Juggling Dynamite

Canadian law firms are expanding their corporate restructuring partners to prepare for a wave of insolvencies as COVID-19 relief measures dry up and lenders start to lose patience with struggling businesses, as reported by the Globe:

“Firms are acutely aware of the need to have a strong team entering this next phase of COVID.”

This recent Bloomberg special report on bankruptcy examines this insolvency cycle.

In 2020, bankruptcy has gone from a last resort for struggling companies to “the new normal.” Blaming it on the coronavirus alone is too simple. Lisa Abramowicz hosts an in-depth look at the sudden surge in corporate defaults, how it’s affecting investors, and why policymakers are finding it challenging to contain the damage. Here is a direct video link.

As recently discussed in US dollar down, but is it out? and US dollar stalks risk markets everywhere a falling dollar has been the wind at the back of the risk rally since March.  Its next move will impact everything.  Economist Daniel Lacalle discusses in this clip.

The U.S. Dollar. Collapse or Oversold? Global Recovery Stalls. Here is a direct video link.

In going to the trouble of wearing masks we might as well wear one that is effective in containing our droplet emissions.

Researchers at Duke University tested a total of 14 common face coverings and analyzed the number of particles that escaped.  Their conclusion: the best option for the average person is to wear polypropylene masks or a homemade cotton mask with multiple layers while bandanas are little help and neck gaiters made of polyester spandex material actually produced more particles than speaking with no face covering at all.

Dr. Martin Fischer, Ph.D., from Duke University, developed a simple, low-cost technique to visualize the effectiveness of different face coverings on droplet emissions during normal wear. Testing several face coverings, the researchers found that the particles can be blocked by some, but not all recommended face coverings. Here is a direct video link.