A busy week for IPOs despite upheaval from protests and pandemic
Published Date: 6/1/2020
Source: axios.com
This week is expected to be the busiest for U.S. IPOs since February, with Warner Music leading a group of four companies that could raise over $3 billion.Why it matters: This shouldn't be happening, under any traditional rubric for how markets work.What's happening: American passions over race and policing are inflamed, with many neighborhoods literally in flames.Over 104,000 Americans are dead from the ongoing pandemic, with infection rates rising in several large states.Tens of millions of Americans are unemployed.And, just for good measure, China is threatening to renege on part of the phase one trade deal.Yet, stocks opened flat, prompting Axios Markets editor Dion Rabouin to declare: "Not even God himself could sink this market rally."And, again, there's no indication that bankers are reconsidering the week's IPO slate, which in addition to Warner Music includes Legend Biotech, Pliant Therapeutics, and ZoomInfo.Economists often warn not to conflate stock market moves with real-time economic realities, but this decoupling feels extreme.If you know what's coming next, or even have a strong sense of it, you're lying to yourself.