Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Another Day, Another Brutal Battering For Wall Street, But Volatility Of The Market Goes Beyond Coronavirus
The Hill: Fed Unleashes Arsenal Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
The Federal Reserve has nearly unloaded its available arsenal of weapons to avert a recession as the coronavirus pandemic unleashes chaos on the global economy. The Fed slashed its baseline interest rate range to 0 to 0.25 percent Sunday and announced it would purchase at least $700 billion in bonds to stabilize financial markets and keep credit flowing to households and businesses. (Lane, 3/16)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Stock Futures Rise As Global Markets Seesaw
U.S. stock futures rose on Tuesday, suggesting markets could regain some ground after a punishing selloff on Monday, while international equities endured another turbulent session. Futures tied to the S&P 500 were up 3.8% early Tuesday. Futures prices can be volatile, and changes aren’t necessarily matched by stock moves after the opening bell. On Monday, the three major U.S. stock indexes all plunged 12% to 13%, reflecting fear among investors that the emergency measures taken by the Federal Reserve may not be enough to ward off a coronavirus-induced recession. (Yoon, 3/17)
The Washington Post: Stocks Tank Across The Board As Fed Action Does Little To Subdue Wall Street’s Distress
Fears that policymakers have not done enough to avert a protracted economic downturn deepened a sense of national crisis Monday and sent stocks to their worst single-day losses since the Black Monday crash of 1987. The sell-off accelerated, with the Dow Jones industrial average plunging nearly 3,000 points, after President Trump warned that disruption from the coronavirus pandemic could last through August and issued new public health guidance, saying Americans should limit gatherings to no more than 10 people. (Lynch, 3/16)
Politico: Stocks Plunge In Largest 1-Day Drop Over Coronavirus Crisis
The plunge came even after governments worldwide expanded calls for containment measures, including mass school closures, and central banks intervened in the markets. The Federal Reserve on Sunday made a surprise announcement that it would slash interest rates to zero and buy hundreds of billions of dollars in bonds, but it wasn't enough to prevent stock markets from cratering. (Mejdrich, 3/16)
The Wall Street Journal: Why Are Markets So Volatile? It’s Not Just The Coronavirus.
Traders like Michael Pomada help explain why the stock market is going through its most turbulent period in recent memory. Mr. Pomada was in good spirits as he drove his convertible to his office in Los Angeles’s Century City complex before sunrise on March 9. Investment funds managed by his $4.5 billion firm, Crabel Capital Management, were up about 5% for the year. He wasn’t especially concerned about financial markets or the economy, even though oil prices were tumbling that morning. (Banerji and Zuckerman, 3/16)
Politico: Trump Faces Echoes Of 1929 In A Race To Save The U.S. Economy
The early signals from the coronavirus crisis point to a scale of damage unseen in the modern U.S. economy: the potential for millions of jobs lost in a single month, a historic and sudden plunge in economic activity across the nation and a pace of sharp market swings not seen since the Great Depression. As the coronavirus outbreak ravages a paralyzed nation, Wall Street suffered another brutal bloodbath on Monday with the Dow Jones Industrial Average diving around 13 percent in its worst percentage loss since 1987’s “Black Monday” crash. (White, 3/16)
Stat: As The Market Craters, Keros Therapeutics Files For An IPO
Keros Therapeutics is filing for an IPO, according to plans made public Monday — a bold move amid the stock market’s historic nose dive. But it may need to be bold: Until a few days ago, the Lexington, Mass.-based company was very nearly out of money. (Sheridan, 3/17)
