Pictures by Jesús Vizcaya
In Boca de Aroa, a village on the coast of Yaracuy state, Yaritza and her husband Fernando await the arrival of tourists who, for the past twelve years, have stopped for breakfast at their food stand “La Bendición de Dios”. This business has been the family’s main source of income. However, after the earthquakes of June 24, almost no vehicles are going through the road to the beaches.
Fernando says that traffic decreased significantly after the earthquakes. The epicenter of the first quake was very close to them, to the south, and some houses in the area were damaged. “Before the earthquake, the flow of travelers was considerably high, but our sales are now only 25% of what they used to be. Now we live on daily earnings. What we earn each day, we use to buy what we need.”
Fernando and Yaritza are not alone. In Boca de Aroa, as in other coastal communities near Morrocoy National Park, a large part of the economy depends on the constant flow of visitors from different parts of the country. To reach its keys and beaches from Valencia, many travelers take Troncal 3, the road that runs through Boca de Aroa before reaching the most popular beaches. After the earthquakes, the road shows evident damage: several sections remained closed, and traffic had to be diverted along alternative routes, further hindering access to the region. Buses that once arrived full of travelers now carry only a handful of passengers, mostly locals who get off one by one as soon as they recognize their usual stops.
Along this route, tourists sustain an economic chain of restaurants, small businesses, and people who work in the sea. Local fishermen find their main customers in hotels, inns, and restaurants, while others depend directly on tourism, relying on the sale of food, coconut products, fish and shellfish to make a living.
Tulio, owner of La Negra, a family restaurant specializing in seafood supplied by local fishermen, says the drop in tourism has hit both the business and its employees hard. “We couldn’t open the restaurant for three weeks after the earthquake. There’s no tourism, and people aren’t coming to town anymore,” says Tulio, sitting at one of the tables. “My employees keep coming to work because I want to help them financially, but this situation is really difficult.”
There was a reason for the lack of customers. Structural damage to the bridge leading to Punta Brava Beach, within Morrocoy National Park, forced the closure of this land access for weeks. The bridge reopened to light vehicles on July 25, yet the flow of visitors remained far below normal levels. Tourists could still board boats from the Tucacas pier to reach the keys, but the weeks-long closure disrupted the economic chain that sustained Boca de Aroa and Tucacas.
The day before authorities allowed light vehicles to pass again, local beach workers protested on that same road, demanding the lifting of the measures that prevented access to the coast.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) warns that small-scale fishing communities are among the most vulnerable to crises and natural disasters in Latin America and the Caribbean, due to their dependence on daily income and their limited capacity to absorb prolonged disruptions to their economic activity.
The Tierra Viva Foundation, a non-governmental organization dedicated to sustainable development, environmental conservation, and the strengthening of local communities, has been working for several years with coastal communities through its Costa Viva project. This sustained presence in the territory has allowed the organization to gain firsthand knowledge of the economic and social conditions that make these populations especially vulnerable to natural disasters. Just two weeks before the emergency, on June 9, the foundation announced a fundraising campaign—which had to be suspended after the earthquakes—to provide residents of the country’s main coastal communities with work tools and vocational training to strengthen their livelihoods. The initiative responded to a situation of vulnerability that these populations already faced before the earthquake.
This is also the conclusion of Alejandro Luy, the organization’s general manager. “Venezuela is going through a complex humanitarian situation, and the earthquake aggravated it by leaving people homeless, and the contraction of tourism in the area generated unemployment,” he says. “To support their activities, we implemented training programs to help improve the services many of them offer during 2025. If tourism decreases in these areas, their livelihoods are affected.”
But the vulnerability of these communities isn’t measured solely in economic figures. It’s also present in the stories of those who saw how the earthquake disrupted a way of life built over generations.
Jesús belongs to a family that has been connected to the sea for decades. For more than 60 years, his family has lived off fishing in Boca de Aroa, a way of life that Jesús continued and that for years allowed him to sell the fish he caught. For his family, this has been the most difficult situation caused by a natural disaster.
“In 2022, the Aroa River rose and overflowed, flooding the entire Cayumar sector and the dock area where we boarded boats to go fishing, but the flooding only lasted a couple of days. But because of the earthquakes, we haven’t sold anything we catch from the sea for several weeks.”
On June 24, Jesús had decided to return home earlier than usual. At 11 a.m., he left the sea and returned to land. Hours later, his father advised him not to go fishing again, just a couple of minutes before the earthquakes.
“I went out to buy a Coca-Cola, and on my way back home, the shaking started. My wife was at home with my parents. They managed to get out when the wall of the garage collapsed,” he recalls.
The destroyed space wasn’t just part of the family home. It was also a workplace. There, his father prepared the fishing nets, and his mother prepared the food she sold to the community members and, on weekends, to the tourists who came to the area.
“We want to rebuild our garage because my dad uses it to prepare the nets.” “My mom sells food to people in the community, but on weekends she sells to tourists,” Jesús explains.
Now he’s trying to turn the loss into an opportunity. While he waits for the debris to be removed from his mother’s porch, he started planting coconuts with the idea of selling them to visitors who return to Boca de Aroa and creating a small commercial area there, but it won’t be until five years from now that he’ll see the fruits of the barely sprouted coconut trees.
His story reflects a reality that is repeated in small-scale fishing communities around the world. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), this sector represents about 40% of the world’s fish catches and supports approximately 90% of fishery workers. However, those who depend on this activity often have limited capacity to absorb prolonged interruptions in their income, due to their reliance on daily work and local markets.
In Boca de Aroa, that phrase sums up the uncertainty of a community that for years lived at the pace of those who arrived seeking the sea. The absence of tourists not only left empty tables in restaurants and fewer customers for the fishermen; it also disrupted an economy built around small commercial exchanges with visitors, which sustained hundreds of families in Falcón state.
