President Donald Trump has been getting beaten up by the media for his administrations supposed late start in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. During an interview on Sunday, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a key member of the President’s coronavirus task force made an appearance on a news show and gave an obvious answer to a ridiculous question.
He was asked if the administration had mandated a lock down sooner, would fewer people have died? The doctor answered, of course, which is the obvious answer. However, the way the question was worded it was like asking a person who had just gotten caught in the rain, if they had been home before the rain started, would they still have gotten wet?
The next day in the COVID-19 press conference Dr. Fauci asked if he could say something to the media, and he pointed out how his comments were taken out of context and were completely inaccurate in the way they were portrayed. Then, ever the showman, President Trump played a 5 minute compilation video of all the compliments he was getting from governors, and displayed a video timeline of the media downplaying the virus, while POTUS was instituting travel bans.
The move was completely transparent and complete genius. He turned the highly rated virus updates into a campaign cmmercial that no one could turn off, since he played it before discussing any virus updates. Say what you want, the man knows how to use the airwaves.
Bitcoin is a low-risk buy here
On March 13th, Bitcoin made a low at $3,925.27 and started to slowly climb up. $4,000 is bitcoin’s long term support against the US dollar and it’s bumping up against some tough resistance the last few days, but it might still be a buy
Gold is everyone’s flight to safety, but where do you store money and look for appreciation of capital if the virus is slowing down and the economy is about to reopen? Gold is correlated to the fed’s balance sheet comma and while it’s expanding right now , it could contract any day. It is controlled by humans and worse yet, humans that are controlled by the government .
Crypto currencies in general and Bitcoin specifically have a stronger use case than ever considering the shelter-in-place orders. Federal governments across the world are printing money again, while banks reduce their hours, and borrow from the central banks in order to have enough cash on hand for people just to get their own money out of these institutions. Bitcoin relies on no institution, federal or private and exists in the hands of the owner of the wealth. The case to accumulate Bitcoin at these long-term support levels is very strong.
There may be another move down. Many people used their crypto currency assets to raise cash while they were getting margin calls elsewhere as the market collapsed. Another downturn, could cause the same scenario to play out. But longer-term, the case for Bitcoin is stronger than ever
Do you think Bitcion has a stronger case or a weaker case as a currency, after experiecing this pandemic? Reply to this email and let us know what you think!
Planning Helped Glenmark
Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd (NSE: GLENMARK) which trades in India, Is a good example of a company managing their business based on their cash flow and their balance sheet.
Their revenues increased 13.6% last year, but their high net debt levels worried investors. Also research and development cost have been high and rising. The stock has fallen 83% from 2015 to 2020, but things may be turning around.
The stock is up 43% this month comma and 21% just on Monday. They decided to take a page out of the late Jack Welch is playbook and start to dump assets to get their balance sheet back into shape. The company shrunk excess leverage with the recent sale of its female hygiene brand VWash to Hindustan Unilever Ltd (NSE: HINDUNILVR). The brand is small and the sale price to HUL was not disclosed. Last quarter, Glenmark saw its net debt reduce marginally.
The company also received tentative approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for diabetes drug dapagliflozin, a generic version of Farxiga, which has a $1.8 billion market in the US alone, according to IQVIA data. The brand will add some revenue to its US business, even assuming substantial price weakness and new competition.
Of course, recent investor interest in the pharmaceutical sector has also helped this stock, but an improvement in cash flows never hurts.
COVID-19 Pushes Renewables to the Bottom of the List
As Congress debates a new stimulus package, Republicans are being accused by Democrats of trying to use the pandemic that grips the world right now, to decimate the renewable energy industry. According to the left leaning media agency Vice, anyway. But in reality, the story sounds credible.
According to Vice, in late March, the Texas Public Policy Foundation ran an advertisement warning of a supposed power grab about to take place in Washington. “Some congressional Democrats want to use the coronavirus aid bill to enact their climate change agenda,” reads a sponsored Facebook post from the Austin-based conservative think tank, which has received donations from major fossil fuel companies. The Texas Public Policy Foundation—which in 2015 argued that “CO2 is not pollution; it’s necessary for survival”—has for years fought to slow down the transition from fossil fuels to renewables. With Congress debating a $2 trillion COVID-19 relief package, the think tank wanted to make sure there were no relief measures specifically for wind or solar.
It is true that Democrats tried to put unrelated climate standards into the first stimulus bill, such as new emissions standards for any airlines that took stimulus money. It is also true that the solar and wind industry are being decimated by the pandemic the same as any other industry. Solar companies are at risk of shedding more than 125,000 jobs while wind companies could lose over $43 billion in investments.
Oftentimes, these things are a matter of optics and the way the Democrats were trying to help the renewables industry is where the problem came in. It gave the Republicans a perfect victim to blame when the stimulus package was held up. Tax credits for wind and solar, which is how the Democrats framed it, could not be explained as help for an industry that might lose jobs and millions of dollars in investments.
Sometimes Democrats have good ideas, but their execution continues to define explanation.
Hand-Written Beatles Lyrics Sell for “only” $910K
In July 1968, the Beatles recorded the single “Hey Jude.” Paul McCartney wrote the lyrics on a sheet of paper, which he used during the recording and then gave to a studio engineer. On April 10, that sheet of paper sold at auction for a jaw-dropping $910,000—seven times more than its original estimate of $160,000 to $180,000.
According to Far Out Magazine, McCartney had begun writing the song earlier in the summer of 1968 on his way to visit John Lennon’s first wife, Cynthia, and their son, Julian. Lennon had taken up with artist Yoko Ono which, as you might have guessed, put a strain on the marriage and they were separated. The song was written to Julian, who was only 5, trying to make him feel that things would turn out right.
“It was optimistic, a hopeful message for Julian,” McCartney later explained in the TV docuseries The Beatles Anthology. “‘Come on, man, your parents got divorced. I know you’re not happy, but you’ll be OK.’”
Initially, the track was titled “Hey Jules,” but McCartney changed it to “Hey Jude,” a combination of Jules and Jud—a name that McCartney had liked after hearing it in the musical Oklahoma! The song hit Lennon, too, who interpreted the lyrics “Go out and get her” as a blessing from McCartney to pursue his new relationship, even if it came at the expense the Beatles themselves. Paul likely regrets not clearing that up.