September 3, 2011
I urge you not to propose or make changes to the rules regarding mortgage REITs. Countless small investors, myself included, have invested in these REITs (such as NLY) to make up heavy portfolio losses through income.
Through no fault of our own, recent market downturns have decimated the accounts of small investors. Mortgage REITs are one of the few vehicles left available to us to begin to recover our losses, at least until interest rates rise.
Since the Fed has indicated that interest rates will remain low for about 2 years, many of us small investors have placed significant amounts of investment capital into mortgage REITs such as NLY, which should flourish in a low interest rate environment.
So please do not change the rules until the Fed raises interest rates at the very least, which is when many of us will get out of these REITs naturally. Thank you.