News you might have missed The vast majority of British people have not been infected with the coronavirus, Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, said on Friday. “We are confident that the great majority of the population have not had Covid-19,” meaning that there is a strong chance the disease could “take off
Despite outrage on Main Street and new pressure from the Treasury Department this week, several publicly traded companies that received payroll relief funds from the Small Business Administration oppose demands to return the cash. The companies said the Paycheck Protection Program loans have allowed them to keep employees on payroll and that they disagree with
Cook County, Illinois, is bracing for a $200 million tax blow due to the economic shutdown brought about by COVID-19, the county’s finance team said Friday. That doesn’t account for an additional $60 million to $75 million whack to health system revenues, though some of that is expected to be reimbursed with hospital-related federal relief.
The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday warned of the risk of heart problems in patients taking antimalarial drugs touted by Donald Trump as a potential treatment for Covid-19. The US drug regulator said on Friday that hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, whether taken alone or in conjunction with the antibiotic azythromycin, could lead to heart
A logo sign outside of the headquarters of loanDepot in Lake Forest, California Kristoffer Tripplaar | Sipa USA | AP Images One of the nation’s largest nonbank mortgage lenders is about to get even larger. California-based loanDepot announced it will hire 3,000 new employees by the end of this year, starting with 400 now. On
A masked pedestrian carrying water bottles walks past the Charging Bull statue in lower Manhattan on April 02, 2020 in New York City. Bruce Bennett | Getty Images The stock market is struggling to make headway, as a big week of events rolls around, including a Federal Reserve meeting, the first look at post-shutdown economic
The crypto space has not been in the best of health over the past few weeks as the coronavirus pandemic and the associated turmoil in the markets took its toll. However, that does not mean that important developments have not been taking place in the crypto sphere amidst the turmoil. Key Things to Watch One
Long-time professional traders watching the near implosion of the United States Oil Fund could only watch in wonder. “It tells me people always want to make a quick buck,” said John Davi, chief investment officer and founder of Astoria Portfolio Advisors. He was referring to retail investors who lost a boatload of money investing in
US banks are pulling back from lending to European companies during the coronavirus pandemic, fuelling concerns that Wall Street may be quietly withdrawing to its home market in a repeat of the last financial crisis. Bankers, advisers and company executives said American lenders had become more cautious in underwriting bilateral and syndicated loans to large
The next COVID-19 federal relief package should direct aid to municipalities to help replace lost revenue and smaller cities should receive a share, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Thursday. While a series of packages have provided help on the expense side of dealing with the pandemic including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act
A potential antiviral drug for the coronavirus has flopped in its first randomised clinical trial, disappointing scientists and investors who had high hopes for remdesivir, according to draft documents published accidentally by the World Health Organization and seen by the Financial Times. The Chinese trial showed remdesivir — developed by California-based Gilead Sciences — did
Sales of both newly built and existing homes tanked in March, as potential buyers hunkered down and potential sellers pulled their homes from the market, both watching their economy in free fall from the coronavirus. Now, suddenly, buyer demand at least may be climbing back. Pending home sales, which measure signed contracts, not closings, are
Take a look at some of the biggest movers in the premarket: Eli Lilly (LLY) – The drugmaker reported quarterly earnings of $1.75 per share, beating the $1.48 a share consensus estimate. Revenue was also above Street forecasts. Lilly’s worldwide revenue was boosted by $250 million due to Covid-19, but the company said the virus
Equinor’s Johan Sverdrup oil field depicted in August 2019. Lundin Petroleum received its first oil from Phase 1 of the Johan Sverdrup field in early October. Ole Jørgen Bratland | Equinor Press Images Norway’s Equinor announced Thursday it will cut its quarterly dividend payment to shareholders by two-thirds, potentially paving the way for other oil
The coronavirus lockdown is doing “unprecedented damage” to European business activity as companies across the services and manufacturing sectors report a record deterioration and warn of a substantial fall in employment, according to data published on Thursday. The IHS Markit flash eurozone purchasing managers’ index for services crashed from 26.4 in March to 11.7 in
