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Not everyone is on the buy side.

By Ilaina JonasNEW YORK (Reuters) - General Growth Properties GGWPQ, the giant mall operator that filed for bankruptcy in April, said on Thursday it reached an agreement with lenders that extends maturities on 70 loans and enables the lenders to get their money back.The agreement applies mostly to mortgages and...

Market-lagging returns could be written in this star.

Direxion Daily Real Estate Bear 3X (ETF) (NYSE: DRV) leads the ETFs with the biggest decline of the day. DRV dropped 5.27% today as Real Estate sector had a good trading session today.

ELEMENTS Benjamin Graham Small Cap Value ETN (NYSE: BSC) is down 5.06% after yesterday's surge of around 5%. BSC closed at $10.53.

Ultra MSCI Japan ProShares (NYSE: EZJ) is down 3.96% as Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc (ADR) (NYSE: MTU), Toyota Motors (NYSE: TM) and Honda (NYSE: HMC) closed in the red zone. Mitsubishi (MTU) is 2.19% down, while Toyota (TM) dropped 1.15% and Honda (HM) lost 1.5%.

ProShares UltraShort Real Estate (ETF) (NYSE: SRS) is down 3.42% as Simon Property Group, Inc (NYSE: SPG) surged 4.71%. Vornado Realty Trust (NYSE: VNO) is another member of the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index that gained today. VNO jumped 2.41%. SRS corresponds to twice the opposite of the performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index.

The markets finished lower as earnings from companies such as Salesforce.com (CRM) and Autodesk (ADSK) disappointed some investors, but we did close off the lows of the day. Volume finished at 4.29 Billion shares traded on the NYSE and 1.95 Billion shares over on the NASDAQ. There was some unusual strength in today’s tape with rumors [...]

Today’s tickers: SLV, EWT, CL, BG, ILMN, COH, TMO, SPG, BG, ADSK & SLM

SLV - iShares Silver Trust ETF – A bull call spread in the January 2011 contract on the silver ETF today suggests shares of the SLV may rally significantly over the next year and two months time. Shares of the SLV are currently up 0.5% to $18.23. The silver-bull purchased a ratio call spread by buying 3,000 calls at the January 23 strike for an average premium of 1.93 apiece, and selling 6,000 calls at the higher January 30 strike for about 90 cents each. The net cost of the transaction is reduced to just 13 cents per contract. Shares of the fund must rally at least 27% before the investor breaks even at a price of $23.13. The trader stands ready to accumulate maximum potential profits of 6.87 per contract if the stock surges up to $30.00 by January 2011.

EWT - iShares MSCI Taiwan Index ETF – A massive bearish play on the Taiwan Index exchange-traded fund caught our attention this afternoon with shares of the EWT down 0.5% to $12.64 in late-day trading. It appears one investor established a bearish risk reversal in the December contract to position for potential share price declines through expiration. The trader sold 31,000 calls at the December 13 strike for 20 cents premium apiece, spread against the purchase of 31,000 puts at the lower December 12 strike for 20 cents each. The sale of the calls exactly offset the cost of buying the puts. Essentially the reversal is a “free” bet that shares of the EWT will trend lower ahead of the 2010. The investor responsible for the transaction is likely long shares of the underlying fund and seeking protection to the downside. If shares fall beneath $12.00, the value of the underlying position is protected. However, if shares of the fund rally by expiration, the trader risks having shares of the stock called from him at $13.00 apiece.

CL - Colgate-Palmolive Co. – Speculation that Reckitt Benckiser Group may acquire Colgate-Palmolive spurred an all-out call option feeding frenzy on CL today and lifted shares of the U.S. company to a new 52-week high of $86.33. Investors flooded the November and December contracts, scooping up call options to position for further upward movement in the price of the underlying. The sudden surge in demand for Colgate-Palmolive options in the midst of takeover chatter boosted…

Today’s tickers: BG, ILMN, COH, TMO, SPG, BG, ADSK & SLM[More...]

We scour third-quarter earnings from REITs and oil firms for signs of upcoming economic stumbling blocks.[More...]

Simon Property Group Inc. (SPG), a leading real estate investment trust (REIT), has reported relatively modest third quarter results, with FFO (funds from operations) of $473.1 million or $1.38 per share compared to $463.9 million or $1.61 per share in the year-earlier quarter. Funds from operations, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income.

