The Washington Post - 18.03.2020

A26 eZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAy, MARCH 18 , 2020

ly passed the House mandated

that businesses with fewer than

500 employees provide paid sick

days and paid family medical

leave to their workers. The legis-

lation also included a federal tax

credit to compensate companies

for the new and potentially ex-

pensive benefit.

over the weekend, however,

lawmakers were inundated by

complaints from small business-

es that said they could be driven

out of business before the new

federal tax credit kicked in. The

tax credit could take months to

reach companies, and the re-

quired benefits would saddle

them with an additional cost at

the same time many are getting

crushed by the wider economic

downturn caused by the corona-

virus.

As a result, late monday the

House approved additional

changes limiting the scope of the

required new sick-leave benefits.

for instance, the House made it

easier for employers to exempt

emergency workers and other

health-care businesses from the

new rules and also capped the

amount companies are required

to pay out.

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

Paul Kane and seung Min Kim

contributed to this report.

growth.

The attempt to inject a massive

amount of money into the econo-

my is reminiscent of the bailouts

and stimulus steps Congress took

during the economic crisis more

than a decade ago. This time, with

aspects of everyday life in the

United States screeching to a halt,

the intervention may need to be

faster and even more extreme. In

2008, Congress passed a $700 bil-

lion package, called the Troubled

Asset relief Program, to try to

rescue the financial system.

The package the White House

is pursuing now would be bigger,

not adjusted for inflation, but it

would include measures such as

tax cuts that were not part of the

2008 action.

“I think the only comparison to

this is World War II, in the sense

of it being not only in our country

but just a global situation where

everyone is pulling out all the

stops to do the best we can to

protect individuals, protect fami-

lies and communities,” said Sen.

John Boozman (r-Ark.)

Earlier this month, Congress

approved $8.3 billion in emer-

gency spending for public health

programs, and last week the

House passed the package with

paid sick leave, unemployment

insurance, money for food

stamps, free coronavirus testing

and more.

The initial package that recent-

larly any industry bailouts.

“I am supportive of putting

cash in the pocket of workers,

families, consumers and small

businesses because it will be

spent, as opposed to massive

corporate bailouts that could in-

volve stock buybacks or other

kinds of expenses that fail to

stimulate demand,” said Sen.

richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

The House is not in session this

week, after working past mid-

night friday night to pass the last

coronavirus bill. But Speaker

Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was in

touch with mnuchin on Tuesday.

Pelosi’s communications direc-

tor, Drew Hammill, said via Twit-

ter that as Congress considers its

next steps, Pelosi believes law-

makers should look at r efundable

tax credits, expanded unemploy-

ment insurance and direct pay-

ments but that any such pay-

ments “mUST be targeted.”

As recently as Tuesday morn-

ing, top White House economic

advisers were internally divided

over whether a payroll tax cut or

direct cash payments were better

suited for confronting the crisis,

according to one person in com-

munication with the administra-

tion. Some White House officials

have begun defending the cash-

payment plan as a way to shore

up the social safety net that

should be coupled with a payroll

tax cut to stimulate economic

like,” mnuchin said Tuesday,

without endorsing a specific dol-

lar amount. He suggested there

should be an income cutoff on the

cash payments and that high-in-

come households might not be

eligible.

“I think it’s clear we don’t need

to send people who make a mil-

lion dollars a year checks,”

mnuchin said.

Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-ohio),

michael f. Bennet (D-Colo.) and

Cory Booker (D-N.J.), with the

support of several other Demo-

cratic senators, are pushing a

measure to disburse $2,000

checks to everyone under a cer-

tain income threshold. Their plan

would require the government to

disburse checks for an additional

$1,500 if the health and economic

emergencies continue, followed

by quarterly payments of $1,000

after that.

