Choppy times

This has been an excellent month for the markets, coming off severely depressed levels. But enthusiasm for stocks has waned in the last week. Much of this week stocks have been trading sideways to down on Fri as shown below:

Dow vs Alerian MLP Index - 1 month




Dow vs Dow Jones REIT Index - 1 month




The MLP line, shown in the first graph, recently leveled off in the 190-200 trading. REITs, in the 2nd graph, have had a choppy time of it in the last couple of weeks. Among other problems, Simon Property (SPG), Vornado (VNO) & UDR (UDR) have been giving stockholders an option to substitute stock divs for the cash divs. More REITs will do this as conserving cash has become king this year & that may take time for the markets to adjust to. Adjusting means adding to selling pressure.

• REITs Paying Dividends In Stock, Not Cashat Investopedia(Thu, Mar 26)