[Baldwin:] Kicking off the second half of 2020, stocks opened higher an Pfizer reported positive data in its coronavirus vaccine trial. And as the economy continues to suffer from the effects of this pandemic, Wall Street experienced a strong close to second-quarter gains. But while Wall Street is rallying, Americans are hurting. So what's behind this massive disconnect? Here to help us understand it, financial expert, Alexis Glick. She's a former Wall Street executive and is now the CEO of the nonprofit, Gen Youth. Hello, my friend and thank you for coming on.
[Alexis Glick, Ceo, Genyouth & Financial Expert:] Thank you.
[Baldwin:] Why the divide between Wall Street and the economy?
[Glick:] Brooke, you and I talk all the time. I haven't seen anything like this in my career and I've covered or worked on Wall Street the last 20 years. The disconnect is the greatest disconnect I've ever seen. The market now is being buoyed by two things. The idea of the economy reopening. And number two, fiscal and monetary stimulus, which the government has been pumping into the market. But what we tend to do in the stock market is we buy on the rumor and sell on the news. We're buying on the rumor that the economy is going to come roaring back. But the reality is, with the escalation in COVID cases, we are far from roaring back. And very briefly, I'll tell you, the S&P 500 represents 500 of the largest companies in the worlds. And 200 of those 500 companies are no longer giving quarterly guidance into what their numbers look like. If that doesn't scare you, I don't get it. To me, right now, when those second-quarter results start coming out in the next couple of weeks, we're going to have a reality check in the stock market, and we're going to begin to see the economy reflected in the stock market.
[Baldwin:] I want to ask you about jobs because I saw this number. The payroll company, ADP, reported U.S. companies added nearly 2.4 million jobs in June. But total unemployment is very much below pre-pandemic levels. Alexis, what concerns you the most, particularly as it relates to jobs and we're seeing an uptick in COVID cases?
[Glick:] The thing that keeps me up at night is the federal assistance we've been receiving in unemployment benefits. As we sit here today, almost 48 million people filed weekly claims. Over 30 million Americans are receiving employment benefits. That $600 check given out in the March CARES Act, it actually expires on July 31. In some states, those checks stopped. The last check goes out on July 25th. The Senate is going into recess on Friday through July 17th. That means that when they return back from recess, we have about 10 days to address this problem. It's a lifeline for tens of millions of Americans. While I get there's a concern that that federal dollar on top of the states' dollars are basically people are making more money than they may make in a living wage in they do in their day-to-day job. The reality is, if we lose federal assistance in an unemployment benefits and we don't do something, very quickly and urgently, when those members of Congress go back and see their constituents, when they start to see second-quarter earnings, as these COVID cases begin to escalate, if we don't act and extends employment benefits to 2021, we're going to see a major pullback in the economy. And all these rose-colored glasses about the V-shaped recovery are going to dissipate before we know it.
[Baldwin:] We should talk again when Congress is back up against the clock on all of this. For now, I will say thank you, Alexis. Good to see you. Good to have you on.
[Glick:] Great to see you.
[Baldwin:] And coming up here, more of a personal piece. So many have watched and supported me when I was fighting coronavirus early back in April and my journey back to good health. So, now, I want to show you what I and so many other COVID survivors are doing next in the fight against the virus. So stay tuned.