Sweden’s largest pension fund fired its Chief Executive Officer on Tuesday after a bad bet on US banks led to billions of dollars in losses, reported Bloomberg. 

Alecta, which has $115 billion of assets under management and oversees the savings of 2.6 million Swedes, published a statement on Tuesday that the board decided CEO Magnus Billing would leave immediately to “restore trust” after his investment strategy “seriously damaged confidence.” 

Deputy CEO Katarina Thorslund has been appointed acting CEO, and the Swedish fund has started the process of finding a new leader. 

The firing of Billing comes as the pension had “investments in three American niche banks led to large losses,” the fund said. It had large positions in Silicon Valley Bank parent SVB Financial Group, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank. As a result of the bank failures, it lost SKr19.6bn ($1.9bn), or about 2% of its capital. 

“No other pension fund had bet on the three niche US banks to the extent that Alecta had,” Bloomberg pointed out. 

Last week, the fund’s head of equity portfolio management, Liselott Ledin, was placed on leave. Alecta said it would reduce stakes in companies “far away from home.” 

Chairman Ingrid Bonde called Ledin’s overseas investment strategies “unusually inept.” Sweden’s financial regulator is looking into the losses. 

Billing has admitted the investment in the US banks was a “big failure,” but he’s responded to critics by saying the losses were only 2% of the fund’s capital. However, the Swedish National Pensioners’ Organization wasn’t happy with his comments, saying the money is “people’s wages,” implying that every loss ought to be treated with seriousness. 

The below is an incredibly revealing interview clip featuring Republican Representative from Texas Michael McCaul. In the exchange with Chuck Todd of NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, McCaul bluntly states (or perhaps inadvertently admits) that he’s willing to go to war with China over Taiwan based on protecting the world’s semiconductor supply. Importantly, he is the powerful chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“Make the basic case for why Americans not only should care about what happens in Taiwan, but should be willing to spill American blood and treasure to defend Taiwan,” Todd asked at the outset of the interview. Rep. McCaul responded immediately that “no one wants that” and this it’s about “deterrence”.

But then he did get to directly addressing the question, and he began by emphasizing that “About 50 percent of international trade goes through the international straits, but I think more importantly, Chuck, is that [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company] manufactures 90 percent of the global supply of advanced semiconductor chips. If China invades and either owns or breaks this, we’re in a world of hurt globally.” So he fundamentally responded to a question over whether the US “should be willing to spill blood and treasure” by stressing that it’s about protecting semiconductor chips.

Chuck Todd: Make the case for why Americans should be willing to go to war over Taiwan
Michael McCaul: Well it’s about controlling semiconductors
Todd: So kind of like fighting wars for oil?
McCaul: Uhh, well actually it’s about protecting democracy and freedom pic.twitter.com/CLcPDRyx3T

— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) April 10, 2023

Todd then points out that McCaul essentially just said that American troops should go fight and die merely to protect industrial resources, questioning, “Congressman it almost sounds like the case that would be made in the 60s, 70s, and 80s of why America was spending so much money and military resources in the Middle East.”

“Oil was so important for the economy. Is this sort of the 21st century version of that?” Todd posed. McCaul then hesitantly changed his response, saying it’s more about “protecting democracy and freedom”. 

McCaul was being challenged on comments he recently made about US troops being on the table in order to stand up to China…

We should note that it’s very likely that the majority of Americans might have trouble finding Taiwan on a map, and after two decades of ‘forever wars’ in the Middle East, and now at the moment of many tens of billions of taxpayer dollars being handed over to Ukraine, opening up a new conflict “front” with China over Taiwan would be deeply unpopular, to say the least.

Few FBI blunders of late likely compare to what just happened in Boston last week, when Federal Agents on a training mission wound up barging into the wrong hotel room and inadvertently interrogating an innocent hotel guest who was sleeping for nearly 45 minutes.

The bizarre mistake, outlined by NPR last week, occurred during a training exercise at a Boston hotel.

An innocent guest was sleeping at his room at the Revere Hotel when Federal Agents began banging on his door “and demanding to be let in”, the report says. Agents then handcuffed the innocent man, isolated him in the shower and interrogated him for more than 45 minutes before ever realizing they had made a mistake. 

