Leading net-lease retail real estate investment trust Realty Income Corporation (NYSE: O) performed extremely well in 2016 -- until August. Unemployment hit a record low in late 2016, and GDP growth and inflation data pointed toward a Federal Reserve rate hike and the expectation of a rising-rate environment for the next few years. The point is that while Realty Income's stock price can fluctuate quite a lot over short periods of time, investors should feel confident from a long-term perspective.