In this week’s recap, the U.S. Federal Reserve has purchased the bonds of 794 different companies, including firms like Apple, Verizon, AT&T, & the U.S. divisions of Toyota, Volkswagen, & Daimler making up 10% of the amount spent. The plan is to buy $250B of debt already issued, and $500B in newly issued bonds. Fed officials say the goal of the buying is to maintain liquidity in the market for corporate debt, so that issuers are able to access capital, despite the economic downturn created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. economy added 4.8 million jobs in June, the most since the government started keeping records in 1939, as the gradual easing of coronavirus-related restrictions helped more businesses resume operations. Payrolls rebounded +2.5M in May after plunging by a historic -20.6M in April. Employment is still about 14.8 million jobs below its pre-pandemic level, with the jobless rate falling to 11.1% last month, from 13.3% in May, as more workers who were laid off earlier this year were able to return to their pre-pandemic jobs
China’s parliament on Tuesday passed national security legislation for Hong Kong, in violation of the treaty signed with the U.K. Sets the stage for the most radical changes to the former British colony’s way of life, since it returned to Chinese rule 23 years ago. Details of the law come in response to last year’s often-violent pro-democracy protests in the city.
Tesla surges 3.7% Wednesday & 7.50% Thursday to above $1,200 a share. It now trades at a higher market cap than Japanese carmaker Toyota. That makes the company the most valuable automaker in the world & caps off a 10-year run that went into hyper-drive over the last 6 months. Shares are up +188% this year & 414% in 52 weeks.
China accumulates 73 million barrels of oil in ships; Walmart will turn its parking lots into drive-ins; Boeing restarts flight test of 737 MAX; 83 tons of Chinese counterfeit gold was used for loans worth $2.8 billion; Bezos’ wealth breaks a new record; Pakistan Stock Exchange Attacked; advertisers protest against Facebook.
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