Webcast: On Financially Surviving the COVID-19 Pandemic
2 min readIn our second episode of Fortunato & Friends, Exelon Chief Economist Ed Fortunato interviews Lisa Graham, Exelon vice president and treasurer, on the economic impact of COVID-19 on Exelon and other energy companies. Keith Poli, a member of Constellation’s Commodities Management Group, moderated the conversation and also shared some insights.
The three speakers deliberated on the following questions:
- What does the commercial paper market tell us about the health of the economy?
- The role of the Federal Reserve: Did you see an immediate impact to lending markets after the Fed announced its plans on March 23rd?
- How are we now? What should we watch for from the Fed and from their latest July statement? How about the Treasury Department?
- What should businesses know about how the Fed is willing to provide loans/capital to companies in ways they wouldn’t have done prior to April?
- How are financial markets viewing negotiations over the next stimulus bill currently being worked on in Congress?
- How has the role of financing changed in the last six months, and what is the status of the financing markets now?
- What are lenders saying about concern of inflation?
- What is your biggest concern for 2021?
- What insights or lessons learned would you give to companies/public agencies that are looking to finance their business now?
One bonus question we didn’t get to answer on air regarding the relationship between rising gold prices and the weakened dollar includes:
What about gold at $2,000/oz and the recent weakness in the U.S. dollar? What impact could it have on the economy and commercial paper markets?
We have been bullish in gold for a long time. The cost of extraction exceeded the cost of gold for a long time so there wasn’t much surplus on the market. As global instability increased, the demand for gold rose and prices went higher, then the dollar became weaker and prices went higher. Gold is too small a part of the economy to have a big impact to anything but gold bullion holders, at these prices at least.
Listen to the full webcast below to hear expert insights.
Every month, Fortunato & Friends, a live webcast interview, will feature a special guest each month on a topic related to driving factors impacting the energy market. Register for next Fortunato & Friends webcast today.