The White House’s new $1 tril-

lion plan looks to effectively flood

the economy with cash, and offi-

cials said roughly $50 billion of it

would go toward helping the

airline industry, which is reeling

from cancellations. While Senate

Democrats largely embraced the

idea of direct payments to Ameri-

cans — while saying such pay-

ments should be paired with oth-

er elements, such as the suspen-

sion of loan repayments — they

rejected other pieces of the ad-

ministration’s proposals, particu-

tHe MArKets

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

MAMJJASONDJFM

6,900

8,400

9,900

'19

S&P 500 Industry Group Snapshot

Industry Group

Daily %

Chg

-41.4% Chg % 1Yr +41.4%

Gas Utilities 15.4

Multi-Utilities 13.8

Electric Utilities 12.7

Multiline Retail 11.1

Semiconductors & Semi Eqp 10.7

Water Utilities -7.4

Airlines -5.6

Real Estate Mgmt & Dev -5.5

Auto Components -4.9

Hotels Restaurants & Leis -3.3

$1000 invested over 1 Month

Britain £

0.83

Bloomberg

MAMJJASONDJFM

20,180

24,860

29,560

'19

Futures Close 1D % Chg
Copper 2.31 -3.3
Crude Oil 26.95 -6.1
Gold 1525.80 2.6
Natural Gas 1.73 -4.7
Orange Juice 1.01 2.1

Futures Close 1D % Chg

Silver 12.50 -2.5

Sugar 10.89 -1.8

Soybean 8.24 0.3

Wheat 4.99 0.3

Corn 3.44 -3.0

Currency Exchange

2-yr note

Yield:

0.49%

Bank Prime

3.25%

Exchange-Traded
(Ticker) 1D % Chg
$421 $1156

Coffee (COFF.L) -2.8
Copper (COPA.L) -2.8
Corn (CORN.L) -2.6
Cotton (COTN.L) 0.3
Crude Oil (CRUD.L) -3.0
Gasoline (UGAS.L) 0.3
Gold (BULL.L) 1.7
Natural Gas (NGAS.L) -1.8
Silver (SLVR.L) -3.6

Close

7,334.78

1D % Change

6.0%

LIBOR 3-Month

0.89%

Consumer Rates

1D % Change

6.2%

Money Market Natl

0.38

1-Yr ARM

3.34%

Gainers and Losers from the S&P 1500 Index

Company Close

1D %

Chg

CONSOL Energy Inc 8.28 50.0

Diebold Nixdorf Inc5.93 49.4

HighPoint Resources 0.29 40.6

Xencor Inc 28.50 37.7

Vista Outdoor Inc 8.12 37.6

United Natural Foods 10.01 35.5

Nabors Industries 0.49 35.2

ANI Pharmaceuticals 40.94 34.9

Veritiv Corp 7.73 34.4

Spok Holdings Inc 11.55 33.4

Tredegar Corp 16.54 31.3

Noble Corp plc 0.34 29.8

CAWaterServiceGroup 55.43 29.4

CalAmp Corp 4.81 29.0

NWest Natrl HldCo 66.4 928.8

Big Lots Inc 13.67 28.5

Marcus & Millichap 28.98 28.5

Regis Corp 8.95 28.4

GeospaceTechnologies 6.15 28.1

Uniti Group Inc 6.70 28.1

Company Close

1D %

Chg

Ruth's Hospt Grp 5.42 -34.9

Caleres Inc 3.28 -33.9

Designer Brands Inc 4.08 -31.4

Cinemark Inc 6.96 -31.3

G-III Apparel Group 7.32 -30.6

Children's Place Inc 20.30 -29.1

NY Mortgage Trust 2.00 -29.1

Gulfport Energy Corp 0.68 -28.4

GranitePointMtgeTrst 6.17 -28.2

Eldorado Resorts Inc 10.09 -26.8

Penn Virginia Corp 2.20 -26.7

Fluor Corp 4.44 -26.4

Helix En Sol Grp 1.48 -23.7

Chefs' Warehouse Inc 7.67 -22.8

Redwood Trust Inc 7.24 -22.1

PDC Energy Inc 6.69 -21.5

Jack in the Box Inc 23.25 -21.2

Extreme Networks Inc 2.10 -20.8

Nu Skin Enterprises 14.22 -20.3

PBF Energy Inc 8.44 -20.2

5Yr CD Natl

1.10

5-yr note

Yield:

