Any mReit Plays out there?

The general consensus I seem to be getting is to stay away from mREITS. I’ve been looking at NYMT, NLY, and AGNC cause they all are around their 52week lows. With the talks of the FED about to taper or not taper this September, I’ve been looking at possible ways to play this. I was thinking of going long on AGNC stock and buying OCT puts on NLY?

My thinking is, if this sector tanks after the FED’s meeting, I could recoup some losses (or even gain) off the put purchase and sell off the put. Or if nothing happens and these REITs stay stable, I would just sell the put(proabably at a loss) and keep AGNC for its high dividend. Any thoughts?

It’s hard to get excited about mortgage REITs, given the interest rate environment. Puts may be the right way to do things, but only because it’s unclear how volatile interest rates will be on the way up. If you have a useful view on that, it may be the right way to play stuff.

I owned HTS for a couple of years, but I sold out in Feb/March of this year. Really glad I did as it started free falling soon after that. I wouldn’t go near them now, way too much fed risk.

Thanks guys. I ended up just buying Sept $11 puts on NLY. I’m banking that these reits slump one more time before the FED meeting in September due to fear/risk or what not.