(Bloomberg) -- New York’s new deaths fell for a second day while Florida’s cases outpaced the weekly average for a fifth straight day. A former top U.S. health official said new outbreaks are now occurring.Ghana confirmed the nation’s health minister has the virus. Paris restaurants can start serving indoor diners on Monday as France speeds up reopening.Russia is emerging “confidently” from crisis, Vladimir Putin said, while political fights are hindering Donald Trump. An infectious disease researcher said the virus won’t slow until 60% of the U.S. is infected, up from 5% now. Key Developments:Virus Tracker: Cases pass 7.8 million; deaths exceed 431,000College towns fear virus will leave them as U.S. ghost townsMillions of jobs may be permanently lost in reallocation shockIndonesia tells Jakarta firms to implement new work hoursBeijing locks down part of city after outbreak at marketNew York’s Chinatown is starting over, and it’s painfulThousands flock to Miami Beach even...
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- A wild week for U.S. stock market indexes was accompanied by some eye-popping moves in individual listings, several of which were apparently driven by retail investors and lacked easy explanations other than exuberance. Some will be inclined to ignore this behavior, noting that, if not warranted, its consequences will be isolated and containable. While not ignoring it, regulators will end up taking a lassiez-faire attitude toward it primarily because their power and tools only go so far. Others, like me, will spend time thinking not only about the potential consequences, be it market functioning or distributional factors, but also the causes and their wider implications.By now, and as illustrated by the Bloomberg article cited above, there is quite a list of individual stocks to choose from to indicate investor exuberance that could easily spill over into reckless risk-taking and speculation. My top pick is Hertz, which is going through...
(Bloomberg) -- Global trade data in the Covid-19 era has been generally abysmal, but look a little closer and the electronics sector that fires Asia’s trade engines could be headed for a pretty good year.In South Korea, semiconductor exports rose in May and imports of equipment used in producing semiconductors surged 168%, trade ministry data show. Taiwan’s electronic-component exports, which include chips, grew 13.2% in May to $10.2 billion, even as total exports fell 2% from a year earlier.The electronics industry is holding up relatively well amid the pandemic as companies adopt new technologies -- including 5G equipment and automation tools -- that make it easier for employees to work remotely. A sustainable boost will depend on whether consumers return with similar vigor, and whether other factors such as U.S.-China tensions don’t interfere with digital demand and supply.“The tech industry seems to have decoupled from the overall economy somewhat, as the...
(Bloomberg) -- Every Thursday at 9:00 p.m. for the past two years, around a dozen Chinese finance veterans and regulators have held a video call to talk about pushing the nation’s companies to meet environmental, social and governance standards. This was supposed to be the year their efforts paid off.ESG investing deploys more than $30 trillion worldwide, but the vast majority of Chinese companies don’t report enough data to show whether they qualify for the funds. Officials have said they’ll make it mandatory this year for the nearly 4,000 listed companies in the country to publish ESG metrics, potentially attracting trillions more into the country.“After years of laying the foundations, we hope 2020 will be the year that ESG investing takes off in China,” said Angela Bai, executive director of the China Alliance of Social Value Investment, which established the Thursday meetings.But with companies struggling to overcome the economic effects of...
The Past Week, In A Nutshell What Happened: "A sell-off had become inevitable because the market had come so far and so fast, and because it involved pricing for perfection," said John Authers, a Bloomberg Opinion columnist.Remember This: "Sooner or later we will get a real economic recovery and from that point the stocks that were thrown out will lead the market," said Mike Lippert, portfolio manager at Baron Opportunity Fund.Pictured: Profile chart of the S&P 500 E-mini FuturesTechnical Risk-off sentiment after equity indices erased an earlier gap that occurred on hopeful economic data. The island of balance left behind will offer resistance on any correction higher. If the market trades through that area, then sentiment has changed and the initiative activity that drove prices lower is no longer present.Recapping last week's action, Monday overnight traded to a low-volume area from Friday creating a ledge at $3,211 that the market later...
