Given the tendency of high debt and low cash reserves in corporate America, the writing has long been on the wall that a deep recession would be disruptive if not disastrous, producing an uptick in the default rate and widespread unemployment. That recession has now arrived thanks to COVID-19, and at a speed, severity, and global scope that a select few had been planning for. Unsurprisingly, the ranks of ‘fallen angels’ – former blue chip companies whose debt has been downgraded to junk status – are now swelling at a historically unprecedented pace.