There’s a Significant Risk of Cascading Defaults in Form of a “Debtors’ Strike” by Karen Parker Feld • Apr 17, 2020 • 275 Comments The bailouts are better described as an organized protection racket run by banks, hedge funds, private equity investors, and large corporations.
Fed Massively Tapered QE-4. Hasn’t Bought Any Junk Bonds, Was Just Jawboning by Wolf Richter • Apr 17, 2020 • 128 Comments Helicopter Money for Wall Street & the Wealthy: $2.06 Trillion in 5 Weeks. Regular folks, forget it.
How Will Covid-19 Lockdowns Hit the Housing Market? It Gets a Little Clearer by Wolf Richter • Apr 16, 2020 • 167 Comments “In May, what market? I don’t see no market”: Realtor.
Week Four of the U.S. Labor Market Collapse by Wolf Richter • Apr 16, 2020 • 196 Comments These layoffs are gut-wrenching and gigantic. But six states reported “fewer layoffs” in some industries – as there are not that many people left to lay off?
Here’s Where Retail Sales Spiked and Collapsed in 11 Mind-Blowing Charts of Lockdown Land by Wolf Richter • Apr 15, 2020 • 165 Comments But department stores will never recover; they were toast before the lockdowns.
U.S. Oil Drilling Grinds to Halt at Key Shale Hotspots by Nick Cunningham • Apr 15, 2020 • 87 Comments The sudden declines in production illustrates the fatal flaw in the shale business model.
From Panic-Buying to Lockdowns of Eateries & Manufacturing: Truckers, Railroads Face Supply Chain Turmoil, Spikes & Plunges by Wolf Richter • Apr 14, 2020 • 168 Comments “There has been a clear divide between winners and losers.”
“Something Has Gone Wrong”: UK Government, Banks Screw Up Coronavirus Loans, Small Firms Near Collapse. Better Results in Other Countries by Nick Corbishley • Apr 14, 2020 • 52 Comments Part of the problem is cultural: big banks in the UK don’t like lending to small businesses, especially not at 1.5%.
SoftBank’s Fake Startup “Valuations” Come Unglued by Wolf Richter • Apr 13, 2020 • 147 Comments But those paper gains were fun while they lasted.
Farm-Labor Crisis under COVID-19 Sends Countries Scrambling by Nick Corbishley • Apr 13, 2020 • 149 Comments Miserable, crowded living conditions of Europe’s foreign farm workers put them at much greater risk. And they’re staying away.