The Washington Post - 21.03.2020

SATURDAy, MARCH 21 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE A

the coronavirus outbreak

tHe MArKets

6 Monitor your investments at washingtonpost.com/markets Data and graphics by

Exchange-Traded
(Ticker) 5D % Chg
$377 $

Coffee (COFF.L) 11.
Copper (COPA.L) -12.
Corn (CORN.L) -6.
Cotton (COTN.L) -11.
Crude Oil (CRUD.L) -19.
Gasoline (UGAS.L) -24.
Gold (BULL.L) -2.
Natural Gas (NGAS.L) -11.
Silver (SLVR.L) -15.

Data and graphics by:

New Car Loan Natl

4.

Currency Exchange

Close

6,879.

2-yr note

Yield:

0.30%

Markets YTD % Chg

Americas Close

Weekly

% Chg

-42.1% +42.1%

BRAZIL IBOVESPA INDEX 67069.40 -18.

S&P/TSX COMPOSITE INDEX 11851.81 -13.

S&P/BMV IPC 34269.51 -6.

S&P 500 Industry Group Snapshot

Industry Group

Weekly

% Chg

-55.2% Chg % 1Yr +55.2%

Internet & Catalog Retail 0.

Air Freight & Logistics -0.

Water Utilities -2.

Food & Staples Retailing -2.

Multiline Retail -4.

Airlines -34.

Consumer Finance -34.

Distributors -31.

Auto Components -29.

Specialty Retail -26.

$1000 invested over 1 Month

Bloomberg

MAMJJASONDJFM

19,

24,

29,

'

LIBOR 3-Month

1.20%

5D % Change

-17.3%

Bank Prime

3.25%

EU €

0.

Money Market Natl

0.

MAMJJASONDJFM

6,

8,

9,

'

DOW JONES

Consumer Rates

$1000 invested over 1 Year

Asia Pacific -30.1% +30.1%

S&P/ASX 200 INDEX 4816.63 -13.

CSI 300 INDEX 3653.22 -6.

HANG SENG INDEX 22805.07 -5.

NIKKEI 225 16552.83 -10.

INTERNATIONAL STOCK MARKETS

10-yr note

Yield:

0.86%

Japan ¥

110.

'

1Yr CD Natl

0.

5D % Change

-12.6%

1-Yr ARM

3.34%

RATES

STANDARD & POOR'S

Note: Bank prime is from 10 major banks. Federal Funds rate is the market

rate, which can vary from the federal target rate. LIBOR is the London

Interbank Offered Rate. Consumer rates are from Bankrate. All figures as of

4:30 p.m. New York time.

Close

2,304.

Britain £

0.

COMMODITIES

30-Yr Fixed mtge

4.05%

5-yr note

Yield:

0.46%

5Yr CD Natl

1.

NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX

Federal Funds

0.25%

YTD % Change

-23.3%

Mexico $

24.

15-Yr Fixed mtge

3.39%

6-month bill

Yield:

-0.02%

YTD % Change

-28.7%

6Mo CD Natl

0.

Home Equity Loan Natl

6.

MAMJJASONDJFM

2,

2,

3,

'

Canada $

1.

Gainers and Losers from the S&P 1500 Index

Company Close

5D %

Chg

Fiesta Restrnt Grp 10.99 106.

United Natural Foods 11.22 96.

SpartanNash Co 15.03 44.

Owens & Minor Inc5.91 35.

Atlas Air Worldwide 22.93 28.

Vista Outdoor Inc 7.00 28.

B&G Foods Inc 17.61 27.

FreshDelMonteProduce 34.31 25.

Nabors Industries 0.46 25.

Noble Corp plc 0.35 22.

SproutsFarmersMarket 17.60 21.

Glu Mobile Inc 6.09 20.

AdvanSix Inc 12.88 20.

SouthwesternEnergyCo 2.08 17.

Core Laboratories NV 9.95 17.

RPC Inc 2.40 17.

CONSOL Energy Inc 6.39 16.

Meridian Bioscience 7.37 16.

Hain Celestial Group 24.73 16.

ProAssurance Corp 25.32 15.

Company Close

5D %

Chg

Sabre Corp 0.50 -94.

Gulfport Energy Corp 0.71 -74.

Chefs' Warehouse Inc 5.54 -68.

Ruth's Hospt Grp 4.11 -66.

GranitePointMtgeTrst 4.26 -65.

Redwood Trust Inc 4.85 -61.

Viad Corp 11.90 -60.

G-III Apparel Group 6.06 -60.

BJ's Restaurants Inc 8.20 -59.

