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Our briefing for Monday March 30, 2020:
Mar 30, 2020 3:58:51 PM
- Over the weekend as health officials in the United States made appearances on national television outlining scenarios where the country could see as many as 200,000 deaths due to the coronavirus, it was made clear President Donald Trump’s Easter re-opening of America was not going to happen.
- Therefore, during a Sunday media briefing, President Trump extended America’s social distancing measures until April 30th. The United States have over 150,000 confirmed cases with New York state remaining the hardest hit with over 66,000 cases and 1,200 deaths.
- In Canada, Prime Minster Justin Trudeau as promised gave a little more information on the increased 75% wage subsidies he announced last Friday.
- During his media briefing on Monday, Trudeau outlined businesses and non-profit organizations that have seen at least a 30 per cent drop in revenue due to the coronavirus will qualify for the government’s wage subsidy program. The government will cover up to 75% of salary on the first $58,700. More details of the program will continue to be rolled out during the week.
- A top health official in the United Kingdom noted the country could be under coronavirus emergency measures for as long as another six months even as some signs show the outbreak slowing.
- Curbs on normal life may need to continue through the summer and into the autumn in order to avoid progress being "wasted”, said England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jenny Harries.
- In Germany, researchers want to send out hundreds of thousands of coronavirus-antibody tests over the coming weeks. The reason being is people who test positive for antibodies could be given an “immunity certificate” that would allow them to leave their coronavirus lockdown earlier than expected.
- Germany has one of the lowest COVID-19 death rates in the world, which some experts believe is due in part to the extensive testing rolled out by Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government.
- Meanwhile in France, the country saw it deadliest 24-hour period due to the coronavirus with over 400 dying in one day, bringing their death total to over 3,000. The country’s director of health believes the epidemic will peak later this week in the country as they enter the third week of its nationwide lockdown.
- In Japan, the country learned the Tokyo Summer Olympics scheduled for this summer will instead take place from July 23rd, 2021 until August 8th, 2021. According to the Financial Times, Japan was set to see a $294 billion jolt to its economy from the Olympics, but now that has all been put on hold due to the coronavirus.
- Australia’s government has rolled out a plan close to $80 billion in order to subsidize the wages of an estimated 6 million people that have been affected by the coronavirus. Prime Minister Scott Morrison stated six months of funding was necessary to ensure businesses were able to retain staff and could hit the ground running once the crisis has passed.
Covid-19 – Due Diligence And Asset Management
SEC Chair: We Shouldn’t Ban Short Selling – It’s Needed for Properly Functioning Market
Brief: SEC Chairman Jay Clayton said Monday that the practice of short selling — effectively betting that a stock will drop — is needed to “facilitate ordinary market trading.” “We shouldn’t be banning short selling,” Clayton told CNBC’s However, he said the Securities and Exchange Commission did replace the old uptick rule with a new measure to help mitigate the volatility that short selling can bring to an already agitated market like the one that investors have been dealing with for weeks now because of the coronavirus crisis.
JPMorgan Seeks up to $10 Billion for Alternative Investments
Brief: JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s alternative-investments division is seeking to raise as much as $10 billion in an effort to bolster its spending power as the Covid-19 pandemic roils global markets. “The magnitude of these dislocations is so significant,” Anton Pil, the global head of alternatives for JPMorgan’s asset-management arm, said in an interview Monday. “And to get some of these markets functioning, you need a lot of capital.” JPMorgan plans to raise $5 billion to $10 billion “in the next couple of months” from clients including pension funds, sovereign-wealth funds, family offices and private banks, Pil said.
Jefferies Group CFO Dies of Coronavirus Complications
Brief: The chief financial officer of Jefferies Group LLC, Peregrine "Peg" Broadbent, has died from coronavirus complications, the company said in astatementSunday.Broadbent, who was 56-years-old, had served as CFO of the financial services company since 2007. The company has appointed Teri Gendron, CFO of Jefferies Financial Group, as the interim CFO and chief accounting officer ofJefferies Group(JEF)."For over a dozen years, Peg has been our CFO and partner, and helped us build Jefferies from less than half its current size, and navigate through hard times and good times," the company said. "He has also been a much-loved and respected leader to the incredible global team that provides the support, foundation and glue across our firm."
Hedge Fund Millennium Rebounds in March, Erases Losses
Brief: Losses at Izzy Englander’s $40 billion hedge fund were erased this past week as markets rebounded following unprecedented aid from the U.S. government. Millennium Management finished last week down 67 basis point for the month, compared with a decline of 5.1% a week earlier, according to a person familiar with the matter. That fund is now up 17 basis points for the year. Millennium Management and most other firms struggled in the first three weeks of March as the effects of the spreading coronavirus virtually halted the global economy and seized up markets from stocks to bonds to commodities. Then came unprecedented moves by the Federal Reserve and the promise of a $2 trillion stimulus bill that was signed by President Donald Trump on Friday.
Coronavirus Worries and Strife: Investors Fear Markets not out of Woods Despite Big Rally
Brief: After a brutal meltdown, some investors have been wading back into U.S. stocks. But others are wary of another leg down as the coronavirus spreads and its economic impact is difficult to predict. High-profile investors from BlackRock Inc (BLK.N) to billionaire William Ackman have turned more bullish on equities in recent days, as unprecedented stimulus from the Federal Reserve, a $2.2 trillion stimulus bill signed Friday, and a call by President Donald Trump to get the United States back to work in weeks rather than months sparked the biggest weekly rally in the Dow Jones Industrial Average since 1938.
Allianz Global Investors Liquidates Two Hedge Funds Amid Market Turmoil
Brief: Allianz Global Investors said on Friday that it had decided to liquidate a pair of hedge funds after suffering losses during the market turmoil of the coronavirus outbreak.The two funds are part of the money manager’s 27 Structured Alpha funds, the company said. The funds are private and Allianz Global Investors doesn’t disclose their performance or size. The investor said it decided it was in the best interest of investors to liquidate after “significant realized losses”.
