Bret Baier drops brutal mic on Pelosi, ‘Nasty’ Nancy slammed for wiping her snout on House floor ~ Your Conservative News Today
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TOGETHER WITH
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Good morning. We've
become almost numb to stats like this, but they're still worth filing
away for the history books: On Tuesday, there were more departures from
the airport in Albuquerque, NM, than at Newark or JFK.
Hope everyone has a nice weekend wherever you are not flying out of.
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NASDAQ
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8,494.75
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- 0.01%
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S&P
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2,797.80
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- 0.05%
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DJIA
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23,515.26
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+ 0.17%
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GOLD
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1,750.40
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+ 0.70%
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10-YR
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0.609%
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- 1.80 bps
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OIL
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16.87
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+ 22.42%
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*As of market close
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Jobs: Over 4.4 million more
Americans filed for unemployment benefits this week, bringing the
five-week total to about 26 million. That’s more than the population of
the 10 largest U.S. cities combined, notes the AP, and “by far the worst string of layoffs on record.”
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Housing: U.S. new home sales fell
15.4% in March, and that’s likely to drop further in April. Have
stay-at-home orders increased your attachment to your house, or are you
ready to never see it again?
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Francis Scialabba
Yesterday evening, the House passed
a $484 billion supplement to the CARES Act, including $321 billion in
fresh funds for small businesses through the Paycheck Protection
Program.
Now, you really have to try if
you want to make people angry while doling out $350 billion in
emergency cash, but the first edition of PPP managed to do that and
more.
No room for VIPPPs
As if dealing with line-cutters at the grocery store isn’t bad enough, recent reports have exposed how big banks prioritized
or offered unfair advantages to wealthy clients to secure PPP loans.
Special treatment included "concierge" services and digital HOV lanes
that zipped by clogged application portals.
- Loans of $1 million or more accounted for 45% of total PPP distributions...but ended up in the hands of just 4% of recipients.
This time around, $60 billion will be set aside
for mom-and-pop shops without a direct line to Midtown East. Many small
businesses had better luck going through smaller/local banks in V1.
Keeping things private
Publicly traded companies received
almost $600 million in PPP loans—and a very public flogging for doing
so. Some recipients, including Shake Shack and the owner of Ruth’s Chris
Steakhouse, have agreed to return the money.
- Critics argue these
companies can raise funds through other avenues unavailable to mom and
pop. Just last week, Shake Shack was able to raise $150 million selling
new shares.
- But...they technically weren’t breaking any rules. The National Restaurant Association lobbied and helped secure exemptions from Congress for restaurants and hotel chains to access the PPP.
Yesterday, the SBA closed the loophole
and warned publicly traded companies they probably won't qualify for
the new funds. The Treasury Department asked public companies to return
their loans before May 7, or else face charges they weren’t acting “in
good faith.”
+ While we’re here:
The SBA is currently not releasing detailed information about PPP
recipients. However, the Fed (which also runs emergency small business
lending programs) said yesterday it will disclose participants’ names, funding, and interest rates.
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A document posted on the World Health Organization’s website yesterday delivered some disappointing news:
Remdesivir, a potential COVID-19 treatment developed by biopharma
company Gilead Sciences, did not improve patient outcomes in a
randomized clinical trial.
- According to the summary, 13.9% of the patients who received the drug died after one month, versus 12.8% in a control group, the FT and health news site Stat report.
The twist: The summary was quickly removed from the website. A WHO spokesperson said it was posted by mistake.
The study, a
first-of-its-kind clinical trial in China, was stopped early because it
didn’t have enough patients, so Gilead argued its results are
inconclusive. Although Gilead did say “trends in the data suggest a
potential benefit” for the drug.
So...what does it all mean? Not
much—no definitive thumbs up or down for remdesivir yet. Several other
ongoing studies will hopefully offer more conclusions.
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Giphy
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Whether
they’re seizing an opportunity presented by the coronavirus crisis or
just hanging on for dear life, corporations were hyperactive in raising
debt this week.
Netflix is offering $1 billion
in junk bonds to feed its quarantine content machine. The company
reported astounding subscriber numbers for Q1 when its home screen
became the only game in town.
Snap, also looking to pounce on the best quarter for scrolling ever, is planning to raise up to $750 million in private debt.
Delta is planning to raise $3 billion in debt after forecasting a 90% revenue drop in Q2. On the other side of the battered travel sector, Expedia is pulling in $2 billion in new debt financing (along with $1.2 billion in private equity funding). The company also named vice chairman Peter Kern as CEO.
Macy’s is
in perhaps even more trouble. Using its inventory and real estate as
collateral, it’s considering raising as much as $5 billion in debt, CNBC reports. Macy’s has furloughed most of its 130,000 employees while all of its stores have been closed since March 18.
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That’s it,
we’ve officially lounged on every surface in the house. The countertops
have no back support, the couch is getting old (right before our eyes),
and the hall closet is...actually pretty comfortable and quiet.
