Monday, April 20, 2020
8:20 pm ET: Trump Says Govs Have More Testing Capacity 'Than They Understand'
At his daily coronavirus task force press briefing, Trump said that some governors have “more capacity than they understand.” He named Hogan and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat, among leaders that didn't grasp the extent of available testing already in their states.
Trump insisted he was committed to cooperation with state leaders: We are there to stand with the governors and to help the governors.”
Earlier Monday, Trump vented on social media, comparing governors' concerns about a lack of screening capacity to earlier complaints that the states did not have enough ventilators to keep up with the federal government's projections of people who would become hospitalized. Read more...
— The Associated Press
5:37 pm ET: MLB Can Cut Pay, Lay Off Managers, Coaches Starting May 1
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has made a move that allows teams to lay off or cut the pay of major and minor league managers, coaches, trainers and full-time scouts starting May 1.
Manfred has suspended uniform employee contracts that cover about 9,000 people, including general managers on some teams. Manfred cited the inability to play games due to the national emergency caused by the new coronavirus pandemic.
“Our clubs rely heavily on revenue from tickets/concessions, broadcasting/media, licensing and sponsorships to pay salaries,” Manfred wrote in an email Monday, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. “In the absence of games, these revenue streams will be lost or substantially reduced, and clubs will not have sufficient funds to meet their financial obligations.” Read more...
3:03 pm ET: Shake Shack to Return Funds as Relief Loans to Chains Draw Complaints
Some big restaurant chains have obtained loans from the government under a small-business relief program, leading business groups to call for changes to the program before Congress provides it with new funding.
The Paycheck Protection Program exhausted its $350 billion in funding last week and many small businesses were unable to obtain loans they desperately need to stay afloat. Congress and the White House say they're close to an agreement on that would give the program about $300 billion in fresh funds.
Restaurant chains Shake Shack, Ruth’s Hospitality Group and Potbelly’s each announced last week they’d obtained loans worth a combined $40 million under the program. Although the loans are within the guidelines of the PPP, Shake Shack said Monday it will return its loan to give smaller restaurants a chance to get government money. The New York burger chain, which employs nearly 8,000 workers across 189 outlets, said it secured alternate funding. Read more...
— The Associated Press
2:40 pm ET: Oil Prices Plunge Below Zero
Oil prices plunged below zero on Monday as demand for energy collapses amid the coronavirus pandemic and traders don’t want to get stuck owning crude with nowhere to store it.
Stocks were also slipping on Wall Street in afternoon trading, with the S&P 500 down 0.9%, but the market’s most dramatic action was by far in oil, where benchmark U.S. crude for May delivery plummeted to negative $3.70 per barrel, as of 2:15 pm. Eastern time.
Much of the drop into negative territory was chalked up to technical reasons — the May delivery contract is close to expiring so it was seeing less trading volume, which can exacerbate swings. But prices for deliveries even further into the future, which were seeing larger trading volumes, also plunged. Demand for oil has collapsed so much due to the coronavirus pandemic that facilities for storing crude are nearly full. Read more...
— The Associated Press
2:02 pm ET: Contactless Pizza Hut Delivery and Carryout
As the foodservice industry struggles amid the coronavirus outbreak, Pizza Hut is banking on decades of experience in delivery and carryout to carry it through the crisis.
"Ninety-eight percent of traditional Pizza Huts are open and serving," Kevin Hochman, president of Pizza Hut's U.S. division, told Cheddar. Read more...
— Alex Vuocolo
1:43 pm ET: The Need to Knead - Baking Bread in the Time of Coronavirus
With working ovens and plenty of time due to coronavirus-related stay-at-home orders, many Americans are trying their hands at baking bread.
Karen Colberg, Co-CEO of King Arthur Flour, told Cheddar Monday that people are looking for a way to pass the time.
“I think, right now, in such uncertain times, baking is such a comfort," Colberg said. Read more...
— McKenzie Marshall
1:21 pm ET: An Opportunity to Fix Healthcare Systems in Conflict Zones
As the coronavirus continues to spread around the world, conflict zones are in particular need of support in getting medical equipment to stop the spread and the potentially catastrophic aftermath.
Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), told Cheddar Monday that the countries that drew the most concerns fell within "conflict regions, in which health facilities have been destroyed and have been weakened over the last decades because of conflict and violence." Read more...
— McKenzie Marshall
12:21 pm ET: Stocks Are Mixed After Wall Street Pares Losses; Oil Plunges
Stocks are mixed in midday trading after Wall Street trimmed its sharp losses from earlier in the morning following another collapse in oil prices.
The S&P 500 started Monday with a drop of 1.6%, but had trimmed that down to 0.3% shortly before noon, Eastern time. The Dow industrials were also down, but the Nasdaq composite was up slightly. More buoyant gains for Netflix and other stay-at-home winners in the coronavirus pandemic helped limit the market’s losses.
The mild drops for the broad market ate into some of the big gains made since late March, driven lately by investors looking ahead to parts of the economy possibly reopening as infections level off in hard-hit areas. Pessimists have called the rally overdone, pointing to the severe economic pain sweeping the world and continued uncertainty about how long it will last. Read more...
— The Associate Press
11:49 am ET: With Live Sports Sidelined, Networks Could Lose $1 Billion in Advertising
The cancellation of live sports events during the coronavirus pandemic could be costing media companies more than $1 billion in ad revenue and even more in invaluable opportunities for self-promotion for the media companies that broadcast the events.
