Wall Street Brunch- July 17

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.
• This Day in History brought to you by www.history.com.
• Stock an Investing news brought to you by Seeking Alpha and Google Finance.

Let's start with a little history, shall we?

On July 17, 1941, New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio fails to get a hit against the Cleveland Indians, which brings his historic 56-game hitting streak to an end. The record run had captivated the country for two months. On May 15, 1941, DiMaggio began his record-breaking streak against the White Sox in Yankee Stadium with a single and an RBI. As the streak continued, fans across the nation took notice. DiMaggio broke George Sisler’s American League record of 41 consecutive games with a hit on June 29 at Griffith Stadium in Washington, and four days later, on July 2, DiMaggio broke “Wee” Willie Keeler’s major league record streak of 44 games. As the nation followed DiMaggio’s progress and he continued to hit in game after game, the Les Brown Orchestra scored a hit with the popular tune “Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio.” DiMaggio won the 1941 American League MVP over Red Sox slugger Ted Williams in spite of the latter’s .406 batting average that season, the last time any major league player hit over .400. DiMaggio retired after the 1951 season after 13 seasons with the Yankees that included 11 pennants and nine World Series wins. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. (Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio? Our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.)

On this day in 1938, Douglas "Wrong Way" Corrigan, the last of the early glory-seeking fliers, takes off from Floyd Bennett field in Brooklyn, New York, on a flight that would finally win him a place in aviation history. In 1938, he bought a 1929 Curtiss Robin aircraft off a trash heap, rebuilt it, and modified it for long-distance flight. In July 1938, Corrigan piloted the single-engine plane nonstop from California to New York. Although the transcontinental flight was far from unprecedented, Corrigan received national attention simply because the press was amazed that his rattletrap aircraft had survived the journey. Almost immediately after arriving in New York, he filed plans for a transatlantic flight, but aviation authorities deemed it a suicide flight, and he was promptly denied. Instead, they would allow Corrigan to fly back to the West Coast, and on July 17 he took off from Floyd Bennett field, ostentatiously pointed west. However, a few minutes later, he made a 180-degree turn and vanished into a cloudbank to the puzzlement of a few onlookers. Twenty-eight hours later, Corrigan landed his plane in Dublin, Ireland, stepped out of his plane, and exclaimed, “Just got in from New York. Where am I?” He claimed that he lost his direction in the clouds and that his compass had malfunctioned. The authorities didn’t buy the story and suspended his license, but Corrigan stuck to it to the amusement of the public on both sides of the Atlantic. By the time “Wrong Way” Corrigan and his crated plane returned to New York by ship, his license suspension had been lifted, he was a national celebrity, and a mob of autograph seekers met him on the gangway.

Disneyland, Walt Disney’s metropolis of nostalgia, fantasy and futurism, opens on July 17, 1955. The $17 million theme park was built on 160 acres of former orange groves in Anaheim, California, and soon brought in staggering profits. Today, Disneyland hosts more than 18 million visitors a year, who spend close to $3 billion. In the early 1950s, Walt Disney began designing a huge amusement park to be built near Los Angeles. He intended Disneyland to have educational as well as amusement value and to entertain adults and their children. Land was bought in the farming community of Anaheim, about 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles, and construction began in 1954. In the summer of 1955, special invitations were sent out for the opening of Disneyland on July 17. Unfortunately, the pass was counterfeited and thousands of uninvited people were admitted into Disneyland on opening day. The park was not ready for the public: food and drink ran out, a women’s high-heel shoe got stuck in the wet asphalt of Main Street USA, and the Mark Twain Steamboat nearly capsized from too many passengers.

Now for some stock and investing news-

The future close out the week up fractionally. Crude is down 0.3% and Gold is up 0.2%.

In updates on day 2 of its investigation into the bitcoin compromise/scam, Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) says it believes about 130 accounts on the service were targeted by attackers. Notable folks who had their accounts hacked included Bill Gates and Elon Musk. Tough to tell when Elon Musk's Twitter account has been hacked based on some of his past tweets!

California investigators conclude that PG&E's (NYSE:PCG) power lines ignited last year's Kincade wildfire, which forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents and destroyed hundreds of structure in Sonoma County wine country. PG&E acknowledged last year that its equipment likely caused the Kincade Fire, and the utility has said in securities filings that it could incur at least $600M in liability related losses if investigators came to that conclusion.

"It is unlikely our magnificent 'Queen of the Skies' will ever operate commercial services for British Airways again due to the downturn in travel caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic," a British Airways (OTCPK:ICAGY) spokesman told the BBC. The U.K. carrier was the world's largest operator of the jumbo jet with 31 planes, or about 10% of its total fleet. Boeing (NYSE:BA) and its suppliers recently signaled the end of the production line for the 747.

The CDC has lengthened its no-sail order for cruise ships through the end of September, preventing vessels from sailing in U.S. waters out of concern of COVID-19. The extension, which had been set to expire on July 24, is the second for the initial order that was given on March 14. However, the move is not expected to dramatically change the timeline for cruise lines like Carnival (NYSE:CCL), Royal Caribbean (NYSE:RCL) and Norwegian (NYSE:NCLH) returning to the seas.

Off to Google Finance-

Back from Google Finance with nothing to report. Not sure if that is good news or bad news.

Where is Jon Corzine and did MF Global buy cruise line stocks when the sector rebounded about a month ago?

Where is Marissa Mayer and what odds does her online sports betting company have on college football being played this fall?

Where is Elizabeth Holmes and how was she able to fool so many people?

Where is Elon Musk and is there a link between the Fremont factory closing for "updates" and the number of COVID-19 cases the Fremont factory workers are suffering?

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.