In the U.S.: President Trump signed an executive order that began to unwind the Affordable Care Act. The President’s move allowed for the sale of less comprehensive plans than the law currently allows. On Friday, President Trump followed up his executive order by announcing that the S. Government would cut off payment to health insurers that offset consumer subsidies. The FOMC minutes were more dovish than expected. Several FOMC members expressed reservation regarding low inflation being caused by transitory factors and want a clear sign that inflation was moving to 2% before hiking again. The current odds for a hike in December are 73%. The search for the new FOMC President continued during the week. President Trump met with John

In the U.S.: September nonfarm payrolls showed a 33K contraction, the first drop in the metric since September 2010. Economists noted that the Impacts from hurricanes Irma and Harvey led to a sharp decline of employment in food services, drinking places, and other storm-impacted industries. The overall unemployment rate ticked down to 4.2%. REIT Focus: Switch, Inc. (SWCH), a data center REIT based in Nevada, priced 31.25M shares, no upsize, at $17.00. The offering, which was originally slated to be priced between $14 to$16, saw significant interest with the book of indications growing to over 15x subscribed. The stock closed its first trading day up 22.59%. In China: August official manufacturing PMI increased to 52.4 versus July’s 51.7 reading. The

In the U.S.: The Senate’s third effort to repeal and replace Obamacare failed to garner the support needed to pass and would not be brought for a vote. The failure was yet another blow to senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and the Republican base. Republicans released a plan to overhaul the tax code that would cut the corporate tax rate to 20% from 35%, consolidate individual tax rates into three brackets (12%, 25%, and 35%), double the standard deduction, eliminate the personal exemption, and reduce the tax on S corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships to 25%. As tax reform legislation is equally as difficult to pass as health care, the bill will likely face some steep hurdles before it is

In the U.S.: Elton John got surprised during President Trump’s UN speech in which the President said that U.S. would “totally destroy Rocket Man’s regime” if they threatens the U.S. or its allies. North Korea issued a disparaging response saying that the Presidents Trump speech sounded like “a barking dog.” At the conclusion of its recent meeting the FOMC kept rates unchanged but indicated there would be one more interest rate increase in 2017 and three in 2018. The Central Bank also indicated that it would begin trimming its balance sheet starting with a $10B reduction starting in October. REIT Focus: Following up on Toys R Us (TOYS) bankruptcy Vornado Realty Trust (VNO) released a statement that it had fully

In the U.S.: Headline August retail sales were down 0.2% m/m versus July’s downwardly revised 0.3% increase. Autos, electronics and appliances, building materials, and clothing all posted m/m declines. Online sales, which fell 1.1% m/m, posted the sharpest decline since April 2014. August industrial production was down 0.9% versus July’s 0.4% rise. Economists attributed the bulk of the slowdown to the disastrous effects of Hurricane Harvey. REIT Focus: Equinix Inc. (EQIX) announced the acquisitions of Itconic and CloudMas in Spain and Portugal from The Carlisle Group for $259M. The acquisitions add 322K sq. ft. and exposure to two new European countries to the Equinix portfolio. The Wall Street Journal reported that demand for self-storage space has surged in Houston with