The World
New York Times chart:
Retail report shows the biggest decline in sales in three decades of record-keeping. Retail sales plunged in March as businesses shuttered from coast to coast and wary shoppers restricted their spending, a drop that was by far the largest in the nearly three decades the government has tracked the data. Total sales, which include retail purchases in stores and online as well as auto and gasoline sales and money spent at bars and restaurants, fell 8.7 percent from the previous month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. Meanwhile, Best Buy will furlough about 51,000 employees starting Sunday, the company said in a news release. The retailer’s stores have been closed across the country since March 22, but it has continued to pay its workers and offer curbside pickup. It also suspended all in-home delivery, installation and repairs. (New York Times, CNBC)
Donald Trump has carried through with his threat to end US funding to the World Health Organisation (WHO), depriving the body of $500m (£399m) per year at the height of the global coronavirus pandemic, blaming the body for “covering up” the outbreak in its early stages without offering any evidence for his contention. The decision has already drawn considerable criticism, with the UN, EU and the American Medical Association all expressing outrage and one professor describing the gambit as “one of the least productive, most short-sighted, self-motivated and hypocritical acts I have ever witnessed.” China criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to temporarily halt funding to the World Health Organization and pledged to support the global health body. China has “serious concerns” about the decision and called on the U.S. to fulfill its responsibilities, foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a briefing in Beijing on Wednesday. “This U.S. decision will weaken the WHO’s capabilities and undermine international cooperation,” Zhao said, adding: “China will as always support the WHO in playing an important role in international public health and global anti-epidemic response.” (The Independent, Bloomberg)
Bill Gates offered his view via Twitter:
The biggest U.S. airlines reached an agreement in principle with the federal government on financial assistance aimed at preventing layoffs in an industry hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The Treasury Department said Tuesday that 10 of the 12 largest airlines have told the government they intend to accept assistance from the $2.2 trillion economic relief package passed last month. The biggest domestic airlines— United Airlines Holdings Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc., American Airlines Group Inc., and Southwest Airlines Co. — all agreed to receive aid. Meanwhile, Norwegian Air's UK pilots and cabin crew will not receive April salary. (Wall Street Journal, The Guardian)
A team of government officials — led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — has created a public health strategy to combat the novel coronavirus and reopen parts of the country. Their strategy, obtained by The Washington Post, is part of a larger White House effort to draft a national plan to get Americans out of their homes and back to work. The version obtained by The Post appears to be an early draft by FEMA and contains granular instructions for a phased reopening of institutions such as schools, child-care facilities, summer camps, parks, faith-based organizations and restaurants. (Washington Post)
Trump announces his ‘Opening the Country’ Council: Those included Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase; Stephen A. Schwarzman, the chief executive of Blackstone; Tim Cook, the chief executive of Apple; and Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook. He also said he would be speaking with sports franchise owners like Robert K. Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots; Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner; Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder; two friends of Mr. Trump — Micky Arison, a top executive at Carnival Cruises, and Phil Ruffin, a Las Vegas casino owner, Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state; Scott Gottlieb, his former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; and Jim DeMint, the former senator and president of the Heritage Foundation. Doug Leone of Sequoia Capital is the only venture capitalist on the list. (New York Times; Axios)
The German government on Wednesday issued a bleak assessment of the effects of the coronavirus, saying that the economy was headed for a steep recession and a surge in joblessness. Economic output in Europe’s largest economy will plunge almost 10 percent from April through June, the German Economy Ministry said. The country is expected to rebound later in the year, but gross domestic product at the end of 2020 will still be 4 percent lower than in 2019, the government said. (New York Times)
Global oil demand is expected to fall by a record 9.3 million barrels a day this year as government-implemented lockdowns keep the economy at a near standstill, the International Energy Agency said Wednesday. Meanwhile, oil slumps below $20 as IEA sees global storage filling despite cuts. The fall in demand will wipe out a decade of consumption growth, the agency said. In the US, oil fields from Texas and New Mexico to Oklahoma and North Dakota are going quiet as drilling halts and tens of thousands of oil workers lose their livelihood. Fuel demand has plunged by as much as 30 million barrels per day (bpd) - or 30% - as efforts to fight the coronavirus pandemic have grounded aircraft, reduced vehicle usage and pushed economies worldwide toward recession. Across the United States, up to 240,000 oil-related jobs will be lost this year, about a third of the onshore and offshore oilfield workforce, estimates consultancy Rystad Energy. (Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters)
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious diseases expert and one of the faces of the United States' fight against the coronavirus, says the only way professional sports will happen this summer is by holding events without fans in attendance and by keeping players in hotels. (ESPN)
A new paper by researchers from Harvard’s school of public health modeling the spread of covid-19 in the United States says that “prolonged or intermittent social distancing may be necessary into 2022.” (MIT Technology Review)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in's ruling Democratic Party is on track to win a majority in the National Assembly, an exit poll by three key broadcasters showed.
Despite the coronavirus outbreak, voters lined up from early morning to cast their ballots on Wednesday. The turnout was 63.6% -- the highest in a general election since 2000 -- with a record 26% of eligible citizens casting ballots in early voting last week.
