My Two-for-Tuesday morning train WFH reads:
• We are sleepwalking toward economic catastrophe: The cliff is totally visible in front of us; The future is grim if Congress doesn’t act on the economy. (Vox) see also Political Impasse Over Jobless Claims Just As They Mushroom: We are practically guaranteed to see a horrifically bad jobless claims number (Credit Writedowns)
• How the U.S. Consumer Became the Most Resilient Force in the Economy: Even with that strongly held view, I wouldn’t have predicted just how resilient the consumer would be in their willingness to keep spending. (A Wealth of Common Sense)
• Why Robinhood Day Traders Are Greedy When Wall Street Is Fearful: Pandemic, recession, social unrest—it’s a buying opportunity! (Businessweek) see also Robinwho? A Long Term Investor’s Guide to Order-Flow Selling (ETF Trends)
• A Great Quarter for Wall Street Comes at a Very Awkward Time: Banks profited from volatile stock and bond trading as the pandemic roiled the markets. (Businessweek)
• Hamilton Is Hot in Europe (The Debt Policy, Not the Musical): European Union leaders are jointly issuing 100w of billions of euros in debt, and to some fans of American history, it looks a lot like what Alexander Hamilton proposed in 1789 (Wall Street Journal) see also A return to Keynes and a Cold War: This year will mark a watershed in how spending and deficits are funded. (The Australian)
• Chris Wallace masterfully turned in what might have been the best TV interview ever with President Donald Trump: It was a masterful performance by an extremely prepared, quick on his feet Wallace, who did not hesitate to call out the president on a number of issues that likely will play a key role in deciding the November election. (Poynter)
• Our history is a battle against the microbes: we lost terribly before we developed vaccines to protect ourselves (Our World In Data) see also Your Ancestors Knew Death in Ways You Never Will: Science and public spending have saved us from pandemics worse than this one. (New York Times)
• Majority of Voters Say U.S. Society Is Racist as Support Grows for Black Lives Matter: Substantial shifts in views on race shows, more voters seeing racial bias as a feature of American society and support protests aimed at addressing it. (Wall Street Journal)
• Deep South supermarket Winn-Dixie takes a stand: No masks required: With stores in five states that went for Trump in the last election, Winn-Dixie clung to its ‘no face-coverings required’ policy. (Washington Post) see also Walmart Workers Are Terrified of Enforcing Mask Rules: “I asked a customer if they had a mask, and she walked by me, completely ignored me as if I did not exist. Another swore, ‘That’s f*cking bullshit, f*ck this place.’” (Daily Beast)
• Colin Jost has a new memoir — and some thoughts on the end of his SNL run: “The chapter about how many times I pooped my pants was pretty enjoyable,” Jost says. “That was cathartic.” (Washington Post)
Be sure to check out our Masters in Business interview this weekend with Martin Franklin of Mariposa Capital. Franklin is credited with successfully reviving the use of SPACs, or blank check companies, as public vehicles for long term M&A.
Caution: much more Social Media ahead
Source: Om
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