This week's reads feature: (1) Economist Mohamed A. El-Erian and Michael Spence discuss how a disproportionate share of the health and economic burden has fallen on those least able to bear it.; (2) The wealth gap between races has compounded in the United States over generations; (3) African-Americans working in China face overt housing discrimination and are left to their own devices to fend against abuses by the Chinese government; (4) Companies’ interactions with their communities affect their ESG score in the S&P 500; (5) A recording of the speech Tyrone Ross gave at the Inside ETFs conference earlier this year; and a Bonus - The Fed just released a new comic book, “A Story of Interest”. It’s not half bad!

This week's reads feature: (1) The threat of the spread of infection complicates any return to the office. Can a company risk having employees back if a whole floor of their office gets sick at one time?; (2) You can now own a 20-year treasury bond; (3) The recently passed CARES Act does not provide relief for non-federally backed home loans; (4) Guggenheim curators harvest show tomatoes and donate to City Harvest. (5) The lurking danger of high level corporate debt; (6)An argument that inflation would be great for the American economy, allowing the Fed to raise interest rates and spur economic growth; and a Bonus article - Bugging the Ritz, Private Investigators and Billionaires at War

At Propel we keep an eye on the latest scientific developments regarding coronavirus research to better understand its impact, supply chain disruptions, and how societies and economies react. Our advisor Amanda Vaught utilizes her scientific training from the Johns Hopkins University and graduate school at Columbia University to better understand the science behind the headlines. She is by no means an expert, but will regularly report on latest understanding of coronavirus and its impact. Coronavirus is novel. So while scientists and society are generally familiar with viruses, we really do not know details of the virus’s behavior, how it is transmitted, its long-term effects or how to treat it or vaccinate for it. Scientists do not have the answers. What they do have is a lot of questions and an unprecedented amount of cooperation across borders to find the answers.

Propel Financial Advisors works with you to determine the best investment approach for your IRA rollover. We work with our clients to craft personalized investment portfolios; you get a custom fit. We keep up with the markets and investment strategies so you can spend your time on what matters to you. We stay in regular contact with you and are always available.

This week's reads feature: (1) Glenn Hubbard and Hal Scott's opinion that the Treasury and the Fed seem more concerned about not losing money than getting relief to small businesses; (2) Investors increasingly believe that fallout from the coronavirus pandemic will last longer than they initially thought; (3) Dispelling myths of air travel and a safety plan for when air travel starts to pick up; (4) The spike in demand for bicycles; (5) Confusion and disinformation about best practices during the pandemic; (6) The Federal Reserve's plan to hoover up $750 billion in bond funds could have some serious long-term consequences; and a Bonus article - Quarantining with a ghost?

This week's reads feature: (1) The FDA's balancing act between regulatory oversight and making tests more widely available; (2) Businesses that are seeing a boom during the shutdown; (3) The gap between the market and the real economy; (4) Coronavirus infections have disproportionately affected minority communities. The Federal Bailout package may also be shutting minorities out of relief; (5) With recent meat shortages, The Financial Time’s Alphaville highlights the opportunity for fake meat companies, such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, to grab market share, calling it “one of the most fascinating corners of business.”; and a Bonus article - Can babies learn to love vegetables?

This week's reads feature: (1) Warren Buffet's realistic message to investors; (2) AMC's side of the dispute with Universal over the Trolls World Tour movie; (3) A labor success story for Domino's workers in Southern California; (4) How Coronavirus has infiltrated critical food factories, including a bread mix factory in Southern Illinois; (5) An in-depth look at the state of the concert business. It's not just fans hurting, but also the venues, their employees, bouncers, roadies, and more who work summer concerts and festivals; and a Bonus article on the increase of Americans without retirement savings moving in with their millennial children.

This week's reads feature: (1) Prviate companies, like Publix, are stepping up to help with the food distribution system; (2) Taylor Lorenz's profile on Josh Zimmerman, a life coach for creators, whose careers have become ever more consuming, uncertain and subject to scrutiny under coronavirus; (3) Billionaire Carl Icahn sees "good opportunities" but also expects more sell-off until the Coronavirus is contained; (4) Howard Marks of OakTree Capital says it's impossible to know. In this memo, Marks provides a great rundown on questions about the economy in light of the Covid shutdowns; (5) Noah Smith at Bloomberg worries that the US government has propped up the stock market too much; and (6) Inexpensive motorcycles and scooters will make up the largest group of new vehicles hitting the world’s roads in the next decade—and a rapidly growing share of those bikes will be electric, say manufacturers and analysts. Bonus article on how most everyone has challenges staying home and practicing social distancing, but some really have it tougher than others.

This week’s reads feature: (1) An interview with Charlie Munger of Berkshire Hathaway, who advises caution in today’s market. “Nobody in America’s ever seen anything like this,” said Mr. Munger. “This thing is different. Everybody talks as if they know what’s going to happen, and nobody knows what’s going to happen.”; (2) Large public companies who took payroll loans meant for small businesses; (3) Disney is risking reputational damage as it slashes costs more severely than rivals. They stopped paying almost half of their workforce, but protected bonus schemes for upper management; (4) Conor Sen of New River Investments predicts a profitless coronavirus recovery. He anticipates that “running physical operations will require an extremely high amount of labor... cleaning crews, drivers, temperature checkers, and so on”; (5) Rich Americans, namely Silicon Valley tycoons, have fled to secret bunkers in New Zealand and South Dakota to ride out the pandemic. Bonus article to mark the price of a barrel of oil falling below zero: Bloomberg reporter Tracey Alloway recounts her experience of actually buying a barrel of crude oil and includes some great insight into how the oil market works.

This week’s reads feature: (1) How our internet is working thanks to Cold-War era pioneers, (2) How the Fed is the part of government most ready for this crisis, (3) The spread of coronavirus to rural America, (4) The collective action problem in the US – data shows that attitude towards climate change is one of the strongest predictors of social distancing behavior, and (5) banks preparing for the bust of the shale boom. This weeks’ bonus article highlights one of the booming parts of the economy – the jigsaw puzzle market.