Market News

The Baird-STR Hotel Stock Index — comprising 20 of the largest hotel companies publicly traded on a U.S. stock exchange by market capitalization — was down 2.8% from April to May, underperforming the S&P 500 which grew by 0.5% for the month. Year to date as of May 28, the hotel stock index value has grown 12.8%.

Bank deposits have continued to surge this year. Between late March and May 26, they rose by $411 billion to $17.09 trillion. That is slower than the pace last spring, but still nearly four times the average of the past 20 years.

The Federal Reserve will begin selling off the corporate bonds and exchange-traded funds it amassed last year through an emergency-lending vehicle set up to contain the Covid-19 pandemic’s economic fallout. The Secondary Market Corporate Credit Facility holds $5.21 billion of bonds and $8.56 billion of exchange-traded funds that hold corporate debt.

Blackstone Group Inc. has struck a roughly $6.7 billion deal to buy QTS Realty Trust Inc. and take the data-center operator private.

Four NBA All-Stars are helping fund a new Harvard University real-estate development, joining more than 150 Black and Latino professionals in backing the roughly $1 billion project.

Projections show roughly 0.5% supply growth compared to the long-term average of about 2%. The average time it takes the industry to grow from its low supply pace back to its long term average is about five years.

Corporate trips remain 70% or more below pre-pandemic levels, according to airlines.

Hospitality jobs are rising but are still lower than a year ago. On the job site Indeed, hospitality and tourism job postings were 6.7% lower as of May 14 than on Feb. 1, 2020.

Year to date, U.S. hotels have sold an average of 56,000 group rooms per night, compared to 246,000 group rooms per night in 2019.

One hundred twenty-five years ago, the Dow Jones Industrial Average made its debut. The index of 12 smokestack companies closed that first trading day, May 26, 1896, at 40.94.