Lt. Col. Mike Burns, spokesperson for U.S. Army Special Operations Command, commented on the blunder: “First and foremost, we’d like to extend our deepest apologies to the individual who was affected by the training exercise.”

The U.S. Army Special Operations Command was in tow with the FBI conducting “essential military training”. Burns continued: “The training was meant to enhance soldiers’ skills to operate in realistic and unfamiliar environments. The training team, unfortunately, entered the wrong room and detained an individual unaffiliated with the exercise.”

The FBI-Boston Division said they were “mistakenly sent” to the wrong room “based on inaccurate information”, NPR wrote. The man in the hotel room was in his 30s and was an employee of Delta Air Lines. 

Boston Police were eventually called to the building and officers confirmed it was a training exercise that had gone wrong. 

Delta said it was looking into “reports of an alleged incident in Boston that may involve Delta people.” They added: “We have nothing further to share at this time other than to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of our people.”

“The safety of civilians in [the] vicinity of our training is always our number one concern,” Burns continued. 

Adding to the ever-growing list of retail stores panic exiting Downtown San Francisco is one of the largest supermarkets, the Whole Foods Market at Eighth and Market Streets. A combination of soaring retail theft, out-of-control violent crime, and lawless streets are some of the reasons for its closure.

“We are closing our Trinity location only for the time being. 

“If we feel we can ensure the safety of our team members in the store, we will evaluate a reopening of our Trinity location,” a Whole Foods spokesperson told The San Francisco Standard in a statement.  

A city government insider told The Standard that Whole Foods’ decision to close up shop at the Trinity location was entirely based on “deteriorating street conditions around drug use and crime near the grocery store.” 

The beleaguered grocery store on Market Street slashed its operating hours due to “high theft” and hostile visitors in October of last year, according to one of the store’s managers. And in November, the store enforced new bathroom rules after syringes and pipes were found in the restroom. — The Standard.

There’s no one else to blame but San Francisco’s progressive leaders, who have turned a blind eye to crime and championed criminal justice reform. Due to these unsuccessful policies, the downtown district’s streets have become unsafe, and some streets almost resemble third-world countries. 

Whole Foods is one of many businesses shuttering retail outlets in the struggling progressive city. Walgreens Pharmacy has been one of the most high-profile names, closing at least 17 stores, if not more, due to a significant rise in retail theft. 

Some San Franciscans have had enough of failed city leadership. Last year, residents voted Soros-Backed Uber-Progressive Chesa Boudin out of office. 

And the reality of hard-left governance is only hurting the everyday law-abiding San Franciscans who have no means to defend themselves against criminals and now have to travel even more distance to other retail stores because ones in their neighborhood are closing up shop. 

Maybe with Boudin out, San Franciscans are finally learning the ‘liberal utopia’ isn’t any utopia but a hellhole, equivalent to Baltimore or Detroit. 

Authored by Matt Paprocki via RealClear Wire,

Socialism hasn’t always been mainstream. It started off as radical: too hot to touch. So in 2010, radical new leadership of the Chicago Teachers Union started slowly.

“Convincing our members to wear a red T-shirt on Friday was a task,” said Brandon Johnson, who on April 4 became mayor-elect in Chicago. He was speaking at the Socialism 2013 conference about his push to normalize radical progressive politics among rank-and-file Chicago teachers. “Took us a year to convince [Chicago Teachers Union] members that it’s OK to associate yourself with labor. The baby Socialists would just wear the buttons, right? You gotta start them off gently. And so eventually, they started putting on red T-shirts.”

Those red shirts flooded the city of Chicago in 2012, as teachers union members packed city trains, crowded city streets, and abandoned city schools during one of the most militant and contentious teacher strikes in the city’s history. 

The red shirts have become a constant symbol of CTU’s growing power. Since the 2012 strike, CTU has only grown stronger under the watchful eyes of uber-progressive leaders such as Karen Lewis, Jackson Potter, Jesse Sharkey, and current CTU president Stacey Davis Gates.

