than 51,000 followers.

To start, try to spend a few days or weeks using Pinterest as consumer to get a sense of how it works before diving into it for your business. Also, study what other businesses already on Pinterest have done.

Some tips:

Create categories.

Take a cue from Warby Parker Inc. of New York, with its Pinterest profile showcasing the brand’s eyewear, combined with other images that are intended to say something about its culture and mission. Notice how its profile is separated into categories, or “pin boards,” with themes such as “Fresh New Frames” and “Sunglasses are a Must.”

Use images with personality.

“The images that get shared the most are funny, inspiring or emotional,” says Jason Keath, a social-media analyst in New York. You don’t need to invest in professional photography. However, the images you post to Pinterest should be visually striking. “People share images that make them look good,” Mr. Keath says.

Be selective.

Highlight only a few of your most popular or newest items so your profile doesn’t look like an advertisement.

If you own a service-based business, use images that show what your brand is about. Balance Yoga Studio LLC of Woodinville, Wash., for instance, shows photos of magazines and books on healthy living, plus graphics with inspirational quotes like “Keep Calm and Carry Om.”

“It’s just creating more of a yoga community online for us,” says owner Michelle Michael, whose 20-employee company launched in October and created its Pinterest profile last month.

Write breezy descriptions.

The images you pin to your profile from a Web page will automatically include an embedded link to that page—but not a caption. Use this space to give users updates on what’s new with your business, as well as to describe product.

“Happy Valentine’s Day! We added Coral to our colors! This is the Light Duty Fish Tail Bracelet,” wrote, Survival Straps, a Jacksonville, Fla., maker of utility-cord bracelets that recently started using Pinterest, in a pin earlier this month.

Use the widgets.

Add a “Pin It” or “Follow” button to your company website by going to Pinterest’s “Goodies” page and following the instructions provided. You can also download the Pinterest logo to your site from the same page.

Add many links.

By clicking “Settings” and filling in the prompts, you can include links to your company website, as well as your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn profiles from your Pinterest profile. Then, add links to back to your Pinterest profile from each of those pages.

By creating these trails for consumers, you’ll help lead them to your site. “It’s like a breadcrumb strategy,” says Larry Chiagouris, a professor of marketing at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business.

Write to Sarah E. Needleman at sarah.needleman@wsj.com

Por RICHARD BARLEY

España e Italia han pasado meses intercambiando lugares en la primera línea de la crisis, y ahora podría ser de nuevo el turno de España en el disparadero. El implacablemente elevado déficit y la recaída en la recesión están acabando con una de sus ventajas comparativas –un ratio de deuda/PIB relativamente bajo– y su margen de maniobra.

El problema inmediato de España es su déficit público, que en 2011 fue del 8% del PIB, muy por encima del objetivo del 6%. Para llegar al objetivo de 2012 del 4,4% del PIB, el Gobierno necesitará aplicar feroces recortes de gasto. Eso golpeará fuerte al crecimiento: el Banco de España prevé una contracción del 1,5%. Existen dudas sobre si el objetivo es alcanzable. El Gobierno necesitará ahorrar 40.000 millones de euros en un sólo año, según Moody’s, frente a 28.000 millones de euros entre 2010 y 2011.

Eso aleja más a España de la estabilización de su deuda. No se espera que España registre superávit primario –el que excluye los pagos de intereses– hasta 2015, mientras que Italia ya está ahí, según Societe Generale. Por tanto, la deuda española podría seguir subiendo rápido, desde el 70,1% del PIB en 2011 al 84% en 2013, según el Fondo Monetario Internacional. El deterioro es brusco: en 2007, la deuda de España era de sólo el 36% del PIB.

El nuevo Gobierno de España está adoptando medidas importantes. Está aprobando reformas como la laboral que debería facilitar la contratación en el futuro. España ya ha captado el 33% de su objetivo de financiación para este año, señala Citigroup, un logro asombroso para ser mediados de febrero. El crecimiento de las exportaciones ha sido sólido, lo que amortiguaría la constante caída de la demanda interna.

