koto_feja/iStock via Getty Images The macro environment continues to favor investing in REITs. Interest rates remain stable or falling. The Fed held rates unchanged recently, as expected by 76% of investors, but looking ahead, two-thirds of all investors expect at least two rate cuts by December, resulting in a Fed Funds rate of 3.25% or lower. iREIT+Hoya Capital The average REIT is currently yiel...
koto_feja/iStock via Getty Images The macro environment continues to favor investing in REITs. Interest rates remain stable or falling. The Fed held rates unchanged recently, as expected by 76% of investors, but looking ahead, two-thirds of all investors expect at least two rate cuts by December, resulting in a Fed Funds rate of 3.25% or lower. iREIT+Hoya Capital The average REIT is currently yielding 3.92%, which is highly competitive with the current "no-risk" rate. The 10-year treasury yield currently stands at about 4.25%, and the 2-year yield is about 3.6%. The lower rates fall, the more competitive REIT yields become. Over the past 30 days, REIT analyst upgrades have slightly outnumbered downgrades, by 40 to 35, according to my unofficial count. Real estate outperformed stocks in January, with the S&P 500 Real Estate Index gaining 2.89%, compared to 0.89% for the S&P 500 as a whole. As noted in a recent article , real construction spending on commercial properties has seen its steepest decline since the Great Financial Crisis, pulling back roughly 5% this year. Meanwhile demand, as measured by Real Gross Domestic Product, remains healthy, increasing about 8% over the past 24 months. Conservative investors can beat inflation now by investing in safe, high-yield REITs with strong balance sheets and stable or growing revenues. Meet the company CubeSmart ( CUBE ) is just such a company. In November I named this company a Buried Treasure , and it has gained 3.5% in share price since publication. CubeSmart is headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, and has been in operation since 2004, when it was originally known as U-Store-It Trust. The company owns over 1500 iconic properties, totaling a little over 48 msf (million square feet). CUBE investor presentation The company owns facilities in 24 U.S. states and manages facilities in 16 others. These facilities are located in the most densely populated and affluent locations of any of the storage REITs. CUBE provides thi...
Hong Kong and mainland Chinese authorities have arrested 119 people linked to a HK$20 million (US$2.6 million) racket that forged and distributed identity cards and arranged accommodation for cross-border recruits to obtain jobs illegally in the city – the largest sum recorded in such a case to date. The Immigration Department said on Thursday that the cross-boundary sting, code-named “Operation S...
Hong Kong and mainland Chinese authorities have arrested 119 people linked to a HK$20 million (US$2.6 million) racket that forged and distributed identity cards and arranged accommodation for cross-border recruits to obtain jobs illegally in the city – the largest sum recorded in such a case to date. The Immigration Department said on Thursday that the cross-boundary sting, code-named “Operation Sharpspear”, was carried out between October and January in collaboration with Guangdong and Zhuhai authorities. Tang Ka-fai, senior principal immigration officer of enforcement at the department, said the local authority would follow up on 102 of the suspects. Advertisement “We will continue to step up inspections regarding illegal workers… to safeguard the employment opportunities of local workers and maintain social order,” he said. During the operation, about 40 fake Hong Kong identity cards and 24 photocopies were seized. The syndicate charged around HK$3,200 for each forged identity card. Advertisement Those arrested included illegal workers and employers, along with a syndicate mastermind and an accomplice. The group had been active for about a year.
On the eve of the Six Nations, Ireland captain Caelan Doris used an amusing analogy to describe the world's best player and highlight one of the myriad of challenges facing his side in Thursday's Stade de France tournament opener. Asked about returning France captain Antoine Dupont, Doris described the famously elusive scrum-half as "one of those little fish you try to touch and they dart away fro...
On the eve of the Six Nations, Ireland captain Caelan Doris used an amusing analogy to describe the world's best player and highlight one of the myriad of challenges facing his side in Thursday's Stade de France tournament opener. Asked about returning France captain Antoine Dupont, Doris described the famously elusive scrum-half as "one of those little fish you try to touch and they dart away from you". "He's done me several times," admitted Doris. "I can think of one particular instance in 2023 where I feel I have him coming up one side of the breakdown and then he twirls and goes around me and beats three defenders on the other side." Doris and Ireland can only hope that Dupont, back from a spell on the sidelines caused by a collision with Irish players last year, isn't so slippery on Thursday. The Toulouse star is the heartbeat of a French attack that could dent Ireland's title hopes again. In Dublin last year, not even Dupont's withdrawal after 30 minutes could stop a rampant French side from ripping Ireland to shreds with 34 unanswered second-half points. It was a haunting afternoon for those in green, and even though Doris carefully sidestepped a question about seeking "revenge", Ireland's pre-tournament headaches would make victory in Paris one of the more unlikely achievements under head coach Andy Farrell.
