Written by Gary
The US economy grew moderately in the fourth quarter (SPY -0.9%). The fast-spreading COVID-19 that has left financial markets fearing a recession.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
North and South American markets are sharply lower today with shares in Brazil off the most. The Bovespa is down 6.88% while Mexico’s IPC is off 2.07% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is lower by 1.12%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Texas prosecutors accuse Arkema, executives of failures over chemical fireOpening statements began on Thursday in criminal charges against the U.S. arm of a French company and three executives over chemical fires that burned for days and injured emergency workers called to the site. | |
Tesla shares slump as coronavirus hits China car registrationsShares of Tesla Inc fell as much as 14% on Thursday on concerns about the impact of the coronavirus on the electric-car maker’s vehicle registrations in China. | |
U.S. economy grows steadily in fourth-quarter, but coronavirus looms largeThe U.S. economy grew moderately in the fourth quarter, the government confirmed, and is facing a bumpy road in early 2020 amid the fast-spreading coronavirus that has left financial markets fearing a recession. | |
DoorDash files to go public in latest IPO test for unprofitable startupsDoorDash Inc, the loss-making U.S. food delivery startup backed by SoftBank Group Corp , said on Thursday it has filed for an initial public offering (IPO), setting it up to be one of the most high-profile listings of 2020. | |
Oil prices dive to lowest in over a year as virus fears growOil prices fell for a fifth straight day on Thursday, plunging to their lowest levels since January 2019 as more new coronavirus cases outside China fanned fears that a pandemic could slow the global economy. | |
Wall Street hammered by coronavirus anxiety; briefly confirms correctionWall Street’s main indexes tumbled nearly 2% on Thursday and confirmed a correction that began last week, as the rapid spread of the coronavirus outside China intensified fears about the hit to economic growth and corporate earnings. | |
Starbucks’ CEO says 85% of stores in China are openStarbucks Corp said on Thursday 85% of its stores in China were open, weeks after the coffee chain shut nearly half of its over 4,000 stores in the world’s second-largest economy due to the coronavirus outbreak. | |
U.S. pending home sales jump 5.2% in JanuaryContracts to buy previously owned U.S. homes rebounded in January to their second-highest monthly figure in about two years as low mortgage rates boosted sales. | |
Instant View: U.S. stocks confirm correction on pandemic fearsWall Street’s main indexes tumbled on Thursday, putting them more than 10% below record highs set earlier this month and indicating that they then entered an intraday correction, as the rapid spread of the coronavirus globally deepened worries about growth and corporate earnings. | |
Italy Confirms 3 More Deaths, Raising Total To 17; White House Adds Mnuchin, Kudlow To Coronavirus Task Force: Live UpdatesItaly Confirms 3 More Deaths, Raising Total To 17; White House Adds Mnuchin, Kudlow To Coronavirus Task Force: Live Updates Summary: WHO says outbreak in Iran likely worse than official numbers suggest; outbreak could go in “any direction” Iran confirms 26 deaths, vice president for women and family affairs infected Lagarde: Not yet time for ECB to intervene to fight economic backlash of outbreak HHS says risk to public remains “low” Italy reports 3 more deaths, bringing total to 17 Pence, Azar appoint Mnuchin, Kudlow & Surgeon General Adams to Coronavirus Task Force Starbucks says it has reopened 85% of Chinese restaurants Azar: Sonoma case might be ‘community transmission’ Salvini meets with Italian president amid national unity government speculation South Korean new cases surpass China’s new cases as SK confirms 505 new cases China, Japan close school nationwide CDC fears ‘community outbreak’ in Sonoma County after discovering first US case of “unknown origin” CDC says patient from Solano county Saudi Arabia suspends pilgrimages to Holy Sites Hawaiian Airlines suspends service to South Korea Brazil’s neighbors take steps to keep virus out * * * Update (1245ET): Italian health officials have reported another three deaths in Northern Italy, bringing the death toll to 17, Reuters reports. THREE FURTHER DEATHS IN CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK IN NORTHERN ITALY, BRINGING DEATH TOLL TO 17 As one twitter user points out… | |
Pope Cancels Event Over “Slight Illness” After Shaking Hands With ‘Mask-Wearing’ Public In St. Peter’s SquarePope Cancels Event Over “Slight Illness” After Shaking Hands With ‘Mask-Wearing’ Public In St. Peter’s Square The pope catching the coronavirus would certainly make an interesting sequel to Netflix’s “Two Popes.” After breaking with his typical practice of waving and instead making a point to shake hands with revelers during his Ash Wednesday audience in St. Peter’s Square, media reports claim Pope Francis has fallen ill with a “slight illness”. However, observers noted that he sounded hoarse and already appeared to have a slight cold during the Ash Wednesday service, quieting fears that he might have picked up the virus during the public audience, that was attended by thousands despite the outbreak in Italy sparking fears of public gatherings. The pope reportedly coughed during the service repeatedly. | |
Traders Now Betting On Two March Rate Cuts As OIS CratersTraders Now Betting On Two March Rate Cuts As OIS Craters With Chritsine Lagarde blowing up the market’s hopes for an emergency coordinated central bank rate cut, traders have decided to switch to the “stick” approach, and instead of asking nicely for another bailout from the Fed, they have decided to force one through. As a result, even as the latest overnight index swaps are cratering on Thursday as money markets start to price in a rate cut at the March FOMC meeting with the first Fed-dated OIS for March meeting dropping as low as 1.415% Thursday, implying 16.5bp of rate cuts, before settling around 1.44% after the Lagarde statement (around a 60% chance of a 25bps March rate-cut). | |
Saudis Ban Mecca Pilgrimages Over Covid-19 Fears; Last Major Hajj Outbreak Killed 35,000Saudis Ban Mecca Pilgrimages Over Covid-19 Fears; Last Major Hajj Outbreak Killed 35,000 By far the largest annual gathering of humans in the world is the pilgrimage to Mecca, which in 2018 alone saw about 2.4 million Muslims make the religious trip. Given approximately a whopping quarter of world’s population identifies as Muslim, and each adherent is supposed to make the trip as a “religious duty” at least once in their lives, the latest coronavirus news out of the Middle East is almost unprecedented and hugely disruptive to travel patterns into the gulf region. Saudi Arabia has now suspended entry visas for pilgrim’s wishing to visit the kingdom’s holy sites, the foreign ministry has announced. | |
Has India stumbled upon a chance defense against coronavirus?Has India stumbled upon a chance defense against coronavirus?India’s aversion to joining Asia’s sophisticated supply chain for production is what is saving it from virus. | |
Q3 GDP: Third time lucky or more bad news?Q3 GDP: Third time lucky or more bad news?Many estimates so far point are towards a modest pick-up in India’s GDP growth in the December quarter. | |
3-point guide for India to reach $5-tn goal3-point guide for India to reach $5-tn goalA $5-tn goal is indeed achievable. Here are 3 policy options that the government can unleash to attain it. | |
How to buy a Tesla Cybertruck for just $400Mattel has partnered with Tesla for two radio-controlled Cybertruck toys. | |
Capitol Report: This is the ‘despicable’ ad that caused Barack Obama to send a cease-and-desist letter to a group of Trump supportersReps for Barack Obama are demanded that a Republican super PAC stop airing ad using the former president to paint Joe Biden in a negative light. | |
Market Extra: This stock has scored the biggest boost from the coronavirus outbreak ” but the company has been out of business for yearsTo call it a case of mistaken identity might be underselling it, but shares of Zoom Technologies have been practically, er, zooming higher amid the recent rally in the popular videoconferencing company Zoom Video Communications which went public back last year to much fanfare. |
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