Wall Street Brunch- July 10

Summary

• Daily comments on Wall Street Breakfast, Google Finance, history, and investing. Asking that all political comments not be posted here. Please refrain from such comments.
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Let's start with a little history, shall we?

On this day my beautiful wife was born and Brunch is a touch later today as we celebrate her birthday! 

Also on this day-

On July 10, 1887, a dam breaks in Zug, Switzerland, killing 70 people in their homes and destroying a large section of the town. The dam at Zug was 80 feet high and made of concrete. When the dam was built, concrete-making and setting techniques were not as advanced as they are today. The water pressure on the dam slowly eroded the concrete, finally causing it to collapse on July 10. The resulting wall of water was so powerful that it picked up and washed away large farm animals. It uprooted trees and carried them downstream toward the town. Unsuspecting patrons at a cafe lost their lives when the roaring water and debris suddenly descended upon them. Rescue boats launched to assist people caught up in the sudden flood were ineffective, as some of those on the boats drowned when they capsized in the roiling waters.

On this day in 1925, in Dayton, Tennessee, the so-called Scopes Monkey Trial begins with John Thomas Scopes, a young high school science teacher, accused of teaching evolution in violation of a Tennessee state law. The law, which had been passed in March, made it a misdemeanor punishable by fine to “teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.” With local businessman George Rappleyea, Scopes had conspired to get charged with this violation, and after his arrest the pair enlisted the aid of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to organize a defense. Hearing of this coordinated attack on Christian fundamentalism, William Jennings Bryan, the three-time Democratic presidential candidate and a fundamentalist hero, volunteered to assist the prosecution. Soon after, the great attorney Clarence Darrow agreed to join the ACLU in the defense, and the stage was set for one of the most famous trials in U.S. history. On July 21, in his closing speech, Darrow asked the jury to return a verdict of guilty in order that the case might be appealed. Under Tennessee law, Bryan was thereby denied the opportunity to deliver the closing speech he had been preparing for weeks. After eight minutes of deliberation, the jury returned with a guilty verdict, and Raulston ordered Scopes to pay a fine of $100, the minimum the law allowed. 

On July 10, 1940, the Germans begin the first in a long series of bombing raids against Great Britain, as the Battle of Britain, which will last three and a half months, begins. Although Britain had far fewer fighters than the Germans—600 to 1,300—it had a few advantages, such as an effective radar system, which made the prospects of a German sneak attack unlikely. Britain also produced superior quality aircraft. Its Spitfires could turn tighter than Germany’s ME109s, enabling it to better elude pursuers. The German single-engine fighters had a limited flight radius, and its bombers lacked the bomb-load capacity necessary to unleash permanent devastation on their targets. Britain also had the advantage of unified focus, while German infighting caused missteps in timing; they also suffered from poor intelligence. But in the opening days of battle, Britain was in immediate need of two things: a collective stiff upper lip—and aluminum. A plea was made by the government to turn in all available aluminum to the Ministry of Aircraft Production. “We will turn your pots and pans into Spitfires and Hurricanes,” the ministry declared. And they did.

Now for some investing and stock news-

Tenino, a town of fewer than 2,000 people in Washington state, has begun printing its own wooden currency to help residents and businesses through the coronavirus crisis. There's some history here: In 1931, civic leaders printed local wooden banknotes to restore consumer confidence after the town's bank failed during the Great Depression. Current Tenino residents, who have documented loss of income due to the pandemic, are eligible for up to $300 a month, while nearly all businesses in the town are accepting the local $25 bills (which can be redeemed at city hall). "A federal program dumps money from the top and these blue-chip companies steal it all," said Mayor Wayne Fournier. "If we do it from the ground up, there's no stealing. It's a direct ballast to Main Street."

Nio (NYSE:NIO) is up another 9.33% in premarket trading after the electric vehicle manufacturer landed a $1.5B credit line in China. A strong sales report from Nio helped to clear the way for the credit facility. The participating banks are China Construction Bank, ICBC, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Industrial Bank and China Merchants Bank.

Rivian (RIVN) raised another $2.5B in a funding round led by T. Rowe Price. Ford (NYSE:F) is an early investor in Rivian. Rivian's all-electric pickup and SUV are expected to launch early next year, while Amazon expects to have 10K of the vans in its corporate fleet by 2022.

Off to Google Finance-

Carnival Corp. CCL, 4.80% CCL, +4.04% said Thursday that its Germany-based cruise line AIDA Cruises will resume operations in August, with three ships set to restart sailing. AIDAperla will set sail on Aug 5 from Hamburg, followed by AIDAmar on Aug. 12 from Rostock-Warnemünde and AIDAblue on Aug. 16 from Kiel. Books for the cruises start Thursday. The restart will be the first since operations were paused industry wide in mid-March as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Where is Jon Corzine and is MF Global buying shares of Ford today?

Where is Marissa Mayer and how will her online sport betting company handle the cancellation of so many college football games?

Where is Elizabeth Holmes and will her "massive" fraud trial be a circus like the Scopes trial was?

Have a great day and wonderful weekend everyone! Stay safe out there.

This is the day The Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.