The stock of Real Estate Investment Trusts fell in early morning trading on the back of a Seeking Alpha article citing negative investor sentiment facing the sector.
Several began to bounce back heading into mid-day. Performance can be tracked on the HW30, the HousingWire index of stocks impacting the housing economy.
"The perception is that REITs will suffer in a rising interest rate environment," write Seeking Alpha author Adam Aloisi. "With the Fed's taper finally taking effect this month, the visibility for an ultimate end to ZIRP is starting to gain traction, which has lead to a higher 10-year Treasury, and continued poor perception of REITs."
Reviews of American Capital (AGNC), Annaly (NLY), PennyMac (PMT), for example, exemplify the trading trend. Redwood (RWT), Two Harbors (TWO) are still reeling, as of mid-day. Walter Investment (WAC) bounced back, then begin to drop again.
Meanwhile, the joint hedge fund inflow report from BarclayHedge and TrimTabs Investment Research noted hedge funds took in $17.5 billion (0.9% of assets) in November; the highest in six months.
According to the report, the hedge fund industry gained 0.8% in November, underperforming the S&P 500, which gained 3.1%.
Hedge fund managers surveyed reported being bullish toward the S&p 500 for January, but less so in other areas.
According to the press release: "Nearly two-thirds of respondents expect equities to outperform bonds and precious metals over the next six months, and a similar proportion expects developed markets to outpace emerging and frontier markets in the same period."
