Optimism over promising results for a coronavirus vaccine from Moderna helped drive stocks up on Monday after a rough go of it last week....more
5/19/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Beer ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Credit ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disney ,
Economic Downturn ,
Facebook ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Google ,
JCPenney ,
Leverage Ratio ,
Life Sciences ,
Moderna Inc. ,
Online Advertisements ,
PG&E ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Public Health ,
Retailers ,
SoftBank ,
Stock Prices ,
T-Mobile ,
Vaccinations ,
White-Collar Exemptions ,
Wildfires
This week’s addition of another 3 million to the jobless roll brings the two-month unemployment claim total to 36.5 million and highlights the “rolling shock” nature of the pandemic’s economic fallout—even as some businesses...more
5/15/2020
/ Amazon ,
Boeing ,
CMBS ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
J Crew ,
Low-Income Issues ,
McDonalds ,
Neiman Marcus ,
Nissan ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Unemployment ,
Unions ,
WTO
The latest from Chair Powell and the Fed from his Peterson Institute appearance this week, including the stark warning that the U.S. was “experiencing an economic hit ‘without modern precedent’” that could “permanently damage...more
5/15/2020
/ Breach of Duty ,
Coal Industry ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Breach ,
Derivative Suit ,
E-Commerce ,
Economic Downturn ,
Elon Musk ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Government Lockdown ,
GrubHub ,
Investment ,
On-Demand Services ,
Renewable Energy ,
Retail Market ,
Retirement Plan ,
Shelter-In-Place ,
Tesla ,
Uber ,
Unemployment ,
Zoom®
Uber and Grubhub are in talks to join forces, “aiming to create one giant player in food delivery as more people turn toward those services in the coronavirus pandemic.” Uber reportedly approached Grubhub with a potential...more
5/13/2020
/ Advertising ,
Agribusiness ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disney ,
Facebook ,
Farms ,
Food Commodities ,
Food Supply ,
GrubHub ,
investment-a ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
On-Demand Services ,
Popular ,
PTSD ,
Remote Working ,
Retail Market ,
Revenue Growth ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement ,
Social Media ,
Stock Prices ,
Telecommuting ,
Uber ,
Workplace Injury
For the first time, the Federal Reserve system will begin buying corporate bonds—all part of the central bank’s efforts to “support the economy and financial system in the coronavirus crisis.” The NY Fed will kick things off...more
5/12/2020
/ Banks ,
BlackRock ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Bonds ,
Economic Downturn ,
Elon Musk ,
ETFs ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Markets ,
Internet Streaming ,
Nasdaq ,
OCC ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Recessions ,
Relief Measures ,
S&P ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Tesla ,
White Collar Crimes
Tomorrow’s jobs report is going to be a doozy. Here’s what you need to know in advance of the “terrible” expected figures....more
5/8/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Casinos ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Facebook ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Furloughs ,
Gap Inc ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Lyft ,
MGM ,
Price Gouging ,
Tax Relief ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber ,
Unemployment ,
Zoom®
California has sued ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft over alleged violations of a new state law that requires companies to treat gig workers as employees “if they control how workers perform tasks or if the work is a...more
5/6/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Bonds ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Costco ,
Data Selling ,
Employee Definition ,
European Central Bank ,
FinTech ,
Food Supply ,
Germany ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Lyft ,
Misclassification ,
Navient ,
Personal Data ,
Private Equity ,
Relief Measures ,
Retail Market ,
Stock Exchange ,
Student Loans ,
Supply Chain ,
Uber ,
Venmo ,
Wendy's
WeWork co-founder wants to get PAAAAAID, so he’s suing SoftBank in an attempt to force it to “go through with its canceled deal to buy $3 billion of the company’s shares, accusing the Japanese conglomerate and its Vision Fund...more
5/5/2020
/ AIG ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Chapter 11 ,
Cloud Computing ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disney ,
Earnings Reports ,
Economic Downturn ,
Hertz ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Internet Streaming ,
McGraw Hill ,
NBC ,
Office Space ,
Resignation ,
Retaliation ,
SoftBank ,
Startups ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Unemployment ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Victoria Secret ,
Whistleblowers
Another round of unemployment reporting has pushed the newly jobless figure over 30 million in just the past 6 weeks, as the coronavirus continues to wreak economic havoc in the U.S. Even that staggering figure is...more
5/4/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
CARES Act ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
E-Commerce ,
Economic Downturn ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Financial Markets ,
J Crew ,
Loans ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Stock Prices ,
Unemployment
The Fed closed out its April Open Markets Committee by holding rates steady at nearly zero but also pledging to “use its ‘full range of tools’ to insulate the economy as coronavirus lockdowns sap economic growth and throw...more
4/30/2020
/ Boeing ,
Business Interruption ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Director Kraninger ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
GDP ,
Hertz ,
Insurance Claims ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Layoffs ,
Payday Lending Rule ,
Payday Loans ,
Quarterly Report ,
Recessions
Despite [actually, more likely because of] a rash of recent closures at meat processing facilities due to COVID-19 outbreaks, the White House issued an executive order classifying the slaughterhouses as “critical...more
4/30/2020
/ Agribusiness ,
Airlines ,
Alphabet Company ,
Boeing ,
BSA/AML ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Facebook ,
Farms ,
Financial Markets ,
Investment ,
Lobbying ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
SBA ,
Securities Violations ,
Shopping Centers
The PPP is again flush with cash but also full of problems. Yesterday, that took the form of a Small Business Administration’s system for processing loan applications crashing within the first hours that the program reopened....more
4/29/2020
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Apple ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EU ,
Federal Loans ,
Federal Reserve ,
Food Supply ,
Foreign Investment ,
HSBC ,
iPhone ,
Loans ,
Oil Prices ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Relief Measures ,
Saudi Arabia ,
SCOTUS ,
Sovereign Wealth Funds
All the talk of when to reopen the economy is largely gotten in the way of a bigger (and thornier, if possible) question: how to do it. Despite the bold declarations from optimists and wishful thinkers that it’s as easy as a...more
4/28/2020
