Your Evening Briefing
Your Evening Briefing
(Bloomberg) --
Tens of millions of Americans are checking their mail (or their bank accounts) as $1,200 bailout payments begin to arrive. Many are asking the same question: How do I prioritize spending a one-time relief payment that won’t be enough? Former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, has called for an expansion of short-term compensation plans, where companies keep workers on the job at reduced hours, and the government helps them with payroll.
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Here are today’s top stories
China revised its death toll by 39% on Friday, adding 1,290 fatalities in Wuhan, where the coronavirus first emerged. Though the U.K. said it can see early signs of the lockdown working, Spain recorded the most new cases in a week, and Russia reported another record daily increase. Cases in Singapore soared as authorities detected more infections among foreign workers. Meanwhile, Gilead shares soared on a report that a group of patients being treated with the company’s drug remdesivir were “seeing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms.” Here’s the latest.
The coronavirus pushed China’s economy into its first contraction in decades during the first quarter. Gross domestic product shrank 6.8% from a year ago, the worst performance since at least 1992 and missing the median forecast of a 6% drop. The economy hasn’t contracted on a full-year basis since the end of the Mao era in the 1970s. Hours after the report, Beijing pledged to deliver more stimulus.
Airlines in the U.S. that have halted flights are holding more than $10 billion in customer money while offering credits for future travel instead of cash refunds, a group of senators said Friday. Those same airlines (and their related businesses) were allotted more than $70 billion in loans and payroll assistance under the massive federal bailout.
After only a few weeks of quarantine, Vermont farmers are dumping milk into manure pits. Crops are withering in Europe as closed borders prevent migrant farmworkers from harvesting them. American chicken wing prices cratered before what’s normally a March Madness-driven boom. But no industry has had quite so stunning a crash, both economically and visually, as the $8.5 billion flower trade.
Less than 24 hours after backing off his incorrect assertion of “ultimate authority” over state lockdowns and conceding the toughest decisions were the states’ to make, President Donald Trump urged residents of three states to “liberate” themselves from lawful state orders aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Far right-wing groups who support Trump have led protests (one allegedly funded in part by Trump allies) in several 2020 battleground states, including Michigan.
BlackRock is no stranger to taking action during a financial crisis. In 2008, the firm stepped in to manage toxic assets from Bear Stearns and American International Group. In the decade since, it has become the world’s largest asset manager with $6.5 trillion in assets—a size and breadth that make the firm an essential player on Wall Street and in Washington. Trump recently boasted of tapping Larry Fink for advice, and the CEO has once again put his firm at the center of a white-hot economic emergency.
What’s Luke Kawa thinking about? The Bloomberg cross-asset reporter says a record high percentage of fund managers want management to focus on improving corporate balance sheets instead of returning money to shareholders. Nevertheless, companies that have ignored such advice and hiked their dividends this week—Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, and Costco—are all trouncing the S&P 500.
What you’ll need to know tomorrow
- Small-business rescue fund treats some states better than others.
- The WHO is hitting back at Trump, and on Twitter no less.
- Tech startups are asking employees to trade salaries for stock.
- Mass transit faces a downward spiral of revenue and ridership.
- U.S. needs millions of Covid-19 tests before it can lift restrictions.
- Shutdowns at U.S. meat plants cause pork and beef price spikes.
- Six tips for running a virtual meeting. Hint: Try to act normal.
What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg Technology
Elon Musk’s SpaceX will fly American astronauts to the International Space Station on May 27, according to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The launch is a major milestone for both the company (founded with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other planets) and for NASA (which has not flown astronauts from American soil since the Space Shuttle was retired in 2011).
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