{"id":62069,"date":"2020-07-18T02:15:21","date_gmt":"2020-07-18T09:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=62069"},"modified":"2021-10-10T09:05:02","modified_gmt":"2021-10-10T16:05:02","slug":"black-coffee-18-july-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id62069-black-coffee-18-july-2020.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: The Curse of the Bambino"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe<\/em> …<\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

Despite the continuing economic slowdown, I hope all you have a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.<\/p>\n

Okay, let’s get right to it …<\/p>\n

The greatest guilt of today is that of people who accept collectivism by moral default; the people who support plans specifically designed to achieve serfdom, but hide behind the empty assertion that they are lovers of freedom, with no concrete meaning attached to the word; the people who believe that the content of ideas need not be examined, that principles need not be defined, and that facts can be eliminated by keeping one’s eyes shut.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Ayn Rand<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can observe a lot just by watching.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Yogi Berra<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? Forbes is reporting that through the first week of July, 8708 retail store units have, or are planning to, shutter operations<\/a> in the US this year — and that number could quickly surpass last year’s total of 9302 before the end of September. Yes, yes; I know what you’re thinking … but the V-recovery isn’t expected until October.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> On a related note, casual or fine dining sit-down restaurants and mom-and-pop diners with little savings are, not surprisingly, expected to experience the brunt of this crisis. Unfortunately, that comprises the vast majority of non-chain eateries; the Independent Restaurant Coalition says up to 85% could permanently close<\/a> by the end of the year. Sad.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> With the ensuing economic contraction, highlighted by thousands of retail stores and restaurants permanently closing<\/a> their doors, it’s clear that at some point the stock market is going to have to adjust to account for the ensuing deep economic scarring resulting from all of these lost jobs. Speaking of deep scarring …<\/p>\n