What I’m Reading
Bargain Bin: Cross border transactions are way down this year. However, the US commercial real estate market is starting to look very cheap to foreign investors, who find their currency hedging costs – driven by interest rate differentials between two currencies – aligning nicely with the direction of interest rates. There is a high likelihood that this will become a tailwind for commercial real estate in 2021. Globe Street
Ghost Town: Black Friday shopping in stores cratered 52% as e-commerce sales surged 26.2%, setting a new record. Yet another example of how warehouse continues to benefit at the expense of traditional brick and mortar retail. CNBC
No Easy Way Out: There are no easy fixes to the massive funding deficits that state pension funds find themselves in. This will eventually result in long-term macro drags that cannot be easily solved by monetary policy or federal fiscal policy. Disciplined Systematic Global Macro Views
On Demand: With urban office occupancy still very low, WeWork announced the national expansion of WeWork On Demand, a new offering that allows individuals to pay by the hour for shared office space. This no tell motel office arrangement feels a bit desperate but it can’t hurt, given the amount of space that the cash-hemorrhaging co-working giant needs to fill. KVUE Austin
Survival Tool: As the winter of COVID sets in, there is perhaps no item more essential for businesses in survival mode than the humble propane heater. Demand has been so high that it has left them in short demand with backorders and delivery delays becoming commonplace. New York Times
Chart of the Day
Yikes.
Source: @business
WTF
Identity Theft: A drunk, 50 year old white guy was arrested after punching a taxi driver in the face, dancing in the street and yelling ‘You white motherfuckers, I’m Rick James, bitch’ because Florida. The Smoking Gun
Finding Religion: The owner of a tequila bar in Great Britain registered it as a religion in an attempt to circumvent COVID lockdown rules. NottinghamshireLive
Basis Points – A candid look at the economy, real estate, and other things sometimes related.
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