REIT Labeled 'Bear of the Day'

Liberty Property Trust, Malvern, Pa., has been designated the "Bear of the Day" for April 30 by Zacks Equity Research, Chicago. The Bear of the Day is a stock expected to underperform the markets over the next three to six months. Zacks said the commercial real estate investment trust's operations "are holding up relatively well in the company's core portfolio, although overall vacancies are increasing," and noted its "attractive yield, now over 7%, although the dividend is barely being covered with operating cash." Office and industrial markets are weakening throughout the United States, Zacks said. "Liberty has a large development pipeline that is only mildly pre-leased, and poses risk should the economy continue to soften in 2008," the research firm said. Zacks can be found online at http://www.zacks.com, and Liberty Property Trust can be found at http://www.libertyproperty.com.