The most significant damage in the cluster of coastal towns within the country occurred in Tucacas and Boca de Aroa, unlike other tourist areas. The condition of the roads leading to these towns, along with the preventative closure of the region’s most important national park, were the main causes of the economic slowdown in these villages.
Just a few streets away from where Jesús planted the first coconuts, traces of what happened that June morning remain. Some houses are damaged, and families who lost their homes continue to wait for a solution while living in tents set up near their land.
The recovery of these fishing villages will not depend solely on removing the debris or repairing the access roads. It will also depend on those who live there being able to reconnect with an activity that for generations defined their relationship with the sea: the possibility of working, selling and supporting oneself on a coast where, after the earthquake, many are still waiting for people to return.
Your team could have done this.
Is baseball headed for a lockout this winter? Yes.
Because the Dodgers traded for Tarik Skubal? No.
The Dodgers play a video before each home game, which includes these words from a sinister-sounding voice: “You need teams like us to point your finger and say, ‘That’s the bad guy.’ ”
In this case, “you” means the owners of the other 29 teams. You can hear them wailing now: Baseball is rigged, and only a salary cap can unrig the sport. The Dodgers are the back-to-back champions, and they just picked up the best player on the trade market.
They. Have. Too. Much. Damn. Money.
But here’s the thing: All the money the Dodgers lavish upon their major league roster isn’t what made the trade for Skubal possible.
Oh, all that money helped put them in position to where Skubal could help them in October, but Skubal could have helped the Milwaukee Brewers or the Chicago Cubs or the Tampa Bay Rays or the Atlanta Braves or the New York Yankees or the Philadelphia Phillies.
When the Detroit Tigers took bids for Skubal, they liked the Dodgers’ offer the best. And here is what the Dodgers offered: three prospects, none a first-rounder, none ranked among baseball’s top 20 prospects.
Outfielder Zyhir Hope was drafted in the 11th round, by the Cubs. When the Cubs needed a corner infielder, the Dodgers shipped them a surplus major leaguer, Michael Busch, in exchange for two prospects. One was Hope, whose professional experience was limited to 11 games of rookie ball.
Pitcher River Ryan was drafted in the 11th round, by the San Diego Padres. When the Padres needed a left-handed bat that could play the outfield, the Dodgers shipped them a surplus major leaguer, Matt Beaty, for a prospect that had yet to make his professional debut, Ryan.
Pitcher Brady Smith was drafted in the third round, by the Dodgers. This is his second professional season.
The Dodgers developed Hope and Ryan from minor leaguers into top prospects, and the Tigers hope some of that Dodgers development dust has rubbed off on Smith.
Tarik Skubal delivers during a game between the Detroit Tigers and the Baltimore Orioles on July 29.
(Paul Sancya / Associated Press)
For now? The prospect rankings on the league website put Hope at No. 25 and Ryan at No. 68. The Baseball America prospect rankings put Hope at No. 55, with Ryan outside the top 100. Neither ranking includes Smith among the top 100.
As Baseball America editor-in-chief J.J. Cooper wrote, Hope was the third-best outfielder on the Dodgers’ double-A team.
That might be the greatest testament of all to the Dodgers’ player development system, particularly considering all of their winning means they draft at the end of every round, every year.
Maybe the trio of prospects never pans out, at least not the way the Tigers hope. Two of three prospects traded at the deadline never do, according to Baseball America research.
Will money come into play here? Yes, but not yet. Skubal is a free agent at the end of the season, and not every team could afford $300 million or $400 million or so to sign him to a long-term contract.
But, for these final months of the season, the cost to pay Skubal is $9 million. Any team can do that. And, if the owner of your team tells you he could not have done that, the proper response would be to laugh, and then chant “Sell the team!”
And, as the Brewers and Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays prove just about every year, any team can afford to build an excellent player development system.
Look, I am not going to try to tell you that every team could sign Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Freddie Freeman and Mookie Betts and Edwin Díaz and Kyle Tucker.
But the New York Mets, in the largest market in the major leagues, certainly could. Their Saturday was not spent trading for Skubal. It was spent taking trade offers for players on their last-place team and commemorating the 40th anniversary of their 1986 World Series championship team — their last championship team.
In Anaheim, the last-place team in the second-largest market in the major leagues lost to the Brewers, the team in the smallest market in the major leagues — and, as of Saturday, the team with the best record in the majors.
Market size need not be destiny, if you can scout and sign and coach and develop players. The owners could learn from that, but it’s easier to point at the Dodgers and say, “That’s the bad guy.”
Instead, some poor league employee probably stayed up late Saturday night, planning how to splice clips of Skubal wearing a Dodgers uniform into the “Level the Playing Field” ad campaign the owners are running to persuade fans to take their side in collective bargaining. Imagine what they could do with clips of Skubal waving to fans in a championship parade.
One of the most read — and debated — stories from the Arts team this week was an interview with Oskar Eustis a day after he announced that he would step down as the artistic director of the Public Theater in 2028. The New York Times broke the news July 22 in an interview with Eustis in which he also said that the American nonprofit theater movement was over.
I followed up in a phone interview the next day and asked him to explain what he meant, which he did, noting that the broad consensus that nonprofit theater mattered to the country — a belief held by national endowments, state arts agencies, public policy institutes and corporate philanthropic departments — had disappeared. So, too, have many of those very same agencies and their budgets that provided funding to the arts. The case for sustaining any particular theater now comes down to that theater and how relevant and necessary it can make itself to its surrounding community, Eustis said.
There is never enough room in an article when you’ve had a good conversation with someone, so I thought I’d use the newsletter to publish a bit more of what Eustis shared with me. I was particularly interested in something he said about the Public’s famed Shakespeare in the Park program, which is free and takes place every summer at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Since its inception, more than 160 productions have been staged, reaching more than 6 million people.
