STUPID CROOKED RICE IS SAYING YES TO BIDENS VP
I BELIEVE SHE IS COOKED OUT OF BEING TRUE TO AMERICA.
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TOGETHER WITH
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Good morning. This weekend, we're giving Robert Pattinson's quarantine pasta recipe a try. All you need is...
- One “filthy” box of cornflakes
- A giant novelty lighter
- Nine packs of pre-sliced cheese
- “Just any sauce”
- The top half of a bun
- Lots of sugar
- Pasta
You can only make that Alison Roman stew so many times.
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NASDAQ
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8,943.72
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+ 0.91%
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S&P
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2,852.50
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+ 1.15%
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DJIA
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23,625.34
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+ 1.62%
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GOLD
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1,738.10
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+ 1.26%
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10-YR
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0.620%
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- 2.90 bps
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OIL
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27.66
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+ 9.37%
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*As of market close
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Markets: Here’s something we haven’t said all that much recently: Shares of major U.S. banks led stocks higher
yesterday. The benchmark index for banks had been trailing the S&P
by 14 percentage points since the market hit bottom on March 23.
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More markets: Photos of exasperated traders may return May 26, when the New York Stock Exchange will partially reopen its trading floor.
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Francis Scialabba
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Uncertainty
reigns at the top of the World Trade Organization, President Trump’s
grumbling about China, and stocks are wobbling over trade concerns.
No, we
didn’t get lazy and copy over a newsletter from last year—these things
all happened yesterday. After getting tossed aside while everyone
directs their attention to the you-know-what, trade news is back in the
spotlight. And none of it is particularly good.
The latest
Yesterday, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo stepped down from his position more than a year ahead of schedule, citing personal reasons.
- The WTO is a 25-year-old organization that plays referee for countries that trade with one another.
President
Trump has been quite angry with this ref’s performance, arguing that
most of the calls on unfair trade practices went China’s way. And he’s
got allies on Capitol Hill: lawmakers have introduced two different
pieces of legislation that would withdraw the U.S. from the WTO. Sen.
Josh Hawley (R-MO) has said the group should be abolished altogether.
Time to talk about the you-know-what
Because it has been absolutely devastating for global trade, which could drop by a record 27% in Q2, a UN organization said this week.
- The coronavirus has dealt a double whammy to trade flows, slamming both supply and demand.
Meanwhile,
the companies whose job it is to move boxes from one port to another are
sitting on their butts just like the rest of us. Maersk, the Danish
shipping giant, predicts container volumes will fall up to 25% in Q2. “Without a doubt it’s going to be the steepest ever drop in demand within a quarter” CEO Soren Skou said.
Bottom line: After
the U.S. and China signed a “phase one” trade deal in January, many
analysts hoped 2020 would be a year of relative peace in global trade.
But in a few months the coronavirus has caused more disruption to globalization than a trade war did in a year and a half.
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Toni L. Sandys-Pool/Getty Images
Yesterday, Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) stepped down
from his position as chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee
while a federal investigation into his stock sales continues.
- On Wednesday, federal investigators took Burr’s cellphone from his Washington, D.C.,-area home, per the LA Times.
What they’re investigating:
In late January and early February, Burr was privy to briefings on the
threat of the coronavirus pandemic and its potential economic costs. On
Feb. 13, he sold shares totaling between $628,000 and $1.7 million.
- According to the WSJ, the sale saved Burr and his wife at least $250,000 in losses.
- Burr has denied
wrongdoing, said the decision was based only on publicly reported
information, and asked for a review by the Senate ethics panel.
Zoom out:
This indicates the FBI’s probe into illicit stock trades is escalating.
For a search warrant to be executed on a sitting member of Congress, it
has to be approved by a senior DOJ official and a judge.
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The COVID-19 pandemic could cost
the insurance industry $200+ billion, according to insurance
marketplace Lloyd's of London. If you’re thinking “good riddance, I
haven’t seen a penny,” check out these numbers:
- $107 billion in underwriting losses
- $96 billion sapped from investment portfolios (money set aside to cover future claims)
Lloyd's
itself expects to dole out up to $4.3 billion—payouts it says are
comparable to losses sustained after 9/11 and a hurricane trio in 2017.
But while
Lloyd's says COVID-19 will be the worst economic disaster for the
insurance industry, Axios's Felix Salmon countered with “Insurers are
doing just fine.” His reasoning:
- COVID-19 losses still
haven’t hit “megacat” territory, and 2020 losses are still tracking
behind the $144 billion the industry sustained in 2017.
- The point of insurance is to pay out during bad times.
Plus, many
insurance policies explicitly exclude pandemics. And while insurers face
mounting claims for canceled events and workers comp, they’re saving in
auto policies (less driving → fewer accidents) and health insurance
(most elective surgeries are canceled/postponed).
