New York Post - 13.03.2020

(Ben Green) #1
New York Post, Friday, March 13, 2020

nypost.com

Bad breakup
Juul Labs said on
Thursday that co-
founder James Monsees
plans to leave the e-ciga-
rette outfit, stepping
down as an adviser and
board member. Shares of
Altria Group, which
owns a large stake in Juul,
sank 10 percent, to $36.42.

5G whiz
Verizon Communica-
tions raised its full-year
capital expenditures as it
accelerates its transition
to 5G network. The com-
pany said it now expects
to spend $17.5 billion to
$18.5 billion in 2020.

Bit of problem
Bitcoin plummeted
more than 25 percent
amid wild volatility in
cryptocurrency markets,
with traders citing a sell-
off across assets as fears
of the economic damage
from the coronavirus
pandemic take hold. By
evening, the price was
$5,804.97.

Guy’s a card
Mastercard and Visa
will see the coronavirus
hurt their sales more than
they expect, according to
a Piper Sandler analyst,
who projected a Master-
card stock-price target of
$292, down from $332,
and Visa target of $197,
from $204, Bloomberg
reported.

Apple deals
Apple has sealed mul-
tiyear licensing deals
with major music labels
like Universal Music,
Sony Music and Warner
Music in recent months.

Sources: AP, Dow Jones,
Reuters and Post wires

Business


Briefs


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By David Benoit

JPMorgan Chief Executive James
Dimon has been released from the
hospital and is recuperating at home,
a week after undergoing emergency
heart surgery, the bank said in a memo
to employees Thursday.
“We want you to know that his doc-
tors said he is doing very well in all
aspects of his recovery,” the memo

from co-Presidents Daniel Pinto and
Gordon Smith said. “He is in good
spirits and looking forward to reen-
gaging with our team soon.”
Dimon, who turns 64 on Friday,
checked himself into a Manhattan hos-
pital on March 5 after experiencing
chest pains while getting ready for work.
He had suffered an acute aortic dis-
section — a rare and often fatal sepa-
ration of tissues in the wall of the

aorta — and underwent several hours
of surgery to repair it.
Pinto and Smith are running JPMor-
gan in Dimon’s absence, a live test of
the bank’s board-approved emergency
succession plan.
Dimon (right) has been CEO of
JPMorgan since 2005, the longest run
of the current big bank chiefs, and his
eventual retirement has long been the
subject of speculation. Dow Jones

By Thorton McEnery
and Noah Manskar

The Dow Jones industrial
average fell by almost 10 per-
cent on Thursday as fears of
the coronavirus escalated —
marking it’s biggest decline
since the stock market crash
of 1987.
The Dow lost 2,352.60
points at the close, down 9.9
percent, to 21,200.62 — de-
spite a $1.5 trillion rescue
plan by the Federal Reserve.
The decline, which in-
cluded a 500-point drop in
the last 10 minutes of trading,
represents the Dow’s worst
day since the “Black Mon-
day” crash 33 years ago,
which resulted in a loss of 22
percent.
Thursday’s bloodletting
also marked the Dow’s sec-
ond day in bear market terri-
tory, coming after the Na-
tional Basketball Association
suspended its season, and ac-
tor Tom Hanks and wife Rita
Wilson announced they were
among the 134,235 people in-
fected by COVID-19 globally.
The S&P 500 also tumbled
into bear territory for the
first time in almost 11 years
following a 7 percent decline
at the open that resulted in a
15-minute trading halt for the
second time in a week.
The S&P ended the day
down 9.5 percent, or 260
points, to 2,480.64, while the
Nasdaq closed down 9.4 per-
cent to 7,201.80.
A bear market is generally
called when stocks fall 20

Quincy Krosby, chief market
strategist at Prudential Fi-
nancial.
Thursday’s sell-off was “the
market screaming ... that
you’re going to see a deterio-
ration in the economic land-
scape, and we need these
proposals intact and deliv-
ered as an emergency meas-
ure to cushion the economy,”
Krosby said.
The bloodbath seemed to
subside midday after the Fed-
eral Reserve said it would
flood the markets with short-
term funding “to address
highly unusual disruptions”
related to the coronavirus
outbreak.
The reversal was short-
lived, though.
Traders complained that
monetary policy alone cannot
save the country from a pan-
demic that’s hurting a slew of
industries from the airlines to
Broadway, as people cancel
their travel plans and large
gatherings become taboo.
“We wanted a bazooka,”
said one hedge fund manager
that trades US Treasuries.
“What we got was a handgun
with rubber bullets. But in
fairness to the Fed, what we
really need are test kits for
this virus.”
Adding to the declines, ex-
perts say, is the push for staff-
ers to work from home to
avoid infection.
On Wall Street, that means
fewer traders who can take
big risks, including buying
stocks when they fall.
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percent from recent highs
during a period of wide-
spread negative sentiment.
Traders attributed the
slump in part to President
Trump’s Wednesday night
speech to severely restrict
travel from continental Eu-

rope. The speech only served
to further raise fears of a
worldwide economic slow-
down — as well as questions
about the White House’s
stimulus plans, Wall Street-
ers griped.
The carnage is likely to

continue until the US gov-
ernment puts forward a con-
crete fiscal stimulus package
to blunt the economic dam-
age of the coronavirus pan-
demic — something that was
noticeably absent from
Trump’s speech, according to

Nasty numbers


These portfolio-punishing stock declines are putting both Wall Street
and Main Street investors on edge.

-9.4%


NASDAQ


-9.5%


S&P


-10%


DOW


Dimon is recovering at home


Nightmarish Dive


Dow’s hair-raising plunge is worst since ’87


Alamy

Business


Nasdaq
Comp.

Down
750.25

7,201.80

Dow
Jones
Indust.
Avg.

Down
2,352.60

21,200.62
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