The free tickets the Public gives away for these shows are “the prime driver of our income at the Public, and this has been true since our founding,” Eustis told me.
That may sound counterintuitive, but it goes directly to the case Eustis is making for modern nonprofit theaters to be as relevant as possible to their communities. Ticket sales will never bring in the kind of money theaters need to sustain a robust slate of diverse programming — that will always have to come from donors. These very same donors, Eustis said, are the ones who feel most excited to be sitting among the citizenry in Central Park, watching the beauty of public art unfold in a joyous communal atmosphere.
“It’s not just when they make a donation that they get to see the show,” said Eustis of uber-wealthy donors. “They absolutely viscerally feel that — sitting in that theater when 75% of the audience hasn’t paid a penny to be there — they are getting to be part of their dream city. They’re feeling, ‘Oh, this is what New York is supposed to feel like.’”
By giving away free Shakespeare in the Park tickets, Eustis said, the Public is “making an unbelievably powerful case for why we need subsidy … and that’s why the money comes, because we are [showing] that democratic access is more fun for a better city.”
I like the idea of free theater being more fun, and rich people paying for the privilege of being a part of that fun when it is so removed from their cordoned-off daily lives. But I do worry that so much of what we now rely on culturally comes down to the whims and fancies of a handful of ultra-rich patrons. Newspapers are run by them, public school art and music programs rely on them, as do museums, symphonies, ballets and operas.
As Eustis pointed out, these donors no longer represent a broad consensus that is channeled into a civic vision via government support, but that is precisely why the situation feels so precarious. We might be one serious AI-driven stock market crash from artistic oblivion.
I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt staring gloomily into the distance. This is your arts and culture news for the week.
Our critics and reporters guide you through events and happenings of L.A.
By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Service, which include arbitration and a class action waiver. You agree that we and our third-party vendors may collect and use your information, including through cookies, pixels and similar technologies, for the purposes set forth in our Privacy Policy such as personalizing your experience and ads.
“Ulises Carrión, a bookwork in many places” exhibition at Joan Los Angeles.
(Evan Walsh)
Ulises Carrión, a bookwork in many places
The exhibition, in its final two weeks, examines the Mexican-born conceptual artist’s influence on reimagined systems of exchange through printed matter by artists, librarians, publishers and alternative spaces. The show focuses on Southern California in particular, spanning the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, featuring artist books, correspondence, video and ephemera.
11 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays. Through Aug. 9. Joan, 1206 Maple Ave., Suite 715, Fashion District, downtown L.A. joanlosangeles.org
Puppet Up!
Brian Henson’s adventurous stage show featuring improv and sketch comedy with the iconic Henson puppets and puppeteers is back for a limited eight-performance run. Also on tap is “A Conversation With Brian Henson,” a live presentation by the Emmy-winning producer, director and puppeteer about the rich history of the Jim Henson Company, 2 p.m. Sunday at the Montalbán.
8 p.m. Friday; 3 and 7 p.m. Saturday; 5 p.m. Sunday; 8 p.m. Aug. 7; 3 and 7 p.m. Aug. 8; and 5 p.m. Aug. 9. Ricardo Montalbán Theatre, 1615 Vine St. puppetup.com
Tchaikovsky Spectacular with Fireworks
L.A.-based circus company Troupe Vertigo and the USC Trojan Marching Band join the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by France’s Chloe Dufresne, for the 1812 overture — with pyrotechnics.
8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com
A scene from “Acquaprofonda” at the Aquarium of the Pacific.”
(Andres Leon for Long Beach Opera)
Acquaprofonda: A Deep-Sea Opera for Families
Long Beach Opera Education collaborates with the Aquarium of the Pacific for this free, family-friendly, 30-minute adventure about a young girl who finds an ailing whale and stands up for what’s right. Music by Giovanni Sollima, libretto by Giancarlo De Cataldo and English libretto by Elle Moody.
Noon and 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, through Aug. 9. Aquarium of the Pacific, Honda Pacific Visions Theater, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach. longbeachopera.org
Boleros De Noche
The 10th annual celebration of romance, nostalgia and cultural pride features Puerto Rican singer iLe and a special performance by the L.A.-based trio Voz Bohemia.
8 p.m. Ford Amphitheatre, 2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East. theford.com
Free 4 All
Claremont Lewis Museum of Art opens its doors for this annual one-day takeover by local artists who will display their work with no fees to exhibit and no gatekeepers to choose whose work gets seen. With live music by the Kamran Curlin Trio, Home Again Home Again and Coupe Deville.
1-8 p.m. Claremont Lewis Museum of Art, 200 W. First St., Claremont. clmoa.org
People of Pompeii
A new comedy by Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award-winning playwright Bernardo Cubría, co-directed by Ellen Geer and Xochitl Romero, is set in Topanga Canyon itself and focuses on community in a time of climate catastrophe.
Through Oct. 4. Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga. theatricum.com
Two Gentlebots of Verona
The annual Actors’ Gang Free Shakespeare in the Park for Families features a cyber-inspired Shakespeare adaptation by Rynn Vogel, directed by Adam J. Jefferis.
11 a.m. Saturdays and Sundays, through Aug. 23. Media Park, 9091 Culver Blvd., Culver City; noon, Aug. 29-30. Buena Vista Branch Library, 300 N. Buena Vista St., Burbank. theactorsgang.com
Sidney Jacobs & the Monsters
The jazz vocalist and his sextet perform original music with reimagined standards.
8 p.m. Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. sierramadreplayhouse.org
St. Vincent with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra
The six-time Grammy-winning singer-songwriter guitarist goes orchestral with the HBO led by conductor Jules Buckley.
7 p.m. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com
Louis Langrée
The French conductor leads the L.A. Phil in works from Felix Mendelssohn and Joseph Haydn on Tuesday at the Hollywood Bowl; two nights later, Langrée returns with pieces by Johannes Brahms, Georges Bizet and Louise Farrenc.
