Peter Barnes

Boston Properties is a Boston-based REIT that completed its initial public offering in 1997 and is now the largest publicly traded office REIT in the US.

Wells Fargo discovered that employees in its wholesale unit altered information related to customers’ records without the company’s knowledge.

Broader markets posted a sharp drop and the financial sector saw more losses. The S&P 500 financial index fell 5.80% and closed at 458.95.

AIMCO’s (AIV) funds from operations have increased consistently over the past five years, from $177 million in fiscal 2010 to $301.8 million in fiscal 2014. That’s the highest FFO in seven years.

The total private commercial construction spending increased year-over-year by 12.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $696 billion in July.

Simon Property Group’s healthy revenue growth in 3Q15 was primarily driven by the rise in total sales per square foot and the base minimum rent.

Fitch Ratings says that easing the Dodd-Frank Act for smaller and custodial banks could be negative for some banks’ credit profiles in the long term.

Major banking stocks rose after the Fed approved huge payout plans. Wells Fargo (WFC) rose 2.7% and Citigroup (C) rose 2.8%.

The most common way of calculating the relative value of a REIT such as Simon Property Group (SPG) is the price-to-FFO (funds from operations) multiple.

UDR’s (UDR) principal business strategy is to maximize the economic returns of its apartment communities to provide higher shareholder returns and value.

Highwoods Properties’ (HIW) FFO (funds from operations) increased to $2.90 per share in 2014, compared with $2.81 per share in 2013.

With the rise in property prices, housing affordability has become a growing concern in many markets of the country. High housing prices force people to the suburbs and rural towns to find affordable housing.

UDR’s funds from operations rose from $192.8 million in 2010 to $415.4 million in 2014—the highest FFO recorded by the company during the past decade.

Alexandria’s geographic coverage spans markets such as Greater Boston, San Francisco, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, and Maryland.

A close look at BioMed Realty’s TTM price-to-FFO ratio shows that the company is in line with its historical valuation. Its current ratio is ~16.3x.

Despite the $32.9-billion hit the top five banks took in their fourth-quarter earnings, US banks (XLF) are generally very positive about the new tax plan.

Buyers are reluctant to pay higher prices, and builders have to offer incentives, which reduces margins. Lennar’s higher margins will not be sustainable.

At the end of fiscal 2014, Douglas Emmett’s consolidated debt was $3.4 billion, up by 6% over 2013. Since 2015, its total debt has seen moderate declines.

At the end of 2014, BioMed Realty’s consolidated debt was $2.7 billion. Its total debt rose from $1.5 billion in 2010 to $3 billion as of September 2015.

D.R. Horton’s EBITDA margin was at 10.1% as on March 2015, much better compared to 2.3% for fiscal 2011.

The latest economic data and renewed geopolitical concerns failed to thwart ETF inflows last week.

According to FactSet, $3.7 billion worth of inflows were added in the ETF last week, which takes the year-to-date total to $388.2 billion.

CXP is a mid-sized stock on the NYSE, with a market capitalization of $3 billion. Consequently, it sees allocation in some REIT-specific ETFs.

After a slow start, the REIT industry expanded rapidly especially during the period from 1965 to 1975. Initially, mortgage REITs dominated the industry.

ETFs present another investment avenue. Apart from pure homebuilder ETFs, there are many other ETFs that offer exposure to homebuilders.

Macerich’s centers derived approximately 74% of their total rent for fiscal 2014 from mall stores and freestanding stores under 10,000 square feet.

Simon Property is the only REIT in the S&P 100 Index and has heavy asset concentration on the US east coast and in the central US.

Zoning is the way that governments supervise land development and the kinds of uses each individual property may be directed toward for the public interest.

Most REIT stocks have experienced a free fall in 2015 after stupendous growth during the past five years. The free fall came as investors avoided REITs due to concerns of higher interest rates.

The iShares NASDAQ Biotechnology ETF (IBB) aims to track the investment results of the NASDAQ Biotechnology Index, which comprises NASDAQ-listed biotechnology and pharmaceuticals companies.

ETFs allow investors to build a portfolio that meets specific asset allocation needs. Investors can obtain portfolio diversification across a number of asset classes.

Lennar sees allocation in major sector-specific homebuilder ETFs such as the SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB). XHB has a 3.36% stake in Lennar.