CTU leadership’s brand of union politics has little to do with students and teacher representation and more to do with an expansive political agenda that includes defunding the police, hiking taxes (on “the rich,” broadly), and pumping more city resources into the Chicago Public Schools system, where classroom spending is way up and student outcomes way down since the Caucus of Rank and File Educators rose to power.

Since 2010, CTU has drawn the blueprint for how to seize control over America’s largest cities. The union runs the schools, holding as hostage Chicago kids and families whenever union bosses are unhappy with management. They also donate to the bulk of the Chicago City Council, having contributed financially to 34 of Chicago’s 50 current aldermen.

But their reach expands beyond the city to politicians in the Illinois statehouse. In total, CTU since 2010 has spent at least $19 million on politics in Illinois, including over $2.5 million to Illinois Senate and House candidates.

Even Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker likes to cater to the CTU, passing a law that gave the union more leverage in contract negotiations and more opportunities to go on strike. By contrast, eight of the nation’s 10 largest school districts prohibit teacher strikes.

The consequences of increased CTU power and the ideology they’ve pushed on Chicago are clear. 

There have been five work stoppages – in 2012, 2016, 2019, 2021, and 2022 – since CORE took over. The city has increased spending by 55% since then, but nearly 80% of Chicago 11th graders could not read or perform math at grade level, according to state data from 2022. Meanwhile, nearly half of CPS students are chronically absent. Nearly 90,000 students have left the district since 2010, and nearly one-third of CPS schools are half full.

With results like that, the union still clamors for more power. And they take out anyone who stands in their way. After beloved CPS teacher Joe Ocol refused to walk out on his students during the 2016 teacher strike, he was kicked out of CTU and asked to give up his pay.

Ifeoma Nkemdi refused to leave the classroom during the 2019 walkout, too. She said union members vulgarly threatened and harassed her, surrounding her in the parking lot as she crossed the picket line. 

“Students need to be in the classroom,” Nkemdi said. “We can negotiate while teaching.”

The political ambition of union leadership has gotten so out of hand that a handful of teachers have taken the brave step of suing their union, filing an unfair labor practice claim because the union won’t stop violating its own rules by taking member dues and funneling them into political spending – namely, Johnson’s mayoral campaign.

Chicagoans started to catch on to CTU’s political ambitions and corruption as the election cycle played out, with CTU favorables dropping precipitously from +17 to +2 during election season. Parents already knew how bad CTU’s influence could be – 52% of Chicago parents polled just weeks before the election said CTU had too much power over city government. Unfortunately, it was too late to stop CTU from seizing the mayor’s office.

So what now? Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, invested heavily in Johnson after an embarrassing loss in the Virginia gubernatorial election. She spent time stumping for the CTU’s candidate ahead of Election Day.

Why? She smells opportunity to replicate teachers union efforts to win major political offices in other cities. What union boss wouldn’t want to sit across from one of their own at the bargaining table? Winning the mayor’s office in Chicago is the perfect way to cut out the middleman. The Chicago election made one thing very clear: Teachers union leadership is more political than ever, and their focus has shifted from kids and teachers to gathering power.

Chicago is the first city to hold major mayoral elections in 2023. Others will follow later this year, including Houston and Philadelphia.

“From Philly to Chicago, a movement of educators fought against decades of austerity, anti-teacher, school closing policies and now we are remaking our cities,” tweeted Philadelphia mayoral candidate Helen Gym, a former teacher turned social justice movement leader, after Johnson declared victory. Like Johnson, she has the backing of her city’s local AFT union affiliate. “Joyful for Chicago. We got next Philly!”

Voters in those cities should keep an eye on Weingarten’s travel itinerary. They may be next.

Matt Paprocki is president and CEO of the Illinois Policy Institute, a free market think tank based in Chicago.

Authored by Dr. Sean Lin and Jacky Guan via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Salmonella is perhaps the most common cause of food poisoning. It has the advantage of being able to infect a wide range of hosts and survive in habitats ranging from animal fur to lettuce leaves. However, a rising trend of drug-resistant Salmonella cases (pdf), as indicated in a review published in the journal Foods, points to the need for improved detection and prevention methods.

