Traffic is seldom a good thing. However, when you're up against a deadline, sitting in traffic gives you a lot of time to ponder what to write. Case in point, on my four-hour trek home from the Delaware beaches recently, I let my mind wander and started noticing the scenery: power lines, road-side construction on the highway, toll booths and bridges. Could these unglamorous, but highly valuable components be the next trophy properties of a new REIT sector?

Infrastructure assets are growing, with at least a $170 billion annual funding in the U.S, and are all too populated with outmoded land use and infrastructure models, according to a report by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst & Young. Now, new infrastructure investment could potentially flow into the REIT industry through the development of infrastructure REITs—a prospect made all the more possible through recent tax rulings.

Like a lot of other REIT-based real estate, infrastructure may produce a consistent cash flow that is protected against inflation. Even better news is that these indispensable structures, such as data centers, highways and bridges, are in high demand. And, from my recent trip back from the beach, they are everywhere. To read more, turn to "Running Down the REIT Highway."

Turning Pages

While so much of our attention this past summer has focused on gas prices, the economy and other events at home, Portfolio turned to our European REIT brethren across the pond. Specifically, French REITs, or SIICs, have been prospering since inception in 2003. In fact, French SIICs are in enviable condition heading into 2009 due to solid demand for office and retail space, and supply remains tight.

Yet, even though SIICs have not been immune to the credit crisis hitting commercial real estate all over the globe, these companies offer investors a chance to tap into one of Europe's premier property sectors. To read more, turn to "Tour de Force."