Sin embargo, el sector privado español está enormemente endeudado. El desempleo juvenil se acerca al 50%. El sistema bancario podría necesitar ayuda pública después de los recientes esfuerzos para hacer que los bancos reconozcan las pérdidas derivadas de su exposición al sector inmobiliario se vieran con escepticismo. Pero cuanto más se incremente la deuda pública española, menor será la flexibilidad del Estado.

Los bonos españoles han tenido una pobre evolución en febrero con un repunte de la rentabilidad del bono a 10 años de 0,85 puntos porcentuales al 5,5%, casi borrando la mejoría en lo que va de año, según los índices de Barclays Capital. El contagio del fuerte deterioro de la situación en Grecia ha sido hasta ahora limitado. Sin embargo, si se expande, España podría ser la primera en sentirlo.

Por ANTON TROIANOVSKI de Barcelona

Para a Google Inc., o pesadelo econômico da Europa teve um lado positivo: os smartphones que usam o software da gigante da internet estão esmagando o iPhone, nos países duramente atingidos pela crise da dívida do continente.

No ano passado, apesar do aguardado lançamento do novo iPhone 4S da Apple Inc., apenas 5% dos smartphones vendidos na Grécia e 9% dos vendidos em Portugal eram iPhones, segundo a firma de pesquisa IDC. A maior parte do restante era de telefones que usam o Android, o sistema operacional da Google.

Os resultados colocam em evidência um raro ponto fraco da Apple: sua forte dependência dos subsídios de operadoras celular, que dão a seus iPhones preços acessíveis para uma ampla gama de consumidores. A prática provou ser uma grande vantagem para a Apple, que teve um salto de 73% na receita do trimestre mais recente, à custa de operadoras que passaram a oferecer o iPhone no fim do ano nos Estados Unidos, mas não esperam obter lucro com o aparelho antes de 2015.

Em países como os EUA e o Reino Unido, os subsídios de operadoras ajudaram o iPhone a abocanhar mais de 20% do mercado de smartphones no ano passado. No Brasil, as operadoras também subsidiam os aparelhos para quem assina um contrato com tempo mínimo de serviço, mas não há estatísticas sobre a penetração do iPhone.

O desempenho do celular da Apple em partes do sul da Europa, onde a maioria dos consumidores não assina contratos e têm de pagar o preço cheio por seus telefones, sugere que a posição da Apple pode cair caso as operadoras se cansem de arcar com a maior parte do custo dos aparelhos, como já é o caso em alguns países.

“O ritmo de adoção dos smartphones está sendo impulsionado pela oferta de telefones de preços menores, que são basicamente os aparelhos com Android”, disse Carlos Alberto Silva, um porta-voz da operadora portuguesa Optimus.

Há uma abundância de celulares com Android que custam menos de US$ 200 sem contrato na Europa, o que ajuda a Google a minar o sucesso do iPhone. Em Portugal, o iPhone mais barato, uma versão de 8 gigabytes do modelo 4 antigo, vendido pela Vodafone, custa US$ 680, segundo o site da operadora. Telefones que rodam com o Android podem ser obtidos por até US$ 106, e até mesmo o Galaxy S II, um dos aparelhos mais sofisticados da Samsung Electronics Co., que usa Android, custa menos que o iPhone mais barato. No Brasil, a Vivo vende o iPhone 4S de 64 gigabites pré-pago por R$ 2.649, enquanto com contratos de um ano, o preço pode cair cerca de 35%. O Galaxy S II pré-pago custa R$ 1.790.

Na maior operadora celular da Grécia, a Cosmote Mobile Telecommunications SA, o smartphone mais vendido em 2011 foi o Mini Galaxy da Samsung, disse Dimitris Koutsonas, chefe de dados e serviços celulares. O preço: US$ 188 sem contrato.

“Nossos rivais são muito mais dependentes desses subsídios”, diz John Lagerling, diretor de parcerias do Android, da Google. “Se você só tem aparelhos muito caros disponíveis [...], isso pode ser acompanhado de uma ressaca brava no longo prazo.”

