Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange during the opening bell on March 10, 2020 in New York. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
By Stan Choe
U.S. stocks, oil and other financial markets around the world clawed back some of their historic plunge from a day before amid hopes that the U.S. and other governments around the world will pump in more aid for a virus-weakened global economy.
Investors welcomed Tuesday's reprieve but weren't pretending that this is the end to the market's huge swings, which took the S&P 500 on Monday to its worst day since the 2008 financial crisis. Stocks have had jumps even bigger than this in the past couple weeks, only for the bottom to give out again.
Nonetheless, hope was rising that the big support efforts from global authorities that markets have been waiting for may be on the way, at least in a piecemeal way. President Donald Trump says his administration will ask Congress for payroll tax relief and other quick measures to help protect from the spread of COVID-19, which has pushed airlines to cancel flights and prodded Italy to lock down the entire country.
In Japan, a task force set up by the prime minister approved a 430 billion yen ($4.1 billion) package with support for small to medium-sized businesses.
Perhaps the most notable market move Tuesday was that Treasury yields also pushed higher in a sign that fear has receded a bit, though they remain far below where they were even a week ago.
The 10-year Treasury yield rose to 0.65 percent from 0.49 percent late Monday. A week ago, it had never been below 1 percent.
The S&P 500 was up 3.3 percent, as of 10:10 a.m. Eastern time. It recovered about two-fifths of its loss from the day before.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 794 points, or 3.3 percent, to 24,645, and the Nasdaq composite was up 3.5 percent.
Brent crude, the international standard, rose $2.77, or 8.1 percent, to $37.13, while benchmark U.S. crude rose $2.450 to $33.63. Oil prices plunged 25 percent on Monday amid a price war between producers, who are pulling more oil out of the ground even though demand is falling due to the virus.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover. In mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered.
But because the virus is new, experts can't say for sure how far it will ultimately spread. That has investors worried about the worst-case scenario for corporate profits and the economy, where factories and supply chains are shut around the world due to quarantines and people stay huddled at home instead of working or spending.
That's why many say the market will continue to swing sharply at least until the number of new cases decelerates.
Central banks around the world, which have done some of the heaviest lifting to prop up markets and business confidence over the last decade-plus, have already used up most of their ammunition. Several have already cut rates below zero, and the Federal Reserve's benchmark rate is sitting at a range of 1 percent to 1.25 percent.
That adds pressure on governments to do what they can as well. Investors are asking for quick, coordinated aid to provide support to companies and households who are going to be out income because of the virus.
For strategists at BlackRock Investment Institute, that could include generous sick-pay programs or even direct payments to households. For businesses, governments could suspend collecting tax revenue to give them some temporary relief and hold on to cash as the world waits for the outbreak to be contained.
"That would prevent these temporary disruptions from turning into a full-blown global recession," strategists at BlackRock Investment Institute wrote in a report.
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The Associated Press receives support for health and science coverage from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
The Super Bowl is only a few days away, and the game is currently tracking to be the most expensive one ever.
Gametime, a website and app for last-minute tickets, says the average ticket price for the NFL's championship game is $9,502.50, with the most expensive seats costing nearly $38,000. That's a far cry away from the average ticket price of the first-ever Super Bowl in 1967, which was only $12. The average ticket price increased by more than $8,000 in just the past decade. Matt Rados, Senior Operations Manager at Gametime, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Earlier this week, digital investment advisor Betterment announced that it has hired Makara, a company known for its management of cryptocurrency portfolios. Sarah Levy, CEO of Betterment, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where she explains why crypto represents such a promising long-term play and how her company stands to benefit from this latest move.
At-home medical labs company Getlabs raised $20 million in a Series A round, led by Emerson Collective and the Minderoo Foundation. Getlabs aims to be the boots-on-the-ground partner to telehealth. The company says more than 70% of medical decisions still require collecting diagnostic tests in person, and that it fills that void by delivering health care directly to their patients' homes. Founder & CEO of Getlabs Kyle Michelson joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The White House laid out plans for a $5 billion investment into a national network of charging stations to ease EV driving anxiety. Bruce Brimacombe, CEO of EV infrastructure GOe3 joined Cheddar News to discuss how much needs to be done for drivers to get over the fear of running out of energy. "People need to be able to do what they're doing now," he said. "But that is the way that if you're going to buy an electric car, you got to feel like you're not changing your world." Brimacombe noted that building out the infrastructure between cities was GOe3's own focus.
U.S. automakers are saying that the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, a crucial border crossing between the U.S. and Canada, is affecting their production lines. Michelle Krebs of Cox Automotive warns that the disruption "couldn't come at a worst time," amid chip and labor shortages in Detroit.
AND DETROIT-BASED AUTO MAKERS SAY THEY ARE SHUTTING DOWN PLANTS OR SCALING BACK PRODUCTION BECAUSE OF PARTS SHORTAGES.
Sonos reported better than expected Q1 earnings amid chip shortage with the release of its Roam product. CFO Brittany Bagley joined Cheddar News to discuss the smart speaker maker's successful report and its plans to hit its 2024 targets as people leave their homes as pandemic restrictions ease. "Even as people head out in the world, it doesn't mean they don't like to listen to music at home or watch a streaming movie at home," she said. "So there's still a real role for us and our products in peoples lives, sort of, no matter what else they're doing."
Lynn Martin, president of the NYSE Group, explains why investors at the New York Stock Exchange should still feel confident despite the recent Wall Street volatility and discusses the landscape for 2022 when it comes to IPOs and retail investors.
The merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery received Justice Department approval on Wednesday, and Patty Hirsch, EVP of consumer and digital platforms at WarnerMedia, joined Cheddar News to discuss current and future offerings from the media conglomerate that will control both HBO Max and Discovery+. "Content really drives so much, and CNN has always had a very long history of creating an incredible documentaries, incredible content … and this service I think is going to ultimately provide the kind of content consumers want and the kind of content that consumers are going are going to pay for," she said. Hirsch also discussed NFTs in use through its Turner Sports and DC brands.
Black entrepreneurs lead the way in the creation of new businesses, but they often cannot get the necessary funding to get their business off the ground. The Fearless Fund is on a mission to change that, and help Black business owners get venture capital. The fund also offers a unique grant program meant to help entrepreneurs with growth, peer coaching, and more, including grants between $10,000 and $20,000. Arian Simone, Co-Founder and General Partner of Fearless Fund, joins Closing Bell to discuss the Fund's mission, how it helps Black entrepreneurs, and more.
