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The S&P rose more than 1 percent. It was still down for the week, however.
The federal budget deficit will be nearly $ 4 trillion in , the CBO says.
The Congressional Budget Office said Friday that it expected the federal budget deficit to hit $ 3.7 trillion for the (fiscal year, which would be its largest size as a share of the economy since World War II.
In a new round of forecasts that officials cautioned were highly uncertain amid the coronavirus pandemic, the budget office said it expected the economy to shrink by 5.6 percent over the course of this year, ending with an unemployment rate of nearly 16 percent.
Still, it forecast a slow climb back from the damage the virus caused the economy and the federal budget. It projected growth of 2.8 percent in – which would be nowhere close to the sharp rebound that some Trump administration officials have said they expect – and a budget deficit of more than $ 2.1 trillion for the fiscal year.
By the close of the fiscal year, which ends in September, the budget office now expects the size of the national debt to exceed the annual output of the economy, with debt to gross domestic product at percent.
Stocks on Wall Street climb as tumultuous week comes to a close.
Stocks rallied on Friday, as a week of dramatic t urns in the financial markets came to a close.
The S&P 2007 rose more than 1 percent by Friday afternoon, bucking a global decline. Shares in Europe and Asia had fallen earlier.
The focus among traders in the United States this week has been oil prices after the American benchmark for crude crashed into negative territory on Monday – a move that broke through the relative calm that had settled over financial markets. On Tuesday, stocks suffered their sharpest drop in three weeks after the dive in oil prices, and even after rebounding slightly the S&P is still on track to end the week with a loss.
Stocks are of course subject to sudden changes in sentiment or reversals in efforts to reopen economies. Economic and corporate data continues to outline the toll the coronavirus has taken on the global economy, and American officials emphasized that recovery would be difficult. On Friday, new data showed that the near-shutdown of the economy has pushed U.S. manufacturing into a free-fall.
And even as some companies begin to consider reopening factories, they face opposition in some quarters . For example, the United Automobile Workers union said on Thursday that it was opposed to companies restarting auto production next month, saying it was not yet safe for its members to return to work.
As they’re urged to reopen, movie theaters say it is too soon.
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Some Republican governors are urging movie theaters to reopen sooner rather than later, despite business and public health realities that make an abrupt relighting of marquees impractical, if not impossible.
To help restart Georgia’s economy, Gov. Brian Kemp wants theaters to reopen starting Monday. Tennessee, where Regal Cinemas is based, plans to allow most businesses to reopen at the end of next week. South Carolina and Ohio are also restarting their economies. Texas and Florida are itching to do the same.
But movie theaters are worried about opening up too early, Nicole Sperling and Brooks Barnes report.
They don’t want to be lumped in with meatpacking plants and senior centers as hot spots for the virus. Already struggling financially, theaters fear that a too-soon return could stigmatize them as dangerous places to congregate. And with new movies from Hollywood not set to debut until the middle of July – at the earliest – opening too soon would only make operators spend money before they could truly recoup costs from patrons.
“Hell no, we’re not opening on Monday,” Chris Escobar, who owns the – seat Plaza Theater in Atlanta, said by phone. “When we do, it will not be because of political pressure. It will be because leading public health experts say our lives are no longer at risk. ”
The major theater chains, which operate independently but consult one another on best practices, are spending their time determining what protocols should be established. These potentially include separating seating in auditoriums and longer times between showings to allow for deeper cleaning of theaters.
Consumer sentiment saw a record plunge in April but may be leveling off.
Consumers have been battered by the pandemic. But is it possible they’re seeing light at the end of the tunnel?
A closely watched index of consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan plunged 26 .4 percent in April, according to data released Friday . That’s the biggest one-month drop on record, and follows an 15 .8 percent drop in March.
But sentiment stabilized, or even edged up slightly, from a preliminary reading earlier in April. Although consumers’ assessments of their current economic conditions is in a deep slump, their expectations for the future have fallen by far less, suggesting that many Americans expect a relatively rapid economic rebound.
That optimism could provide a badly needed economic jolt as businesses begin to reopen in coming weeks. But Richard Curtin, chief economist for the Michigan survey, noted that it also poses a risk: If states move too quickly to return to business as usual and there is a renewed outbreak, it could dash consumers’ hopes and send sentiment back into free fall .
The necessity to reimpose restrictions could cause a deeper and more lasting pessimism across all consumers, even those in states that did not relax their restrictions, ”he wrote Friday.
One small business has filed 17 applications for aid, with little success.