Nos EUA, as operadoras pagam US$ 400 para a Apple cada vez que um cliente compra um iPhone com um contrato de dois anos, dizem analistas. Um porta-voz da Vivo disse que a empresa não divulga quanto paga à Apple. A americana Sprint reconheceu que os subsídios do iPhone são 40% mais altos que o de outros smartphones, em média. A meta é torná-lo mais acessível aos consumidores e recuperar o investimento com contratos de serviços.

Wall Street tem criticado a Apple por sua estratégia para pré-pagos, mesmo depois que a empresa vendeu um recorde de 37 milhões de iPhones em seu trimestre mais recente, mais que o dobro do vendido um ano antes. A Apple tem mantido um modelo de quase três anos, o iPhone 3GS, no mercado para atrair compradores de orçamento apertado. Mas o 3GS ainda é vendido por US$ 535 sem contrato pela Cosmote na Grécia.

O diretor-presidente da Apple, Tim Cook, disse a analistas em janeiro que “era muito cedo” para avaliar o desempenho das versões de menor preço no mercado pré-pago ao longo do tempo, mas que a empresa estava “empolgada” com as vendas de iPhones no geral.

Cook disse a investidores este mês que os mercados emergentes são “cruciais” para a Apple.

Operadoras de todo o mundo começam a questionar os subsídios, o que apresenta um risco para todos os fabricantes, não só a Apple. Na Dinamarca, várias operadoras líderes deixaram de subsidiar telefones e baixaram as suas mensalidades para acompanhar os concorrentes. Na Espanha, a Telefónica SA também tem dúvidas. “Não podemos manter os subsídios a estes níveis”, disse recentemente seu diretor-presidente, José Miguel Gilpérez, ao jornal “El País”. “Quando você compra uma TV ou qualquer eletrônico, você paga por ele. É saudável que os usuários paguem por seus aparelhos e que as operadoras invistam em redes e serviços.”

(Colaboraram Amir Efrati, Jessica E. Vascellaro e Paulo Trevisani.)

By SARA RUFFIN COSTELLO

Having just wrapped up a yearlong renovation on a fine 1860s Garden District house in New Orleans, I’m amazed at the bubbly goodwill between my contractor and me. Without exception, a reno is two vexing things: slow (floor guy went fishing) and bank-account-clearing. My renovation, however, rolled gaily through 2010 and into ’11 on time and nearly on budget thanks to my king of problem solving, proportion and plaster, Michael Carbine.

I left the structural decision-making in Mr. Carbine’s capable hands, but was particularly opinionated about all things kitchen on which I have deep thoughts. I don’t like most cabinetry, but I love drawers. There must be ample seating, but bar stools are generally ugly. Crockery should be organized in descending order by genus, phylum and species (every pot, pan and cookie sheet should have a designated home). I like to have entertaining accouterments—candlesticks, china, plates and napkins—easily accessible, ready to deploy at a moments notice. And the refrigerator should be a double-wide trailer.

When I pressed him for appliance advice, Mr. Carbine, a “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil”-type character who knows all the secrets of his small town, revealed the best of his clients’ kitchens. “The chicest working stove by far is the Italian Ilve,” he said. “The bitchiest people I know rave about it. But If you want to save money, go with Dacor, which won all the market analysis.” His icemaker of choice is the Japanese Hoshizaki, which makes top-hat-shaped cubes. “However,” Mr. Carbine said, “I just discovered the Scotsman that does shaved ice!”

When it came time to pull the appliance trigger, I researched extensively. My ultimate goal was at cross purposes with my husband’s, though. I was after the best in show, while he was looking for ways to staunch the cash bleed. For example, the standard-bearer for refrigerators, a 48-inch-wide Sub-Zero, costs roughly $15,000. Multiply that by double ovens, six-burner stove, microwave, fridge drawers for drinks, a wine cooler, icemaker and plate warmer and you’ve got three-quarters of a Maserati. Perhaps it wasn’t necessary to buy Balenciaga when Zara had the same technology. “After all,” my husband repeated (annoyingly), “it’s just a box that gets cold.” You can’t train the un-trainable.

