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This article was written by

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Key Points

• Malaysia & Singapore: PM Anwar secures energy supply assurances, PAS-Bersatu ties strain over political disputes, stricter children’s online safety laws take effect June 1, BTS concert tickets go on sale June 3, and Singapore addresses judicial, diplomatic, and business developments including Singtel’s weakening performance.

• Southeast Asia: Thailand deploys AI for durian exports amid a Pattaya hotel fire; Philippines prepares for ASEAN defence talks; Indonesia extends work-from-home policy; Vietnam dismantles drug rings; Myanmar reopens conflict-affected schools; Cambodia releases rare crocodiles; Laos advances child labour elimination strategy.

• Regional & Global: Quad diplomats meet in Delhi; China deepens Russia alliance and relaxes household registration rules; record 274 climbers scale Everest in one day; Bangladesh police clash with protesters over alleged rape; Samsung workers vote on pay deal; Vance reports progress in Iran nuclear talks.

Malaysia and Singapore: Political Developments and Key Updates

Malaysia saw significant political activity, with PM Anwar holding talks with Tamil Nadu’s chief minister while assuring citizens of stable energy supplies until December. A debt collector pleaded guilty to serious crimes, and stricter online safety laws for children take effect June 1. Political tensions rose between PAS and Bersatu, with PAS chief Hadi warning of a review of mutual ties and issuing a gag order on members. Meanwhile, the government confirmed 85% of consumers are protected from power tariff hikes, and tickets for BTS concerts go on sale June 3.

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Southeast Asia: Security, Economy, and Society

Singapore addressed diverse issues including SM Lee reinforcing Singapore-China ties in AI and ageing sectors, a man jailed for racially motivated assault, and a woman winning an appeal to retain a 99% condo stake. In Thailand, authorities deployed AI to improve durian export quality, while a hotel fire in Pattaya prompted evacuations. The Philippines prepared for high-level ASEAN defence meetings and advanced talks with the US on an economic security zone. Indonesia faced scrutiny over a rail tragedy, formula milk controversies, and commodity export restrictions rattling investors.

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Regional and Global Highlights: Crime, Nature, and Diplomacy

Vietnam made headlines with the auction of a convicted tycoon’s Hermès handbags for over US$500,000, while Ho Chi Minh City police dismantled a major drug ring arresting 140 suspects. Cambodia made a conservation breakthrough by releasing rare Siamese crocodiles into the Srepok River, and Lomphat Wildlife Sanctuary now hosts 308 bird species. On the global stage, Quad diplomats convened in Delhi, China signalled household registration reforms, and scientists discovered a heat-resilient coral refuge in Western Australia, offering rare hope amid climate concerns.

Source : Asean news headlines as of 10pm on Friday (May 22)

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Introduction

The REIT (XLRE) sector has been quietly outperforming, slightly outpacing the S&P (SP500), up close to 9% compared to a little over 8% for the index at the time of writing.

While REITs should be primarily viewed as long-term total return vehicles, I believe the sector could come under pressure in the near term due to long-term treasury volatility as inflation worries grow.

However, this weakness should be viewed as a buying opportunity, as many REITs still trade at attractive valuations compared to the overall market.

One REIT I believe fits that description is Getty Realty Corp. (GTY), a REIT I’ve been bullish on for some time and has quietly outperformed.

In this article, I discuss Getty Realty’s latest earnings, fundamentals, and why- despite the potential to see near-term volatility, the stock remains attractive for long-term income-focused investors.

Previous Buy Thesis

I last covered Getty Realty Corp. back in December in an article titled: A Quality REIT I Think Mr. Market May Be Mispricing.

Since then, Getty’s share price has begun catching up to their fundamentals, with them outperforming the index by a sizable margin. Shares rallied close to 18% compared to roughly 10% in the past 5 months.

During Q3 earnings, GTY saw an acceleration in investment activity. Through the first 3 quarters, investment activity of $237 million exceeded the prior year’s fiscal year total of $209 million.

