1. Widespread Deferrals Mean Banks Can’t Tell Who’s Creditworthy – WSJ
2. UK long-term government bond yields sink below Japan’s – FT
3. Pandemic sinks Japan business mood to lowest since 2009 crisis – Reuters

1. Hedge Funds Are Rushing to Get Out of Bearish U.S. Stock Bets – Bloomberg Markets
2. There Is No Alternative to Equities (At Least Until the Facts Change) – Barron’s
3. Powell Has Become the Fed’s Dr. Feelgood – WSJ Opinion

1. The Dow Just Had a Very Bad Week. Why It Could Get Worse – Barron’s

1. How Covid-19 has reframed the war on cash – FT Alphaville
2. Europe Is Approaching a Disastrous Economic Cliff Edge – Bloomberg Economics
3. IMF Flags Risks From Financial-Market Disconnect With Economies – Bloomberg Economics

1. The Fed is addicted to propping up the markets, even without a need – Washington Post

1. Market Exuberance Set to Be Challenged as Global Risks Intensify – Bloomberg Markets
2. A weaker dollar is just what the world needs – Authers, Bloomberg Opinion
3. Fed’s corporate bond buying is stoking bubble fears – CNBC
4. America’s Jacobin Moment – WSJ Opinion
5. The Stock Market Is Headed for One of Its Best Quarters Ever. Time to Talk Tech Bubbles? – Barron’s

1. A ‘Buy Everything’ Rally Beckons in World of Yield Curve Control – Bloomberg
2. The Most Popular U.S. Bond Market Trade Has Now Gone Global – Bloomberg Markets
3. Swap Ween – Jeff Snider, Alhambra
4. Rally in Raw Materials Signals Economic Rebound – WSJ

Aswath Damodaran: Fear and greed are dueling forces in financial markers at all times, but especially so in periods of uncertainty, when they pull in opposite directions, causing wild market swings and momentum shifts. I think that no matter what your market views are right now, you would agree that we are in a period of intense uncertainty, with divergent views on how this pandemic will play out, not just in the coming months, but in the coming years. It is this divergence that have been at the heart of both the steep fall in equity markets in February and March, and the equally precipitous rise in April and May. As US equity markets climb back towards pre-crisis levels, the focus on market levels may be missing the underlying shift in value that has occurred across companies. In this post, I will focus on this shift, using the framework of a corporate life cycle, and record a redistribution of value from older, low growth, more capital intensive companies to younger, high growth companies. It is possible that this shift is the result of irrational exuberance on the part of young, inexperienced investors, but I think that a more plausible explanation is that it reflects not only the unique nature of this crisis, but also a changing business landscape…

A Viral Market Update X: A Corporate Life Cycle Perspective

1. The Illusion of a Rapid US Recovery – James Galbraith

Jeffrey Snider, RCM

The Economic Boom You Heard About Never Really Happened