• U.S. equity markets flirted with fresh all-time highs this week following a slate of better-than-expected economic data, which has ironically thrown a political curveball into the now-stalled fiscal stimulus negotiations.
• Gaining for six of the past seven weeks, the S&P 500 rose by 0.7% this week, pushing its post-pandemic rebound to more than 50%, ending within 1% of all-time record highs.
• Is the "Rates up, REITs down" paradigm back? On the final week of REIT earnings season, REITs finished lower by 1.6% with 11 of 18 property sectors finishing in negative territory.
• Aided by the WWII levels of fiscal stimulus over the last several months, retail sales jumped to all-time record highs on an annualized basis in July, climbing 1.2% from last month and 2.7% from the same month last year.
• Simon Property is on a shopping spree, as the mall REIT continues to make investments into distressed retail brands including Brooks Brothers, Lucky Brand, Forever 21, and potentially J.C. Penney.

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