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SPONSORED BY THE MOTLEY FOOL
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You probably shouldn’t go on gut instinct when picking your first stocks.
Obscure baby
names for your firstborn? Sure, go with what feels right. But deciding
on which way to go in the stock market your first time around is
different.
Here’s a solid place to start: The Motley Fool’s 10 starter stocks for new investors.
The Fool’s stock-savvy analysts vet these babies over the course of an entire year
before making their official recommendation, so you can get some
footing and start feeling confident about investing in the stock market.
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Almost 3 million U.S. workers filed for unemployment
benefits last week, bringing the two-month total since COVID-19
lockdowns began to 36.5 million. If those claims formed a state, they’d
be the second largest in the country behind California.
Take a step back
While the
number of new claims has technically dropped six weeks running, weekly
totals are still near record highs. Unemployment insurance was built as a
safety net, but even with emergency aid it wasn’t prepared for this.
How it works:
- Unemployment programs
are joint ventures between the federal government (which sets
guidelines) and states (which set the rules).
- Employers pay state and federal unemployment insurance taxes, and states give out the benefits to unemployed workers.
Zoom out: State
unemployment insurance programs were left in tatters after the Great
Recession, when a sudden spike in long-term unemployment depleted trust
funds and forced many to borrow from the federal government. Heading
into the COVID-19 crisis, most states had never fully recovered.
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Question: What do you do when you’re the best in the world at something?
Answer: Create more competitions of that thing.
Magnus
Carlsen, world chess champ fresh off his victory in the most lucrative
online chess tournament in history (the Magnus Carlsen Invitational,
which he organized himself), has decided to keep the intense-focus party
going. He’s adding three more tournaments plus a grand final with combined prize money of $1 million, the highest ever for online chess.
- The next tournament will kick off on May 19 and the final will end Aug. 20.
Big picture:
Chess is one of the few competitions that can easily be shifted online,
and the Invitational was the first online chess tournament to be
broadcast on TV. Carlsen said he hopes to boost the game’s popularity by
promoting it while almost all live sports are on hiatus. (Is chess a
sport? Debate.)
Carlsen is drawing outside the lines. He’s organizing these tournaments outside the purview of Fide, the world chess body, though Fide says it supports his activities.
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Still
apologizing to Canada for fudging our tribute to Wayne Gretzky and his
illustrious career with the Flames *takes swig of maple syrup*. It's the Brew’s Weekly News Quiz.
1. Which company am I? I was launched in 2018 as a joint venture between JPMorgan, Amazon, and Berkshire Hathaway. My official goal is to improve U.S. healthcare. My CEO stepped down this week.
2. Twitter announced a new work from home policy this week. How long can most employees wait before coming back into the office?
- After the July 4 weekend
- September
- 2021
- Forever
3. Which state plans to generate half of its energy
from renewable sources by 2030? Its latest development: a $1 billion
project capable of powering 260,000 homes that was approved this week.
4. Every four years, the reward bitcoin miners can collect for helping to generate new tokens is cut by 50%.
This major event in cryptocurrency happened on Monday—what's it called?
You can collect 6.25 bitcoins (worth ~$61,000) for a correct answer.
5. Who tweeted this about defying lockdown orders: “If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”
Take the Quiz
Or, you can keep scrolling for the answers.
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OpenTable projects one in four U.S. restaurants will go out of business as a result of coronavirus-related lockdowns.
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A coalition of privacy groups said TikTok is collecting personal info on kids without parents’ consent, violating privacy law.
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Delta is retiring its fleet of Boeing 777s.
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Lower-income workers have been hit the hardest by coronavirus job losses, a new Fed survey revealed.
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More layoffs: GM’s self-driving Cruise unit is laying off nearly 8% of staff. Business news site Quartz is cutting about 40% of staff.
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When the “new normal” gets old. Mitto’s survey results
highlight how consumers actually feel about brand messaging during
COVID-19—and what conversations they want to have next. Get insights
from 7K global consumers here.*
What it’s like to fly right now: Read one traveler’s detailed account of arriving in Hong Kong this week.
Not sure how to spend your time? Check out The Essentials,
our newsletter that gives you specially curated ideas for ways to stay
productive, healthy, and entertained while working from home. Learn more here.
*This is sponsored advertising content
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Which answer in the list is the correct answer to this question?
- All of the below
- None of the below
- All of the above
- One of the above
- None of the above
- None of the above
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Hit the button below to start sharing the Brew.
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Friday puzzle: 5 ("None of the above") is the correct answer (Source).
Quiz:
1. The healthcare company's name is Haven.
2. Most Twitter employees can work from home forever.
3. Nevada plans to generate half its electricity from renewables.
4. Monday's crypto event was called bitcoin halving.
5. Elon Musk tweeted that when he announced Tesla factories were reopening.
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