What we’re reading (6/26)

Some new reading material for your Saturday:

• “Covid-19 is a Puzzle that Wall Street Can’t Solve” (Wall Street Journal). A summary of how different market segments performed in the first half of 2020, which “by many accounts” was “the most tumultuous stretch for financial markets in recent history.” Per the WSJ, 1H 2020 is a story of surprising resilience—and a humbling reminder that sometimes the thing that winds up tipping financial markets over the edge is a black swan event that no Wall Street firm sees coming before it happens.”

• “Still Reeling From Oil Plunge, Texas Faces New Threat: Surge in Virus Cases” (New York Times). The “wildcatters” in the Texas oil industry are natural optimists, but “the current crisis is fundamentally different because the pandemic has kept demand suppressed even at low prices.”

• “Have Markets Gone Young, Wild and Free?” (Fisher Investments). Brokerages are, indeed, reporting huge numbers of new accounts in 2020, and younger/first-time investors are probably behind lot of these new accounts. But that doesn’t explain the rally in equities since March.

• “Consumer Spending Rebounds a Record 8.2 Percent in May Even as Incomes Slide” (Washington Post). Huge increase in consumer spending—the backbone of U.S. GDP—in May. Apparently, autos, recreational goods, and food services are at the heart of it.

• “Filling my PC with Beans and Hiring a Repairman to Fix it” (RossCreations). Special recommendation from VIP Prime member (and Stoney Point Capital LLC advisor) Brent in L.A. You’ll watch it again and again.