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Oil Negotiators Race Against Clock to Get Oil Supply Deal Done

(Bloomberg) — A global deal to cut oil supply and stem a historic price rout hung in the balance on Sunday as negotiators raced to find an agreement with just hours to go until the market opens.Diplomatic wrangling between Mexico and Saudi Arabia entered a fourth day as neither side was willing to concede, even after President Donald Trump intervened with a compromise and U.S. senators applied pressure to longtime ally Saudi Arabia.Negotiators have hours to spare before the oil market opens and traders pass judgment on the deal — or the failure to reach one. The market is already …read more […]

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S&P Cuts General Electric’s Credit Outlook to Negative Amid Debt Concern

General Electric Co.’s (GE) credit outlook was lowered to negative from stable by rating agency S&P Global, amid concern that the engine maker won’t be able to reduce debt leverage, should the aviation industry fail to see the start of a recovery later this year.The outlook change comes after GE disclosed that it expects adjusted 1Q EPS to be “materially below” its prior guidance on March 4, 2020 of about $0.10, according to preliminary figures and withdrew financial guidance for 2020. In March GE announced job cuts at its aviation unit, which makes engines for Boeing Co (BA) and Airbus …read more […]

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The U.S.-Saudi-Russia Oil Cease-Fire Won’t Last

(Bloomberg Opinion) — After two days of high drama, low farce and long periods of tedium, the OPEC+ group of countries, led by Saudi Arabia and Russia, almost agreed to cut their oil production by an initial 10 million barrels a day in response to the coronavirus-triggered collapse in demand. That “almost” is important.The drama was provided by Mexico refusing to accept its allotted cut. The farce followed when the country’s oil minister left the virtual OPEC+ meeting to hold separate talks with her U.S. and Canadian counterparts, while the other energy ministers agonized for hours over how to respond. …read more […]

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China's U.S. envoy says trade deal being implemented, hopes for coordinated response

China is still implementing the first phase of a Sino-U.S. trade pact, its ambassador to the United States said, but hoped the two could work together to assess the changing situation and coordinate their response, the Global Times said on Sunday. The world’s two biggest economies signed the tentative deal to pause a damaging tariff war in January, before the coronavirus pandemic spread, threatening a global economic depression. Cui Tiankai said China was still buying U.S. agricultural products, and was lifting some curbs faced by foreign companies entering its financial market, the tabloid affiliated to the Beijing-controlled People’s …read more […]

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U.S. Is Deadliest Epicenter; Singapore Clamps Down: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) — The U.S. became the world’s epicenter for the coronavirus as deaths passed Italy, while Singapore said it will immediately impose fines on people who flout social-distancing rules.The pace of deaths slowed in Spain, France and Germany, though Italy reported the most new cases in a week. China reported 99 new cases from Saturday, 97 of which were imported. Authorities in Shanghai said 51 of the 52 new imported cases in the city came on a flight from Russia.The Pentagon is using a wartime law to fund production of N95 masks. U.S. governors sought $500 billion in federal aid …read more […]

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Exclusive: Macy's taps Lazard to bolster finances as coronavirus saps sales – sources

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 …read more […]

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Mexican president's nationalist oil vision fuels standoff with Saudis

The biggest supply cut ever contemplated by the world’s top oil producers is hanging in the balance as a refusal by Mexico’s leftist leader to imperil his plans to rebuild state oil company Pemex has angered the Saudi prince who helped craft the deal. For the past three days, Mexico has kept the oil industry on tenterhooks by resisting Saudi pressure to sign up to global cuts worth nearly a quarter of output for participating countries, aimed at reviving prices from their lowest level in decades. The refusal by President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to compromise his plan …read more […]

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Exclusive: JPMorgan Chase to raise mortgage borrowing standards as economic outlook darkens

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 …read more […]