Here come the sharks. Following months of blood-in-the-water reporting about brick-and-mortar retailers, some investors ears’ may have perked. ProShares, which manages $27B in exchange traded funds (ETFs), is readying to launch three new ETFs for investors keen on the view that brick-and-mortar retail is due for collapse. ProShares has already filed its prospectuses with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Todd Rosenbluth, a senior director at mutual fund research firm CFRA, says that investors betting on Amazon’s ability to siphon away the share of business done by traditional retailers will have “a direct, easy way to put the theme to work.” (Via Financial Times)
Quality Care Properties (QCP) has just given an ultimatum to HCR Manorcare, the largest tenant occupying its senior housing properties. QCP has told the skilled-nursing center operator that it has until the end of the week to pay $79.6M in past-due rent. Should HCR Manorcare not pay up, QCP said in a filing with federal securities regulators that it will be considered a default “requiring the immediate payment of an additional approximately $265 million of deferred rent obligations and permit the QCP lessors to terminate the master lease, appoint receivers or exercise other remedies with respect to any and all leased properties.” (Via CoStar News)
European markets are upping their expectations that the European Central Bank (ECB) will begin to raise interest rates by July 2018, after hearing recent comments by the ECB and other central banks.Analyst opinions remain mixed on exact timing and the number of increases — some see two rate hikes over the next two years, and others see three. In either scenario, interest rates in Europe would remain negative. (Via Reuters)
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