What I'm Reading Help Wanted: The construction industry is 2.2 million skilled workers short of what is needed to keep up with demand. Floor Daily I'm sure that a trillion dollars or so of infrastructure spending injected into this environment will have a positive impact...... Taking Control: Amazon has taken...
December 6th – Pancaked
What I'm Reading Pancaked: The yield curve has been flattening quickly with short rates rising and long rates falling. This could leave the Fed in a bind as the yield curve trajectory suggests that it could be inverted before a hiking cycle ever begins. All Star Charts Interesting to note...
December 3rd – Tis the Season
What I'm Reading Tis the Season: Apartment rents fell in more than half of the nation’s major markets this month, suggesting a widespread cooldown in a market that’s been buoyed by pandemic-driven shifts in consumer preferences. Apartment List To put this move in context a bit, rents typically follow a seasonal...
December 2nd – Pushback
What I'm Reading Pushback: SB 9, which effectively eliminated single family zoning in California by allowing duplexes, and in some cases four units, in most single family home neighborhoods is set to take effect on January 1st. However, some cities are rushing to pass new restrictions. An initiative has also...
December 1st – Seeds of Growth
What I'm Reading Creative Destruction: With workers quitting their jobs at nearly unprecedented levels, entrepreneurship is on the rise: The number of unincorporated self-employed workers has risen by 500,000 since the start of the pandemic, Labor Department data show, to 9.44 million. That is the highest total since the financial-crisis...
November 30th – Pass Through
What I'm Reading Limited Competition: Buying real estate off market is much more about avoiding protracted bidding wars and minimizing pursuit costs than it is about buying properties at a deep discount. Globe Street Log Jam: Homebuilders are struggling with labor and material shortages. As a result, construction timelines have...
November 29th – Turnaround
What I'm Reading Back in Style: Retail store openings in 2021will exceed closings for the first time since 2017. Department stores and specialty retailers are still closing faster than they are opening but even closings in that segment have slowed. The key here is integration between ecommerce and brick and...
November 23rd – Cash Cows
Quick programming note: Basis Points will be off the rest of this week. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! What I'm Reading Cash Cows: An unprecedented supply chain crisis has resulted in public container shipping companies hitting all time highs for net revenue. To put this in perspective, the $48.1 billion in 3Q21...
November 22nd – Emergency Measures
What I'm Reading Bottoms Up: Despite all the talk about burnout and reevaluating priorities, the soaring quits rate has little to do with white-collar jobs. It's more about lower-income people getting the chance to move up. Bloomberg Desperate Times: Federal lawmakers are pushing California Governor Gavin Newsome to declare a...
November 19th – Perfect Disguise
What I'm Reading Narrative Shift: Distressed debt funds are rebranding themselves as "opportunistic credit" as they come to the realization that distressed opportunities don't really exist at the moment. WealthManagement.com Turning Point? North American sublease office sector inventory declined for the first time since the pandemic began. Cushman and Wakefield...