The New York Times - USA (2020-08-09)

2 BUN THE NEW YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2020

SO FAR THIS YEAR

Stocks are up.

S&P 500 INDEX, +3.7%

Mortgage rates

are down.

BANKRATE.COM 30-YEAR

FIXED,3.09%, –0.79 POINTS

Jobless claims

are up.

FOUR-WEEK MOVING

AVERAGE, +407.90%

Markets Last Week

0

1

2

3

4

$5 a gallon

’10 ’15 ’20

E.I.A. weekly average

0

2

4

6

8%

’10 ’15 ’20

Information technology %

Communication services

Consumer discretionary

Industrials

Energy

Materials

Financials

Consumer staples

Health care

Utilities

Real estate

+7.2

+3.8

+3.5

+2.6

+2.4

+1.9

+1.1

+0.8

–0.1

–0.6

–0.8

3,280

3,300

3,320

3,340

,

+1.3%

–0.3%

+2.2% +2.9%

+2.3% +2.9%

+2.3%

+2.7%

+2.4%

3.1%

0.5%

$2.17

Week’s change:

+2.4%

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Evergy (EVRG) $55.16 –14.9%

Resmed (RMD) 173.24 –14.5

Corteva (CT VA) 25.32 –11.3

Arista Netwo (ANET) 230.80 –11.2

BD (BDX) 256.41 –8.9

Ralph Lauren (RL) 65.96 –7.5

HollyFrontier (HFC) 25.50 –7.3

Fleetcor Tech (FLT) 240.61 –7.0

Baxter Intl (BAX) 80.73 –6.5

Foot Locker (FL) 27.48 –6.5

M o s a i c ( M O S ) $17.1 9 +2 7. 6 %

Arconic (ARNC) 19.95 +22.5

Varian Med Sy (VAR) 173.82 +21.8

MGM Resorts I (MGM) 19.03 +18.3

Nordstrom (JWN) 16.00 +16.9

Quanta Servic (PWR) 46.36 +16.0

Kohls (KSS) 22.02 +15.7

Devon Energy (DVN) 12.11 +15.4

Howmet (HWM) 16.96 +14.8

Sealed Air (SEE) 40.77 +14.3

Mon. Tues. Wed. Thurs. Fri.

POWERED BY

Consumer rates

International stock markets

Best performers

S&P 500

Last

week

Last

week

Price of gas

Worst performers

Industries

Toronto

London Frankfurt

Paris

Hong Kong

Shanghai

To k y o

New York

Mexico City

Borrowing rate

Savings rate

1-year CDs

30-year fixed mortgages

Friday’s

close

Week’s

change

Friday’s

close

Week’s

change

Week’s change

Week’s change

Major stock market indexes

Employment Growth Slows

The July employment report on Friday

morning showed that America’s job

market appears to be losing steam after

two months of improvement. The 1.8

million jobs added in July was a sharp

slowdown from the 4.8 million gained

in June, as businesses closed again in

parts of the country where the virus

has surged. The unemployment rate

was 10.2 percent in July, down from

11.1 percent in June. Only a little more

than 40 percent of the jobs lost since

the pandemic hit have been recovered.

And even as employers are hiring,

other workers are being let go perma-

nently after assuming that their layoffs

were temporary.

Stimulus Talks Stalled

Stimulus talks in Washington are at a

stalemate. Before the start of Friday’s

session, Democratic leaders said they

were willing to drop their demand for a

$3.4 trillion relief package by $1 tril-

lion, but Trump administration negoti-

ators rejected that. A big area of con-

tention is the extra $600 a week in

unemployment benefits that were in

the original virus relief measure. With-

out that $600, people who have been

living close to the edge financially face

the loss of their homes, hunger and

mounting debt. If there’s no deal, Presi-

dent Trump may take executive action

on extended jobless aid and an eviction

moratorium. Democrats have pushed

for the continuation of the $600 bene-

fits since May, while some Republicans

have called for their elimination.

Going After Chinese Apps

President Trump signed an executive

order on Thursday banning transac-

tions with ByteDance, the parent com-

pany of the popular social media app

TikTok. The order in effect sets a 45-

day deadline for an acquisition of Tik-

Tok, which is in talks to be acquired by

Microsoft. Mr. Trump signed a similar

order for WeChat, an app that is ubiq-

uitous in China and used around the

world by people of Chinese descent to

communicate with friends, read news

and carry out business transactions.

The administration cited security con-

cerns, escalating tensions with China.

Don’t be surprised if China retaliates.

What’s Up

LAST WEEK'S ESSENTIAL NEWS

8

/

2

Retail Therapy? Not So Much

Retail sales figures for July will come

out on Friday, but it’s already clear that

sales have still not bounced back to

anywhere near pre-pandemic levels.

Even with many stores now open,

people are holding back because

they’re wary of bumping up against

other customers in stores and are cau-

tious about spending money in a weak-

ened economy. Economists expect

July’s gains to be smaller than the past

two months, after a 18.2 percent

monthly jump in May and a 7.5 per-

cent increase in June.

Another Lifeline Gone

The federal government’s Paycheck

Protection Program, which provided

loans to small businesses on the condi-

tion that they keep their workers on

payroll, expired on Saturday. The pro-

gram, created hastily, was intended to

get American businesses through what

the government originally thought

would be a short disruption. It has put

$523 billion into the economy since

April, keeping business owners and

their employees afloat. But the disrup-

tion from the virus is not over. And

without another cash infusion, small

businesses that have managed to hold

on until now may have no choice but

to lay off workers or close their doors

permanently in the coming weeks and

months.

And Biden’s Running Mate Is?

Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive

Democratic presidential nominee, may

announce his choice of a running

mate. His decision could make history,

as multiple women of color are among

top choices, including Senator Kamala

Harris and Representative Karen Bass,

both from California, and Susan Rice,

a former national security adviser.

Some Wall Street bankers have ex-

pressed concern that he might pick a

progressive running mate, who could

make life harder for the big banks by

tightening regulations. Last week, the

Biden campaign announced a $280

fall advertising buy across 15 states.

GILLIAN FRIEDMAN

What’s Next

A PREVIEW OF THE WEEK TO COME

8

/

9

WHAT ELSE?

Even with coronavirus cases surging, craft

distilleries say the business of making

hand sanitizer has become harder. And

the department store chain Lord & Taylor

and Tailored Brands, the owner of Men’s

Wearhouse, both filed for bankruptcy.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY GIACOMO BAGNARA

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