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares closed at $232.99, down by 2.36%, before edging lower to $232.82 in after-hours trading, a further 0.07% decline ahead of the Q4 earnings report. However, despite cautious positioning by investors, Wall Street analysts are expecting another blockbuster quarter that could formally push the e-commerce and cloud giant past the $700 billion annual revenue thresho...
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) shares closed at $232.99, down by 2.36%, before edging lower to $232.82 in after-hours trading, a further 0.07% decline ahead of the Q4 earnings report. However, despite cautious positioning by investors, Wall Street analysts are expecting another blockbuster quarter that could formally push the e-commerce and cloud giant past the $700 billion annual revenue threshold, a milestone that underscores its scale, diversification, and growing dominance across retail, cloud computing, and digital advertising. According to the official announcement, the conference call to discuss fourth quarter 2025 financial results will be held later today at 2:00 p.m. PT/5:00 p.m. ET. Consensus estimates suggest Amazon will report Q4 2025 revenue between $211.3 billion and $211.6 billion, representing roughly 13% year-over-year growth. Earnings per share are expected to land in the $1.97 to $1.98 range, a key benchmark investors are using to assess how effectively Amazon is balancing aggressive artificial intelligence investment with profitability discipline. Amazon’s retail segment is defined by a strategic shift from high-volume expansion to logistics regionalization, which has successfully lowered the “cost to serve” across its U.S. hubs. At the same time, the market anticipates record Q4 retail revenue between $127B and $130B in North America alone, driven by a record 13 billion items delivered in 2025. However, the company is also facing mounting competitive pressure from discount giants like Temu and Shein. AWS Remains in Focus As AI Demand Accelerates At the heart of today’s earnings narrative is Amazon Web Services (AWS), which remains Amazon’s most strategically important and profitable business unit. AWS revenue is projected at $35.02 billion, with management targeting a 21% to 23% growth rate as enterprise customers accelerate AI workloads. Investor focus is firmly on AWS’s role in generative AI infrastructure, particularly the deployment of mor...
Several private credit heavyweights are set to join Australia private equity firm BGH Capital Pty. ’s A$1.4 billion ($976 million) loan backing its acquisition of Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd. ’s Asia Pacific operations, according to people familiar with the matter. Goldman Sachs Asset Management LP , Blackstone Inc. and Apollo Global Management Inc. will provide the loan, the people said, who as...
Several private credit heavyweights are set to join Australia private equity firm BGH Capital Pty. ’s A$1.4 billion ($976 million) loan backing its acquisition of Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd. ’s Asia Pacific operations, according to people familiar with the matter. Goldman Sachs Asset Management LP , Blackstone Inc. and Apollo Global Management Inc. will provide the loan, the people said, who asked not to be identified discussing private matters. The deal underscores the growing role of private credit in Australia as a funding source, even as the asset class faces mounting risks and heightened regulatory scrutiny . In recent months, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission has stepped up oversight of the sector, citing concerns around inconsistent valuations, opaque fee structures and poorly-managed conflicts of interest. The scrutiny follows several high-profile collapses in the US. READ MORE: Apollo Took Loss on Zeroed Out Asset-Backed Loan Deemed Safe (2) Representatives for Apollo, Blackstone and Goldman Sachs Asset Management declined to comment, while BGH didn’t respond to requests seeking comment. BGH announced in December that it would acquire the South African-listed pharmaceutical company’s Asia Pacific businesses for A$2.37 billion. The PE firm manages A$6.8 billion in funds and 11 portfolio companies, according to its website . The financing backing the purchase is covenant-lite, carries leverage of around 6.5 times earnings and pays an interest margin of 475 basis points over the Bank Bill Swap Bid Rate, one of the people said. Private Credit Riskier in Australia on Property Bets, CIOs Warn Rich Australians Push Into Private Markets as Credit Risks Grow Australian Gold Miner Ravenswood Gets $650 Million Loan From RRJ
Interest-rate swap transactions in the Philippines have jumped more than 60-fold since the launch of a peso IRS facility in late 2024, the nation’s central bank chief said, citing that a deepening market may improve the effectiveness of monetary policy. Trading volumes in the derivatives have jumped to 43.5 billion pesos ($739 million) in January from 700 million pesos in 2024, Bangko Sentral ng P...
