The Worst Day of the Week for Investors

Andy Snyder|May 17, 2023

Investors will start dreading Sundays.

Last weekend, seven large companies filed for bankruptcy. It was the highest number we’ve seen since, you guessed it, the Great Recession.

Things will get worse.

Sundays will soon be a bloodbath.

We’ve covered it before. Manward Letter subscribers know our big prediction for the year was that three major U.S. companies would go belly-up. Thanks to the banking meltdown, we’ve already hit that number.

More will come.

It’s not a hard prediction to make.

Rising rates… plunging consumer reserves… and out-of-control inflation are a hellish drag on an economy. As layoffs rise, consumers cut back and the economy gives back last year’s gains, the biggest and most surprising bankruptcies will hit the headlines.

As we said, Sundays will soon be dreaded.

But why Sunday?

Why would companies declare bankruptcy when the markets are closed, when few transactions are being made and when few folks are even paying attention?

Easy… because markets are closed, few transactions are being made and few folks are paying attention.

When a company raises its hands and officially tells the court (which, with a few calls, can be opened on a Sunday), it creates a clear line in the sand.

There’s the pre-bankruptcy company, with its assets and liabilities… and the post-bankruptcy company, which essentially has its own books. With few transactions being made and little chance of new contracts being signed on a Sunday, it’s the cleanest day to make the break.

Waltzing into a court to file Chapter 11 on a Wednesday afternoon would be quite tough on a firm, its accountants and the court. Unless there’s a clear emergency, it rarely happens.

Instead… firms choose Sunday and let the markets sort things out first thing on Monday.

Here’s the important part in all this. This process is painful… but quite necessary.

As the bankruptcies stack up over the next few months, there’ll be all sorts of political pressure to stop the bleeding. The Fed will be pushed to lower rates. Congress will talk of stimulus. The president will make wild (and likely illegal) promises. But we must ignore it all and let the process work itself out.

The American economy is fat and bloated. It’s been fed a fast-food diet of cheeseburgers and salty fries for the last decade. Anytime the pressure builds, it sweats and loses its breath.

Bankruptcies are its weight loss plan.

They’re coming. They need to.

It means Sundays will hurt for a while. It’s inevitable.

Invest accordingly.