Trading Ideas

(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 …read more […]

(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 remaining 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 …read more […]

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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 […] …read more […]

(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lessors Avolon Holdings Ltd., China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., and General Electric Co.’s GECAS have rescinded orders for 173 Boeing Co. 737 MAX aircraft over the past month, worth $17.8 billion at list prices.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 …read more […]

The IRS will be initiating “planned outages” on Friday and Saturday, following an earlier outage on Thursday for its “Get My Payment” tool at IRS.gov. …read more […]

(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 …read more […]

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One of the lesser-known casualties of the coronavirus crisis is physical gold.
You know, the type of stuff that you used to be able to buy from a coin dealer?
Physical gold is in such short supply today that paying $100 or $200 more per ounce than the spot price is not unusual (it’s usually a small fraction of that).
But refiners are currently having trouble getting the metal… if they are even operating. Mines have shut down due to government mandates, as well as to protect workers from the virus. Mints have closed – transport is affected. In other words, good luck …read more […]

Amazon would end up stronger, not weaker, if Trump got his way and forced the postal service to raise package-delivery prices. …read more […]

President Trump offered a broadside against the Post Office on Friday. “The Postal Service is a joke” he said. The President a union that represents mail carriers appeared on Yahoo Finance a fews hours later and responded. …read more […]

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Facebook announced on Friday that it will introduce a free video chatting service amid the coronavirus pandemic. Yahoo Finance’s Dan Howley and Seana Smith break down the details. …read more […]

President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to block federal aid for the U.S. Postal Service unless it raises shipping rates for online companies like Amazon.com, prompting criticism that the move would hurt consumers relying more than usual on packages during the coronavirus outbreak. The president has long accused the post office of charging too little for packages, saying that deliveries for Amazon and others cost the service money. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post newspaper, which Trump has accused of unfair coverage of his administration. …read more […]