Interest-rate swap transactions in the Philippines have jumped more than 60-fold since the launch of a peso IRS facility in late 2024, the nation’s central bank chief said, citing that a deepening market may improve the effectiveness of monetary policy. Trading volumes in the derivatives have jumped to 43.5 billion pesos ($739 million) in January from 700 million pesos in 2024, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona said late Wednesday with one- and three-year tenors active. The surge in peso interest-rate swap trading shows investors are embracing the revamped facility to hedge any uncertainties in the central bank’s policy path. Growing activity is also helping improve price discovery. “The market is starting to form interest-rate expectations and starting to hedge interest rate risk over policy-relevant horizons,” Remolona said in a keynote speech during a Bloomberg event in Makati City. “A deeper IRS market strengthens our monetary policy transmission mechanism, improves reference pricing, and it helps anchor expectations.” Philippines Rate Swaps Market Begins With One-Month Trades Rates Swaps Draw C-Suite Attention at Philippines Biggest Firms Why the Philippines Wants to Build Its Capital Market: QuickTake Over time, Remolona said, he’d like to see the bond markets converge around the swaps curve. “This market is, to us, a backdoor to building a benchmark yield curve, something our markets need very badly,” he said. Interest rate swaps, a staple hedging facility in more developed fixed-income markets, allows parties to protect themselves against changes in market interest rates or take positions on the direction of borrowing costs by exchanging one stream of future interest payments for another. Clients’ use of the derivative is “very nascent,” said Paul Favila , chairman of the Bankers Association of the Philippines’ open market committee and a country manager for Citibank. Even so, the early activity is “very encouraging,” he said, as the build-up...
Tesla Inc. was sued over a fiery crash in Massachusetts that killed the driver after he was unable to exit the vehicle, the latest lawsuit to allege defects with the company’s electrically powered door handles. Samuel Tremblett, 20, died in October after his Model Y SUV collided with a tree in Easton, a town about 30 miles outside of Boston. After surviving the initial impact, Tremblett connected ...
Tesla Inc. was sued over a fiery crash in Massachusetts that killed the driver after he was unable to exit the vehicle, the latest lawsuit to allege defects with the company’s electrically powered door handles. Samuel Tremblett, 20, died in October after his Model Y SUV collided with a tree in Easton, a town about 30 miles outside of Boston. After surviving the initial impact, Tremblett connected with 911 dispatchers and told them that “he was trapped inside of the vehicle after a crash and the vehicle was now on fire,” according to the police report. His remains were later found in the back seat. “Unable to open the doors, Mr. Tremblett was trapped in the Tesla vehicle and died from thermal injuries and smoke inhalation before he was able to be rescued,” according to the complaint filed Wednesday in Massachusetts federal court. Tesla didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Details of the crash were previously reported by Bloomberg News as part of a wide-ranging investigation into the hazards of electric door systems, which can fail and trap occupants inside vehicles, particularly after a crash. The reporting uncovered at least 15 deaths in a dozen incidents over the past decade in which occupants or rescuers were unable to open the doors of a Tesla that had crashed and caught fire. Tesla is facing multiple lawsuits over crashes that allegedly involved door-related entrapment, including cases filed last year in Washington state and Wisconsin. The company was sued in October over claims that defects in the doors of a crashed Cybertruck in Piedmont, California, made it a “death trap” by preventing three college students from escaping before they died of smoke inhalation. Tesla vehicles have two batteries: a low-voltage battery that operates interior functions like windows, doors and the touchscreen, and the high-voltage pack that propels the car. If the low-voltage battery dies or is disabled, the doors may not unlock and must be operated manually from th...
More than two decades ago, he was among China’s first generation of online celebrities. A photograph of his large head went viral and his pudgy face was superimposed on a raft of well-known figures. However, Qian Zhijun, who is better known as Xiao Pang, or “Little Fatty” in English on social media, and who disappeared from the spotlight, is back, Dawan News reported. Qian Zhijun in his pudgy-face...
More than two decades ago, he was among China’s first generation of online celebrities. A photograph of his large head went viral and his pudgy face was superimposed on a raft of well-known figures. However, Qian Zhijun, who is better known as Xiao Pang, or “Little Fatty” in English on social media, and who disappeared from the spotlight, is back, Dawan News reported. Qian Zhijun in his pudgy-faced heyday as a global internet sensation. Photo: Baidu “My life is no different from that of any ordinary person. I have been married and have a child. I just live an ordinary life,” Qian, a 39-year-old Shanghai resident, was quoted as saying. Advertisement Qian shot to fame in China in 2003 when a photographer accidentally took a picture of him dressed in his secondary school uniform at a road-safety awareness campaign event and released it online. Mainland Chinese internet users were attracted and amused by Qian’s chubby face and the cute but scornful expression in his eyes. Qian’s head, above, was placed on the bodies of various famous figures to create memes. Photo: Baidu Witty netizens put his head on the shoulders of various famous figures, from the Mona Lisa, Jackie Chan, Marilyn Monroe and the animated character Shrek to the Statue of Liberty and world political leaders.