JPMorgan Chase & Co , the country's largest lender by assets, is raising borrowing standards this week for most new home loans as the bank moves to mitigate lending risk stemming from the novel coronavirus disruption. From Tuesday, customers applying for a new mortgage will need a credit score of at least 700, and will be required to make a down payment equal to 20% of the home's value. The change highlights how banks are quickly shifting gears to respond to the darkening U.S. economic outlook and stress in the housing market, after measures to contain the virus put 16 million people out of work and plunged the country into recession....
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. stepped up pressure on Saudi Arabia to seal a historic deal to cut oil production as negotiations that President Donald Trump himself has brokered dragged on for a third day.Talks aimed at ending a price war that’s savaging the U.S. oil industry and threatening petrostates’ budgets continued Saturday as Mexico and Saudi Arabia refused to budge. In an attempt to move negotiations along, a group of Republican senators from oil-drilling states such as Texas spoke to the Saudi oil minister by conference call.“The Saudis spent over a month waging war on American oil producers, all while our troops protected theirs. That’s not how friends treat friends,” said Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. “Saudi Arabia’s next steps will determine whether our strategic partnership is salvageable.”Some Republican senators have raised the prospect of cutting off aid to Saudi Arabia if the kingdom doesn’t pare its output, and end...
Macy's Inc has hired investment bank Lazard Ltd to explore options for bolstering its finances after the department store operator lost most of its revenue as it shut down all its stores as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, people familiar with the matter said. The move by Macy's, the largest U.S. department store operator by sales, is a sign of the severity of the crisis facing brick-and-mortar retailers, which were already struggling with the shift to online shopping. The pandemic has forced store closures and widespread furloughs of employees as state after state issued shelter-in-place orders in efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 respiratory illness....
(Bloomberg) -- As Mexico and Saudi Arabia fight over a deal to bring the oil-price war to an end, Mexico has a powerful defense: a massive Wall Street hedge shielding it from low prices.With talks well into their third day, the Mexican sovereign oil hedge, which insures the Latin American country against low prices and is considered a state secret, is a factor that may make the country less inclined to accept the OPEC+ agreement.For the last two decades, Mexico has bought so-called Asian style put options from a small group of investment banks and oil companies, in what’s considered Wall Street’s largest -- and most closely guarded -- annual oil deal.The options give Mexico the right to sell its oil at a predetermined price. They are the equivalent of an insurance policy: the country banks all gains from higher prices but enjoys the security of a minimum floor. So if...
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. death toll topped 20,000 on Saturday, the most worldwide, as the government develops the tests needed to determine when normal activities can resume.The pace of deaths slowed in Spain, France and Germany, though Italy reported the most new cases in a week.U.S. governors sought $500 billion in federal aid to offset the economic hit from social-distancing measures.Key DevelopmentsCoronavirus Tracker: Global cases exceed 1.7 million; deaths top 107,000U.K. reports 917 new deaths, total rises to 9,875U.S. states launch containment effortsEU backs Sweden, Belgium on aviation aidU.S. testing capacity in “ballpark” for May reopeningArticle indicates progress toward vaccineApple, Google plan contact-tracing phone appU.S. Cases Rise, Led by South Dakota (4:10 p.m.)U.S. cases increased 5.6% in the past 24 hours to 514,415, according to data collected Saturday by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. The increase was below the average daily pace of 8.8% over the past week. Deaths nationwide...