Mendelssohn & Haydn, 8 p.m. Tuesday; Brahms & Bizet, 8 p.m. Thursday. Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave. hollywoodbowl.com
“Saint Luke” from Irmengard Codex shortly after 1053. German. Tempera colors, gold, and ink on parchment 22.2 × 18.7 cm (8 3/4 × 7 3/8 in.)
(Getty Museum)
The Making of a Medieval Manuscript
If you ever wondered how the beautiful manuscripts in the Getty’s extensive collection were created, this is the exhibition for you. Tools and materials used illustrate each phase of the process from parchment making, writing and illuminating through the final binding. Christian manuscripts from Europe, Armenia and Ethiopia, plus objects of Jewish and Muslim origin, will also be on display, along with a video component.
Through May 2, 2027. Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Drive, L.A. getty.edu
Kalean Ung as the Chanteuse in “The Comedy of Errors.”
(Mike Ditz)
The Comedy of Errors
Melissa Chalsma directs Indie Shakes’ production of the Bard’s wordplay and slapstick set in a Mediterranean port town, with an original score.
7 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday; through Sept. 6. Old Zoo Picnic Area, Griffith Park. indieshakes.org/free-shakespeare-2026
Annie and the Caldwells/The Campbell Brothers
The Skirball concludes its 29th season of Sunset Concerts with this family-fueled pairing of disco soul and sacred steel gospel groups, respectively, plus DJ sets by Sonrisita.
7 p.m. Skirball Cultural Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. skirball.org
JazzPOP 2026
The summer series marks its 19th season with three concerts showcasing West Coast creative jazz: Kasey Knudsen Sextet (Thursday); Malachi Whitson Quartet (Aug. 13); and Machado Mijiga Trio (Aug. 20).
8 p.m. Thursdays, through Aug. 20. UCLA Hammer Museum, 10899 Wilshire Blvd., Westwood. hammer.ucla.edu
— Kevin Crust
L.A. Times arts coverage from the the past …
Playwright/director Moises Kaufman of “The Laramie Project” was on the cover of Sunday Calendar, July 29, 2001.
(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
Sunday Calendar, July 29, 2001
NEW YORK — Moises Kaufman could not turn off the television. He could not put down the newspaper. Like much of America, he was mesmerized by the news of the horrific beating, robbery and eventual death in 1998 of Matthew Shepard, a gay university student attacked and left for dead by two young men near Laramie, Wyo.
“For the five days until he died, you couldn’t turn on a television or a radio and not hear about it,” says the 37-year-old playwright and director. “Matthew Shepard put a face on hate crimes. He was young, beautiful, starting his life. The nation as a whole said, ‘Oh, my God. What’s going on?’ ”
It was exactly the sort of question that Kaufman and his colleagues at the Tectonic Theater Project here try to ask, if not answer, onstage. So unlike much of America, Kaufman did not simply move on to the next news tragedy. The man who created the widely produced “Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde” had found his next theater project. READ MORE
— Barbara Isenberg
Artist Betye Saar visits her pet tortoise named Ms. Rojo on Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026, in Los Angeles.
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Pioneering Los Angeles assemblage artist Betye Saar died Sunday, just a few days shy of her 100th birthday. The Times had the privilege of profiling her a few weeks earlier in a story that also included some wonderful photos of Saar still hard at work in her Laurel Canyon home studio. After Saar’s death, we published an obituary written by former Times columnist Carolina Miranda, and I put together a list of five of Saar’s most compelling works.
Watts Towers is poised to break ground in October on a $22-million campus renovation — the first such work done to the arts campus since it opened in 1970. The work is set to begin as funding for a 15-year project to preserve the towers themselves has dried up, with work about 90% complete. Community leaders say the situation represents the frustrating piecemeal approach taken over the years to preserve one of the city’s most important cultural landmarks. Times contributor Jane Horowitz has the scoop.
Evan Lugo (George Page), Sonya Cooke (Margaret Page), Zane Caputo (Abraham Slender), Zach Trent (Skateboard Fenton) and Heriberto Cruz Jr. (Doctor Cayo) in “The Merry Wives of Windsor Cove.”
(Elijah Waller)
“The Merry Wives of Windsor’” got a ’50s-themed SoCal beach blanket bingo musical makeover at UC Irvine’s New Swan Shakespeare Festival, and Times theater critic Charles McNulty was there to weigh in on the result. “The pastiche score, indebted to the pop charts of the 1950s, isn’t allowed to dominate,” McNulty writes. “As modern musicals go, this is a low-key affair. The comedy is still the thing in this frolicsome outdoor production, which takes place in the charming ambiance of the festival’s portable, mini-Elizabethan venue.”
McNulty also took time to praise the work of stellar older actors in a rare revival of Nöel Coward’s “Waiting in the Wings,” which is running in repertory at Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum through Oct. 10. The play, “which is set in ‘The Wings,’ a charity home for retired actresses, provides a feast for veteran thespians for whom it would be impolite to ask their age,” writes McNulty. “Led by Susan Angelo, Jan Wikstrom and Ellen Geer, this ensemble, under the direction of Willow Geer, diverts and distracts from the mustier aspects of Coward’s style.”
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art announced its inaugural film programming, which is set to screen nonstop during museum hours in two dedicated 299-seat theaters. One theater will play mostly documentary films, and the other will be devoted to the more experimental aspects of the art form.
Alaska Thunderf— will play Mary Todd Lincoln in “Oh, Mary!” at the Ahmanson.
(Daniel Rampulla)
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Alaska Thunderf— will play Mary Todd Lincoln in Cole Escola’s Tony-winning comedy “Oh, Mary!” when it arrives at Center Theatre Group’s Ahmanson Theatre in the fall. Broadway star J. Harrison Ghee has been cast opposite Alaska in the role of her famous husband.
Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times
Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. Become a subscriber.
Joey McIntyre of New Kids on the Block performs during Audacy’s 11th annual We Can Survive at Prudential Center on Sept. 28, 2024, in Newark, N.J.
(Manny Carabel / Getty Images for Audacy)
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts announced some additions to its 2026-2027 season, including the world premiere of a new play, “Radio Galaxy,” written by Michèle Aldin Kushner, directed by Kimberly Senior and starring Joey McIntyre (yes, that Joey McIntyre) and Olivier Award winner Lesli Margherita. The show is about a 17-year-old from a working-class New Jersey town who wants to become an astronomer but must deal with the harsh realities of daily life, including his half-sister’s need for a bone marrow transplant. The show is scheduled for 18 performances in the Lovelace Studio Theater Nov. 6-22. Tickets are available here.
A few reduced-rate spots remain for Camp Build at the Gamble House in Pasadena, which runs from Aug. 1 to 5 for three hours each day. Two hours are devoted to learning the art and craft of woodworking, and a third hour is spent on activities inspired by nature and architecture in the historic home. The cost of the camp is assessed on a sliding scale according to income and need with four payment tiers ranging from free to $650. The remaining slots are in the second tier, which costs $350.
— Jessica Gelt
Want a glimpse into the hedonistic L.A. of yore? Check out this story about Eve Babitz’s personal letters. It will not disappoint.
High fuel prices likely to linger with or without continued Iran war, Exxon and Chevron say
Source link
Utilities sector slips in July; Constellation Energy leads gainers, Alliant Energy leads decliners
Source link
J Studios
Truth Social, the social media firm owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT), on Saturday launched Truth API, a licensed data feed that enables real-time access to posts from its high-profile users, including President Donald Trump.
With Trump Media & Technology
Earnings Call Insights: CubeSmart (CUBE) Q2 2026
Seeking Alpha’s Disclaimer: This article was automatically generated by an AI tool based on content available on the Seeking Alpha website, and has not been curated or reviewed by humans. Due to inherent limitations in using AI-based tools, the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of such articles cannot be guaranteed. This article is intended for informational purposes only. Seeking Alpha does not take account of your objectives or your financial situation and does not offer any personalized investment advice. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank.
U.S., Israel said to be planning heaviest bombing so far on Iran energy infrastructure targets
Source link
hapabapa/iStock Editorial via Getty Images
Amazon (AMZN) is facing a proposed consumer class action in the United States over allegations that it misrepresented the environmental credentials of seafood sold through its online marketplace, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Seattle.
The lawsuit, filed
Norwegian Cruise downgraded to Hold at Freedom Broker; PT cut to $20
Source link
Yuriy T
Amazon (AMZN) shares rallied in Thursday’s extended trading after reporting stronger-than-expected second-quarter results, driven by the strength of its cloud business, putting the spotlight on ETFs with significant exposure to the stock.
The e-commerce giant reported second-quarter North America revenue
Apple declares $0.27 dividend
Source link
Liquidity relief today, balance-sheet strain tomorrow: The very structures that make private credit nimble—PIK loans—could also mask risk until it’s too late.
When GoHealth Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 7, the writing had been on the wall for two years. The Chicago-based health insurance marketplace had inked a payment-in-kind (PIK) deal to preserve liquidity only to collapse under the weight of more than $1 billion in debt.
For GoHealth’s lenders, including Blue Owl Capital, one of the largest private credit managers, it was a familiar scenario — allow a portfolio company to defer cash interest payments and roll them into its debt balance. This preserves liquidity during uncertain times. For GoHealth, the PIK agreement preceded a critical Medicare enrollment cycle.
Ultimately, it only bought time.
Liquidity deteriorated, Medicare Advantage pressures persisted, and GoHealth—once valued at $6.6 billion—ran out of runway. By late last year, lenders had placed the company’s loans on nonaccrual status. By the time GoHealth filed for bankruptcy protection, the PIK arrangement had become just another case study in a growing private-credit risk: debt structures that postpone distress while quietly deepening it.
“PIK is like a double-edged sword,” said Lakshmi Ganapathi, founder of Unicus Research in Ridgefield, Connecticut. “Borrowers seem to love PIK toggles in good times because it preserves the cash, but under stress, the accruing principal at a compounding rate becomes a balance-sheet problem. It’s attractive until it’s not.”
GoHealth and Blue Owl did not respond to requests for comment.
GoHealth is hardly alone. P3 Health Partners restructured its term loan last year into a cash-and-PIK arrangement, requiring borrowers to pay a portion of interest in cash while adding the remainder to principal. This preserved liquidity but increased leverage over time. The Henderson, Nevada-based healthcare provider now has $380 million in long-term debt at double-digit interest rates.
In some cases, the outcome is more dramatic. Software company Pluralsight, owned by Vista Equity Partners, was ultimately handed over to a consortium of private credit lenders, including Blue Owl, Ares, Golub, Oaktree, Goldman Sachs, and BlackRock. Efforts to manage Pluralsight’s debt burden proved insufficient, and Vista wrote off roughly $4 billion in equity.
“There’s a through-line across all of them,” Ganapathi told Global Finance. “A borrower under cash-flow strain defers an obligation, whether through PIK, an amendment, or a liability-management exercise.”
The deferral increases the debt burden or postpones the reckoning, and the resolution is a lender-led restructuring in which the equity is wiped out or impaired and the debt holders take control.
“The 2026 cluster is concentrated in healthcare and software, where higher-for-longer rates met business models underwritten on cheaper money,” she added.
In a post-bank-crisis world of high interest rates and tightened underwriting standards, private credit has stepped into the void. But the very perks that make it nimble — like PIK loans — can be foreshadowing: a bankruptcy filing that simply formalizes what the PIK plan already implied.