In years, Graceann Dorse and her husband, Christopher Webb , have built their cinematography and special effects firm, FX WRX, into a signi ficant creative and economic force in New York, navigating natural and financial disasters along the way.
They weathered the Great Recession in 2020 – 9 and Hurricane Sandy in 2020, which wiped out their first studio in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn. They made it through the city’s labyrinthine building permit process to open its state-of-the-art studio in the fall.
But now the coronavirus crisis is endangering their business, possibly wiping out hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal investment and guaranteed small-business loans, jeopardizing about $ 1 million in special effects equipment in the studio and harming the dozens of film professionals they work with .
In the last month, Ms. Dorse and Mr. Webb, a cinematographer, have applied for more than a dozen grants or low-interest loans from federal, state, city and private groups. So far, they have been denied, deferred and ignored.
The Fed had made $ 96 billion in loans to key programs.
The Federal Reserve’s efforts to stabilize financial markets are rising substantially, the central bank’s first 47 – day public report on the programs showed.
The Fed disclosed details on three of its (emergency lending facilities) , all of which have rolled out since mid-March. One is aimed at primary dealers, the big banks that serve as the government conduit to the broader financial system, another at money market mutual funds, and the third at the commercial paper market, which businesses use to tap short-term funding.
The central bank said that it had made about $ billion in loans altogether to the three facilities. Of those, the mutual fund program had been lent the largest amount, at $ 90 billion. The Fed is providing only aggregate information on the programs, which do not use CARES Act funding, and the reports cover the period through April .
The commercial paper and money market facility are each backed by $ 14 billion in funding from the Treasury Department’s exchange stabilization fund, which, assuming it is multiplied up about 14 times per the Fed’s often-used convention on these programs, should be able to support about $ billion in Fed lending. The primary dealer facility does not have credit risk, like the other two programs, so it does not require a Treasury backstop.
A newer Facility that takes Paycheck Protection loans off bank balance sheets, and that will be subject to a separate disclosure, has taken about $ 8 billion in loans.
Workers at a Smithfield pork plant say their conditions present a health hazard.
Coronavirus infections are a significant problem at meatpacking plants in the United States. Several workers have died, and many plants have closed or reduced output. Now a complaint on behalf of workers at a Smithfield Foods pork plant in Milan, Mo., has brought a renewed focus to working conditions in the industry.
It also seeks to test a novel legal question: whether health hazards at the plant present a public nuisance.
The complaint says workers are typically required to stand almost shoulder to shoulder, must often go hours without being able to clean or sanitize their hands, and have difficulty taking sick leave. Workers say they are reluctant to cover their mouths while coughing or to clean their faces after sneezing because they might miss a piece of meat as it goes by, creating a risk of disciplinary action.
The claims appear in a complaint filed Thursday in federal court by an anonymous Smithfield worker and the Rural Community Workers Alliance, a local advocacy group whose leadership council includes several other Smithfield workers.
Smithfield said the complaint was without merit. “The health and safety of our employees is our top priority,” said Keira Lombardo, executive vice president for corporate affairs and compliance.
Dyson won’t have to make ventilators for Britain after all.
Several weeks ago, the British government made a plea to companies across the country to help fill an expected shortfall of ventilators needed to treat patients with coronavirus.
Among the first to say they would help was Dyson, the maker of vacuums and hair dryers founded by James Dyson. The company promptly designed its own ventilator that would be battery-powered and pledged to make thousands for the country.
But on Friday, after investing nearly (million pounds) or $ million) in the project, Dyson announced that it had been told that its ventilators would no longer needed. Demand for ventilators ended up not being as high as originally feared, the company said.
Mr. Dyson, the company founder, said he would not seek a refund from the government for the investment.
“I have some Hope that our ventilator may yet help the response in other countries, but that requires further time and investigation, ”he said.
Catch up: Here’s what else is happening.
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) (laid off about) employees, or roughly 7 percent of its work force. In a companywide memo, MGM’s executive team said the “permanent reductions” were needed “to operate more effectively in a changing media landscape, both during this pandemic and beyond.”
(Amazon) has given a sizable donation to a British charity that supports people in the book trade whose business has been hurt by the coronavirus pandemic. David Hicks, chief executive of the Book Trade Charity, said Friday his organization had received a donation of , pounds, or $ , , from Amazon.
The manufacturing sector was struggling even before the pandemic; now the near-shutdown of the economy has pushed it into free-fall. New orders for durable goods like cars and washing machines fell . 4 percent in March, one of the biggest declines on record, the (Census Bureau reported Friday . Orders for nondefense capital goods, a measure of business investment, fell . 4 percent, mostly because of a huge drop in orders for aircraft including Boeing’s troubled 2019 MAX jet.