0.71%

RATES

NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX

$1000 invested over 1 Year

6Mo CD Natl

0.61

Japan ¥

107.62

Mexico $

22.96

MAMJJASONDJFM

2,380

2,880

3,390

'19

YTD % Change

-18.3%

Close

21,237.38

New Car Loan Natl

4.39

Asia Pacific -28.1% +28.1%

S&P/ASX 200 INDEX 5293.41 5.8

CSI 300 INDEX 3709.68 -0.5

HANG SENG INDEX 23263.73 0.9

NIKKEI 225 17011.53 0.1

Europe -33.3% +33.3%

STXE 600 (EUR) Pr 291.07 2.3

CAC 40 INDEX 3991.78 2.8

DAX INDEX 8939.10 2.3

FTSE 100 INDEX 5294.90 2.8

10-yr note

Yield:

1.06%

Close

2,529.19

Dow Jones 30 Industrials

Company Close 1D %Chg Chg %YTD

3M Co 134.44 2.7 -23.8
AmerExpCo 86.58 0.8 -31.3
Apple Inc 252.86 4.4 -14.8
Boeing 124.14 -4.2 -61.7
Caterpillr 100.20 7.3 -32.7
Chevron 70.69 1.4 -41.1
Cisco Sys 35.50 5.3 -27.0
Coca-Cola 47.18 4.2 -15.3
Dow Inc 26.60 20.9 -51.8
ExxonMobil 36.81 6.7 -47.2
Gldman Schs 158.67 2.6 -31.6
Home Depot 173.64 5.3 -21.0
IBM 106.65 7.6 -20.0
Intel Corp 50.08 12.3 -17.2
J&J 136.59 7.4 -6.9

Company Close 1D %Chg Chg %YTD

JPMorgan 93.76 6.1 -33.5

McDonald's 147.62 -0.9 -25.4

Merck & Co 74.48 6.5 -17.8

Microsoft 146.57 8.2 -7.5

NIKE Inc 69.84 4.6 -30.8

Pfizer Inc 32.16 6.6 -18.4

Prcter& Gmbl 118.24 9.0 -5.7

Travelers Cos I 96.41 13.3 -30.2

UnitedTech 92.84 2.1 -37.9

UntdHlthGr 244.22 8.5 -16.6

Verzn Comm 54.31 6.5 -11.8

Visa Inc 157.89 3.9 -16.1

Walgreens 49.60 10.0 -16.0

Walmart 119.26 11.7 -0.3

Walt Disney 93.53 -1.6 -35.6

1Yr CD Natl

0.87

30-Yr Fixed mtge

3.99%

COMMODITIES EU €

0.91

INTERNATIONAL STOCK MARKETS

6-month bill

Yield:

0.23%

YTD % Change

-21.7%

15-Yr Fixed mtge

3.20%

Canada $

1.42

1D % Change

5.2%

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.

Federal Funds

0.25%

Markets YTD % Chg

Americas Close

Daily

% Chg

-35.5% +35.5%

BRAZIL IBOVESPA INDEX 74617.20 4.8

S&P/TSX COMPOSITE INDEX 12685.21 2.6

S&P/BMV IPC 36862.84 -3.2

Home Equity Loan Natl

6.26

STANDARD & POOR'S

Data and graphics by:

DOW JONES

'19

Brazil R$

4.99

YTD % Change

-25.6%

MelInA MArA/tHe WAsHIngton Post

Treasury secretary steven Mnuchin urges journalists to practice social distancing Tuesday on Capitol Hill. He said the overall price tag of

the stimulus package being discussed could be around $1 trillion, making it one of the largest federal emergency packages ever assembled.

leave provisions in the bill are

crafted.