Everyone from pals to culinary experts opined. “Viking everything,” emphasized Donald Link, mastermind behind the Cajun restaurant Cochon, among others. “Make sure to get the stove with the grill,” he said. “But, if you want real style, check out the French cuisinière company Lacanche,” which I immediately did. Turns out it’s a thing of great beauty and high performance: available in porcelain enamel in every color with brass or nickel handles and renowned for a “Top Chef”-esteemed combo of side-by-side electric and gas ovens for both dry and moist heat. Starting price $5,995, marching up to $17,500. Mr. Link also mentioned he was drawing plans for a custom-built exterior wood oven, part of a mega outdoor kitchen, at his house in Louisiana. Add that to the list, husband.

My two cooking besties—movie producer and trained chef Allison Sarofim, who sharpened her knife skills at New York’s Le Bernardin; and Patrick Singley, owner of Gautreau’s restaurant in New Orleans—both spoke lovingly of poaching meat sous vide. Do I really need one of these machines too? “Yes,” they insisted. Apparently, you have never tasted meat cooked to succulent perfection until you’ve been fed tenderloin that’s been vacuum-sealed and hot-water-bathed for five hours. Mr. Singley’s also hankering for a fancy meat smoker from Ole Hickory Pits (apparently this is the company for commercial smokers, and I hear they’re making a home version).

I asked my friend Chase Booth, the in-demand erudite construction worker in the Berkshires, for some common-sense advice. He offered such polished gems as: “Hoods are completely overrated—open your windows, fools,” and “Sub-Zero doesn’t really deliver enough bang for the buck, especially if you are paneling the front of it anyway.” Mr. Booth did rave about his Miele induction range. “Besides being shockingly low-profile, beautiful and easy to clean, it works like Martha Stewart on speed,” he said. My favorite endorsement from Mr. Booth had to be for the Miele mangle, a high-end rotary ironing machine that he keeps kitchen-adjacent for pre-party prep. He said, “You can cut diamonds with the edge of linen napkins once they’ve been threaded through this iron.”

“Perhaps it wasn’t necessary to buy the Balenciaga fridge when Zara had the same technology. ‘After all,’ my husband said, ‘it’s just a box that gets cold.’”

Rob Sheard, brand director at Breville, confirmed that consumers are looking for the appliances they see influential chefs using. “Twitter and YouTube are giving the home cook more and more insight into what goes on in restaurants and in chefs’ homes,” he said. “It isn’t just the Food Network creating trends. Lots of savvy chefs are talking directly to people who enjoy food without the network filter.” Mr. Sheard reports that many chefs use Breville’s Smart Oven and consumers are requesting it too, “because it heats up quickly and is large enough to braise or roast any cut of meat or poultry.”

One secret to marital longevity is compromise, and compromise I did. My husband and I ended the appliance conversation by dipping into each strata of the market, from emerging artists to seasoned masters. In the high-end arena we love the Miele induction stove (fast), but loathe having to explain to every new babysitter how to use it (difficult). Our middle-of-the-road GE Monogram oven gets gushing reviews and has magical racks that glide in and out. The microwave, also GE Monogram, sputtered out during Thanksgiving but was repaired easily under warranty. Least impressive is the 48-inch-wide Liebherr refrigerator and freezer, which masquerades as a large family model but is really two slim units pushed together—ideal for a non-cooking bachelor living in a studio apartment in Tokyo.

Civilian kitchens changed forever in the early ’90s with the emergence of superstar chefs. Since then, every four-star kitchen renovation (and house that expects to sell for asking price) has required restaurant-grade equipment from Viking, Wolf, Gaggenau, Sub-Zero, Bosch and Miele. Keep your eyes peeled for sous-vide poachers, outdoor wood-burning ovens and top-of-the-line smokers. But really, aside from shiny stainless veneers and digital displays, we haven’t come that far in the kitchen over the last 60 years. You still have to know how to cook.

—Ms. Ruffin Costello is a writer and design consultant based in New Orleans.