What we’re reading (7/7)

• “How Investors Should Approach America’s COVID Uptick” (Fisher Investments). The epidemiological trends/developments obviously matter for markets/stocks (these developments affect all kinds of valuation inputs pertinent to measuring the present value of future cash flows). But political economic developments matter hugely too, and the policy response to the ongoing virus trends are very hard to predict.

• “Our Cash-Free Future Is Getting Closer” (New York Times). Credit card companies, banks, digital payment processing platforms stand to benefit.

• “Behind Oil’s Rise Is a Historic Drop in U.S. Crude Output” (Wall Street Journal). Productive wells still being shut and the very recent uptick in crude prices isn’t enough to turn U.S. producers back to profitability.

• “Tesla Deliveries Beat Leads Analysts to Lift Price Targets” (Bloomberg). TSLA got a bump from analysts raising price targets after the company beat vehicle delivery expectations for the Model 3 and Model Y.

• “Markets Soar, Even As Coronavirus Cases Explode” (The Hill). Lots of new COVID infections, but death toll not rising at the same clip. “Despite the coronavirus news, markets appear convinced that a full steam economic recovery is underway.”