What I'm Reading Rise of the Machines: Drone companies, often backed by massive ecommerce platforms, have been cleared to expand their operations across the U.S. The technology has become faster and more reliable with development. The big question is whether or not it will result in mass adoption. Wall Street...
April 7th – Rise of the Machines
February 28th – Round Trip
What I'm Reading Round Trip: Mortgage rates are back to 2019 levels but prices are far above where they were in 2019. Calculated Risk IMO, the impact on stressed home affordability on rent growth is still being generally underestimated, despite the explosive growth over the past year or so. Pile...
January 26th – Blood in the Water
What I'm Reading Material Shortfall: Dealers in John Burns’ building products survey appear to be planning and buying inventory based on an inaccurate expectation of growth in 2022. If the results of the survey turn out to be accurate, materials companies are underestimating demand, which will cause more shortages and...
January 18th – Bare Shelves
What I'm Reading Bare Shelves: US home sales fell the most in 18 months in December. A lack of supply, not demand is driving the move. As would be expected in this environment, prices are still increasing rapidly. Bloomberg Coming Around: As the pandemic wears on, corporate America is increasingly...
January 14th – Locked Down
What I'm Reading Locked Down: With Covid-19 flaring up across China, major manufacturers are shutting factories, ports are clogging up and workers are in short supply as officials impose city lockdowns and mass testing on a scale unseen in nearly two years. There have even been rumors of a potential...
January 13th – Much Ado About Nothing
What I'm Reading Much Ado About Nothing: Despite wild forecasts of an eviction tsunami when the federal moratorium ended, actual eviction filings are still 40% below their pre-pandemic historical average. Five Thirty Eight Also, told ya so. Emptied Out: Omicron is upending grocery operations across the entire supply chain. Staffing...
January 12th – Fueling Up
What I'm Reading Fueling Up: The pandemic has reduced interest in international investments for US-based asset owners. At the same time, foreign investors are showing an increased appetite for US, with 75% of respondents to a recent AFIRE survey indicating that they would increase their volume here in the next...
January 7th – Poached
What I'm Reading Poached: Boise, Idaho has an interesting jobs dynamic that I suspect is playing out in other so-called 'Zoom towns' as well. Historically low local wages, coupled with a strong talent pool have made Boise a target-rich environment for coastal companies - especially in tech - looking for...
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...