By Jared Oakes and Barry Guttman ( August 1, 2018, 1:48 PM EDT) -- Don't believe everything you read about retail commercial real estate. If you just looked at the headlines, then you would see that, since reaching a peak of 146.51 on July 25, 2016, the Dow Jones U.S. Retail REIT Index has fallen to 106.15 as of July 25, 2018.[1] You would see that there's been increased talk of consolidation and elevated M&A activity in the retail real estate investment trust world[2] and, as indicated by Brookfield Property Partners LP's agreement to purchase GGP Inc.,[3] REITs are being taken private. You would see articles about dozens of retailers declaring or about to declare bankruptcy[4] and predictions that retail CRE is dead or dying.[5]...