LANDO - REITs Getting Short Squeezed

• U.S. equity markets flirted with fresh record-highs this week as concerns regarding economic "overheating" cooled after employment data showed that job growth fell short of expectations for the second straight month.
• Finishing on the cusp of fresh record-highs, the S&P 500 rallied 0.6% this week. Energy stocks led the rally as Crude Oil and gasoline prices soared to pandemic-era highs.
• Led by residential REITs, real estate equities led the gains for the second-straight week as the Equity REIT Index gained 2.7% with 17-of-19 property sectors in positive-territory.
• REITs were active participants in "meme mania" as 8 REITs surged more than 10% on the week while 26 REITs gained at least 5%, led by many of the most troubled and heavily-shorted retail and hotel REITs.
• Despite a record number of job openings, just 559k jobs were added in May - a mild improvement after a historically disappointing April - as evidence mounts that generous unemployment benefits are delaying the recovery.

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