US stocks are rising due to hopes that the Trump Administration will complete a tax deal in the near future that will substantially benefit corporates.

The ETFMG Prime Cyber Security ETF (HACK) is an ETF (exchange-traded fund) that tracks the price and yield performance of the Prime Cyber Defense Index.

General Growth Properties has a market cap of $22.1 billion, is part of S&P 500 index, and sees allocation in the major REIT-specific ETFs like ICF.

BBJP was the star ETF last week. BBJP is the second-fastest ETF to reach the $1 billion mark after the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD).

ETFs are a convenient, easy way to diversify your portfolio. In this article, we’ll look at how sector-specific and sector-agnostic ETFs invest in American Campus Communities (ACC) stock.

The residential REIT sector mainly includes apartments and manufactured housing. It’s one of the largest segments in the REIT industry.

ETFs are a convenient way for investors to build a portfolio that meets specific asset allocation needs. Camden Property Trust (CPT) sees allocation in most of the REIT-specific ETFs.

D.R. Horton sees allocation in major homebuilding sector-specific ETFs like the iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction Index Fund (ITB).

With the Dorsey Wright indices, we mentioned the Dividend Achievers (VIG) (DVY) and now this is more of a fundamental factor based suite of products.

Shopping center REITs mainly own and operate shopping centers that are smaller than retail malls. They’re mainly driven by higher consumer spending.

Essex Property Trust expects coastal California and Washington to lead the nation in job growth given vibrant technology and life science employment sectors.

American Campus Communities (ACC) has four segments: wholly-owned properties, on-campus participating properties, development services,
and property management services.

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) reported an EPS (earnings per share) of $2.37 in 1Q18—compared to the consensus estimate of $2.28.

On an annual basis, the homeowner vacancy rate fell by 9.52% in the quarter ended December, down from 2.1% in the last quarter of 2013.

A sharp rise in the market (VOO) was driven by economic optimism fueled by a rebound in economic growth, improving corporate earnings, government reform initiatives, and higher liquidity.

So far, banks that reported their 3Q17 earnings showed mixed trends. JPMorgan Chase’s revenue and earnings comfortably beat consensus estimates.

Macerich reported a consolidated revenue of $1.1 billion in 2014—a figure up by 7.4% over 2013. In 2013, its revenue growth was a whopping 29.1% over 2012.

General Growth Properties tenant reimbursement, a major source of income for the company, experienced a drop of 7.3% in 3Q15 to $172.5 million over 3Q14.

The sharp rise in Essex Property Trust’s costs in 2014 can be attributed to its acquisition of properties following the BRE Properties merger.

AIG (AIG) reported a net loss of $6.66 billion in 4Q17—compared to a loss of $3 billion in 4Q16.

EdR (EDR) classifies its business into three segments: collegiate housing leasing, development consulting services, and management services.

The S&P 500 Index plunged 4.6% during the first four trading days of February, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the NASDAQ Composite Index dipped 4.7% and 4.0%, respectively.

Morgan Stanley (MS) reported an EPS of $0.84 in 4Q17. Its earnings exclude a one-time $990 million hit resulting from recent changes to the US tax code.

Occupancy rate is the number of units that are rented out to residents by a company in proportion to the total number of units in the building or community.

The total spending on Visa’s (V) network rose 11% to $2.1 trillion in the second quarter—slightly better than analysts’ estimates of $2.09 trillion.

The top five US banks’ trading revenues rose 10% in the second quarter to over $20 billion—compared to $18.55 billion in the same period last year.

Even though broader markets remained flat last week, US financials rose due to strong earnings growth from leading banks.

The rise in US stocks to more than a five-month high prompted investors to put money into ETFs. US-listed ETFs added $8.5 billion last week.

According to FactSet data, US-listed ETFs had inflows worth $770 million last week. Now, the year-to-date inflows are $121 billion.

FactSet data showed that ETFs posted net outflows of $21.6 billion during the week, which pushed the year-to-date inflows down to $129.4 billion.

The LDR ratio for the largest US banks—JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and U.S. Bancorp—rose in the first quarter.

FactSet data showed that US-listed ETFs garnered inflows worth $7.5 billion during the week. Now, the year-to-date inflows are $142.5 billion.

Big US banks (VFH) have cleared the Fed’s latest stress test. The test measures banks’ ability to withstand an economic crisis.