Oasis Petroleum Inc 0.41 -59.

Dine Brands Global 17.41 -59.

Bloomin' Brands Inc 4.83 -55.

Gannett Co Inc 1.61 -52.

CIRCOR International 9.79 -52.

QEP Resources Inc 0.41 -52.

PBF Energy Inc 7.65 -52.

Invesco Mortgage Cap 5.56 -51.

Eldorado Resorts Inc 8.82 -51.

Children's Place Inc 18.25 -51.

Discover Fin Svcs 25.25 -51.

Brazil R$

5.

5D % Change

-15.0%

Close

19,173.

YTD % Change

-32.8%

Futures Close 5D % Chg
Copper 2.17 -11.
Crude Oil 22.43 -29.
Gold 1488.10 -1.
Natural Gas 1.60 -14.
Orange Juice 1.06 6.

Futures Close 5D % Chg

Silver 12.39 -14.

Sugar 10.91 -6.

Soybean 8.63 1.

Wheat 5.39 6.

Corn 3.44 -6.

Dow Jones 30 Industrials

Company Close 5D %Chg Chg %YTD

3M Co 124.89 -11.9 -29.
AmerExpCo 74.12 -25.6 -40.
Apple Inc 229.24 -17.5 -19.
Boeing 95.01 -44.2 -70.
Caterpillr 95.50 -4.2 -34.
Chevron 59.39 -28.8 -50.
Cisco Sys 35.60 -5.4 -24.
Coca-Cola 38.30 -21.0 -30.
Dow Inc 27.44 6.8 -49.
ExxonMobil 32.74 -14.1 -52.
Gldman Schs 138.41 -21.9 -38.
Home Depot 152.15 -26.0 -28.
IBM 95.39 -11.6 -28.
Intel Corp 45.83 -15.8 -21.
J&J 119.89 -10.7 -16.

Company Close 5D %Chg Chg %YTD

JPMorgan 83.50 -19.6 -40.

McDonald's 148.49 -16.2 -23.

Merck & Co 71.36 -7.0 -21.

Microsoft 137.35 -13.5 -11.

NIKE Inc 67.45 -10.8 -32.

Pfizer Inc 29.01 -11.3 -25.

Prcter& Gmbl 102.43 -10.2 -17.

Travelers Cos I 89.51 -16.7 -33.

UnitedTech 82.53 -21.7 -44.

UntdHlthGr 206.59 -24.1 -26.

Verzn Comm 51.80 -4.4 -15.

Visa Inc 146.83 -16.5 -21.

Walgreens 46.42 0.5 -20.

Walmart 113.97 -0.1 -4.

Walt Disney 85.98 -16.1 -39.

Europe -32.7% +32.7%

STXE 600 (EUR) Pr 293.04 -2.

CAC 40 INDEX 4048.80 -1.

DAX INDEX 8928.95 -3.

FTSE 100 INDEX 5190.78 -3.

BY RENAE MERLE

Federal officials announced a
nationwide halt to foreclosures
and evictions this week, protect-
ing more than 30 million Ameri-
cans from the risk of losing their
homes as the coronavirus out-
break ravages the e conomy.
But the federal plans do not
cover more than 40 million rent-
ers, many of whom, h ousing advo-
cates w orry, m ay n ot be able to p ay
rent next month.
As renters and homeowners
grapple with mass layoffs and
business closures, housing advo-
cates, the mortgage industry and
banks are increasingly concerned
that the country will face a hous-
ing crisis that rivals the one that
helped t o spark the financial crisis
a decade ago.
This time, rather than mort-
gage delinquencies growing over
time, they could rise sharply as
many people suddenly find them-
selves without jobs, s aid Jesse Van
To l, chief e xecutive o f the N ational
Community Reinvestment Coali-
tion.
Mortgage servicers have begun
to see an uptick i n borrowers seek-
ing help and could quickly become

swamped, said Bob Broeksmit,

president of the Mortgage Bank-

ers A ssociation.

“Servicers are laboring under

the same constraints as everyone

else, telecommuting and practic-

ing social distancing,” he said.

“This is hitting at a time when

their capacity is already con-

strained because of the pandem-

ic.”

The industry is asking lawmak-

ers and the Federal Reserve to

establish a liquidity facility for

mortgage servicers to offset the

costs o f a lengthy downturn. If the

pandemic lasts just six weeks and

few borrowers need assistance,

mortgage servicers should be able

to shoulder the cost, Broeksmit

said. But if the outbreak lingers

and many borrowers ask for help,

the situation could become un-

manageable, h e said.

