(Bloomberg) -- American Express Co. said it’s seeking to cut $3 billion in costs after the coronavirus pandemic caused a plunge in spending on the firm’s cards.The slowdown the credit-card issuer began to see in March as a result of nationwide shelter-in-place orders has “dramatically” impacted spending on its cards in April as well, American Express warned Friday. Provisions for loan losses rose to $2.6 billion in the first three months of the year as unemployment soared.Chief Executive Officer Steve Squeri, who led expense-reduction efforts at American Express before taking the helm in 2018, said the planned cost cuts are the largest he can remember the company undertaking. American Express will keep investing in mobile capabilities as well as customer service and collections, he said.“It was important for us to stick with those initiatives that inevitably would be important when this crisis ended,” Squeri said on a conference call with analysts....
So, what’s going on in the stock markets? Are they completely haywire? Since February 19, when the bull market ended, the Dow Jones has fallen 36.6% and then gained back, in uneven steps, some 26.4% from the trough. Movements have been similar in the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ. For the last two weeks, both the S&P and Dow have been holding fairly steady – the S&P near 2,800 and the Dow near 23,500.Yet, there are more questions raised than answers. Are we in a true rally, or will the slide resume? What will happen when people return to work; will the economy pop back up again, or are we in a new recession? And if a recession, how bad will it get? The answer to that last may be worse than anticipated: the last five weeks have seen unemployment claims soar to 26 million.Taking the bearish view, Mark Jolley of...
(Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments on injecting bleach to kill the coronavirus sparked concern among experts who called it a “ridiculous concept” that would damage the lungs. British In the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson is “raring to go,” but will follow doctors’ advice on returning to work. Spain had its fewest deaths in five weeks and new cases in Singapore dropped below 1,000 for the first time in five days. Russia reported the most new cases since April 19 and Germany had its worst day in almost a week, after Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country is “far from being out of the woods.”Germany’s economy could shrink as much as 7% this year, the worst contraction since at least 1950, and figures released earlier showed business confidence extended a slump. Europe’s leaders inched toward a deal on rebuilding plans, while U.S. lawmakers overwhelmingly passed a $484 billion aid...
The Hong Kong property developer said it had not intended to make material changes to Greene King's employees when it bought the company, but has now put over 95% of the pub chain's staff on furlough due to the coronavirus crisis. CK Asset, founded by Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka-Shing, bought Greene King for 4.6 billion pounds ($5.69 billion) last year. The changes are expected to be temporary and Greene King intends to end the furlough when appropriate, CK Asset said....
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- Investors in Avis Budget Group Inc. and Hertz Global Holdings Inc. are learning the hard way what happens when widespread government bailouts don’t quite reach every corner of the U.S. economy.No matter where you look, whether it’s their stock, bonds or the asset-backed securities linked to their fleets, these rental-car companies are clearly feeling the squeeze from the coronavirus pandemic and the economic standstill. Avis shares have tumbled 76% since Feb. 20, to about $12 from $50, while Hertz is down more than 80% to about $4. Those are steeper declines than even shares of the three largest U.S. airlines, which reached an accord with the Treasury Department on federal aid just last week.The chief executive officers of Avis, Hertz and Enterprise Holdings Inc. had no such luck. They sent a joint letter to the U.S. government in mid-March requesting that the rental-car industry be included in any economic stimulus package, hoping...
