Washington Post (June 29)
“The road to a successful reopening of the U.S. economy is strewn with hopeful intentions — and formidable obstacles. The biggest and most important obstacle is a surge in new coronavirus cases, which presumably will lead to more hospitalizations and more deaths as well as more firms shutting down.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Deaths, Economy, Formidable, Hopeful, Hospitalizations, Intentions, Obstacles, Reopening, Successful, Surge, U.S.
LA Times (June 26)
“For the generation of Americans not yet old enough to drive, the demographic future has arrived. For the first time, nonwhite and Hispanic people were a majority of people under age 16 in 2019, an expected demographic shift that will grow over the coming decades, according to figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday.”
Tags: Census Bureau, Demographic, Drive:, Future, Generation, Hispanic, Majority, Nonwhite, U.S.
Reuters (June 26)
“World stocks have been on a rollercoaster ride in the first half of 2020. Having slumped 35% from Feb. 20 to March 23, they are now within 10% of February’s record highs thanks to lashings of fiscal stimulus, interest rates slashed to 0% or below in most major economies, and massive amounts of QE. Borrowing costs for high-grade U.S. companies have in fact fallen below January levels.” The rest of the year could bring more roller coaster. “Much depends on whether another coronavirus wave comes crashing down,”
Tags: Borrowing costs, Fiscal stimulus, High-grade, Interest rates, QE, Rollercoaster, Slashed, Slumped, Stocks, U.S.
New York Times (June 25)
“On Wednesday it was as if the country had found itself back in March — at the start of the pandemic, in the early days of the lockdown, when masks were in short supply and when the death toll was skyrocketing.” The U.S. “reached another grim milestone on Wednesday as it reported 36,880 new cases,” breaking the previous high set on April 24. Instead of containment, new cases “have roared back in recent weeks.”
Tags: Containment, Death toll, Grim, Lockdown, March, Masks, Milestone, New cases, Pandemic, Skyrocketing, Supply, U.S.
LA Times (June 23)
“Los Angeles County health officials reported 2,571 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, the third day in the last week that the county has reported more than 2,000 infections.” Authorities suspect a link to mass protests. In addition, the county’s death toll from COVID-19 has risen to 3,137. By comparison, the combined total for all 47of Japan’s prefectures is less than 1,000, and Tokyo prefecture, with a population roughly 4 million greater than LA county, has logged 321 deaths.
Tags: COVID-19, Deaths, Infections, Japan, Los Angeles, Mass protests, New cases, Tokyo, U.S.
Bloomberg (June 15)
With the U.S. and China poised for a “Great Decoupling,” many American “executives worry they will be shut out of what remains the world’s most promising market. The more the U.S. blocks the export of components like semiconductors and jet engines to China, and imposes tough sanctions on anyone who violates such bans, the more it will force not just Chinese companies to stop buying American components but those from third countries aiming to sell to China.”
Tags: Bans, China, Executives, Exports, Great Decoupling, Jet engines, Market, Promising, Sanctions, Semiconductors, U.S.
Reuters (June 12)
“Oil’s 2020 roller coaster is on a new downward section of track. After respectively falling below $20 a barrel and turning negative in April, Brent and U.S. crude prices recovered to $40 a barrel amid coordinated supply cuts. Fresh falls in recent days make that level look more like a ceiling.”
Tags: Barrel, Brent, Ceiling, Crude, Downward, Oil, Recovered, Roller coaster, Supply cuts, U.S.
NBC News (June 9)
“Stocks soar despite coronavirus and a recession. It’s time for a reality check, and a crash. Psychological factors are making markets poor gauges of the U.S. economy’s strength. We should wrench our eyeballs from the ticker tape before it’s too late.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Crash, Economy, Markets, Psychological, Reality check, Recession, Stocks, U.S.
New York Times (June 9)
“America, this is your chance: We must get it right this time or risk losing our democracy forever.” Amid protests, police violence and riots, “our democracy hangs in the balance. This is not an overstatement.”
Jerusalem Post (June 9)
“Following “a very steep increase in morbidity” in Israel, “the coronavirus cabinet decided on Monday to freeze nearly all easing of restrictions that were expected in the coming days as the number of active cases continues to climb across the country.”
Tags: Coronavirus, Crash, Economy, Markets, Psychological, Reality check, Recession, Stocks, U.S.
