• U.S. equity markets were mixed on Tuesday as investors parsed comments from Fed Chair Powell, corporate earnings results, and another notable merger, while coronavirus-related fears continue to linger.
• The S&P 500 finished higher by 0.1% while the Dow Jones Industrial Average finished essentially flat. The 10-Year Treasury Yield recovered 4 basis points to close at 1.59%.
• The broad-based commercial Real Estate ETF (VNQ) led the charge today, gaining nearly 1% following the merger approval between Sprint and T-Mobile, which lifted cell tower REITs to 5% gains.
• The emergence of a fourth competitor - DISH Network - as a precondition to approval has been an unexpected coup for cell tower REITs, which had faced the possible paring of an already short roster of tenants.
• This news follows yesterday's blockbuster acquisition of Taubman by mall REIT stalwart Simon Property Group. Retail REITs, however, were broadly lower on the day after another round of soft earnings results.

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