Recent Articles from Bloomberg
Jobless benefits won’t lapse after Trump’s delay, Labor Dept. says
Unemployed people claiming federal benefits won’t see a one-week gap in their payments despite the delay in President Donald Trump signing the program extension into law, according to the Department of Labor. States are implementing the provisions as quickly as possible, and the Labor Department doesn’t anticipate that claimants will miss a week of benefits […]
Fed extends Main Street program to process last submitted loans
The Federal Reserve has delayed the termination of the Main Street Lending Program to Jan. 8, from Dec. 31, in order to finish processing loans submitted by a Dec. 14 deadline to tap its funds. The extension was approved by the secretary of the Treasury, the Fed said in a statement Tuesday. The Treasury Department […]
Mnuchin urged by Democrats to stand down on Fannie, Freddie
Democratic lawmakers Maxine Waters and Sherrod Brown have a message for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin: Stand down on making big changes to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the Trump administration ends. House Financial Services Committee Chair Waters and Brown, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, said it would be a mistake to […]
Fast-tracked bankruptcies leave some creditors in the dark
Lenders to deeply distressed companies are calling the shots in big corporate bankruptcies so far in advance that some cases are practically over before they get started. Investment firms and hedge funds are increasingly engineering bankruptcy loans and side deals to take control of Chapter 11 reorganizations from the outset. They’re putting up desperately needed […]
Short sellers got crushed in 2020 as Tesla, Moderna soared
Short sellers won some high-profile victories this year with the collapse of payments firm Wirecard and hospital operator NMC Health. Otherwise, 2020 is shaping up to be the worst year on record for some investors seeking to profit from share price declines. A monthly index of short-selling hedge funds is down 32% this year through […]
Virus shouldn’t be Biden’s sole economic focus
Three formidable challenges await President-elect Joe Biden’s new chief economic adviser. The first involves the short term, steering the U.S. economy from Inauguration Day to the point that the COVID-19 vaccine is in wide distribution. Then comes adjusting to the post-coronavirus new normal. But her attention must also be focused on longer-term economic problems that […]
Jobs report preview: US hiring holds up while threats multiply
U.S. employment gains probably slowed only modestly in November despite a record surge of coronavirus cases that still threatens to limit or even reverse hiring in coming months. Friday’s jobs report will show nonfarm employers added 475,000 people to payrolls and the unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 6.8%, according to economists surveyed by […]
Cyber Monday expected to hit pandemic-fueled $12.7B record
Online shoppers in the U.S. were expected to drop a record-busting $12.7 billion on Cyber Monday — the busiest e-commerce day of the year — presenting a valuable opportunity for retailers whose websites, customer service departments and delivery operations can withstand the period of crushing traffic. Amazon.com Inc., Walmart Inc., Target Corp., Best Buy Co. […]
Yellen may restore Treasury-Fed cooperation, with eye on GOP
As Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen is almost certain to pursue tighter coordination with the Federal Reserve next year — repairing recent frictions — though observers say she will be careful to avoid any specific move that could trigger a wave of Republican protests. President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for Treasury was at the Fed for the […]
States suing Purdue Pharma press for confidential Sackler documents
States suing Purdue Pharma over the marketing of its OxyContin painkiller are demanding access to confidential documents as part of a probe into whether some members of the billionaire Sackler family engaged in misconduct when they managed the opioid maker. More than 20 states said federal prosecutors’ claims tied to a $225 million accord unveiled […]
Sinclair writes down its sports networks by $4.23B
Hunt Valley-based Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc. wrote down the value of its regional sports networks by $4.23 billion, an admission that it grossly overpaid for cable channels hobbled by cord cutting and shrinking subscriber revenue. Sinclair paid $9.6 billion in August 2019 for 21 regional sports channels that were once part of the Fox empire. […]
US companies add fewer jobs than forecast, ADP report shows
U.S. companies added fewer jobs in October than forecast, a private report showed, indicating the absence of additional fiscal stimulus is prompting some firms to adjust payrolls as the pandemic continues to wear on the recovery. Businesses’ payrolls increased by 365,000 last month after a revised 753,000 rise in September, according to ADP Research Institute […]