" The Greek Exp erience The first REIT in Greece, or REICS as they are known locally (“Real Estate Investment Companies”), was listed in 2005. There are currently 3 REICS listed on the Greek Stock Exchange, and a further two in the process of establishment Whilst Greek RE ICS have the usual exemption from corporate income tax (instead they pay a nominal annual tax based on the value of their assets, currently 0.2%), a further key advantage is that the shareholders receive their dividends without withheld tax (currently 10% for other share dividends). In effect, returns from Greek REICS are virtually tax free, making them an attractive investment proposition. They also benefit from other tax advantages, such as reduced rates of property tax (0.1% instead of 0.6%), and an exemption from transfer tax when buying real estate (11%)." Source: Advantages and Benefits of REITS in the Greek Market
The list of the REITs http://reitinfo.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=90&Itemid=163
Not that I know of. Its an idea for when Greece gets out of the EUR, the drachma tanks 50%+ and people panic sell everything. You would think the REITs would be down a ton but I checked some charts and it looks like they are actually the sector that is holding up way better than the market
Some potential plays to consider now. ES bounce, dont like this one very much given the resistance levels at 1940/1950/1960. 1950 was what killed the intraday rally (whoever didn't sell into that needs to have their head examined. market was up 120 points into a multiple resistance zone). But yet, it will probably bounce regardless, I'm just not comfortable playing it. The better trade I believe will be taking a short after the relief rally starts to fizzle and play for the new lows, pretty much like in 2008. Not saying it will be worse than that but I just think the psychological and trend damage has been severe. I'm not sure a no hike would be enough to stop the bleeding. QE4 could, but that would require lower stock prices
The ES bounce thing, I will play it intraday as a daytrader. The play I was referring earlier was more as a swing/macro style trades
People have been speculating about the reasons for this sell-off. I believe I understand why it happened. Its similar to the Chuck Prince chair dance situation. Most of the big players understand that this market is overvalued and its only being held up by central bank policy. Yet they were all invested (sometimes with leverage) because if they didn't it would be fired by lagging the benchmark, thats why even guys like Hugh Hendry decided to 'get up and dance'. They all thought they could get out before the other guy when things started to turn. It did turn and when the key levels were being taken, selling by these players would just keep pilling. You also had the dip buyers being cleaned out too. Of course, it didn't help that HFTs simply vanished. Everybody was trying to get to the few chairs that were available. As a result, you had a quick repricing of the market. Thats my theory anyway
Another thing that makes the market a good short (on a rally, with a clearly defined risk level) is the proximity to October. September is usually not that great either.