The DOJ has begun the prosecutorial phase of its chicken price-fixing investigation with a one-count indictment accusing current and former senior execs at Pilgrim’s Pride and Claxton Poultry Farms—including their current presidents—of fixing prices and rigging bids from 2012 to 2017 – WSJ and Bloomberg and MarketWatch and NYTimes and Law360
Movie theater chain AMC is warning that it has “substantial doubt” about its ability to “continue as a going concern for a reasonable amount of time” because of the economic impact of the pandemic – NYTimes and WSJ
While parts of the U.S. literally burn, financial markets have continued to surge. Here’s what’s behind the “nearly nihilistic market rally” – WSJ and MarketWatch
New research from the Center for Responsible Lending details that large U.S. banks “took $11.68 billion in overdraft fees out of their customer’s accounts last year, even before the pandemic kicked off an economic crisis,” with the fees hitting “vulnerable people” the hardest – NYTimes
And since we’re talking about targeting the vulnerable, let’s throw it to the Journal and its look at how payday lenders are “marketing loans that typically carry annual percentage rates of around 200% to 500% to consumers looking online for financial help amid the biggest wave of job losses in U.S. history” – WSJ
Oh yeah, and expect the targeted pool to get even larger, with Bloomberg Economics projecting that the next wave of Covid-related job cuts (potentially 6 million or more) will likely affect higher-paid white-collar workers, including “supervisors in sectors where frontline workers were hit first, such as restaurants and hotels” as well as “the “knock on-effects to connected industries such as professional services, finance and real estate” – Bloomberg
Even worse (if possible)? There’s a major gap between the Dep’t of Labor’s weekly jobless claims and actual filings for pandemic unemployment assistance, as 18 states are currently reporting “zero initial pandemic claims” while receiving “at least half a million in combined claims” through the program – Bloomberg
We’ve been tracking Quibi’s rocky rollout since its April debut, and the series of stumbles has taken its toll—the short-form streaming service has asked senior execs to take a 10% pay cut as a way of “rein[ing] in costs” after its rough start – WSJ
A California appeals court has dealt a significant blow to Oracle in its bid to “dissolve a recently certified class in a sex bias lawsuit” against the company, a decision that allows more than 4,100 women to pursue allegations that “the tech giant illegally pays them less than men” – Law360
The Fed is expanding an “emergency $500 billion lending program for state and local governments to include smaller borrowers” in an effort to address worries that revenue hits “could make the economic downturn worse if local leaders are forced to cut services and lay off workers” – Bloomberg
The ECB will also ramp up its bond-purchase stimulus program to more than $1.5 trillion in an effort to ease “pressure on the region’s embattled governments” and provide support more akin to the Fed’s – WSJ
Warner Music’s shares surged on the first day of its initial public offering on Wednesday, marking the largest debut of the year so far – WSJ and MarketWatch
The Times asks for just 5 minutes to help make you a cello fan for life. Give it those 5 minutes – NYTimes
Stay safe.
