Markets closed down on Tuesday, a fitting conclusion to the worst month on Wall Street since October 2008 that was marked by wild volatility and record-setting point drops –
NYTimes and
WSJ and
MarketWatch
The long-term global economic outlook isn’t exactly inspiring stuff, either – NYTimes
We’re learning more about a new loan program from the Treasury Department aimed at helping small businesses weather the pandemic that would allow them to apply and be approved for loans in just one day. The Small Business Association-run program received nearly $350 billion in funds from the COVID-19 relief bill signed into law last week – SBA.gov and WSJ
A behind-the-scenes look at the rise of Fed Chair Jay Powell and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin’s rise to prominence as “the duo in change of saving” the U.S. economy – NYTimes and WSJ
Speaking of the Fed, the central bank’s latest COVID-19-related bailout measure is a temporary lending facility that “for the first time will allow foreign central banks to convert their holdings of Treasury securities into dollars” in an effort to “alleviate strains in global markets” – WSJ
Xerox is shutting down its hostile takeover bid for HP, another victim of the coronavirus pandemic, after Xerox “concluded it is no longer prudent to pursue the deal given the public health crisis and resulting market swoon” – WSJ and MarketWatch
Both prosecutors and ex-Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes are looking ahead to the still-on August trial over charges that Holmes “defrauded investors and uninsured patients by making false claims about the capabilities of Theranos’ blood testing technology” – Law360
How’s this for a change—an industry actively fighting the customer-data-gathering trend (and why, in this case, it’s such a bad thing) – NYTimes
Checking in on how things are running over at Amazon, where Bezos & Co. find themselves more essential than ever but struggling with huge demand combined with “shortages, delays, and worker unrest, including some walkouts and no-shows and Covid-related sickness” – WSJ
Marriott announced on Tuesday that another massive data breach may have exposed the personal information of 5.2 million of its guests to hackers – MarketWatch and Law360
After a Times article in December exposed black customers and employees “struggling to gain access to the same opportunities as their white peers” at JPMorgan Chase, the company is out with new mandatory diversity training for all employees and is expanding “the recruiting team dedicated to hiring people of color” – NYTimes
GE has closed the $21.4 billion sale of its biopharma business to Danaher Corp., giving “much-needed cash” and a big win to CEO Larry Culp’s “efforts to chip away at a debilitating debt load” – Bloomberg
How are things going with YOUR lockdown? – Twitter