Firms like Blue Owl Capital have exposure across a range of heavily leveraged software, technology, and financial borrowers, some of which have recently faced bankruptcies, insolvencies, or out-of-court restructurings. It’s enough to turn certain dealmakers off completely.
“Our firm doesn’t do any pay-in-kind,” Scott Stevens, CEO of Grays Peak Capital, a New York-based global investment firm, said. “We only do cash pay, and that is, I think, why we’ve had no defaults.”
One need only look to the September bankruptcy of auto parts supplier First Brands Group. The filing came after a PIK-based option had been introduced — highlighting how quickly deferred-interest arrangements can become embedded in stressed credits. Fortified by the “cockroach” imagery used by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, headlines about the collapse of private credit began circulating.
But the evidence isn’t just anecdotal.
An analysis by Lincoln International found that 11% of loans in its private credit database carried some form of PIK interest in 2025, up from 7% in 2021. While the increase appears gradual, the composition of these loans is what’s striking: 58% are now classified as “bad PIK.”
That means the borrowers couldn’t keep up with payments and later had to switch to PIK. The shift matters because it reflects weakening credit quality rather than a pre-planned financing option.
In other words, the loans migrated into PIK status as borrowers faced deteriorating cash flows and required relief. The share of “bad PIK” loans has more than doubled since late 2021, Lincoln notes, effectively turning the metric into a proxy for underlying problems.
The implications are significant. In many cases, borrowers use PIK not because business conditions are improving or because growth is being reinvested, but because cash generation is insufficient to service debt. Lincoln describes this as a potential “shadow default rate,” capturing companies that might otherwise have defaulted absent lender forbearance.
The deterioration in the balance sheet is equally stark. Within the bad PIK group, average loan-to-value ratios have risen from 39.4% at origination to 76.1% today, underscoring how quickly leverage can escalate when earnings weaken and enterprise values compress.
Private credit proponents highlight flexibility and speed as advantages that outweigh the drawbacks. Unlike traditional banks, direct lenders can close deals in weeks, tailor covenants, and even hold entire loan books. Borrowers pay a premium for certainty and confidentiality: a trade-off that often, though not always, takes the form of a PIK arrangement. But Grays Peak Capital’s Stevens sees 2026 as an inflection point.
“A lot of people tightened their lending standards over the last three to six months,” he says. Stevens attributes the stress to a combination of rate resets and companies failing to grow in line with underwriting assumptions. Some defaults are to be expected, especially those that are tech and venture related. “But I don’t think it’s systemic in terms of the economy.”
Not everyone is so optimistic. After all, the sector’s flexibility comes with a cost: opacity. Critics point to the tangled web of interconnections between private lenders and banks as a source of potential systemic risk.
The very features that make private credit attractive — speed, flexibility, confidentiality — also make it difficult to monitor. And as PIK loans accumulate on balance sheets with limited public disclosure, a broader question is taking shape. If private credit is playing a bank-like game, should it play by the same rules?
Regulating private credit providers like banks would be too stifling, Stevens argues. “If they would go too far down the regulatory path, I think this will skirt innovation and growth,” he said, pointing to defense sector financing as an area where private credit needs room to maneuver.
Todd Holleman, a partner at King & Spalding, draws a distinction between the two. Bank regulations exist for a reason, he argued. Deposits are primarily individuals’ money, and the global financial crisis showed how quickly bad investments could put that money at risk. Private credit is different. Its capital comes primarily from sovereign wealth funds, pension plans and insurance companies — sophisticated investors who are already regulated and understand what they’re buying. Applying bank regulations to private credit, Holleman said, would be an apples-to-oranges comparison. “They just wouldn’t work.”
Ganapathi sees it differently, citing the case of Market Financial Solutions (MFS). The UK bridge lender collapsed into administration in February following allegations of fraud and asset double-pledging. HSBC wasn’t directly exposed to MFS — it was exposed to Apollo, which was. The $400 million loss traveled up the chain.
“It cascades,” Ganapathi said, drawing a parallel to Japan’s lost decade, when banks extended credit to insolvent borrowers while avoiding mark-to-market accounting — papering over losses until the system buckled. “They were extending and pretending like nothing happened, not marking to market. That derailed the system. Regulations stopped it. Now, if you take regulation out of the picture, what will stop this? Without a trigger, this could continue for a long time.”
Anthony Noto covers corporate finance and private credit. Contact him at anoto@gfmag.com.
manassanant pamai/iStock via Getty Images
The Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept its key short-term interest rate unchanged at 1.0% during its July 2026 monetary policy meeting. The decision leaves borrowing costs at their highest point since September 1995, following a 25-basis-point hike in June.
The
Earnings Call Insights: BigBear.ai Holdings, Inc. (BBAI) Q2 2026
Seeking Alpha’s Disclaimer: This article was automatically generated by an AI tool based on content available on the Seeking Alpha website, and has not been curated or reviewed by humans. Due to inherent limitations in using AI-based tools, the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of such articles cannot be guaranteed. This article is intended for informational purposes only. Seeking Alpha does not take account of your objectives or your financial situation and does not offer any personalized investment advice. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank.
Earnings Call Insights: Exponent, Inc. (EXPO) Q2 2026
CEO Catherine Corrigan said the quarter reflected broad demand across proactive and reactive work, stating: “Exponent delivered another strong quarter with double-digit growth in revenues and earnings, reflecting the continued demand for our
Seeking Alpha’s Disclaimer: This article was automatically generated by an AI tool based on content available on the Seeking Alpha website, and has not been curated or reviewed by humans. Due to inherent limitations in using AI-based tools, the accuracy, completeness, or timeliness of such articles cannot be guaranteed. This article is intended for informational purposes only. Seeking Alpha does not take account of your objectives or your financial situation and does not offer any personalized investment advice. Seeking Alpha is not a licensed securities dealer, broker or US investment adviser or investment bank.
