(New York)

Investors need to be careful, real estate looks likely to take a pounding in the coming months. While all the focus on the big jump in yields has been on how it has impacted bonds and stocks, one of the big risk areas is real estate. Unlike other parts of the economy and markets, real estate has been teetering for some time, with months of weak performance. REITs and real estate stocks have been selling off strongly over the last couple of days and the reason is clear—the last thing the already weak housing market needs is higher borrowing costs.

FINSUM: We think the move higher in rates and yields could spell a significant downturn for real estate. Prices are so high and demand is already starting to dry up, so higher yields may have a further dampening effect.

(Washington)

The midterm elections are just around the corner and there is some anxiety over how they might impact stocks. The last few days have been poor, while the preceding month had been good. Barron’s argues that the election will be bullish for stocks. The reason why is that no matter what happens, stocks look likely to rise. Even when the sitting president’s party loses seats, stock tend to gain, and the year after such a loss tends to be the best year of a president’s term. One of the reasons why is that the party in power typically undertakes economic stimulus after their defeat. The Wall Street Journal summarizes “Either way, many believe that stocks will get a boost after the midterm elections as investors will be contending with one less uncertainty”.

FINSUM: We think the election will be good for stocks as well. If the democrats see success, there is less risk of a brutal trade war. If the Republicans win, there is probably more pro-business policies put in place.

(New York)

Fighting the impact of rising rates on one’s portfolio is likely a primary goal of many advisors and investors right now, so we will be running a series of stories on the topic. For instance, Goldman Sachs has just released a new ETF in the area. In what is being called “smart beta exposure to bond markets”, Goldman has launched the Goldman Sachs Access Inflation Protected US Bond ETF (GTIP). The fund selectively chooses Treasury Inflation Protected Securities and costs 0.12% per year. “TIPS present an attractive diversification opportunity for many investors with relatively low correlations to other major asset classes”, says Goldman.

FINSUM: TIPS seem like a good investment right now, but we wonder how this will perform versus other rate hedged ETFs, most of which seem to have a different angle.. On the plus side, it is quite low cost.

(New York)

JP Morgan has put out an interesting piece of analysis this week. The banks says that the Fed, and Chairman Jerome Powell in particular, have cost investors over $1 tn this year just through his statements. For some reason, the market particularly dislikes hearing Powell. On average, the market drops significantly (0.40% or more) when the Chairman speaks. Further, his remarks usually cause an intraday inflection point, which means he is actually the one moving the markets, it is not just bad timing. JP Morgan summarizes that “While we acknowledge that it is not possible to attribute the market impact of each speech with certainty, simple math indicates that about $1.5 trillion of U.S. equity market value was lost this year following these speeches”.

FINSUM: We do not think this is anything to do with Powell specifically. It is more just about being a Fed chairman during a rising rate era.

(Los Angeles)

In a turn of events that stretches the boundaries of our understanding, Elon Musk took to Twitter yesterday to mock the SEC. The move comes in the same week that the CEO agreed to settle a suit with the regulator over his misleading tweets this summer. Musk tweeted yesterday afternoon that “Just want to [say] that the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work … And the name change is so on point!”. Legal experts say the tweets jeopardize his potential settlement the SEC as they violate specific clauses of the agreement.

FINSUM: We know he is a defiant character, but this kind of behavior seems to show extremely poor judgment, if not borderline mental instability.