Here’s who is eligible for mort-

gage relief:

Facing foreclosure or eviction

The U. S. Department of Hous-

ing and Urban Development and

the Federal Housing Finance

Agency, the regulator for Fannie

Mae and Freddie Mac, h ave direct-

ed mortgage servicers to halt all

new foreclosure actions and sus-

pend those in progress.

The HUD order applies to own-

ers o f single-family homes who are

unable to pay their Federal Hous-

ing Administration-backed mort-

gages. There are 8.1 million active

FHA l oans.

The rule also applies to loans

backed by F annie Mae and F reddie

Mac — about half of the country’s

mortgages or about 28 million

borrowers. The moratoriums are

to last until mid-May but could be

extended, according to regulators.

About 5 million homeowners

with loans valued at $3.7 trillion

are not covered by the HUD or

FHFA plans, according to Inside

Mortgage F inance.

The servicers of these mortgag-

es do not have to comply with the

federal plans but are expected to

comply with the moratorium any-

way. Bank of America said it has

paused foreclosure sales, evictions

and repossessions but did not say

for h ow long.

What if I was just laid off?

While it can take years for

someone t o lose a home to foreclo-

sure, many Americans may soon

fall behind as companies shut

down to guard against the spread

of the coronavirus and lay off

workers.

The Federal Housing Finance

Agency, the regulator for Fannie

Mae and Freddie Mac, allowed the

companies to establish a forbear-

ance program allowing borrowers

affected by the coronavirus to skip

their mortgage payments for as

long as a year. The Federal Hous-

ing Administration has a similar

forbearance program.

Borrowers must apply for mort-

gage relief t hrough t heir mortgage

servicers. T he servicers w ill decide

whether the b orrowera qualify for

the a ssistance and how they w ould

make up the missed payments. In

many cases, the missed payments

are tacked to the end of a mort-

gage, but servicers sometimes ask

for l ump-sum payments.

“The government is essentially

offering a year-long payment holi-

day so those who lose their jobs

from COVID-19 can stay in their

homes without worrying about

mortgage payments or foreclo-

sure,” Jaret Seiberg, financial ser-

vices analyst at Cowen Washing-

ton Research Group, said in a re-

search note.

Most people in these forbear-

ance programs won’t have t o make

another mortgage payment until

May 2021, S eiberg s aid.

But s ome people may have t rou-

ble reaching their servicers quick-

ly. B orrowers shouldn’t p anic, said

Broeksmit, the MBA president.

While mortgage payments are t yp-

ically due the first of the month,

borrowers are not likely to be con-

sidered late until the 15th, he said.

“You have a little bit o f time b efore

you need to make arrangement

with your servicer,” h e said.

A forbearance program can typ-

ically be approved within a few

days, and unlike during the 2008

housing crisis, borrowers won’t b e

required to submit large quanti-

ties of paperwork, B roeksmit said.

What about renters?

Renters aren’t directly covered

by either of the g overnment p lans,

though the Federal Housing Fi-

nancial Agency, or FHFA, is offer-

ing mortgage relief to the owners

of apartment buildings, who may

struggle when their tenants can’t

pay their rent.

Without a federal plan, renters

face a patchwork of approaches.

The Los Angeles City Council this

week approved an emergency

plan to suspend e victions and cre-

ate a citywide rental assistance

fund. In Oregon, Home Forward,

which provides affordable hous-

ing throughout the state, is offer-

ing renters affected b y the c orona-

virus outbreak a break until

May 31. The renters will be able to

repay skipped payments over

12 months, H ome Forward says.

Stopping evictions is a critical

step, but the country needs a long-

term plan for its renters, said Da-

vid Dworkin, president of the Na-

tional Housing Conference.

Unlike with homeowners, al-

lowing a renter to delay a few

payments to be paid back later is

not enough, Dworkin said. Home-

owners can extend the length of

their mortgages to make up for t he

missed payments, but renters will

be under pressure to make up

their past due amounts all at o nce,

he said. That would be unafford-

able for many people, especially

those in low-wage jobs, he s aid.

“The government must re-

spond to this war against our way

of life that is being fought against

this virus. Rental assistance is a

critical component of this,” Dwor-

kin s aid.