The projected win for Moon's party is a vindication of his government's response to the coronavirus outbreak. It also paves the way for him to push on with his agenda, which includes "inclusive" economic policies, reform of the prosecution system, and the Korean Peninsula peace process. (Nikkei Asian Review)
Japan faces ICU bed shortage amid coronavirus spread. In all, 43 prefectures could see intensive care capacity run short. (Nikkei Asian Review)
The COVID-19 spread has forced the UN body to postpone its flagship annual climate change conference which was scheduled to be held at Glasgow in United Kingdom (UK) in November. This crucial meet will now be held in 2021 -- the first year of the operationalisation of the the Paris Agreement. (Times of India)
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has extended the country’s national lockdown against coronavirus until May 3, as the number of coronavirus cases has hit 10,362, despite stringent restrictions in place since the end of March. Meanwhile, Zeba Warsi, Special Correspondent of CNN-News 18 in India, offers this scene in Mumbai. (Financial Times, Zeba Warsi)
Finance
Earnings:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s profit fell 46% in the first quarter. The Wall Street bank reported a quarterly profit of $1.21 billion, or $3.11 a share, down from $2.25 billion a year ago. However, the bank posted bank its strongest bond-trading results in 5 years. Goldman set aside $937 million for loan losses in the quarter, reflecting its smaller book of loans versus its peers, and the company cited higher provisions for corporate loans in the flailing energy sector. (Wall Street Journal, CNBC)
Bank of America said Wednesday that first quarter profit slumped 45% as the company set aside $3.6 billion for loan loss reserves because of the coronavirus pandemic. The bank posted profit of $4.01 billion, or 40 cents a share, compared with the 46 cent estimate of analysts surveyed by Refinitiv. (CNBC)
Citigroup reported Wednesday a sharp drop in its first-quarter profit as the bank built its loan-loss reserves to cushion the blow from the coronavirus outbreak on its business. Earnings: $1.05 per share vs $1.87 per share in the year-earlier period; Revenue: $20.7 billion, up 12% from the previous year; Net income: $2.52 billion, down 46% from the prior year; Loan loss reserves: up $4.9 billion. (CNBC)
From the Wall Street Journal:
Venture capital funding in China rebounded in March, new figures showed, as investors hunted for bargains among start-ups after the coronavirus outbreak.
Chinese start-ups and technology companies raised more than $2.5bn during the month, marking a record sixfold rise from just $410m in February, according to data from the Asian Venture Capital Journal. (Financial Times)
The ballooning costs of the coronavirus pandemic have put an unexpected strain on the finances of states, which are hurriedly diverting funds from elsewhere to fight the outbreak even as the economic shutdown squeezes their main source of revenue — taxes. Now, sales taxes — the biggest source of revenue for most states — have fallen off a cliff as business activity grinds to a halt and consumers stay home. (New York Times)
More than 80 percent of the benefits of a tax change tucked into the coronavirus relief package Congress passed last month will go to those who earn more than $1 million annually, according to a report by a nonpartisan congressional body expected to be released Tuesday. The provision, inserted into the legislation by Senate Republicans, temporarily suspends a limitation on how much owners of businesses formed as “pass-through” entities can deduct against their nonbusiness income, such as capital gains, to reduce their tax liability. The limitation was created as part of the 2017 Republican tax law to offset other tax cuts to firms in that legislation. (Washington Post)
Weekly mortgage applications rise as rates drop to 30-year low, but it’s all refinances. (CNBC)
Deloitte UK is cutting partner pay to preserve jobs in pandemic. (Reuters)
Technology
Google’s and Facebook’s advertising businesses, which have roughly tripled in combined size over the last five years, may be headed for a rare stumble as the coronavirus pushes the global economy into a tailspin. Once-abundant travel and entertainment ads have all but disappeared from Google search. The prices for Facebook advertisements are at record lows. And Wall Street analysts are estimating that annual revenues will decline for the first time in the history of the two companies. (New York Times)
Streaming services have suddenly become Hollywood studios’ new best friend. A wide array of film studios in recent weeks have tried to sell some of the movies they haven’t been able to show in theaters to streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu, according to multiple media executives. (The Information)
A survey of 5,659 educators by Fishbowl, a community app for professionals, found 35% of respondents reporting online class attendance was as low as 0 to 25% in the wake of school closures due to the coronavirus pandemic, and 55% saying less than half of their students were attending. The survey indicates Michigan has the highest rate of online absences among states with at least 100 respondents, with 62% saying less than a quarter of their students attend remote classes. More than 40% of teachers surveyed in North Carolina, Ohio and California also say remote class attendance is low. New Jersey and Texas, on the other hand, had the highest rates of attendance, with a majority of teachers in those states reporting over 50% of their students logged on for classes. (EducationDive)
In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, staffers at the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District in Illinois got an unwelcome surprise when they arrived at work one morning last month: Cybercriminals had hijacked their computer network and were holding it hostage. Across the globe, cyber crimes against the health care sector have surged during the pandemic, experts say. Meanwhile in Europe, there has been “a significant increase” in attempted ransomware attacks, according to a warning Interpol issued this month to hospitals and other health care organizations. A hospital in the Czech Republic and a London medical research company doing clinical trials for new coronavirus medicines already have been victimized. (Pew Trusts)
Smart Links
Boston University Is First To Announce It May Postpone Opening Its Campus Until January 2021. (Forbes)
Students who listened to Beethoven during lecture -- and in dreamland -- did better on test. (Science News)
MLB players, employees to participate in largest coronavirus antibody study in U.S. (Washington Post)
Tour de France will be postponed to Aug. 29 - Sept. 20. (Le Monde)
Elizabeth Warren endorses Joe Biden for President. (New York Times)
In San Antonio, vehicles start lining up before dawn for Food Bank help. (San Antonio Express News)