Salmonella Essentials

As a key cause of diarrheal diseases and the cause of typhoid fever, Salmonella strains are responsible for causing 1.2 million illnesses annually. First and foremost, the gram-negative bacteria are known for causing stomach pains and diarrhea when a person eats something that has “gone bad.” Salmonella has about 2,500 variants and is responsible for the hospitalization of more than 25,000 people, as well as the deaths of over 400 each year in the United States alone.

Aside from stomach cramps and diarrhea, Salmonella infection can cause fever, nausea, vomiting, and a rather formidable headache. In addition, an infection caused by Salmonella Typhi could lead to typhoid fever. Along with the other aforementioned symptoms, typhoid fever leads to a skin rash and muscle weakness, and a fever as high as 103 to 104 F (39 to 40 C).

Salmonella bacteria are especially difficult to address due to the wide range of hosts and environments in which they can survive. They are nearly ubiquitous as they can live within birds, reptiles, amphibians, and most household pets. Aside from that, they can survive in frozen, fresh, and even processed goods, which is why you hear about Salmonella outbreaks popping up here and there in everything from salami sticks to “raw frozen breaded stuffed chicken products.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recorded a long list of Salmonella outbreaks starting from 2006. Usually, symptoms begin to appear six hours to six days after infection and last anywhere from four days to a week. However, people may also experience a lengthy period of symptoms that extends across many weeks, or no symptoms at all.

Salmonella diagnosis is usually performed in a laboratory and requires individual samples of blood, body tissue, or fluids. The diagnosis might take anywhere between one and five days, depending on the samples.

Salmonella treatment is usually supportive rather than targeted because, most of the time, drugs actually don’t help much. Fluid restoration is crucial as diarrhea caused by the disease tends to dehydrate the body. Plenty of rest is also highly recommended.

Antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, azithromycin, and ceftriaxone are sometimes needed to treat patients with severe Salmonella infections. However, Salmonella infections with drug-resistant strains can be severer and have higher hospitalization rates.

Multidrug-Resistant Salmonella: What Do We Do?

The rise of drug-resistant strains of Salmonella is also part of the reason why Salmonella treatment is usually only supportive. The doctor can prescribe you anti-diarrhea medicine or antibiotics, but you’ll run some risks while taking those drugs. For one, diarrhea medication might prolong the duration of symptoms while the infection runs its course. Antibiotics aren’t usually recommended either, as they may be unnecessary and cause more harm than positive results.

Salmonella usually infect the intestines and usually won’t land in the bloodstream. Antibiotics, on the other hand, are usually for treating diseases that infect the bloodstream, which means that there essentially is no point in taking them in the first place. Additionally, excessive use of antibiotics has led to an increase in drug-resistant Salmonella.

At least 100,000 infections in the United States alone are due to antibiotic-resistant Salmonella, including strains that are resistant to ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin, according to the Foods review. There have also been Salmonella outbreaks that involved strains resistant to multiple antibiotics, including ampicillin, streptomycin, sulfisoxazole, and tetracycline.

Read more here…

One would think that judging by last night’s weaker than expected CPI print (which the Fed would kill for), China is done flooding its economy with loans and various shadow debt instruments. One would be wrong.

First things first, on Tuesday China Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that March CPI fell to +0.7% yoy (vs. +1.0% consensus estimate and 1.0% in February ) and the lowest monthly increase since Sept 2021 due to a high base.

• Food CPI: +2.4% yoy in March (+5.1% mom annualized*) vs. +2.6% yoy in February, primarily due to a high base of vegetable prices from cold weather and Covid restrictions last year. Inflation in fresh vegetables fell to -11.1% yoy in March from -3.8% yoy in February, while inflation in pork prices rose to +9.6% yoy in March from +3.9% yoy in February.
• Non-food CPI: +0.3% yoy in March (+7.6% mom annualized*) vs. +0.6% yoy in February on falling crude oil prices and automobile price cuts. Specifically, fuel cost inflation fell to -6.4% yoy in March (vs. +0.5% yoy in February). Inflation in transportation equipment fell to -3.3% yoy in March (vs. -1.8% in February).