The conference call may be accessed by dialing 800-715-9871 toll free or 646-307-1963, using the access code 5721085. Read More
Source link
The “family fight” over setting the Fed Funds Rate that Federal Reserve Board Chairman Kevin Warsh has desired resulted in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) maintaining its current 3.5% to 3.75% target at the second meeting under his leadership.
“I asked for a good family fight, and I got one,” he said at Wednesday’s FOMC post-announcement press conference. “That’s the purpose… Most of our discussions were on the big questions that matter to the conduct of monetary policy.”
The two-day fight addressed the impact of five years of high inflation on current policy, the effects of strained supply chains and resulting price increases, and the role of monetary policy and strategies in achieving price stability.
“There was nothing inertial about that discussion. It was an active, robust discussion about what’s in the full range of what we can do and might want to do in the period ahead,” he said.
Unlike June’s unanimous vote to maintain the FOMC’s target rate, Beth M. Hammack, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland; Neel Tushar Kashkari, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis; and Lorie K. Logan, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, voted to raise the Fed Funds Rate by 25 basis points.
The division nearly matched the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool, which estimated a 68.5% chance the FOMC would maintain its rate and a 31.5% chance of an increase to 3.75%-4%, based on the 30-Day Fed Funds futures price.
Acknowledging that supply chain shocks in energy and other sectors have kept inflation above the FOMC’s 2% target, Warsh noted that little could be done to cure inflation in the nine weeks since he became chairman or to achieve a month of modest price decreases.
“For some households, businesses, and market professionals, five years of high inflation have left a mistaken impression… that the Fed’s implicit inflation target was somehow above 2%,” said Warsh. “Let me reiterate: There is no soft inflation target. There is no soft implicit target. Not on this committee’s watch. There’s only a target, and it’s 2%.”
Keeping true to form, Warsh shared that he has not yet begun his speech for the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium in August, which has historically set the stage for what the FOMC would do in the second half of the year.
He said he would like to ask the “big questions” about what is happening to productivity, demographics, and the global economy amid the current economic shocks.
“I haven’t made a decision whether it’s going to be a big-picture speech or whether it’s going to be a more traditional setup for all the action we’re going to have between September and December,” he said. “I will tell you one other thing I’m doing between now and Jackson Hole. I’m checking in with those task forces [that I announced in June].”
Published on
The European Commission is considering opening an investigation into imports of certain construction materials from several Balkan countries over suspicions that they were made using low-cost Chinese glass fibre already subject to EU anti-dumping duties, according to people familiar with the matter.
The probe will focus on so-called open mesh fabrics, including thermal insulation systems.
The case comes as the European Commission continues to step up pressure on low-cost Chinese imports, which are contributing to the EU’s record-high €1 billion-a-day trade deficit with China. The commission launched negotiations with Beijing in June in a bid to rebalance trade ties, with hopes of securing tangible results by October.
EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič expected to travel to China in October.
At the same time, the Commission has warned that it would deploy its trade defence instruments before the deadline to counter low-cost Chinese imports, arguing that China uses unfair practices to gain access to the EU market – including strategies to circumvent EU tariffs.
Open mesh fabrics are often manufactured with Chinese glass fibre, which the Commission has accused Chinese producers of selling at unfairly low prices on the EU market, causing injury to European manufacturers. The EU has targeted glass fibre with additional duties several times in recent years, including imports from Egypt that are produced by Chinese companies.
But Chinese producers are suspected of circumventing those anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties by relying on local manufacturers in several Balkan countries to assemble open mesh fabrics using low-cost Chinese glass fibre.
The EU produces around 1 million tonnes of melted glass annually from installations operating in eight countries, among them Germany, France and Italy.
But according to Glass Fibre Europe, which represents the glass fibre industry in Brussels, Chinese glass fibre overcapacity exceeds 100 percent of total EU market demand, raising the risk of further harm to European producers unless the EU strengthens its trade defence measures.
Over the past year, the number of cases involving alleged Chinese unfair trade practices across several industrial sectors has increased, and the Commission has been criticised for the length of its investigations.
At a summit in mid-June, EU leaders gave the Commission a mandate to review and update its trade defence instruments.
But the EU’s current trade regulation toolbox remains limited, with Commission only able to address unfair trade practices on a product-by-product basis. Additional safeguard measures – including tariffs and quotas – are also under consideration, Euronews has learned, to protect the European chemicals sector from intense Chinese competition.
The Commission was contacted for comment but did not reply.
Outsourcing credit lets the Chinese EV maker scale fast while leaving asset risks to lenders.
This article appears in the July/August issue of Global Finance Magazine.
Walk the streets of cities like Valencia or Paris, and you don’t need the data to see BYD everywhere, especially in ride-hailing fleets and private transportation. These days, the sleek logo you notice isn’t always Tesla’s or Kia’s; it’s often BYD’s.
Sales of BYD’s electric vehicles surged across Europe last year, up roughly 270% year over year. In the first quarter of 2026, sales increased by another 156%.
While most coverage frames this as a product story, the bigger story is financing: BYD’s rise has less to do with design or price than with how the cars are financed.
BYD hasn’t expanded in Europe by building a traditional captive-finance arm. Instead, it has plugged directly into the region’s existing banking and leasing infrastructure, achieving captive-finance reach without the balance-sheet burden. In doing so, it has turned Europe’s financial system into a distribution engine that moves vehicles by turning them into financeable assets.
At first glance, BYD’s success seems straightforward: strong demand, rapid adoption, and a new entrant quickly gaining share. But in a market where vehicles are often financed, leased, and cycled through multiple channels before reaching long-term ownership, the headline numbers don’t always tell the whole story. The surge in European BYD registrations may signal demand and financing strength, or it may reflect window dressing shaped by the way the system works.