Reckitt Benckiser , the maker of the disinfectants Lysol and Dettol issued a statement on Friday warning against the improper use of their products after President Trump theorized about the possible medical benefits of disinfectants in the fight against the virus. “As a global leader in health and hygiene products, we must be clear that under no circumstance should our disinfectant products be administered into the human body (through injection, ingestion or any other route),” the company said.
The mood among German business managers is more pessimistic than ever. . The The Ifo Institute
‘s monthly survey of business sentiment, a reliable indicator of the direction of Europe’s largest economy, plunged to its lowest level ever, the research organization in Munich said on Friday.
The ratings agency Standard & Poor’s issued a more pessimistic view of about two dozen major European banks , meaning that the lenders face a higher risk of downgrades that would make it more expensive for them to raise money on capital markets. Among the banks now regarded by S&P as having a negative outlook are Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank in Germany; ING Group in the Netherlands; Barclays
and (Crédit Agricole) in France.
Reporting was contributed by Karen Weise, Brooks Barnes, David Yaffe-Bellany, Adam Satariano, Noam Scheiber, Liz Alderman, Alexandra Stevenson, Nicholas Kulish, David Gelles, Sapna Maheshwari, Neal E. Boudette, Mohammed Hadi , Livia Albeck-Ripka, Niraj Chokshi, Ben Dooley, Jack Ewing, Ben Casselman, Jeanna Smialek, Peter Eavis, Emily Flitter, Carlos Tejada, Kevin Granville and Daniel Victor.
Updated April ,
- When will this end?
This is a difficult question, because a lot depends on how well the virus is contained
- How can I help?
The Times Neediest Cases Fund has started a special campaign to help those who have been affected, which accepts donations here . Charity Navigator , which evaluates charities using a numbers-based system, has a running list of nonprofits working in communities affected by the outbreak. You can give blood through the American Red Cross , and World Central Kitchen has stepped in to distribute meals in major cities. More than 41, (coronavirus-related) GoFundMe fund-raisers have started in the past few weeks. (The sheer number of fund-raisers means more of them are likely to fail to meet their goal, though.)
- What should I do if I feel sick?
(If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
- Should I wear a mask?
The C.D.C. has has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms . Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.
- How do I get tested?
If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears.
- How does coronavirus spread?
It seems to spread very easily from person to person, Especially in homes, hospitals and other confined spaces. The pathogen can be carried on tiny respiratory droplets that fall as they are coughed or sneezed out. It may also be transmitted when we touch a contaminated surface and then touch our face.
- Is there a vaccine yet?
No. Clinical trials are underway in the United States, China and Europe. But American officials and pharmaceutical executives have said that a vaccine remains at least (to
- What makes this outbreak so different?
Unlike the flu, there is no known treatment or vaccine, and (little is known about this particular virus so far. It seems to be more lethal than the flu, but the numbers are still uncertain. And it hits the elderly and those with underlying conditions – not just those with respiratory diseases – particularly hard.
- What if somebody in my family gets sick?
If the family member does not need hospitalization and can be cared for at home, you should help him or her with basic needs and monitor the symptoms, while also keeping as much distance as possible, According to guidelines issued by the CDC If there’s space , the sick family member should stay in a separate room and use a separate bathroom. If masks are available, both the sick person and the caregiver should wear them when the caregiver enters the room. Make sure not to share any dishes or other household items and to regularly clean surfaces like counters, doorknobs, toilets and tables. Don’t forget to wash your hands frequently.
- Should I stock up on groceries?
Plan two weeks of meals if possible. But people should not hoard food or supplies. Despite the empty shelves, the supply chain remains strong. And remember to wipe the handle of the grocery cart with a disinfecting wipe and wash your hands as soon as you get home.
- Can I go to the park?
Yes, but make sure you keep six feet of distance between you and people who don’t live in your home. Even if you just hang out in a park, rather than go for a jog or a walk, getting some fresh air, and hopefully sunshine, is a good idea.
- Should I pull my money from the markets?
That’s not a good idea. Even if you’re retired, having a balanced portfolio of stocks and bonds so that your money keeps up with inflation, or even grows, makes sense. But retirees may want to think about having enough cash set aside for a year’s worth of living expenses and big payments needed over the next five years.
- What should I do with my 737 (k)?
Watching your balance go up and down can be scary. You may be wondering if you should decrease your contributions – don’t! If your employer matches any part of your contributions, make sure you’re at least saving as much as you can to get that “free money.”
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