Core CPI inflation (headline CPI excluding food and energy) edged up to +0.7% yoy in March (vs. +0.6% in February), and inflation in services rose to +0.8% yoy in March (vs. +0.6% in February).

At the same time, PPI inflation fell to -2.5% Y/Y in March from -1.4% yoy in February, in line with consensus, and the lowest since June 2020 primarily on a high base of commodity prices. PPI inflation in producer goods fell to -3.4% yoy in March from -2.0% yoy in February, and PPI inflation in consumer goods edged down to +0.9% yoy in March (vs. +1.1% yoy in February). NBS commented that improved demand and accelerated infrastructure projects drove up PPIs of cement and steel sectors sequentially, but year-over-year PPI inflation fell due to a high base last year.

As Goldman summarizes, the data have continued to surprise to the downside and companies appear to be reluctant to raise prices (in order to stay competitive), and so the bank has revised down its full-year 2023 forecasts of headline CPI and PPI inflation to 1.8% yoy and -1.0% yoy, respectively vs. 2.2% and -0.5% previously. Looking ahead, the bank expects headline CPI inflation in year-over-year terms to accelerate modestly in the coming months on an economic rebound, though it should remain well below the PBOC’s 3% target. PPI deflation may continue in the coming months.

Ok so if both CPI and PPI missed and continued to slide, that’s hardly the sign of an economy that is about to rebound, or one that is seeing an active credit stimulus. Maybe, but it’s not for lack of trying because as China also reported overnight in March loans and Total Social Financing data came in well above expectations, a sign that the central bank’s moves to unleash more long-term liquidity into the economy and support bank lending is rapidly fueling investment activity.

Specifically, total RMB loans surprised the market to the upside mainly on stronger medium to long term loans – both households’ medium to long term new borrowing (mostly mortgages) and corporates’ medium to long term new borrowing improved in March. In contrast, bill financing and households’ short-term loan growth slowed in March vs February.

Here are the main numbers reported by the PBOC:

• New CNY loans 3890bn yuan in March vs. Bloomberg consensus: RMB 3300 bn
  • Outstanding CNY loan growth: 11.8% yoy in March up from 11.6% yoy in February
• Total social financing (TSF) 5,387bn yuan in March, vs. consensus 4565bn yuan. This was a record high TSF injection for the month of March
  • TSF stock growth: 10.0% yoy in March, vs. 9.9% in February. The implied month-on-month growth of TSF stock: 14.4% in March vs. 17.8% in February.
• M2: 12.7% yoy in March vs. Bloomberg consensus: 12.7% yoy and down from February’s 12.9% yoy.

New corporate mid and long-term loans — an indicator of their willingness to invest in new projects and capacities — jumped from a year ago. Government bond issuance remained robust, as local authorities have announced plans to raise spending on major construction projects by 17% this year.

While credit growth usually picks up at the end of each quarter as banks rush to meet lending targets. But lending and financing activities were also stronger than expected in the first two months of this year, as government bond issuance surged and corporate credit demand began to recover following the abandonment of Covid restrictions.

This composition of loan data suggests further improvement in credit demand in the month, although news reports suggested some signs of financial re-leveraging amid falling loan interest rates. Total social financing month-over-month annualized growth slowed from the very fast pace in February, mainly on the back of lower corporate and government bond issuance. M2 month-over-month growth accelerated in March on the back of strong credit data.

As noted above, in a sign of recovering housing demand across the country, new household mid- and long-term loans, a proxy for mortgages, picked up strongly to the highest level since January 2022.

That’s right, China is quietly reflating the world’s biggest asset class bubble.

While this continuous injection of massive amounts of credit into the economy has failed to manifest itself in faster growth and higher prices so far, it’s only a matter of time now: after all, it is now clear that Beijing wants a full-blown economic liftoff and it is willing to risk reflating another credit bubble to get there. 

Indeed, the PBOC has stepped up cash injections to help banks cope with tighter liquidity. It unleashed 500 billion yuan of long-term cash into the banking system by cutting the reserve requirement ratio last month, according to estimates by Bloomberg Economics. The central bank also added the most cash in over two years through its monthly medium-term loans operation in March.

