GLOBAL ECONOMIC OUTLOOK WORSENS, IMF WARNS. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) again sharpened its forecast for the global economy’s contraction to -4.9 percent this year from the -3 percent it predicted in April. It also downgraded its 2021 worldwide growth projection from 5.8 percent to 5.4. “The COVID-19 pandemic has had a more negative impact...
Tag: jun 30 2020
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NEW YORK CITY FACES $9-BILLION LOSS
The costs of treating COVID patients and the impact of the economic shutdown could reach $9 billion and have strained New York City’s finances to the point that the city is likely to slash infrastructure spending and lay off masses of the its’ 326,000 employees, mayor Bill DeBlasio said on 24 June. The mayor’s office...
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SWANKY NYC DEPARTMENT STORES REOPEN
Saks Fifth Avenue reopened all 40 of its stores in the U.S. by 24 June, including its flagship New York City store. The Manhattan emporium has installed ultraviolet handrail cleaners on its 22 escalators and scattered 100 hand sanitizing stations throughout the 10-floor store. Shoppers and staff are required to wear face masks. Elevators are...
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BAYER TO PAY $9.6 BILLION TO SETTLE U.S. ROUNDUP SUITS
Bayer AG, the German company that owns the Roundup brand of glyphosate weed killer, will pay $9.6 billion to settle about 95,000 U.S. lawsuits alleging that the herbicide causes non-Hodgkins lymphoma, a form of cancer. Roundup was developed by American chemical giant Monsanto, which Bayer bought for $63 billion in 2018. An additional 30,000 Roundup-related...
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GNC VITAMIN-STORE CHAIN GOES BUST
GNC Holdings, which owns about 7,300 GNC nutrition supplement stores and has outlets in almost 50 countries, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It plans to shed about 1,200 shops, and has put itself up for sale. The company blamed the economic shutdown, suppliers demanding quicker payments, interest payments due on bonded debt, and underperforming...
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SHALE LEADER CHESAPEAKE ENERGY FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY
Chesapeake Energy, the Oklahoma company that spearheaded the U.S. shale oil revolution, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 28 June. The company had signaled in May that it probably would be unable to meet its debt payments. The bankruptcy will erase $7 billion in debt. Chesapeake will reorganize and secure $2.5 billion in new...
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MACY’S WILL CUT 3,900 CORPORATE-LEVEL JOBS
Macy’s, the 551-store chain that skirted bankruptcy in June by lining up $4.5 billion in new financing, will fire 25 percent of its corporate-level workforce, or about 3,900 people. The cuts will save the company an estimated $365 million this year and about $630 million annually in the future. The retailer will invest about $180...
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DIFFERENT DICTATORS, DIFFERENT RULES
States’ differing shutdown rules are creating adjoining but sharply skewed economies. The inequality is embodied in the Quad Cities metro area embracing Davenport, IA, on one side of the Mississippi River and Moline, IL, on the other. Illinois’s suite of mandates requires businesses to provide face masks and personal protective equipment for employees, non-essential retailers...
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ELDER CARE BLUES
As we’ve been reporting for months, elder care facilities have been the hardest hit by COVID. Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported more than 50,000 deaths from the virus directly connected to long-term elder care facilities. And veteran nursing home residences have seen some of the highest numbers of deaths. Last week, it was...
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK… IT (WAS) A WONDERFUL TOWN
The classic NYC theme song, “New York, New York,” made prominent by Frank Sinatra, begins: Start spreadin’ the news, I’m leavin today I want to be a part of it New York, New York These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray Right through the very heart of it New York, New York… Based on “Executive...