<story><title>More than half of American retailers didn&apos;t pay their rent in April and May</title><url>https://www.businessinsider.com/retailers-didnt-pay-rent-may-upset-the-entire-economy-2020-6</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>chkaloon</author><text>I am afraid we are in a real Wile E Coyote moment here. You know, where he&amp;#x27;s suspended in air for a few seconds before he goes crashing to the ground?&lt;p&gt;Our crash may come in the fall when UI payments stop and the rent floats become unsustainable. About the time the second wave hits.&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;66.media.tumblr.com&amp;#x2F;bbbf0aec68490ae2679ef489709c3d18&amp;#x2F;tumblr_nhuh59FSDw1r2ad2vo1_500.gif&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;66.media.tumblr.com&amp;#x2F;bbbf0aec68490ae2679ef489709c3d18...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>
<story><title>More than half of American retailers didn&apos;t pay their rent in April and May</title><url>https://www.businessinsider.com/retailers-didnt-pay-rent-may-upset-the-entire-economy-2020-6</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>aazaa</author><text>&amp;gt; Bed Bath &amp;amp; Beyond, Famous Footwear, H&amp;amp;M, and the Gap, AMC and Regal movie theaters, and 24 Hour Fitness gyms have all missed payments, jeopardizing the stability of their property management companies and municipal governments that rely on property taxes, The Post&amp;#x27;s Heather Long reported.&lt;p&gt;All roads lead to the Federal Reserve. Stores defaulting on rent payments starves landlords for cash. Landlords unable to service mortgages or pay taxes starves banks and state&amp;#x2F;local governments. Banks starved for money turn to the Fed for bailouts. States starved for cash turn to Washington. Washington issues bonds which the Fed buys because nobody in their right mind would buy 10 or 30 year Treasuries with the goal of holding to maturity.&lt;p&gt;The Fed&amp;#x27;s balance sheet has exploded higher (&amp;gt;20% GDP), with no end in sight:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;fred.stlouisfed.org&amp;#x2F;series&amp;#x2F;WALCL&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;fred.stlouisfed.org&amp;#x2F;series&amp;#x2F;WALCL&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Where does it all lead? There are two options:&lt;p&gt;1. Default on the national debt.&lt;p&gt;2. Currency depreciation.&lt;p&gt;The most likely outcome is (2). One way or another, the dollar is headed lower. Perversely, this could be great for stocks, bonds, and other assets nominally. The problem is the size of the dollar depreciation that would be required to bring the Fed&amp;#x27;s balance sheet back under control.&lt;p&gt;The only problem is that the dollar happens to be the world&amp;#x27;s reserve currency. As the Fed does its best to slaughter the dollar bull, every other country is printing money as fast as possible to depreciate their own currencies.&lt;p&gt;Nobody knows where this mess ends.</text></comment>