The coronavirus outbreak could end a yearslong US economic boom by disrupting markets and lowering consumer confidence, economists say. Concerns have wiped out $2 trillion in stock market value, widened corporate spreads and increased the value of the US dollar.
Stocks continue to decline in the US, Asia and Europe, with futures trades indicating further losses and lower oil prices, as the coronavirus outbreak widens. President Donald Trump has appointed Vice President Mike Pence to spearhead the US response to the outbreak.
Supply chain disruption and lost overseas sales are threatening stocks of US firms with significant foreign operations, as the impact of the coronavirus outbreak deepens in Europe and Asia. S&P 500 companies with significant presence on these continents have seen a sharper decline this week than the index overall.
Investors are unloading high-yield bond exchange-traded funds amid concerns about economic consequences of the coronavirus outbreak. Withdrawals have totaled more than $4 billion during the past week, Bloomberg-compiled data shows.
Saudi Aramco is preparing for a secondary listing outside Saudi Arabia, sources say. Executives reportedly are talking with Wall Street banks, although no timetable has been set for the listing.
The Service Employees International Union, representing more than 10,000 airport workers at New York metropolitan area airports, says employees have not been properly trained and equipped to reduce the transmission of coronavirus. Airports and airlines say they are following all federal recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Army Corps of Engineers has indefinitely suspended a study of measures to safeguard the New York City area against storm surge. The $19 million study involves such potential projects as a five-mile retractable barrier that would offer flood protection along New York harbor.
BlackRock power broker Barbara Novick is scaling back her role at the firm and becoming a senior advisor, according to a companywide memo distributed Wednesday. Novick, a co-founder of the investment firm who is seen as one of the most influential women on Wall Street, played a key role in persuading regulators not to consider BlackRock a systemically important financial institution.
Falling mortgage rates and unusually mild weather sent January sales of newly built single-family homes in the US to the highest point since 2007, exceeding economists' expectations. Sales increased 18.6% compared with January 2019, according to the Commerce Department.
The Conference Board's consumer confidence index rose slightly this month to 130.7, continuing an ascent from last month but falling short of economists' projection of 132.0. The ongoing strength of consumer confidence indicates the 11-year economic expansion could endure in the face of coronavirus disruptions.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has rejected a bitcoin exchange-traded fund from Wilshire Phoenix, saying the firm had failed to prove manipulation is avoidable in the bitcoin market. SEC member Hester Peirce dissented, saying that the SEC unfairly applies a higher standard to bitcoin products and that "no filing will meet the ever-shifting standards that this commission insists on applying to bitcoin-related products -- and only to bitcoin-related products."
Over the past year, the China A-shares equity market has been one of the most active areas for new product launches by asset managers. This has been driven by easier access for foreign investors, along with MSCI quadrupling the weight of these stocks within their widely followed benchmarks. Join us as we take a comprehensive look at the latest research on China A-shares. We will have leading academics from Columbia, NYU Stern and Wharton, along with practitioners from Invesco, Man Numeric and Panagora sharing their insights and work on mainland China equity investing.
The CFA Society New York Asset Owner Series is a collection of exclusive events for investment industry executives looking to improve their asset management strategies and advance their market knowledge with the guidance of some of the most experienced minds CFA Society New York has to offer.
