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1. Dow prepares for sharp decline as May liquidation continues
Flags fly to all staff outside the NYSE on April 9, 2020 in New York City.
Kena Betancur | fake pictures
This Friday, the Labor Department employment report for April is expected to experience a jump in unemployment from 4.4% to over 16.1%, the highest level since 1939, according to Dow Jones. Throughout the week, companies continue to report earnings for the first three months of the year, watching Tyson Foods on Monday before the bell.
2. Buffett sells airlines, bets on the United States, increases cash
The airline’s shares were much lower in the pre-market on Monday after Warren Buffett said Saturday that his Berkshire Hathaway has stripped its capital positions in United, American, Southwest and Delta. Previous holdings, worth more than $ 4 billion in December, had included a 7.6% position in United, a 10% position in America, a 10.1% position in Southwest and a 9.2% position in Delta. “The world has changed for airlines,” Buffett said at the Berkshire annual virtual shareholder meeting.
However, Buffett said the US economy will resist the pandemic as it has with all previous battles and crises. “Basically, nothing can stop the United States,” he added. “In World War II, I was convinced of this … I was convinced of this during the Cuban missile crisis, September 11, the financial crisis.”
The billionaire investor, known as the Omaha Oracle, also addressed the “elephant-sized acquisition” that he has yet to do. Buffett has not made large investments in several years, as Berkshire’s massive amount of cash soared to a record $ 137 billion in late March. He said the reason is simple: He has not found anything “attractive.”
3. Trump says ‘mistake’ in China caused the spread of the coronavirus
United States President Donald Trump participates in a live Fox News Channel virtual town hall called “America Together: Returning to Work” on the response to the coronavirus pandemic broadcast from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, USA. USA, May 3, 2020.
Joshua Roberts | Reuters
President Donald Trump said Sunday that he believes a “mistake” in China was the cause of the spread of the coronavirus, although he did not present any evidence for the claim. The comments, which came during a Fox News town hall meeting at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, came hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that “a significant amount of evidence” suggested that the virus emerged from a Chinese laboratory in Wuhan. Trump also said Sunday that he is confident there will be a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year. Public health officials have said that a coronavirus vaccine could take anywhere from one year to 18 months. Vaccines often take many years to develop and distribute. The World Health Organization has said that there are currently dozens of coronavirus vaccines in development.
4. Remdesivir will be available as soon as this week
A lab technician inspects remdesivir-filled vials of the investigational coronavirus disease drug (COVID-19) at a Gilead Sciences facility in La Verne, California, USA. USA March 11, 2020. Photograph taken on March 11, 2020.
Gilead Sciences Inc | Reuters
Gilead Sciences’ anti-coronavirus drug remdesivir will be available to doctors and patients starting this week. The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization for remdesivir after Gilead and the government released positive results from two separate clinical trials last week. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island plan to coordinate the purchase of personal protective equipment for hospitals. The seven states are also coordinating plans to reopen their economies, as almost 1.2 million in the Americas have been diagnosed with Covid-19 and 67,686 have died. Global cases have exceeded 3.5 million with 247,752 deaths.
5. Florida reopens restaurants and retailers
Customers wait for take-away orders outside Shake Shack in South Beach on April 19, 2020 in Miami Beach, Florida.
Hawkins Cliff | fake pictures
Florida on Monday becomes the last state to start reopening some businesses. Restaurants, in all but three South Florida counties, can resume dining room service at 25% capacity, and outside areas are only limited by social distancing guidelines: tables 6 feet away, no parties of more than 10 people. Florida retailers can also operate at 25% of their capacity indoors. Last week, Texas residents were allowed to return to shopping malls, restaurants, movie theaters, and retail stores in limited numbers. Georgia, at the end of last month, allowed companies, including restaurants and movie theaters, as well as stylists, masseurs, and tattoo artists, to resume operations.
– Associated Press contributed to this report.
