VNORP - REITs Squeezed As Earnings Begin

• U.S. equity markets posted their worst week since October amid an ongoing "short squeeze saga" that raised questions regarding market stability, overshadowing a strong week of earnings reports and economic data.
• Impacted by the fallout from the ongoing battle between institutional and self-directed "retail" investors, the S&P 500 slid by 3.3% on the week, erasing its gains for the year.
• Real estate equities were a source of stability on the week, however, following a series of solid earnings reports and dividend increases as the broad-based Equity REIT ETFs declined 0.9%.
• Several of the most troubled mall REITs, along with a handful of other heavily-shorted REITs have been swept up in the short squeeze frenzy. Many of the "squeezed REITs" jumped over 10% on the week.
• Overshadowed by the short squeeze phenomenon, we saw a handful of REIT dividend increases and strong earnings results from the industrial, cell tower, manufactured housing, and homebuilding sectors.

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