After eight weeks of continuous inflows, ETF flows faltered last week despite positive momentum in the markets.

According to the Federal Reserve, consumer credit slowed to an annual growth rate of 2.9% or $9.3 billion in April—compared to 3.8% in March.

According to Jefferies, JPMorgan Chase only had $6.7 billion of exposure to Italy at the end of 2017, while Bank of America had $5.4 billion.

According to FactSet, investors added $3.5 billion to US-listed ETFs last week. Now, the year-to-date inflows are $90.4 billion.

Morgan Stanley reported an EPS of $1.45 in 1Q18—compared to expectations of $1.25. Morgan Stanley’s revenue was $11.1 billion.

The uncertainty created by the US-China trade war continues to impact ETF inflows. Investors withdrew $3 billion out of US-listed ETFs last week.

The five largest US investment banks garnered more than $15.2 billion in fees from debt capital market activities in 2017.

The New York Attorney General fined Bank of America due to a fraudulent “masking” scheme in the bank’s electronic trading division.

US stocks ended lower last week amid political uncertainty. Strong industrial production data didn’t boost the markets.

The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was responsible for all of the outflows from US equity. SPY experienced net redemptions of $12.7 billion.

US stock markets rallied last week after February’s jobs report was better than expected. Non-farm payrolls rose by 313,000 in February.

The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) raked in $610.1 million. SMH also saw substantial inflows of $552.8 million.

Localized geopolitical risks like the tension in the Middle East are unlikely to cause substantial damage to the markets in the long run, though they could bolster oil prices in the short term.

While North Korea and South Korea (EWY) have initiated talks recently, North Korea’s nuclear ambitions mean that tensions will always remain in the region despite temporary overtures of peace from both sides.

The biggest political risk to markets could arise from a trade war that has been playing out ever since Donald Trump came to power.

After registering the strongest inflows in January, ETFs witnessed huge outflows last week. The YTD inflows have fallen to $51.9 billion.

The International Monetary Fund expects the US economy to grow 2.7% in 2018 and 2.5% in 2019. The global economy is expected to expand 3.9% in both 2018 and 2019.

The ultra-loose monetary policies that have been in vogue for many years have helped jack up prices of all the asset classes.

SPY, the world’s largest ETF, continued to receive huge inflows. After adding $7.8 billion the previous week, it added another $6.2 billion last week.

Last week, US stocks closed the week on a very strong note mainly driven by strong earnings growth. All 11 sectors in SPY reported positive earnings growth.

SPY continued to be the big winner of the week with inflows of $7.8 billion. SPY’s total assets under management have reached $292 billion.

ETFs started 2018 on a very promising note. According to FactSet, the total ETF inflows amounted to $5.32 billion for the first week of the year.

Over the past two years, Verizon has boosted its presence in online advertising, streaming videos, and adjacent wireless markets by acquiring a number of companies.

With the addition of $475 billion, ETF inflows have broken all of the records in 2017. The previous record was $287.5 billion in 2016.

International Business Machines (IBM), a leading enterprise solutions provider, has seen its revenue decline consistently for the past 22 quarters.

The Dow has risen 88.5% since December 2012. Except for Merck (MRK) and Verizon (VZ), the laggards delivered negative returns during that period.

Last week, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) was the biggest winner with inflows worth $4.63 billion.

US financial stocks hold a lot of promise going into 2018 due to strong economic growth and the expected rise in interest rates.

Last week, the real stars were smart beta ETFs that saw strong inflows after many weeks. MTUM and USMV added $847.5 million and $829 million.

According to Lipper data, US-based stock ETFs (exchange-traded funds) saw inflows worth $9.4 billion last week even as the markets (SPY) continued to see record highs.

ETFs saw another week of record inflows even though the markets fell slightly for the second consecutive week. ETFs added $5.4 billion last week.

Over the years, the largest US banks (XLF) have followed different approaches to their equity and FICC (fixed income, currencies and commodities) trading.

FactSet data show that $16.2 billion worth of inflows were added in the ETF last week, which takes the YTD (year-to-date) total to $384.3 billion.

As the broader stock indexes continued to make new highs, ETFs also continued to witness record inflows.

During a press conference last week, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen criticized Wells Fargo (WFC) for its fake account scam.