Sports is a major money-makers for networks, making up eight of the top 20 television events in 2019 when ranked by search engagement, according to TV data analytics firm EDO. Professional baseball, football, ice hockey, basketball, and college basketball playoffs and championships brought in about $1.21 billion in ad revenue alone. Read more...
— Michelle Castillo
10:49 am ET: Cannabis Lovers Celebrate 420 Online
The coronavirus pandemic has forced the shutdown of in-person events for the foreseeable future, but cannabis enthusiasts haven't let the crisis extinguish their flame for pot.
In the face of unprecedented disruptions to the way people around the world work, socialize, live and play, events for cannabis holiday 420 have migrated online to bring isolated cannabis users together on a day that's considered all about community.
"420 is typically such a communal holiday. Everyone gets together, they pass joints — it's really about celebrating cannabis, our community, and what we've created. Now that we don't have that and everyone is kind of isolated, it provides an outlet where we can still feel like we do have that social engagement," said Katie Mattox, marketing director at Colorado-based Spherex. Read more...
— Chloe Aiello
9:40 am ET: U.S. Oil Prices Spur Drop in Markets
Markets started the week with a sharp drop, as U.S. crude oil prices saw their biggest one-day drop in history. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 500 points after the bell. The S&P 500 dropped 1.4 percent, and the Nasdaq fell just under 1 percent.
The pressure on the energy sector stems from a fundamental lack of demand, due to coronavirus shutdowns, which some analysts believe hint at a deeper economic crisis in the months to come.
West Texas Intermediate dropped below $15 in early trading, while Brent crude fell below $30, due to coronavirus and the resolution of the OPEC-Russia price war.
— Alex Vuocolo
8:10 am ET: Need2Know: Trump Promises More Tests, Nova Scotia Rampage & COVID Commercials
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COVID-19: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS: The U.S. death toll has passed 40,000, nearly double that of the next worst-hit country, Italy. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York state is “past its peak” and announced plans to roll out an “aggressive” statewide antibody test this week. President Trump defended the federal government’s testing response, but also said he would use the Defense Production Act to increase the production of test swabs by 20 million a month at a single, unnamed facility. He did not provide any details. Europe surpassed 100,000 deaths over the weekend, with the UK fast becoming the continent’s biggest hotspot of new infections, even as lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease in countries like Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic. GUARDIAN
WHEN WILL IT END? When do we get back to normal? What even is normal? The Atlantic’s Ed Yong, who has been doing some of the best coronavirus reporting and writing we’ve seen, sought to answer those questions in his latest piece, which should be required reading for anyone wondering what the next several months in America will look like. THE ATLANTIC
NOVA SCOTIA SHOOTING: At least 16 people were killed, including a police officer, when a gunman went on an apparently random shooting spree in the rural town of Portapique in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia over the weekend. The suspect was dressed as a cop and was driving what appeared to be a fake police car. He was also killed. There’s no known motive for the shooting, which appears to be the deadliest in Canadian history. CBC
SMALL BIZ AID: The White House and Congress are reportedly near a deal to replenish the small-business loan program known as PPP with at least another $400 billion in funding. The new cash infusion would include $100 million set aside for hospitals and testing. Some large chain restaurants are facing blowback for taking millions in loans before small mom-and-pop businesses had a chance to even apply. Shake Shack now says it will return the $10 million in loans it got from the PPP. WASH POST
RETAIL ON THE BRINK: Neiman Marcus is reportedly days away from defaulting on its debt and plans a bankruptcy filing as soon as this week. That would make the department store chain, which also owns the iconic Bergdorf Goodman store in NYC, the first major retailer to succumb to the coronavirus. Nordstrom, JCPenney and Macy’s — which were on thin ice even before the virus — are also burning through cash and exploring options to shore up their financials. REUTERS
FACEBOOK GAMING: In its biggest push into gaming since the days of FarmVille, Facebook is launching a mobile app today specifically for playing and watching video games. The app is meant to take on Twitch and YouTube, which have seen their popularity surge with much of the world stuck at home. Facebook Gaming has been in the works for more than a year, but the social media giant sped up its release to capitalize on the boom in video games during the pandemic. NY TIMES
TENNIS AT HOME: A pair of junior tennis pros in Italy found a way to stay sharp at their sport while social distancing by volleying between the roofs of their neighboring buildings. The homemade match was caught on video and promptly went viral: WATCH
TOGETHER AT HOME: The Lady Gaga-W.H.O.-Global Citizen concert, One World: Together at Home, broadcast Saturday night with an impressive lineup of performances: the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Eddie Vedder, Billie Eilish and more came together for the telecast, which raised $127 million for healthcare workers. If you missed it, here are all the clips together in one place: WATCH
THEATER ACTOR'S AMPUTATION: Broadway star Nick Cordero had to have his leg amputated due to COVID-19 complications, his wife announced on Instagram. The 41-year-old Cordero, known for his roles in A Bronx Tale, Rock of Ages and Waitress, among others, has been in the ICU since April 1. BILLBOARD
LEFTOVERS: COVID COMMERCIALS: “Times like these.” “Here for you.” “In this together.” Major brands keep rolling out new COVID-19 response commercials and a lot of them are using the same advertising tropes and cliches. A clever YouTuber made a supercut of all the sappy coronavirus ads to show how eerily similar they all are: SEE IT
