What I’m Reading
Cracks in the Armor: Chuck E Cheese (CEC Entertainment) was able to successfully use a Force Majeure clause to lower its rent in a bankruptcy case. This provided evidence that bankruptcy courts may be willing to grant debtors extraordinary relief in light of the ongoing pandemic, but only if there is some contractual basis to do so. Globe Street
Rise of the Machines: The robots are coming for construction jobs as a new generation of machines automates an historically tech-averse industry, spurred on by consistent labor shortages. ARS Technica
K-Shaped: The CRE sector continues to experience a K-shaped recovery with industrial and multi-family prices rising while retail and office prices fall. Real Capital Analytics
Whipsaw: Lumber prices are rising again, defying normal seasonal trends thanks to record demand from homebuilders are remodelers. Wall Street Journal
Under One Roof: Over half of US young adults now live with their parents, a new record. Like most COVID trends, this one has been in place for a long time – the percentage has been creeping upwards since the 1960s – but the virus acted as an accelerant. On the negative side, this represents a lot of uncreated households. On the positive side, it also represents a lot of pent up demand at some point. Visual Capitalist
Chart of the Day
The downward slide of US inflation over the past 30 years has been relentless.
Source: Inflation Data
WTF
Nature is Healing: Giant rats are taking over Central Park and the Upper West Side because New York. NY Post
Awkward: A mayor apologized for covering his town in Belgium with giant, penis-shaped lights, claiming that he didn’t realize what they resembled until they were turned on. The US Sun
Basis Points – A candid look at the economy, real estate, and other things sometimes related.
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