Occupancy in the regional malls and premium outlet centers was 91.4% and 97.5%, respectively during the quarter, compared to 92.5% and 98.8% in the year-ago period. Comparable sales in the regional malls decreased to $438 per square feet in the quarter compared to $493 in the prior-year quarter, while that of premium outlet centers decreased to $492 from $515 in the previous year. The decrease in the comparable sales was primarily due to the continued economic downturn resulting in a cut in consumer discretionary spending.

Average rent per square feet in the regional malls increased marginally during the quarter to $40.05 compared to $39.26 in the year-ago period. In the premium outlet centers, average rent per square feet during the quarter increased to $32.95 year-over-year versus $27.12.

The company continues its active development and redevelopment programs. Currently, Simon Property has two new development projects in the domestic market and three new development projects in the international market. During the quarter, the company opened a 400,000 square feet premium outlet center in the U.S. and two international projects in China.

During the quarter, Simon Property closed mortgage financing of $400 million. In addition, the company issued $500 million 6.75% senior unsecured notes due 2014. At quarter end, Simon Property had over $4 billion of cash in hand and $3 billion of available capacity under its revolving credit facility. The company decided to pay its quarterly dividend of 60 cents per share in a combination of cash and stock, the cash portion not exceeding 20% of the total dividend.

With continued improvements in the capital markets and early signs of an economic recovery, Simon Property has increased the lower end of its earlier FFO guidance while maintaining the higher end. The company now expects 2009 FFO to vary within $5.40 to $5.50 per share.
Read the full analyst report on "SPG"
Zacks Investment Research

REITcalls: Simon Property Group 2008 Q4 Earnings Call Date: January 30, 2009 Program Length: 1:11:58 Website: http://www.REITcafe.com TOPIC: Simon Property Group 2008 Q4 Earnings Call Company Website: http://www.simon.com

REITcalls: Simon Property Group 2008 Q3 Earnings Call Date: November 3, 2008 Program Length: 1:12:59 Website: http://www.REITcafe.com TOPIC: Simon Property Group 2008 Q3 Earnings Call Company Website: http://www.simon.com

REITtalk Episode 151 Date: October 10, 2008 Guest: Ralph Block Publisher The Essential REIT Program Length: 46:11 Website: http://www.REITcafe.com TOPIC: The global credit crisis has so far resulted in several major bank failures, massive government bailouts, coordinated international rate cuts, and a global stock market decline of unrivaled proportion. With fears of global recession, or perhaps even depression, running rampant, Ralph Block joins host Anatole Pevnev to discuss the impact of recent events and how REITs are positioned in the current environment. Topics discussed include: * Are REITs a secure investment despite major credit market problems? * With market liquidity all but dried up can you still use NAV to establish value for REITs? * REITs are typically included as a component of the financial stocks; is that reasonable, particularly in today's environment? * The correlation between REITs and the broader markets is at an all time high; what does this mean for REIT investors? * How does the current mortgage driven market collapse compare to the mortgage driven recession of the early 70s? * What are the attributes to focus on if you are considering investing in REITs today? * How does the REIT preferred market look today? * Is now a good time to buy REIT shares? ***************************************** This Episode of REITtalk is sponsored by: Pepper Hamilton, LLP Attorneys at Law www.pepperlaw.com Pepper Hamilton is a multi-practice law firm whose reputation for results goes back more than a century. To learn more about Pepper Hamilton and their Real Estate Capital Markets practice you can visit them on the internet at www.pepperlaw.com Find out how Pepper can keep your next deal sizzling. Call Michael Friedman at (215) 981-4000 -- and -- RealFoundations www.RealFoundations.net Delivering world-class business improvement, process optimization, and technology solutions to real estate investors and operators. RealFoundations has years of experience working with leading REITS and institutional investors. For more information on their breadth of services and expertise visit RealFoundations on the internet at www.realfoundations.net ***************************************** Music: I'd like to thank Derek K. Miller from Vancouver, Canada for providing the music for this episode of REITtalk. http://podcast.penmachine.com.

REITcalls: Simon Property Group 2008 Q2 Earnings Call Date: July 28, 2008 Program Length: 1:11:04 Website: http://www.REITcafe.com TOPIC: Simon Property Group 2008 Q2 Earnings Call Company Website: http://www.simon.com

REITcalls: Simon Property Group 2008 Q1 Earnings Call Date: April 29, 2008 Program Length: 1:01:34 Website: http://www.REITcafe.com TOPIC: Simon Property Group 2008 Q1 Earnings Call