Markets make no sense, so have some Hertz stock

[Bloomberg]( Follow Us //link.mail.bloombergbusiness.com/click/20606198.60696/aHR0cHM6Ly90d2l0dGVyLmNvbS9ib3Bpbmlvbg/582c8673566a94262a8b49bdBe46e258f This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, a bankruptcy stock offering of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - The Hertz stock saga shows how [wild the market has gotten](. - [Trump can’t help]( end racism, but [companies can](. - Boeing is our [canary in the coronavirus coal mine](. - American [manufacturing is still not great again](. Not renting many cars, but still selling stock. Photographer: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America Markets in Madness Last week this newsletter [suggested]( the stock market was just not going to make any sense for a while. One reader replied I simply don’t understand “market psychology.” Oh, but the psychology has actually been pretty easy to understand lately: Stocks will never fall again because the Fed has attached a giant funnel to the end of its money-printing machine, set both to full blast, and moseyed off for a well-deserved vacation. Sure, you get some horrific down days like yesterday, which John Authers attributes partly to it [dawning on traders that Democrats may run the government]( in 2021. But the market [bounced]( right back today, and any short-term swoons probably just add to the sheer thrill of riding Dave Portnoy’s day-trading [bandwagon](. The Barstool Sports founder, who trades as a spectator sport, has declared himself “the captain now” — of markets, one presumes — and this ride isn’t for the faint of heart or the sound of market theory. Hence you get the stock of Hertz, which is bankrupt, [soaring]( because of Portnoy’s disciples, inspiring the rental-car company to shrug and sell more of it. Again, just a quick recap: Hertz is bankrupt. Matt Levine suggests it is kind of [“cruel” for Hertz to sell more of its possibly worthless equity]( to these doofuses, but then can you really blame it? It needs cash in the worst way, and nothing makes sense these days. Sponsored Content by Bombas Show your pride with the new, colorful socks from the [Bombas Pride Collection](. For every pair you purchase, Bombas will donate a pair to someone experiencing homelessness in the LGBTQ+ community through The Ally Coalition. Use code BLOOMBERG for 20% off your first order.  Who Can and Can’t Help Fix Racism Yesterday President Donald Trump said his first MAGA rally in months will take place on June 19 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Both date and place loom large in black history: Tulsa was the scene of America’s worst racist massacre, and June 19 is Juneteenth, the date Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Today, we learned Trump will give his Republican National Convention acceptance speech on Aug. 27 in Jacksonville, the date and place of another infamous [episode]( of racial violence. Today Trump [suggested]( Lincoln’s value to African Americans was “questionable." You get the picture: Trump is bad at race. Tim O’Brien has studied the president’s history and can recount example after example to back this up, including the time he wanted to [pit black contestants against white ones on “The Apprentice.”]( Suffice it to say he will not heal the nation’s systemic racism, highlighted by weeks of protests over the deaths of black Americans at the hands of police. Corporate America does have the power to effect change, however, partly because it has payroll money it can spend more equitably than it has in the past. Money builds wealth and buys education and health care and other stuff racism denies people of color. Brands have been chasing #BlackLivesMatter clout on social media, but [empty platitudes change nothing](, writes Joan Williams. If companies really cared about the problem of discrimination in the workplace, then they’d start collecting data and experimenting with ways to fix the problem. Further Civil-Unrest Reading: Cops have been [militarized since the ’60s](, led by war veterans who saw policing as another form of occupation. — Stephen Mihm Boeing’s Grounded Canary There have been some [headlines]( lately about air travel coming back from pandemic lockdowns, fueling optimism not only about airline stocks but also about the economy generally. [Boeing Co. tells a different story](, writes Brooke Sutherland. Its grounded 737 Max may get back in the air again some time this year, but demand for it keeps shrinking, along with Boeing’s order book, as the travel outlook stays stubbornly grim. A [second coronavirus wave]( — or just the long tail of the first one — won’t help. Further Pandemic-Leisure Reading: - Workers around the world depend on [street food, which will be harder to get]( now. — Adam Minter - Daniel Okrent and Wayne Curtis discuss the [future of drinking]( when nobody wants to cram into a bar. — James Gibney Telltale Charts It’s clear Trump’s [tariff-and-bluster approach won’t bring manufacturing back]( to America, writes Noah Smith. It’s still worth trying, but there are better ways. Intel Corp. just [lost its chip boss at the worst possible time](, when it’s starting to lose market share all over the world, writes Tae Kim. Further Reading Argentina’s creditors should [swallow hard and restructure its debt](. Again. — Bloomberg’s editorial board There are good [reasons for Joe Biden to release his tax returns]( even if Trump won’t release his. — Jonathan Bernstein Ronald [Lauder shouldn’t be fired]( just because he’s a big Trump supporter. — Joe Nocera The massive oil spill in Siberia is the latest sign [Russia must get its climate-change act together](. — Clara Ferreira Marques China is [cracking down on criticism of traditional medicine](, even as it pitches iffy Covid-19 treatments. — Adam Minter Libya’s civil war is in a [hopeful new phase, but it’s far from over](. — Bobby Ghosh ICYMI Trump retweeted a call to [ban Microsoft Corp. from federal contracts](. Houston [may lock down again]( in the face of a new coronavirus wave. Singapore, meanwhile, may [soon reopen almost entirely](. Kickers Prehistoric [crocodiles walked on two legs](. (h/t Mike Smedley) A nose-horned dragon lizard [lost to science for 100 years]( has been found. (h/t Scott Kominers) Young American men are [having a lot less sex]( this century. Whales sing because it’s [part of their culture](. Note: Please send whale songs and complaints to Mark Gongloff at mgongloff1@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Twitter]( and [Facebook](.  A special offer for Bloomberg Opinion Today readers | [For just $1.99 a month](, get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com, where you'll find trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](.  You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Bloomberg Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022