“A collapse in real yields — the return that bond investors can expect once inflation is taken into account — is rippling through global financial markets and driving record rallies in assets from gold to technology stocks,” the Financial Times reports.
“The yield on 10-year inflation-linked US government bonds, known as Tips, sank below minus 1 per cent last week to a historic low, as investors bet that a surge in coronavirus cases would prolong the damage to the world’s biggest economy — and that the Federal Reserve’s efforts to stimulate demand could stir inflationary pressures.”
“The deeply negative Tips yield implies that large chunks of the Treasury market are expected to lose investors money, in real terms, over the next decade.”
“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has warned Russia’s foreign minister against Moscow paying bounties to Taliban-linked militants and other Afghan fighters for killing American service members,” the New York Times reports.
“Mr. Pompeo’s warning is the first known rebuke from a senior American official to Russia over the bounties program, and it runs counter to President Trump’s insistence that the intelligence from U.S. government agencies over the matter is a ‘hoax.’”
“For decades, Donald Trump has relied on broadly worded nondisclosure agreements as a powerful weapon against anyone who would say something critical of him. Among those who have signed agreements are a porn star, two ex-wives, contestants on The Apprentice, campaign workers and business associates,” the Washington Post reports.
“But this key element of Trump’s corporate and political strategy has shown signs of unraveling, even as his campaign spends heavily to enforce such agreements.”
“Now, in one of the most sweeping efforts by a former associate to undo nondisclosure agreements, the Trump campaign’s former Hispanic outreach director last week filed her latest effort in a class-action suit to void all such campaign contracts. She says they are so broad that they deny individuals their First Amendment right to say anything critical of the president — even as he routinely takes to Twitter to mock and deride his critics.”
Norm Ornstein: “I have been immersed in national politics in Washington for five decades. Over my time here, as an academic, a congressional staffer, a think tanker, and a commentator and public figure, I have gotten to know and worked with a wide range of key actors in politics and policy. I have seen up close the changes in our politics and culture. Nothing has been more striking or significant than the transformation of the Republican Party, from a moderately conservative party to a very conservative party to something else entirely.”
“A former top Saudi intelligence officer and close U.S. intelligence ally has accused Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of targeting him for assassination and taking his children hostage because he has knowledge of damaging secrets about the prince’s rise to power,” the Washington Post reports.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said that it was safe for visitors to nursing homes to hug family members as long as they used personal protective equipment, contradicting medical experts, The Hill reports.
Said DeSantis: “Do not only fixate on testing … look, I’m comfortable with the PPE. Hell, hug ’em, I mean, come on. If you have PPE on and you hug and don’t sneeze or do something on them, you’re going to be fine.”
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) traveled to Delaware last weekend to meet with Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s first known in-person session with a potential running mate as he nears a decision, the AP reports.
“President Trump’s efforts to influence the timing and makeup of this fall’s presidential debates, some of the last planned events with the power to shift the trajectory of the campaign, have been rejected, with both the independent debate commission and the Biden campaign showing no interest in altering course,” the Washington Post reports.
“But that has not stopped Trump from trying to gain advantage by making the debates a top-tier issue, as he and his advisers circulate unfounded claims that Joe Biden may try to dodge the events and suggest that the Democrat may try to cheat by using notes if the sessions are held virtually.”
“Joe Arpaio, the bellicose former Arizona sheriff whose harsh immigration tactics earned him international notoriety, narrowly lost his Republican primary as he tried to regain his old office in Maricopa County,” the New York Times reports.
“When President Trump connected by phone last week with Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson — perhaps the only person in the party who can cut a nine-figure check to aid his reelection — the phone call unexpectedly turned contentious,” Politico reports.
“The 87-year-old casino mogul had reached out to Trump to talk about the coronavirus relief bill and the economy. But then Trump brought the conversation around to the campaign and confronted Adelson about why he wasn’t doing more to bolster his reelection, according to three people with direct knowledge of the call. One of the people said it was apparent the president had no idea how much Adelson, who’s donated tens of millions of dollars to pro-Trump efforts over the years, had helped him. “
GOP recruits army of poll watchers to fight voter fraud no one can prove exists
If their “economic anxiety” isn’t already a toxic problem, they’ll be giving it free expression arrayed against minority voters in November.