Management’s strong execution to raise full-year AFFO guidance and raise the dividend 3.2% to $0.485. Still, I believed the market was mispricing them due to their portfolio tenant concentration at a forward P/AFFO multiple of just 11.73x.

Share Price Catching Up To The Fundamentals

Getty Realty Corp. reported their Q1 earnings this past April, with AFFO exceeding analysts’ estimates by a penny. This amounted to $0.63 and rose nearly 7% from the year prior. Realty Income’s (

While Wall Street continues to hit lifetime highs as artificial intelligence stocks rally, legendary investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is sitting on nearly $400 billion in cash, while Michael Burry — best known for correctly predicting the 2008 housing crisis — continues to sound the alarm over a possible AI bubble.

Berkshire Hathaway recently reported a record cash pile near $400 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2026. Earlier this month, Buffett told CNBC that it is not the ideal environment to invest Berkshire’s record cash hoard. Several market analysts explained that the rationale behind this move may be expectations of a sharper crash ahead.

Buffett also played down recent volatility in global markets, suggesting that current conditions are far from the dislocations that historically created major buying opportunities. He pointed out that Berkshire has seen far sharper drawdowns in the past, including declines of more than 50%, adding that the present environment does not warrant aggressive deployment of capital.

Michael Burry, popularly known for correctly predicting the 2008 housing crisis, remained firm on his bets against AI tech giants, triggering AI bubble worries. The analyst in a recent Substack Chat said that he sees many indicators, both technical and fundamental, lining up for the same conclusion as the Dotcom crash.

“1999 went where no market had gone before, and I would say so can this one…It is already there on a number of indicators,” he said, arguing that massive venture capital flows, rising AI debt issuance, and extreme market optimism are creating conditions where valuations may detach from economic reality.

AI boom reshuffles global market order
This comes as the AI boom coupled with the ongoing Iran-US war led to a major reshuffling of the global stock market hierarchy, with South Korea and Taiwan overtaking several long-established Western exchanges.
South Korea’s Kospi has emerged as the shining star among all stock markets so far this year, skyrocketing to fresh lifetime highs last week while most of the global markets crashed. According to a report by The Financial Times, Kospi has surged multi fold in less than 18 months, with this bull run outpacing tech-heavy Nasdaq’s bull run in the 1990s, just before the Dotcom crash.
Despite worries, South Korea has leapfrogged the UK into eighth place, according to HSBC data tracking global equity-market capitalisation rankings, as quoted by CNBC.

Late in April this year, another Asian market boomed. Taiwan’s stock market overtook Canada’s to become the world’s sixth-largest, helped by strong investor demand for artificial intelligence-related stocks and the sharp rise in shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC).

Notably, Taiwan’s stock market was only the world’s twelfth largest in 2004 while South Korea ranked 13th, the report by CNBC further said, highlighting how the market order has changed over the years. Currently, the top 10 stock markets in terms of total market capitalisation, as per data by HSBC quoted by the report are as follows: US, China, Japan, Hong Kong, India, Taiwan, Canada, South Korea, UK and France.

While optimism around AI remains high, the report highlighted that the rally has led to an extreme concentration of capital into a handful of AI firms. TSMC alone accounts for over 40% of Taiwan’s market capitalization, while Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix together make up a record 42.2% of South Korea’s Kospi index, the report said.

Dotcom crash
Around 25 years ago, the roughly five-year dot-com bubble burst, leaving trillions of dollars in investment losses in its wake. Between 1995 and 2000, the S&P 500 nearly tripled while the Nasdaq 100 soared 718%.

However, as the tech bubble driven by extreme enthusiasm around the internet collapsed, more than 80% of Nasdaq’s value was erased and the S&P 500 was almost cut in half by October 2002.

As global markets crashed, Indian equities were no exception. Between 2000 and 2002, the Nifty 50 tumbled roughly 51% peak-to-trough, NSE said. They however soon recovered all losses.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)