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Special Edition: The Latest on the Coronavirus Pandemic |
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Compiled by CFO Journal and WSJ Pro Staff |
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Good evening. Businesses and their funding needs were at the forefront of government action on Tuesday. The Federal Reserve said it would start making loans to American corporations, relaunching a crisis-era tool to fix the dysfunction in the $1.1 trillion market for short-term corporate IOUs called commercial paper. Companies use commercial paper to finance their day-to-day business operations such as payroll expenses. The White House also is pushing for a stimulus package, now estimated at $1 trillion, including $250 billion in direct payments to Americans. And the House scaled back its paid-leave plan, following pressure from businesses worried about the financial burdens of the bill. Read on for the latest on the unfolding crisis and how professionals across a range of industries are coping. |
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Finance chiefs are grappling with whether to make share repurchases or hold on to cash as stock prices fall on fears surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, write Mark Maurer and Kristin Broughton. Turmoil in the debt markets, meanwhile, has upended private-equity deals, as providers of high-yield debt and syndicated loans have pulled back. Some private-credit firms are evaluating potential opportunities to step in where other debt providers pull back, write Laura Kreutzer and Laura Cooper for WSJ Pro Private Equity. “Many of us are open for business; the question is what kind of business,” said a senior professional at one private credit firm. “There’s not a lot of motivation to sell right now.” For some investors, exits seem far away. Biotech companies usually trade on the promise of their drugs, but the market downturn could cause investors to seek out those with the strongest balance sheets, writes Brian Gormley for WSJ Pro Venture Capital. |
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“We are open for business. But admittedly, it’s not business as usual. The market has changed. We expect (startup) valuations to come down, we expect total fundraising to drop, with fewer and smaller rounds getting done. Burn rates will be scrutinized far more." |
| — Natalie Dillon, principal at Maveron, a consumer-focused venture capital firm. |
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Amazon.com Inc. is locking down part of its distribution operations to save room for high-priority items amid surging demand for online delivery due to the coronavirus pandemic. The WSJ’s Jon Emont reports the e-commerce giant is barring independent sellers from shipping items other than medical supplies, household staples and other priority goods to its warehouses until April 5. The idea is to keep needed goods flowing through supply chains that are increasingly under stress as consumers and businesses adjust to social distancing measures while stores report shortages of goods as consumers stockpile staples. Amazon.com also is planning to hire an additional 100,000 employees in the U.S., as people are turning to online deliveries at a breakneck pace to help contain the spread of the new coronavirus. |
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Manufacturers in the U.S. are improvising to keep factories humming by staggering shifts, banning visitors and installing barriers between workers to protect them from infection. |
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Pro Tips: Citywide Technology |
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An empty street in Seattle earlier this week. PHOTO: TED S. WARREN/ASSOCIATED PRESS |
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Technology leaders of municipalities from Seattle to Atlanta are prioritizing the tech needs of employees who need to be in the field, including meeting their hardware and software requests, writes Agam Shah for CIO Journal.Here's what they are doing: - To support the city’s growing remote workforce, Seattle’s IT department within a week developed an internal chatbot that answers basic IT questions, such as how to order a laptop or how to get VPN access.
- Atlanta expanded Microsoft Corp.’s cloud-based tools—which had been available to a few hundred city employees—to most of the staff so they could hold virtual meetings and collaborate.
- Atlanta’s City Council this week will move from on-site meetings to virtual meetings that citizens can join by calling in. The council will use a “virtual platform” for voting on legislation and reviewing documents.
“Without stable use of technology, we will not be able to deliver many of our services,” said Saad Bashir, Seattle’s chief technology officer. |
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| 52% |
The percentage of investors in private-equity funds who see private equity as the best alternative investment to make amid volatile markets, rate cuts and the upcoming election, according to a survey released by placement agent Eaton Partners. |
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Marriott’s staff reductions include everyone from general managers to housekeepers. PHOTO: DANIEL ACKER/BLOOMBERG NEWS |
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The world’s largest hotel company, Marriott International, said it is starting to furlough what it expects will be tens of thousands of employees as it ramps up hotel closings across the globe. The U.S. military said it would open its labs, distribute key medical equipment and ready its hospital ships in response to the growing crisis surrounding coronavirus. The U.S. dollar surged against major currencies as stress in the market for dollar funding outside the U.S. worsened before the Federal Reserve stepped in on Tuesday to boost support for the short-term money market. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city residents should be prepared to shelter in place and that a decision could be made in conjunction with the state in the following 48 hours. |
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