“my counsel to them is to gag

and vote for it anyway, even if

they think it has some shortcom-

ings, and to address those short-

comings in the bill that we’re in

the process of crafting,” mcCon-

nell said.

In addition to direct cash pay-

ments, the White House wants

the forthcoming legislation to

include support for small busi-

nesses and aid for the airline

industry, in addition to a variety

of other measures. To further try

to stabilize the economy, t he Trea-

sury Department and federal re-

serve took a step Tuesday to make

it easier for companies to borrow

money, while the White House

gave more flexibility to taxpayers

to delay payments they owe the

Internal revenue Service next

month, for an additional 90 days.

The White House’s support of

the cash payment idea, which has

won backing from Democrats

and some republicans in Con-

gress, shows how fast talks are

evolving.

President Trump had initially

demanded that Congress tempo-

rarily eliminate the payroll tax to

give households access to more

money, but he said Tuesday that

such a move would take too long

to implement and that action

needed to be taken more quickly.

“Payroll tax is one way, but it

does come over a period of

months, many months,” Trump

said, speaking alongside

mnuchin at a briefing by the

administration’s c oronavirus task

force. “A nd we want to do some-

thing much faster than that. So I

think we have ways of getting

money out pretty quickly and

very accurately.”

“We’re going big,” Trump said

of the overall package. “I think we

want to get it done and have a big

infusion as opposed to going

through little meetings every cou-

ple of days. We don’t want to do it

that way. We want to go big.”

Trump said the airline indus-

try in particular needed help:

“This is not their fault.... So we

have to help them during the

short term.”

Some lawmakers, including

Sen. mitt romney (r-Utah), have

discussed direct cash payments

of $1,000 to Americans, some-

thing romney discussed with

mnuchin on monday night.

“That’s one of the ideas we

tries such as hotels, airlines and
restaurants pleading for relief,
the United States on Tuesday
recorded its 100th death from the
virus. There were also more than
1,000 new infections reported in
a 24-hour span, the highest num-
ber so far.
After initially proposing a big
tax cut to help the economy
recover, White House officials
have shifted gears in the past day
and now appear to be backing the
idea of sending immediate pay-
ments to millions of Americans.
They believe this would quickly
inject cash into the economy and
help Americans pay bills in the
coming weeks, rather spreading
any savings out over time.
“We’re looking at sending
checks to Americans immediate-
ly,” mnuchin said Tuesday. “And I
mean now, in the next two weeks.”
His warning about the unem-
ployment rate spike was first
reported by Bloomberg News.
Asked about the comment,
Treasury Department spokes-
woman monica Crowley said that
“mnuchin used several mathe-
matical examples for illustrative
purposes, but he never implied
this would be the case.”
Two months ago, when the
economy appeared to be growing
at a steady clip, such measures
would have seemed unthinkable.
But that all changed as coronavi-
rus cases began spreading in the
United States and the disruptions
and closures began.
Senate majority Leader mitch
mcConnell (r-Ky.) vowed Tues-
day that the Senate would not
recess before reaching bipartisan
agreement on the stimulus legis-
lation, which would be the third
coronavirus relief bill advanced
on Capitol Hill in recent weeks.
“We’re going to move here in
warp speed for the Senate, which
almost never does anything
quickly,” mcConnell said. “I think
everyone on both sides of the
aisle is seized with the urgency of
moving on yet another bill, and
we intend to do that.”
mcConnell also said the Senate
would move as swiftly as possible
to approve a $100 billion-plus bill
passed in the House last week
that boosts paid sick leave, unem-
ployment insurance and free cor-
onavirus testing — despite con-
cerns a number of Senate repub-
licans have about how the sick-

VIrus from A1

White House puts

support behind

massive stimulus