“If the trend in credit growth extends into April and May, it would translate into significant support for the economy’s recovery through investment financing,” said Raymond Yeung, chief economist for Greater China at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, quoted by Bloomberg.

“The figures show firms are making greater use of the government’s loan supports. They also show a recovery in household demand for mortgages — another sign that the property market slump is starting to ease. We see credit growth continuing to climb in 2Q, albeit gradually, supported by a looser policy stance and a broader recovery in demand” said Bloomberg economist Eric Zhu.

As if RRR cuts and injecting record loans into the economy was not enough, some economists, including Bloomberg Economics’ David Qu, forecast continue easing by Beijing and forecast a cut in the policy interest rate in the second quarter. Policy easing expectations continued to grow Tuesday after authorities reported weak inflation data, with bonds rallying as the yield on 10-year government notes booked the biggest one-day drop since the middle of December.

Bottom line: the 2008 deja vu meter just went off the charts, because while the US is about to sink into a recession with commercial real estate set to fall all off a cliff, it is once again China that is – willingly or otherwise – set to serve as the world’s growth dynamo at a time when the entire developed world is about to max out at the same time. This is precisely what happened in 2008 when China unleashed the biggest credit expansion in modern history, sparking not only historic growth spree but also an exponential debt increase that sent China’s debt to over 300% of GDP.

What happens next? Keep an eye on China’s credit impulse – this most leading indicator of the global reflationary cycle – which is about to rise above its two year highs after which it will again be on its way to new all time highs.

Authored by Bryan Jung via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Online grocery prices continued to rise by double-digits in March, as inflation continues to bite.

Although online grocery prices have eased over the past six months, costs were up 10.3 percent in March from the previous year, according to the Adobe Digital Price Index on April 10.

Adobe analyzed 1 trillion visits to retail sites and more than 100 million items across 18 product categories to track price changes.

There was a 0.4 percent rise in the growth of food prices from February, which had been slowing since their height last September, when they hit a record 14.3 percent year-over-year increase.

Online grocery prices closely follow the food category in the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Hit With Persistent Inflation

Online food prices are expected to grow more slowly in 2023 compared to the previous year, but still above historical averages, according to Adobe.

The March CPI report projected that food prices would increase by 7.5 percent in 2023, particularly for nine additional food categories, which have experienced consistent growth since last year.

The category expected to see the largest surge in prices is eggs, which saw an estimated rise of 29.6 percent, after taking into consideration the volatility of the industry.

Costs are expected to rise for poultry by 3.4 percent, dairy products by 6.4 percent, fats and oils by 15.4 percent, processed fruits and vegetables by 11.4 percent, sugar based products by 11.1 percent, cereals and bakery products by 11.7 percent, nonalcoholic beverages by 10.7 percent, and other foods by 8.5 percent.

Meanwhile, beef and veal prices are predicted to decrease by 1.0 percent in 2023, while pork prices would fall by 0.8 percent.

Fresh fruit and vegetable prices are projected to see continuous growth by the end of the year, with fruit to grow by 0.6 percent and vegetables by 1.3 percent.

Despite persistent inflation, customers are still buying groceries online, with Adobe reporting last month the biggest jump in sales for that category last year, with spending rising by 10.8 percent, to $86.8 billion.

A separate report by Coresight Research on April 9, also said that despite inflation, online grocery sales are continuing to grow, despite a slowdown in expansion.

It notes that the COVID-19 pandemic made consumers more habitually used to shopping online for non-food grocery categories “to a greater extent” than food.

Coresight cited research revealing that grocery inflation boosted foot traffic at discount grocery stores such as Aldi and at large warehouse sized retailers like Walmart, Kroger, and Costco.

Read more here…

Blackstone may have blocked investor redemptions from its REIT fund for the fourth month in a row, but that does not mean the CRE giant and world’s largest commercial landlord is sitting on its hands as the CRE crisis goes from bad to worse.