/ Air Carriers ,
Bailout ,
Banks ,
Boeing ,
Business Closures ,
CARES Act ,
Casinos ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Debt ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Native American Issues ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Retail Market ,
SBA ,
Settlement ,
Zoom®
PE firm Sycamore Partners, which “agreed to buy a majority of Victoria’s Secret from its embattled owner, L Brands, in February,” is looking to back out of the deal “because of the retail chain’s response to the coronavirus...more
4/23/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crude Oil ,
Futures ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
PG&E ,
Unemployment ,
Victoria Secret ,
Wall Street
Monday saw U.S. oil prices take an unprecedented plunge into negative territory, as “concerns grew that storage tanks in the United States were near capacity and unable to hold all the unused code” (with the “bizarre movement...more
4/22/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Argentina ,
Business Interruption ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fannie Mae ,
Federal Reserve ,
FHFA ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Distress ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
Foreign Debt ,
Freddie Mac ,
GSE ,
Housing Market ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Mortgages ,
Municipal Bonds ,
Non-Bank Lenders ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Restructuring ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Small Business ,
Supply and Demand ,
United Airlines ,
Videoconference ,
Zoom®
The Senate has passed a $484 billion measure that would add $130 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program, the “small-business loan program that ran out of funding last week after being deluged with applications.” The bill...more
4/21/2020
/ Chipotle Grill ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Credit Suisse ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Food Contamination ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Netflix ,
Oil Prices ,
Relief Measures ,
Retail Market ,
RMBS
House leaders and White House negotiators are closing in on a bipartisan deal “to replenish funds in the small-business loan program that ran out of money” last week. The $500 billion measure would also “provide money for...more
4/20/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
BSA/AML ,
CARES Act ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Farm Animals ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Markets ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Supply ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Millennials ,
Neiman Marcus ,
Relief Measures ,
Retail Market ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Uber ,
Unemployment
The White House and the US airline industry have agreed in principle to a $25 billion bailout after weeks of “haggling” over the terms, including whether the Treasury Department was “effectively turning the grants into loans...more
4/16/2020
/ Bailout ,
Bank of America ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Earnings Reports ,
Economic Downturn ,
Facebook ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
Google ,
IMF ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Layoffs ,
Loans ,
NBC ,
Online Advertisements ,
Recessions ,
Relief Measures ,
Tax Revenues ,
Theranos ,
Tourism ,
Wells Fargo
New numbers out this week show that retail sales fell 8.7% in March, a staggering figure that still “doesn’t capture the full impact of the sudden economic freeze on the retail industry.” The decline was “by far the largest...more
All is not coming up aces for Masa Son and his faltering SoftBank empire, which warned investors on Monday of a coming $16.7 billion loss to its landmark Vision Fund, the tech-focused venture that’s been hammered by “the...more
4/15/2020
/ Business Closures ,
Business Interruption ,
CARES Act ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Digital Wallets ,
Economic Downturn ,
Exploration and Production Assets ,
Facebook ,
Farms ,
Financial Markets ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Food Supply ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
LinkedIn ,
Mortgages ,
Oil & Gas ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
PayPal ,
Roku ,
Smithfield Foods ,
SoftBank ,
Supply Chain ,
Unemployment ,
Zoom®
The pandemic is bringing rivals Apple and Google together in an effort to develop a system for “tracking through Bluetooth technology the contacts of those who have tested positive for COVID-19, a method the tech giants...more
4/13/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Business Closures ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Downturn ,
Exploration and Production Assets ,
Facebook ,
Farms ,
Financial Markets ,
Google ,
Instagram ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Russia ,
Saudi Arabia ,
School Closures ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommuting ,
Trading Policies ,
Unemployment Benefits
Markets kicked of Q2 pretty much where they left off as Q1 wrapped: down, and down big. A double whammy of massive anticipated unemployment figures and truly disheartening modeling on COVID-19-related deaths sent all three...more
4/2/2020
/ AT&T ,
Bakken Shale ,
Capital Requirements ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Federal Reserve ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Manufacturers ,
Oil Prices ,
Relief Measures ,
Sprint ,
Startups ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Videoconference
Markets closed down on Tuesday, a fitting conclusion to the worst month on Wall Street since October 2008 that was marked by wild volatility and record-setting point drops....more
4/2/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Bailout ,
Biopharmaceutical ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Breach ,
Data Protection ,
Economic Downturn ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Markets ,
General Electric ,
Global Market ,
Hewlett-Packard ,
Hostile Takeover ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Loans ,
Marriott ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Stock Prices ,
Theranos ,
Xerox
Macy’s announced on Monday that it will furlough most of its nearly 130,000 workers (at its Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, and Bluemercury retail locations) starting this week as its stores remained shuttered due to the pandemic....more
3/31/2020
/ Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Business Closures ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Data Privacy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Furloughs ,
Gap Inc ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Insider Trading ,
Insurance Claims ,
Kohls ,
Layoffs ,
Macy's ,
Relief Measures ,
Retailers ,
S&P ,
Share Buybacks ,
Videoconference
Unpacking Friday’s $2.2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus bill reveals a heck of a lot of “small favors to special interests” and “a slew of policy changes that had gathered dust, some for years in a stagnant and divided Congress.”...more
3/30/2020
/ Accounting Standards ,
Banks ,
BlackRock ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Stimulus ,
FinTech ,
General Motors ,
Grocery Store Workers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Loans ,
On-Demand Services ,
Strike