Here's a little REIT commentary:
thestreet.com
One REIT trader says there is a disconnect today between high-quality and low-quality names in the sector. He recommends shorting names with high yields but lower-quality buildings, like Pennsylvania REIT(PEI - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Glimcher Realty Trust(GRT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), while owning high-quality names like Simon Property Group(SPG - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Vornado Realty(VNO - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr), Boston Properties(BXP - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) and Federal Realty Trust(FRT - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).
They also recommend buying SLG and AVB on hopes of a short squeeze. Perhaps they're just good shorts:
Office landlords have been hurt lately by uncertainty over the job fallout from the financial services industry in New York City. SL Green, which has heavy exposure to prime office buildings in midtown Manhattan, now carries a 13% short interest. SL Green shares fell 3.6% to $79.91 Friday, partly due to worries of a liquidity crisis at Bear Stearns(BSC - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr).
In a research report Friday, Bank of America analyst Christy McElroy said she met with SL Green's leasing team this week and left "with the impression that despite all of the negative headlines about the New York office market, leasing continues to be vibrant with solid rent spreads (year to date)."
For example, 100,000 square feet of space was leased at SL Green's 711 3rd Ave. building at a 34% rent spread from the previous lease, she says. Additionally, 156,000 of space was leased a 333 W. 34th St. at a 38% spread.
Luxury apartment developer AvalonBay(AVB - Cramer's Take - Stockpickr) could also be due for a bounce, according to squeezetrigger.com, a Web site that looks at technicals in stocks for trading ideas.
The site on Friday said AvalonBay, which has a 14% short interest, rose above the $94.99 short squeeze trigger price on Thursday. In recent trading, shares were down $2.15, or 2.2%, to $93.84.
SLG has already been going down for a year, but still trades well above book:
finance.yahoo.com
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