BYD relies on a familiar but strategically deployed set of financing and leasing arrangements. Vehicles are sold in bulk to leasing companies, fleet operators, and dealer networks, which then finance or lease them to end users, including corporate clients, ride-hailing drivers, and private buyers. European banks and auto-finance platforms provide the underlying credit, while leasing firms structure contracts and manage residual-value assumptions.
What stands out in BYD’s case is the speed and scale of the operation.
“European OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] built their captive finance arms over 30 to 40 years, and those businesses now function as profit centers,” says Stefan Bratzel, founder and executive director of the Center of Automotive Management (CAM) in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. “BYD cannot replicate this overnight, nor does it try to.”
Instead, he notes, the company is partnering with established asset finance providers to accelerate market entry. BYD gains “speed to market at the cost of margin while it accumulates the balance sheet and regulatory standing to eventually internalize these functions.”
In effect, BYD is compressing a decades-long buildout of captive finance into a partner-led model, trading margin and control for faster access to Europe’s credit and leasing channels.
It’s easy to see the appeal for lenders: Vehicles placed into leasing or fleet programs become financeable units, bundled into loan or lease portfolios that generate predictable cash flow. In a market where electrification is both a policy priority and an investment theme, high-volume EV programs provide a steady pipeline of assets.
The speed of BYD’s expansion raises questions about the numbers.
“BYD’s channel mix is improving,” says Matthias Schmidt, an independent analyst tracking the European auto market. Retail share in Germany rose to 32.5% of volume in the first four months of 2026, compared with 12.4% for all of last year, suggesting a shift toward a more balanced sales mix. But the relationship between registrations and vehicles actually on the road is less straightforward.
“Out of more than 30,472 BYD models registered in Germany since it entered the market in December 2022, only 18,536 are currently on the road,” says Schmidt, suggesting that “after models have been registered, they are then being exported to other European markets as used-car inventory or are going back into used-car inventory in Germany. This could be a strategy to demonstrate to market observers that they are performing better in Europe’s largest market than they actually are. We call it window-dressing the data.”
In a system driven by leasing, fleet placement, and dealer networks, that gap is not necessarily unusual. Vehicles can be registered into the channel before reaching long-term ownership, then repositioned through resale, export, or short-term use across markets. For financial stakeholders, the distinction matters: registrations may signal momentum, but they do not necessarily show sustained demand.
For the institutions partnering with BYD and helping fund its expansion, the focus is less on BYD’s near-term concern — speed to market — and more on how those assets perform over time.
Residual value assumptions underpin the economics of leasing. If vehicles retain value, the system works: Monthly payments remain competitive, credit risk remains contained, and lenders and leasing firms can recycle assets efficiently through secondary markets. When they don’t, the economics tighten quickly.
“The EV residual value question is the single biggest structural challenge in automotive finance right now,” Bratzel says. “Whoever solves that problem credibly — either through data, scale, or balance sheet — will have a significant structural advantage.”
Bratzel points to one potential factor that could shape how banks ultimately price that risk: “Vertical integration around the battery — especially battery cells — can have a positive impact on risk assessments, as this is based on a lot of their own data.”
BYD’s advantage stems in part from how much of that data it controls. Unlike many automakers that rely on third-party suppliers for critical components, the company produces its own battery cells and key parts of the EV supply chain. That level of vertical integration gives BYD clearer visibility into battery performance over time, arguably the most important variable in determining how an electric vehicle depreciates.
The geographic distribution of BYD’s growth in Europe adds another layer.
According to Schmidt, roughly 70% of Chinese EV registrations in Western Europe in the first quarter of this year were concentrated in Spain, Italy, and the U.K.: markets that tend to be more price-sensitive and open to new entrants.
While this doesn’t invalidate BYD’s growth, it suggests that location-dependent finance dynamics are driving expansion as much as consumer demand.
| Traditional OEM Captive Finance |
BYD Partner-Led Model |
|---|---|
| Builds and operates own finance arm |
Uses banks and leasing partners |
| Significant capital commitment |
Lower capital burden |
| Controls lending and leasing directly |
Outsources financing functions |
| Often takes decades to build |
Can scale immediately |
| Retains finance profits | Trades margin for speed |
| Higher control | Faster market entry |
BYD’s approach is working. It has outsourced the slowest component of automotive expansion — credit formation — while maintaining control of product supply and commercial momentum.
As Bratzel suggests, this is not a permanent structure: It’s transitional. It’s designed to gain scale first, then possibly internalize financing over time. Meanwhile, European banks and leasing platforms are providing balance-sheet support to enable growth.
Schmidt’s analysis leaves little ambiguity: Not all growth is created equal. Registration data may reflect momentum, but it can also reflect channel dynamics — fleet placements, dealer inventory, cross-border repositioning — that cloud actual on-the-ground demand.
For lenders, the distinction is not academic. They are not underwriting registrations. They are underwriting residual values, which is where the rubber meets the road.
Over the next two to three years, vehicles deployed and financed today will begin to cycle back through the system via lease returns, resale markets, and secondary channels. At that point, the assumptions that anchor today’s financial models will be tested against real-world market conditions.
But the next phase will be less about volume. It will instead focus on testing the model that facilitated BYD’s rapid entry into Europe. If BYD’s vehicles hold their value, the company’s partner-led model will look less like a workaround and more like a fast-track version of what legacy automakers spent decades building. If residual values weaken, or if too much of the growth proves channel-driven rather than demand-driven, the financing engine that built BYD’s presence could become a constraint.
That’s the real question for banks: Can the vehicles BYD has placed in Europe retain their value once they return to the market? Because in a financing-driven system, growth can be engineered, but asset performance determines whether it lasts.
Rocco Pendola is a contributing writer based in Spain.