On Tuesday, Blackstone announced it had raised $30.4 billion for its latest global real estate fund – the largest private equity drawdown fund ever raised – targeting opportunistic deals across sectors such as rental housing, hospitality and data centers as the private equity behemoth looks to double down on the industry. The fund, called Blackstone Real Estate Partners X, is 48% bigger than the asset management giant’s previous real estate fund which closed in 2019, and is the largest of that type, according to PitchBook data going back to 2002.

Ken Caplan, Global Co-Head of Blackstone Real Estate, said, “We believe the current market is tailor-made for Blackstone Real Estate. We have made some of our best investments in periods characterized by the market volatility and dislocation we see today. Furthermore, sector selection has never been more critical as we witness the bifurcation of performance within real estate, which is favoring our high-conviction themes.” There was no mention of the ongoing redemption halt at the company’s massive BREIT fund.

“Pullback with all forms of capital will create opportunities,” said Kathleen McCarthy, global co-head of Blackstone Real Estate. “We can use our capital and expertise to capitalize on the moment for our investors.”

In other words, even as existing Blackstone investments are deeply underwater, the PE giant which now has $326 billion of investor capital under management – will seek to purchase distressed CRE assets during the coming downcycle,  becoming even more entrenched and an even greater monopoly in the sector.

Blackstone – the largest owner of commercial real estate globally – has been focusing its portfolio on logistics, rental housing, hospitality, lab office and data centers, shifting away from assets like traditional office and malls that are facing headwinds from a post-pandemic adoption of flexible work and surge in e-commerce, Reuters reported.

As we have been reporting extensively, the commercial real estate market – especially the office and mall segments – have come under huge stress over the past year due to a pullback across commercial-property lending, as borrowing costs skyrocketed. At the same time, the stocks of public real estate investment trusts have also suffered amid the uncertainty in the market and increasing concerns about certain property types such as offices.

The firm started to raise money for the large property drawdown fund last year. Three of its strategies – global, Asia and Europe – now have a total of $50 billion in capital commitments, the firm said.

WW International, previously known as “Weight Watchers,” jumped 46% Tuesday morning after the company said it completed the acquisition of a telehealth provider that will help it tap into the booming market for new obesity drugs. Adding more bullishness today was a note by Goldman Sachs, upgrading the stock to a “buy” from “neutral.” 

WW’s deal for subscription telehealth platform “Sequence,” which prescribes weight-management and diabetes drugs, was first announced in March. Back then, shares soared more than 79% to a seven-month high of around $7 handle on March 7 but quickly fell back to the $4 handle as shorts piled in.

In combination with the deal closing, Goldman Sachs analyst Jason English upgraded his rating on the stock to buy from neutral following the acquisition of Sequence. 

“With the now completed acquisition of Sequence, WW will begin to offer a pharmaceutical based clinical subscription service that it can integrate with its legacy behavioral based weight management offering.

“With this new service offering we expect a cohort of consumers to turn to it for help navigating what is poised to be an increasingly complex field of pharmaceutical solutions given its legacy brand equity/credibility in the weight management field and its ability to reach an extensive database of current (4M) and lapsed (20M) WW program users who have previously demonstrated a willingness to pay for help,” English wrote. 

The WW turnaround emerges as the GS team estimates peak obesity market sales will be north of $30 billion by 2032 for certain pharmaceutical products. Several big pharma companies, including Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Zealand, among others, have trials and product launches of their obesity drugs planned this year. 

“Our top-down build suggests over 15mn addressable users today and likely doubling by 2030,” English wrote. 

WW is at a pivotal point where it’s building new capabilities that expand its market to offer new drugs to ‘make America slim again.’ 

English revised GS’ 12-month price target for WW to $13.00, a significant increase from the previous $3.80, in light of the sweeping changes at the company.

Shares of WW soared as high as 46% this morning, the most significant gain since the March 7 surge. Propelling the move today is also an abundance of shorts who piled in after shares peaked around the $7 handle last month. About 8.2 million shares are short, equating to about 15% of the float. 

With the now-completed acquisition of Sequence, WW will be able to capitalize off tens of millions of obese Americans with new pharmaceutical drugs to tackle weight loss. 

WW should consider an advertising campaign titled: ‘Make America Slim Again’…