(Bloomberg) -- The death toll from the new coronavirus topped 51,000 in the U.S., with the epicenter of the global outbreak now accounting for more than a quarter of all fatalities. Cases spiked among crew members on a passenger-less cruise ship docked in Japan, while some theaters were poised to re-open in South Korea.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned patients about taking malaria medications touted by President Donald Trump. The president now claims he was being sarcastic on Thursday when he suggested that injecting disinfectants might ward off the coronavirus. Disinfectant chatter soared on Twitter.China reported 12 new cases Friday, with 11 of them imported. Spain and Italy had their fewest deaths in five weeks. Germany had its worst day in almost a week, while Belgium plans to ease its lockdown starting in May. Key DevelopmentsVirus Tracker: Cases top 2.7 million; deaths approach 196,000Trump riff on disinfectant shows peril of...
(Bloomberg) -- China’s nascent rebound from the historic contraction in the first quarter is already losing pace in April, amid signs of a global recession and still weak domestic demand.While March data showed a pickup from the slump in the first two months of the year, the earliest indicators for this month show domestic demand as still very weak and companies remain cautious.China Suffers Historic Economic Slump With Hard Recovery AheadThe aggregate index combining eight indicators tracked by Bloomberg was therefore broadly unchanged this month. While the fact that it didn’t deteriorate signals a possible bottoming-out of the economy as the nation re-opens factories and encourages the public to return to shopping and dining out, the overall picture is still downbeat.Small business confidence rose slightly after March’s strong rebound, but the pace of increase slowed, and a gauge of expectations dropped after gaining the previous month.“Despite an improvement in real activity,...
Yesterday Governor Cuomo announced one of the worst news I heard all month long. Only 21% of New Yorkers tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies in recently administered semi-random antibody tests. The dumb media was kind of surprised by this news. One Bloomberg article said the following: “…the preliminary results appear to confirm predictions that the […]...
(Bloomberg Opinion) -- It’s not just air tickets that are being canceled as the coronavirus causes global travel to seize up. Purchases of aircraft are also being pulled.Aircraft lessors Avolon Holdings Ltd., China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., and General Electric Co.’s GECAS have rescinded orders for 173 Boeing Co. 737 MAX aircraft over the past month, worth $17.8 billion at list prices. Airbus is cutting output of planes by a third, while Boeing will reduce production of 787 Dreamliners by half, people familiar with the plans told Julie Johnsson and Siddharth Philip of Bloomberg News.There’s likely to be more to come. The global aviation industry is being hollowed out by the prospect of international and domestic travel grinding mostly to a halt for 18 months or so: The International Air Transport Association expects traffic to decline by 48% this year because of the coronavirus.One of the first places airlines will look to...
(Bloomberg) -- Plant shutdowns are leaving the U.S. dangerously close to meat shortages as coronavirus outbreaks now spread to suppliers across the Americas.Almost a third of U.S. pork capacity is down, the first big poultry plants closed on Friday and experts are warning that domestic shortages are just weeks away. Brazil, the world’s No. 1 shipper of chicken and beef, saw its first major closure with the halt of a poultry plant owned by JBS SA, the world’s biggest meat company. Key operations are also down in Canada.While hundreds of plants in the Americas are still running, the staggering acceleration for supply disruptions is now raising questions over global shortfalls.Taken together, the U.S., Brazil and Canada account for about 65% of the world’s meat trade.“It’s absolutely unprecedented,” said Brett Stuart, president of Denver-based consulting firm Global AgriTrends. “It’s a lose-lose situation where we have producers at the risk of losing everything...
