COVID-19 Monitor

Last Updated:October 15, 2020

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What bank’s booming profits say about the economy (Axios) Published on: October 14, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

Some of America’s biggest banks are making more money now than they were before the pandemic hit.
These banks are the biggest lenders in the country and have insight into the financial health of millions of Americans and businesses. So analysts often parse these quarterly results for indicators of how the economy is doing.
Banks were buoyed by strength in the Wall Street-facing divisions: including the parts of the company that, for instance, are focused on trading or help take companies public.

IMF urges governments to spend their way out of pandemic (FT) Published on: October 14, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

Most advanced economies need not cut public spending to restore government finances after the coronavirus pandemic, the IMF said on Wednesday, in a reversal of the advice given following the last financial crisis.
The fund said countries heavily reliant on tourism and commodities were likely to be left in “a particularly difficult spot” as it predicted the biggest contraction in the global economy since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
However, the IMF said interest rates in most advanced economies were likely to remain at record lows, meaning governments could borrow to largely offset the weaker growth and lower tax revenues that would result from the pandemic.

Trudeau Plans to Keep Borders Closed Until Covid-19 Cases Drop (Bloomberg) Published on: October 14, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business, Global Response

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau indicated he plans to keep Canada’s borders closed as long as coronavirus cases remain elevated in the U.S.
Facing pressure to ramp up relief efforts for hard-hit airlines and the tourism sector, Trudeau has resisted industry calls to loosen travel restrictions.
His government is planning to promote Canada as a safe destination for international travel once the pandemic subsides.

Most Boomer Investors Are Confident About Their Retirement Despite Pandemic and Market Uncertainties (Business Wire Consumer News) Published on: October 14, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

According to the Charles Schwab 2020 Modern Retirement Survey, more than 80 per cent of both those who have retired and those who are soon-to-retire are satisfied or confident their lifestyle will be everything that they envision.
Among those surveyed, 84 per cent anticipate their quality of life in retirement will be better than that of their parents and 80 per cent believe their quality of life in retirement will be better than that of their children.
Nineteen per cent of survey respondents say they or their spouse were financially impacted by COVID-19 through a salary cut or reduced hours, being laid off or furloughed, or having to retire earlier than planned.

More Canadians planning to continue living at home as they age, survey suggests (Sudbury.com) Published on: October 14, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

The survey of 1,517 Canadians was conducted online by the National Institute on Ageing at Toronto’s Ryerson University in late July.
Sixty per cent of respondents said the COVID-19 pandemic had changed their opinion on whether they’d arrange for themselves or an older loved one to live in a nursing or retirement home.
Ninety-one per cent of respondents said they would try “to live safely and independently in their own home as long as possible.”

Disney makes a big digital move. But no one can agree on how much will change. (Washington Post) Published on: October 13, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact, Global Response

With uncertainty over the coronavirus continuing and consumers’ transition to digital accelerating, Disney on Monday reorganized its corporate divisions to bolster the power of streaming service Disney Plus.
“Managing content creation distinct from distribution will allow us to be more effective and nimble in making the content consumers want most, delivered in the way they prefer to consume it,” Disney chief executive Bob Chapek said in a company statement announcing the change.
At heart is a question of how much a legacy company like Disney can — or even should want to — fully pivot away from its profitable legacy businesses. Traditional television and studio, after all, generated $10.2 billion in profit in fiscal 2019. Disney Plus, the company has said, won’t be profitable at all until 2024.

Theater Chain AMC Says It Could Run Out of Cash by Year-End (WSJ) Published on: October 13, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

Attendance is down about 85% on a same-theater basis from last year since reopening began, company says.
In a recent regulatory filing, AMC disclosed that it burned through more than $230.4 million of its cash in July and August.
AMC entered the pandemic with $4.9 billion in debt the company had amassed after a string of acquisitions that made it the world’s largest theater chain.

Startups say BDC terms for COVID-19 relief funding too prohibitive (The Logic) Published on: October 13, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business

Entrepreneurs raising money during the pandemic say BDC Capital has not delivered on its promise to offer quick access to capital on friendly terms to help companies affected by the pandemic close funding rounds.
“I think BDC really missed an opportunity to step in here and help startups during COVID,” said Patrick Lor, a managing partner at Panache Ventures.
Some founders said BDC representatives provided inconsistent and incomplete information about what funding they were eligible for; nearly all said they were able to close their rounds with private investments on friendlier terms.

Pandemic will cause ‘lasting damage’ to living standards, IMF warns (FT) Published on: October 13, 2020 | Category: Economic Impact

The coronavirus crisis will wreak “lasting damage” on people’s living standards across the world and taxes on the rich and on companies may have to rise to address this economic harm, the IMF has warned.
This damage will persist because the adjustment from struggling sectors such as travel to expanding ones such as digital technology will inevitably be slow and painful for many people, the IMF said in its twice-yearly World Economic Outlook, published on Tuesday.
The gloomy prognosis came even after the IMF revised its growth forecasts for this year upwards, reflecting the fact that the second quarter’s recession proved shallower than feared, and countries experienced faster recoveries as they relaxed lockdowns.
The IMF expects the global economy to experience a 4.4 per cent contraction in 2020, 0.8 percentage points smaller than its June estimate.

‘Patient zero displayed no symptoms:’ Hamilton’s SpinCo superspreader outbreak reaches 51 cases (Toronto Star) Published on: October 13, 2020 | Category: Canadian Business, Global Response

It is believed to be one of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks at any fitness centre in Canada.
Thirty-seven riders and two staff members have tested positive for novel coronavirus at the James Street North gym.
It is what infectious disease experts consider a “superspreader” event — a chain reaction of infections set off by a lone case who excretes a higher than normal number of pathogens during their incubation period.
The owners — who opened the gym in January as one of seven SpinCo studios in Ontario — defended its public health safety guidelines and committed to reopening when permitted in a statement posted to its Instagram page Saturday.

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