Wisconsin drew 15 bids and new investor interest on its first green-designated bonds as it stepped into a growing primary market Wednesday with $80 million of its triple-A state revolving fund bonds. Barclays submitted the winning bid on the competitive sale with a true interest cost of 2.64%. The cover bid came from Morgan Stanley
Signage stands outside the Freddie Mac headquarters in McLean, Virginia, U.S., on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2019. Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images The Federal Housing Finance Agency, regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced that the two mortgage giants will now buy home loans that go into the government’s forbearance program just after
The European Central Bank has changed its rules to accept ‘fallen angel’ bonds that lose their investment-grade credit rating to maintain banks’ access to its ultra-cheap liquidity during the coronavirus crisis. The move, which was approved by an unscheduled call of the ECB’s governing council on Wednesday, is designed to limit the financial turmoil that
An oil well owned and operated by Apache Corporation in the Permian Basin, viewed on February 5, 2015 in Garden City, Texas. Spencer Platt | Getty Images The U.S. oil industry reacted to cratering oil prices by cutting production by 900,000 barrels a day in just a month in what appears to be the biggest
What is a call option? You might have heard about option contracts in the past. There are calls and puts. When you’re buying a call, it means you’re looking for the stock to go to the upside, which is a bullish outlook. You can also sell a call, which means you’re looking for the stock
Here is what investors need to know before investing in Oil ETFs. (USO, DBO, USL)
Hundreds of millions of dollars of in Paycheck Protection Plan emergency funding has been claimed by large, publicly traded companies, new research published by Morgan Stanley shows. In fact, the U.S. government has allocated at least $243.4 million of the total $349 billion to publicly traded companies, the firm said. The PPP was designed to
International oil prices have tumbled to their lowest level in more than two decades as concerns over the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic hit global crude markets. In Asian trading on Wednesday, Brent crude dropped as much as 17.3 per cent to $15.98 — its lowest point since mid-1999. Prices for the international oil
You might call it the “ETF-ication of everything.” Mutual fund managers are launching special products that allow them to use the exchange-traded fund structure but keep their portfolios hidden. Others are exploring outright conversions of their funds to ETFs. And brokerages are becoming more comfortable with buzzy marketing, lower fees and fractional share trading. But
Over the years, it became accepted wisdom that Bitcoin was a store of value, and that it could work as a hedge against market fluctuations. However, this has not turned out to be the case during the course of the current prolonged market turmoil. After the oil price crash on Monday, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency
Trading in the secondary market saw AAA benchmark yields rise by three to five basis points but the primary market showed signs of life with several larger new deals getting done at appropriate levels given current market conditions as the coronavirus continues to ravage state and local credit quality. The municipal market weakened a little
The threat of completely destroying the U.S. economy must be weighed against the diminishing health risks from the coronavirus, real estate mogul Barry Sternlicht told CNBC on Tuesday. “I actually think we have to reopen the economy. We have to do it ZIP code by ZIP code,” said Sternlicht, whose $60 billion Starwood Capital Group has interests in
South Korea exports shrink by almost a third Edward White in Wellington South Korean exports have shrunk by almost a third in April, according to preliminary data, in an indication of the worsening economic fallout from the global coronavirus pandemic. The value of shipments from Asia’s fourth-largest economy dropped 27 per cent in the first
The crude oil tanker, Chemtrans Cancale, is seen anchored off shore as it waits to dock at Port Everglades on April 20, 2020 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Joe Raedle | Getty Images “Know what you own” is an old adage when investing, but it is especially important when owning investments that hold futures contracts. Just
Mark II Unitorque electric pumping unit at a crude oil well site outside South Heart, North Dakota. Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images Wild trading in an oil futures contract this week was like an alarm going off for a fire that firefighters already knew was burning. In this case, the oil industry has