[email protected]

Homeowners to get federal mortgage relief, but r enters are left out

BY DANIELLE

DOUGLAS-GABRIEL

AND VALERIE STRAUSS

The Trump administration Fri-
day moved to waive federal re-
quirements for standardized
tests for students in kindergarten
through 12th grade and gave bor-
rowers with student loans the
option of suspending payments,
actions taken in response to the
coronavirus pandemic.
For at least 60 days, the 42 mil-
lion Americans holding $1.5 tril-
lion in federal student debt can
ask their loan servicers to tempo-
rarily postpone their payments.
Any lenders who were more than
31 days behind on their bill as of
March 13, or who become that
delinquent, will have their pay-
ments automatically suspended.
“These are anxious times, par-
ticularly for students and fami-
lies whose educations, careers,
and lives have been disrupted,”
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos
said in a statement. “Right now,
everyone should be focused on
staying safe and healthy, not wor-

rying about their student loan

balance growing.”

All federal student borrowers,

regardless of whether they

choose to postpone their pay-

ments, will automatically have

the interest on their loans set at

zero for at least 60 days. The new

interest rate will be retroactive to

March 13. Any payments borrow-

ers make will go strictly to the

principal of their loans once all

interest accrued before March 13

is paid.

People in public service jobs

will have to think twice about

postponing their payments. Opt-

ing out for two months will result

in a longer path to debt cancella-

tion for those working toward

Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

The federal program cancels the

remaining balance of a borrow-

er’s d ebt after 120 on-time month-

ly payments, but postponing the

bill will lengthen the process.

“We do not want covid-19 dis-

ruptions to penalize borrowers

who are on a pathway towards

[Public Service Loan Forgive-

ness] or [income-based] forgive-

ness. But it’s pretty clear that the

administration has gone as far as

they can go, or are willing to go,”

said Justin Draeger, president of

the National Association of Stu-

dent Financial Aid Administra-

tors. “So our attention is now

turning towards Congress for fur-

ther student borrower help.”

The Education Department’s

announcement comes a day after

congressional Democrats and Re-

publicans issued competing stu-

dent-loan relief proposals.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch

McConnell (R-Ky.) released a

stimulus package Thursday that

would halt all payments on stu-

dent loans for three months, with

an additional three-month sus-

pension at the education secre-

tary’s discretion. The proposal

would also ensure students

would not be forced to repay their

federal loans if they leave school

in the middle of the semester

because of the coronavirus.

“This is a smart emergency

policy that avoids blanket stu-

dent-loan forgiveness,” said Lind-

sey Burke, director of the Heri-

tage Foundation’s C enter for Edu-

cation Policy. “Large-scale stu-

dent-loan forgiveness would be

inappropriate and would place

an additional burden on those

who did not take out loans — the

vast majority of taxpayers.”

Burke, like other conservative

higher-education experts, takes a

dim view of Senate Democrats’

proposal of at least $10,000 in

tax-free debt cancellation for all

federal student-loan borrowers.

Senate Minority Leader

Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) float-

ed the idea Thursday as part of a

host of measures to help borrow-

ers. Senate Democrats want the

Education Department to assume

loan payments for the duration of

the national emergency and then

institute a three-month grace pe-

riod during which borrowers

could forgo their payments with-

out penalty. Payments made by

the agency would still count to-

ward loan forgiveness for bor-

rowers in public service jobs.

Separately, the president said

his administration is waiving fed-

eral requirements for standard-

ized tests for K-12 students be-

cause the coronavirus pandemic

has forced most schools in the

country to close for an indefinite

period during annual testing sea-

son.

“The Department of Education

will not enforce standardized

testing requirements, very im-

portantly, for students in elemen-

tary through high school for the

current year,” Trump said at his

daily briefing. “They’ve been

through a lot. They’ve been going

back and forth. Schools open.

Schools not open. I think a lot of

the students will be extremely

happy. Some probably not. The

ones that work hard, maybe not.”

States have an annual federal

mandate through the Every Stu-

dent Succeeds Act to test most

students in specific subjects to

assess student performance, and

the spring testing season is being

disrupted across the country,

with millions of students in 45

states and the District of Colum-

bia at home because their schools

closed.

State education officials had

been pleading with the adminis-

tration for relief from the federal

mandates, and some states did

not wait for the federal govern-

ment to cancel the tests. At least

10 had already moved to cancel or

postpone tests without federal

approval.

DeVos said that because stu-

dent performance, as measured

by assessments, is required to be

used in statewide accountability

systems, states can ask for and

receive a waiver from the require-

ment that this testing data be

used for accountability purposes.

In another sign of upheaval in

the nation’s e ducation system, the

organization that oversees the

Advanced Placement program

announced Friday that face-to-

face AP testing will be canceled

because of the coronavirus crisis

and replaced by shorter online

versions of the exams that can be

taken in 45 minutes at home.

[email protected]

[email protected]

Nick Anderson contributed to this

report.

K-12 testing requirements waived; student-loan borrowers get break