The World
About 4.4 million Americans applied for jobless benefits in the week ended April 18, the Labor Department said Thursday. Since the pandemic led to widespread shutdowns in mid-March, workers have filed more than 26 million unemployment insurance claims. Meanwhile, Sen. Mitch McConnell says he favors letting states declare bankruptcy. (Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg)
Big U.S. banks are preparing to flood loan applications into the government’s emergency financing program for small businesses the moment Congress replenishes it with $320 billion in additional funding. The pressure is particularly high on Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. after they lagged behind smaller rivals in helping legions of business customers tap the Paycheck Protection Program’s initial $349 billion in funding. Meanwhile, Dallas’ Ashford Hospitality Trust is the biggest beneficiary of the coronavirus loan program. (Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal)
Oil majors and commodity traders are paying up to six times normal rates to store surplus crude in supertankers at sea as they try to cope with an unprecedented global glut. (The Times)
Europe faces the most poisonous North-South showdown since the creation of monetary union. “Social cohesion between European countries is being stretched to the point where the resiliency of the EU and the euro can no longer be taken for granted. The risk is greater now than at any previous time,” says Citigroup’s Arnaud Marès, a former European Central Bank leader. (The Telegraph)
Coronavirus outbreaks at dozens of meatpacking plants across the nation is far more extensive than previously thought, according to an exclusive review of cases by USA TODAY and the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting. Existing shutdowns include a Smithfield Foods pork processing facility in Sioux Falls, S.D.; a JBS pork plant in Worthington, Minn.; Tyson Foods’ largest pork plant, in Waterloo, Iowa; and another Tyson facility in Logansport, Ind. (USA Today, Finance 202)
Delta, which owns 49% of the Virgin Atlantic, has ruled out injecting fresh cash into the crisis-hit airline. Meanwhile, Ryanair planes won’t fly again if the airline is forced to leave the middle seat empty to comply with “idiotic” in-flight social distancing rules, said CEO Michael O’Leary. (The Telegraph, The Guardian)
Public confidence in Vladimir Putin’s administration is showing signs of decline. Levada Center, Russia’s last independent pollster, said that Putin’s approval rate fell to 63% in March, the lowest since November 2013. (Thakoni)
China’s US ambassador Cui Tiankai took a veiled swipe at Donald Trump for politicising outbreak. Ambassador Cui says little attention is being paid to scientists while politicians are preoccupied with ‘groundless accusations.’ The Ambassador also defended Beijing’s handling of the disease. (South China Morning Post)
Based on China data, China, Singapore & Harvard researchers analyze the cost-effectiveness of antiepidemic measures for COVID-19 and conclude that strong enforcement at the early stage is the only opportunity to maximize both antiepidemic effectiveness and cost-effectiveness. (Research Gate)
SAP SE’s abrupt decision to scrap its co-CEO leadership structure was another vivid example from the software industry that two chief executive officers look better on paper than in practice. Time and the novel coronavirus pandemic exposed the risks of having more than one boss: Two executives must sign off on decisions, which often slows operations and generates competing spheres of influence within an organization. SAP’s announcement followed similar decisions by Oracle Corp. and Salesforce.com Inc. (Bloomberg)
Divisions are growing in the U.S. between some governors and mayors over reopening their states. In Las Vegas, Mayor Carolyn Goodman suggests using the city as a “control group” to study the effects of easing restrictions. "We’ll find out the facts afterward,” Goodman said. (Los Angeles Times, Washington Post)
Finance
Hedge funds have suffered their worst quarterly outflows since 2009 as investors flee amid market volatility and coronavirus uncertainty. (Financial Times)
Add-on deals will account for bulk of private-equity buys in 2020. Private credit funds focused on Europe have nearly €63bn in dry powder, and are looking for opportunities to deploy. (Financial News)
The market for trading private equity stakes has largely dried up, as investors wait to learn the extent of damage done to fund holdings in the coronavirus turmoil, according to asset management firm Commonfund. The lull in secondary trading may extend past June. (Institutional Investor)
Private-equity firm Sycamore Partners wants to scrap its plans to take control of Victoria’s Secret, a high-profile legal test of whether the coronavirus pandemic allows a buyer to walk away from an agreement reached before the outbreak. The investor said the lingerie brand’s decision to close U.S. stores, furlough the majority of its workers and skip April rent payments were violations of the proposed transaction. (Wall Street Journal)
Social Security costs are expected to exceed total income in 2021, and now the Trustees expect reserves to be depleted by 2035 as coronavirus weights on the system’s financial condition. (Wall Street Journal)
Confidence among European businesses and consumers is in a free fall. Figures on Thursday showed French business confidence plunged to its lowest on record in April with economic activity running 35% below normal levels, while consumer sentiment in Germany also dropped to a record low. (Bloomberg)
Expedia to raise $3.2 billion in capital to boost liquidity, names new CEO. (Reuters)
More than half of drinkers, diners and gym-goers are reluctant to return to normal life after the lockdown - fuelling fears of a lengthy economic downturn as scared consumers refuse to spend, a new UK poll shows. (The Telegraph)
Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Romer outlines a “Roadmap to Responsibly Open America,” proposing a comprehensive “test and isolate” policy, making it safe for Americans to return to work and keeping the infection rate below 5% of the population. (Paul Romer)
Technology
Jeff Bezos takes back the wheel at Amazon: The chief executive, who had distanced himself from day-to-day management, is closely involved in the company’s response to the pandemic. He is holding daily calls to help make decisions about inventory and testing, as well as how and when — down to the minute — Amazon responds to public criticism. He has talked to government officials. And in April, for the first time in years, he made a publicized visit to one of Amazon’s warehouses. (New York Times)
Bluetooth is at the heart of contact-tracing apps designed to show whether you might have been exposed to coronavirus. However, getting accurate measurements from Bluetooth signals is a very hard problem. Many things can mess it up and make the data incorrect—for example, whether your phone is horizontal or vertical. To overcome it: Engineers will need to take more data into account, for example from other phone sensors, and learn more about how to properly interpret signals. (MIT Technology Review)
China’s central bank has accelerated the testing of its new sovereign digital currency and, for the first time, will include some foreign consumer brands in the programme.
American chains Starbucks, McDonald’s and Subway were named on the People’s Bank of China (PBOC)’s list of firms that will test the digital currency in small transactions with 19 local businesses. (South China Morning Post)
Smart Links
Zoom daily users surge to 300 million despite privacy woes. (Bloomberg)
First-ever comprehensive geologic map of the moon. (Science Daily)
California Highway Patrol says tickets for speeding in excess of 100 mph have surged 87%. (Los Angeles Times)
Harvard professor reaps 17,000% return on early coronavirus vaccine bet. (Bloomberg)
Yale donates $250,000 to buy laptops for online-learning students. (New Haven Register)
China wants to resume basketball season. (Los Angeles Times)