Point being: It might be time to upgrade the way things look and feel around here.
Blu Dot creates modern furniture that’s unique, useful, and beautiful down to every last angle and line. In fact, each piece is imagined in their Minneapolis studio where they distort, test, and tweak until they’ve achieved something that goes well beyond the ordinary. It’s extraordinary.
Blu Dot’s goal is to bring good design to as many people as possible, and to achieve that, they’re offering 20% off all orders through May 3. This almost never happens—hence this revelatory piece of copywriting.
Time to put the blanket fort away for good.
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That’s our takeaway from Unilever’s and Hershey’s earnings reports yesterday.
First, Unilever
The maker of half your grocery store haul (including Dove, Lipton tea, and Ben & Jerry’s) said sales
in North America grew 4.8% and online sales surged 36% as people
restocked their cabinets. But in emerging markets, where airtight
lockdowns dinged demand, sales dropped 1.8%.
- India, Unilever’s second-largest market, implemented some of the world's strictest limits.
And...now
that more people are WFH, consumers are buying less shampoo and
deodorant. If that’s you, please reevaluate—your roommates may not
determine your salary, but they have noses.
Second, the chocolate mongers
Hershey’s missed by a kiss
on the top and bottom lines. It cut $271 million in profit, down from
$304 million last year, though stockpilers gave it a nearly 11% retail
sales boost in the four weeks before April 4.
- Plunging international demand + closed schools, restaurants, and malls = tough times.
- In even more bad news for the world’s roommates, Hershey’s gum and mint sales dropped 50%.
Looking ahead...Unilever CFO Graeme Pitkethly said he expects the shifts in consumer behavior to continue after lockdowns end.
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Giphy
1. Fill in the blank: ______ are payments sent by migrant workers back to people in their home countries. The World Bank estimates they’ll drop by 20% this year.
2. Emirates has released a plan to maintain social distancing measures when passenger operations pick back up. Which of the following is not part of that plan?
- Blocked off middle seats
- No magazines or other print entertainment
- Crew/passengers required to wear masks and gloves
- No bathroom access on short flights
3. Travis Scott debuted a song on his new tour that started yesterday. Where is the tour?
- Justin Bieber makes his YouTube debut
- Google acquires YouTube for $1.7 billion
- “Charlie bit my finger” video goes viral
- Susan Wojcicki becomes CEO
Take the Quiz
Or, you can keep scrolling for the answers.
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Bill Gates on the innovations we need to beat the coronavirus.
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U.S. states
are starting to ease restrictions in a patchwork fashion. Georgia’s
gyms, salons, bowling alleys, and tattoo parlors can open today (if they
want, and with restrictions).
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Gap said it’s not paying April rent amid a rapidly deteriorating financial situation.
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LSU QB Joe Burrow was selected #1 by the Cincinnati Bengals in the first ever virtual NFL Draft.
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Get those creative juices flowing. Skillshare
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Gentlemen, treat yourselves to some mighty fine personal care. Huron
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2019. Plus, their clean formulas mean no bad chemicals for your skin or the environment. Get 20% off with code BREW and start taking care of the guy in the mirror.*
Something cool from NASA: The
Hubble Telescope explores space all day, every day, and your birthday
is no exception. Find out what Hubble saw on your birthday, or any other
day, here.
Podcast fans, listen up: If Podapalooza is “Live Aid, but at home, in your sweatpants, listening to podcasts,” our Business Casual
podcast host Kinsey Grant and CEO Alex Lieberman are Freddie Mercury
and Phil Collins. This weekend, they’re going live at this virtual
podcast festival benefiting COVID-19 relief efforts to discuss one
special upcoming episode featuring a very special guest. Get tickets here.
*This is sponsored advertising content
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My friend
Penelope, who is from La Jolla, went on a world vacation. She stopped in
Santa Rosa, Toronto and Casablanca. What European capital did she also
visit?
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Friday Puzzle: Amsterdam. All of these places start and end with the same two letters: LA JolLA, SAnta RoSA, etc.
Weekly News Quiz: 1. Remittances 2. Passengers will be allowed to use bathrooms 3. Fortnite 4. Google acquired YouTube first 5. China
| China ‘open, transparent’ about coronavirus, US can’t ‘bully’ Beijing, envoy to UK says |
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| ADVERTISEMENT |
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April 24
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| FEATURED BIOGRAPHY
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| Barbra Streisand
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| FEATURED EVENT
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| 2005
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| Installation of Pope Benedict XVI
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| MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY
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![]()
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2004: American businesswoman Estée Lauder, who cofounded the hugely profitable fragrance and beauty company that bore her name, died in Manhattan.
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![]()
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1980: U.S. forces launched a mission to rescue American hostages in Iran, but the attempt failed, and eight U.S. service members were killed.
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Dr.Fake But Deadly Cures From the Demented Orange Madman |
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