ABC News (March 17)
“Optimism is spreading in the U.S. as COVID-19 deaths plummet and states ease restrictions and open vaccinations to younger adults. But across Europe, dread is setting in with another wave of infections that is closing schools and cafes and bringing new lockdowns.”
Tags: COVID-19, Deaths, Dread, Europe, Infections, Lockdowns, Optimism, Restrictions, Spreading, U.S., Vaccinations, Wave
Reuters (January 29)
“Equity analysts are still counting on a speedy reopening. They expect the 1,585 companies included in the Global MSCI Index to report 6% higher net profit this year than they did in 2019, and 21% higher earnings in 2022.” Constituents are “still valued on an average multiple of 21 times this year’s forecast earnings, far above a long-term average of 16 times. With the path out of lockdowns looking uncertain, such exuberance is likely to end in disappointment.”
Tags: 2019, 2022, Analysts, Disappointment, Equity, Exuberance, Forecast earnings, Global MSCI, Lockdowns, Multiples, Profit, Reopening, Uncertain
Wall Street Journal (October 31)
“The Dow Jones Industrial Average declined Friday, closing out its worst week and month since March in the final lap of the presidential race. Volatility reigned” as “investors have been spooked by a record high in coronavirus infections in the U.S., fresh lockdowns in Europe that threaten economic growth and a mixed bag of earnings report from big technology companies.”
Tags: Big tech, Coronavirus, Declined, Dow Jones, Earnings, Economic growth, Europe, Investors, Lockdowns, March, Presidential race, Spooked, Threaten, U.S., Volatility, Worst
Wall Street Journal (October 28)
“France has emerged as the epicenter of the second wave of coronavirus infections now sweeping much of Europe, causing hospitals to brace for a surge of new patients.” Governments have been left “are struggling to respond to the second wave, loath to impose new lockdowns that would compound the economic pain the coronavirus pandemic has already inflicted on their countries, but concerned about the steady rise in hospitalizations and deaths.”
Tags: COVID-19, Deaths, Economic pain, Epicenter, Europe, France, Governments, Hospitals, Lockdowns, Patients, Second wave, Surge
The Times (October 19)
“The pandemic has laid waste to high streets, costing thousands of jobs in the process.” A recent PWC study starkly illustrates the observation that “shop closures soared at a record rate in the first half of the year as coronavirus lockdowns hit the high street.” During that period, “Britain lost 6,001 more chain stores than it gained in the first half, up from a loss of 3,509 in the same period last year.”
Tags: Britain, Closures, Coronavirus, High streets, Jobs, Lockdowns, Pandemic, PwC, Shops, Stores, Waste
WARC (August 27)
“Lockdowns have lasted longer than the 66 days research suggests it takes to form a new habit – so 2020 really will be an inflection point when we witness a paradigm shift.” COVID-19 has overturned our entrenched attitudes and assumptions, “halting much of what we have taken for granted, imposing new ways of living our lives and creating new boundaries.”
Tags: 2020, 66 days, Assumptions, COVID-19, Entrenched attitudes, Habit, Inflection point, Lockdowns, Overturned, Paradigm shift, Research
Bloomberg (August 24)
“Many of the governments once lauded for their textbook Covid-19 responses, replete with strict lockdowns, sophisticated contact-tracing apps and clearly articulated policies, got tripped up by something in the end… It only goes to show that there’s no winning the coronavirus recovery.”
Tags: Contact-tracing apps, Coronavirus recovery, COVID-19, Governments, Lauded, Lockdowns, No winning, Responses, Sophisticated, Tripped up
New York Times (July 16)
Rather than the once hoped for economic recovery, “the United States economy is headed for a tumultuous autumn, with the threat of closed schools, renewed government lockdowns, empty stadiums and an uncertain amount of federal support for businesses and unemployed workers all clouding hopes for a rapid rebound from recession.”
Tags: Autumn, Economic recovery, Economy, Lockdowns, Schools, Stadiums, Support, Threat, Tumultuous, U.S., Unemployed
WARC (June 1)
“As lockdowns start to ease and the scale of the economic challenge becomes clear, uneasy businesses are adjusting to a future which is looking decidedly different from the one they had planned for at the start of 2020.” For starters, many are slashing advertising spend as they move “back to basics: service and trust,” while also focusing more on online presence and purchases.
Tags: Adjusting, Advertising spend, Basics, Ease, Economic challenge, Future, Lockdowns, Online, Service, Trust, Uneasy
Reuters (May 14)
Banks mainly seem to be provisioning for consumer debt, but “bad-debt risks could easily spread beyond consumer finance. Commercial real estate could face a brutal reckoning if white-collar workers in major cities decide not to return to the office when lockdowns lift.” When stimulus measures wind down, it will leave “over-indebted small and medium-sized enterprises vulnerable. Mass unemployment would lead to increased mortgage defaults.”
Tags: Bad debt, Banks, Commercial real estate, Consumer finance, Lockdowns, Mortgage, Office, Over-indebted, Provisioning, Risks, SMEs, Stimulus, Unemployment, Vulnerable, White collar, Workers
