Headlines are fascinating things. Absolutely fascinating.

Too often, we read them and think we’ve got the gist of the story. In which case, why should we click through?

We’re busy people with places to go and things to do!

If that’s your mentality – and, let’s face it, it probably is to some degree or another. We all do it from time to time with some topic or another – then consider these two headlines:

• “Airbnb Beats on Top and Bottom Line for Q2,” from Yahoo Finance
• “Airbnb Cuts Loss, Shares Fall as Covid Clouds Forecast,” from Fox Business.

Now, the one was published on Thursday afternoon at 12:24. The other says it was updated around 5:30 Fridaymorning.

But both are featured prominently enough on their respective hosting pages to capture plenty of attention.

So if all you do is read the first headline, you might conclude that Airbnb (ABNB) is worth investing in. Which it might be.

And if all you do is read the second headline, you might conclude that Airbnb isn’t worth investing. Which it might not be.

You’re not going to know one way or the other though without reading past the headlines. Or even past the articles. Successful investing requires more commitment than reading a news story or two.

That’s part of why I provide these hodge-podge informational segments that don’t always directly deal with real estate investment trusts (REITs). In this case, of course, AirBNB is a direct competitor to hotel REITs, so it’s more obviously relevant.

That’s not the case with the next segment. It delves into different areas of the global economy that help make up a single big picture.

Which is still something very much worth knowing about.

Inflation Keeps Coming Up (Sorry)

For starters, Yahoo Finance reports that:

Oil prices fell on Friday morning amid concerns about global trade after China closed part of the world’s third-busiest port.

All container services at Ningbo-Zhoushan port’s Meishan terminal have been halted until further noticed after a worker at the port contracted Covid-19…

The Meishan terminal closure is likely to worsen fears about global supply chain issues, which is fueling global inflation.

The port closure “could add to global supply chain disruptions and become something the market cares about in fairly short order,” said AJ Bell financial analyst Danni Hewson.

That’s especially true when we don’t have a timeline for how long this particular closure will be. The exact same thing happened to another Chinese location back in May, and it shut down for about a month.

Adding to the inflation picture is what former Heinz CEO Bill Johnson told Cavuto: Coast to Coast yesterday. “We’re seeing pressures that we’ve never seen before even across the entire food chain.”

Johnson noted that inflation is having a “huge impact” on “simple things like container costs coming out of Europe or China.”

He pointed out that costs have increased for freight and fuel, “which everyone just sees as a gasoline price, but ultimately dictates the price we pay for packaging, particularly plastic packaging.”

Johnson made the comments one day after the Labor Department reported that its consumer price index rose 5.4% year-over-year in July, matching the prior month’s gain as the fastest since August 2008.

And Fox Business has a featured piece titled, “Inflation Hits Home Appliance Industry, Consumers Pay Up.” In this case, the only way that headline would be more accurate is if it included, “intensely, in some places.”

Welcome to 2021.

The World According to REITs

In and around that intensifying inflation drama, we’ve only got three REIT stories to share. But every one of them revolves around much more welcome kinds of expansion:

• Shareholders in both Realty Income (O) and Vereit (VER) approved all the parts and pieces involved in closing on the two company’s merger. So proceedings will continue, to be completed next quarter.
• Terreno Realty (TRNO) purchased three industrial properties in Seattle, Washington, for about $50 million. Together, they add 11.7 acres of land to the REIT’s portfolio.
• Gladstone Land (LAND) acquired two blueberry farms – one in Kern County, California; the other in Yamhill County, Oregon – for around $42.3 million. As it did, it simultaneously signed triple-net leaseback agreements for 10 and 15 years.

Meanwhile, Ashford Hospitality Trust (AHT) is back to being yesterday’s biggest loser. It’s now down to $14.26 and looking like it’s set to fall further today.

(The Daily REITBeat)