Following forced closures from economic lockdowns, retailers are forced to once again close temporarily to limit damage from riots that have sprung up.
The latest results of the vote counting has Biden leading in the swing states of Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. He only needs to win in one of these states to win the election. Nonetheless, the civil unrest can worsen when the final result for the U.S. presidential election is announced.
The Hill reported that more than 3,600 National Guard service members have been deployed across the country to help with cybersecurity, deal with protests, and assist at polling locations.
Buy Brookfield Property on sale
The riots can trigger another crash in Brookfield Property Partners (TSX:BPY.UN)(NASDAQ:BPY). In the market crash earlier this year, the real estate stock fell more than 60% from peak to trough.
As a top-tier operator and manager of quality real estate assets, the stock steadily but surely recovered from the low in March — essentially doubling from the bottom.
The riots can dampen results on top of the weight that the novel coronavirus is already putting on Brookfield Property Partners. Currently, the stock is depressed and yields 9.4%. The stock would be a more wonderful buy in another crash.
The company can maintain its big dividend with cash on hand. It has US$6 billion of liquidity, including US$1.6 billion of cash, which is more than enough for it to pay one year of dividends.
BPY’s year-to-date results
In the first nine months, the real estate company reported company funds from operations (FFO) that declined 33% year over year to US$648 million.
Other than earning rental income from its properties, BPY also sells assets as a part of its business model. In the period, it only managed to book gains of US$17 million from asset sales versus US$87 million in the same period in the prior year. It reported company FFO and realized gains per unit of US$0.68, down 38%. Consequently, its payout ratio was elevated to 147% for the period.
BPY’s Q3 results
Brookfield Property’s core office portfolio generated FFO of US$141 million in Q3, up 3% year over year. Although occupancy slipped 1.6%, the overall occupancy of 90.7% is still pretty strong. Additionally, its remaining weighted average lease term of 8.3 years should provide time for the economy to improve.
Its core retail portfolio generated FFO of US$97 million, down 44% year over year due largely to economic lockdowns. Interestingly, at the end of the quarter, a high percentage (93.4%) of its properties were leased, down only 1.6% versus the same period last year.
Its opportunistic portfolio earned US$26 million, down from US$74 million in Q3 2019. It was primarily impacted by its hospitality investments that are hit hard by the pandemic and lower contributions from its multifamily business from asset sales in 2019.
Buy Shopify stock in a market crash
Shopify (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP) continues to be among the most expensive but highest-growth stocks on the market. The market crash earlier this year triggered a selloff of 50% in the high-growth stock from peak to trough. Shopify stock rebounded very quickly from the trough, though. So, there was only a window of opportunity to buy the stock at its lows.
If a market crash occurs again this year, it could cause another crash in Shopify. If so, embrace the opportunity to back up the truck! The stock is consolidating in a sideways channel now.
Investors who are very eager to buy shares of the e-commerce name can even consider buying a partial position when it trades at the bottom of the channel at about $1,200 (or US$900) per share.
