What we’re reading (8/25)
“4 Takeaways From The 1st Night Of The Republican National Convention” (NPR). “The first night of the Republican National Convention was a little scattershot. It seemed to be partially about counter-programming the Democratic National Convention last week, partially intended to fire up the base and partially aimed at winning back some of those 2016 Trump voters who are having second thoughts.”
“Before Making Loans, Some Mortgage Lenders Ask, Do You Really Plan To Pay This? (Wall Street Journal). A revolutionary new tactic that beats the standard practice of “we don’t care, pay it if you want, or don’t, we’re selling your mortgage to JP Morgan for 80 cents on the dollar either way.” In all seriousness, this is a story about the unprecedented forbearance programs the government has opened up to borrowers, and lenders’ attempts to adjust to a new, less creditworthy “normal.”
“Exxon Mobil Replaced By A Software Stock After 92 Years In The Dow Is A ‘Sign Of The Times’ (CNBC). Indeed. S&P Dow Jones just announced the largest changes to the Dow Jones in seven years. Salesforce is replacing Exxon Mobile, the longest-serving constituent company, which has been in the index in some form since 1928. I’ll be re-watching PBS’s 1992 interpretation of Daniel Yergin’s classic The Prize in memoriam.
“Why It’s So Hard To Find Dumbbells In The US” (Vox). Of all the pandemic preparation items I tried to acquire on the internet in Feb./March (around the same time everyone else was doing the same thing), there are only two items that I ultimately couldn’t procure: (1) NIOSH-approved N95 particulate respirators, and (2) a solid set of dumbbells. The story of the broken supply chain for the former has been well-documented; until now, not so much for the latter. Alas: “‘[f]inding dumbbells that deliver within a reasonable time (less than a month) is like trying to acquire concert tickets for a pop legend without ever knowing when the tickets go on sale’.”
“Marble Ridge Founder Won’t Have To Fight Criminal Charges, Run Hedge Fund Simultaneously” (Dealbreaker). Dealbreaker has been all over this story. “When facing the possibility of prison, some hedge fund managers draw up elaborate contingency plans for that awful potential day. Marble Ridge Capital founder Dan Kamensky, who is on record acknowledging, ‘maybe I should go to jail’ and who now may have to confront a formal evaluation of that assessment for allegedly seeking to screw over his fellow Nieman Marcus bondholders, who he represented as a member of that troubled retailer’s unsecured creditors committee, has chosen to dispense with that need.”
