This is one of the benefits of stock repurchases over dividends. They have an asset they can re-sell. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/21/uni...ock-offering-as-coronavirus-saps-revenue.html United shares fell more than 2% in postmarket trading Tuesday after the airline announced it’s planning a fresh stock offering, the latest measure by a carrier to raise money as the coronavirus devastates travel demand. The Chicago-based carrier said it is planning to sell 39.25 million shares, which would be worth slightly more than $1 billion at Tuesday’s closing price of $27.88.
Initially, I wasn't sure I'd support practices that gambles with peoples lives at stake. But with the corrupt corporate free for all shitshow of round 1, it is not okay to blink. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/opinion/coronavirus-stimulus-democrats.html Congressional Democrats believe that fiscal aid to states is one of the most effective forms of economic stimulus, and many economists agree. But Democrats have not insisted on a major aid program for states. Instead, they may be on the verge of passing a fourth coronavirus bill without such a program. Congressional Democrats also believe that the 2020 elections could be a chaotic mess, in which many people are forced to choose between voting and protecting their health. Election experts agree. Yet Democrats have not insisted on the money and new rules necessary to hold elections safely during a pandemic. And many Democrats believe that the United States badly needs an aggressive national program of virus testing. The first three coronavirus bills passed by Congress and signed by President Trump didn’t include a national testing program. Yesterday, congressioal Democrats began to show more backbone and said they would not pass a new coronavirus bill — organized around the expansion of a small-business loan program — unless it included a national testing program. We’ll see if they stick to it. Democrats don’t control the Senate or the White House, so obviously they can’t dictate every aspect of the coronavirus response. Given this reality, they have won some important concessions in recent weeks, including much more help for unemployed workers. But Democrats have more political leverage than they’ve been willing to use so far. When Barack Obama was president, congressional Republicans recognized that the president’s party would take much of the blame for problems in the country. As a result, they often adopted a tough (and sometimes cynical) negotiating stance. During the Trump presidency, Democrats have not been willing to be so tough, even in the service of policies many nonpartisan observers believe would help the country. Democrats insist that they will have more chances — that the scale of the virus crisis means that Trump and congressional Republicans will be desperate to pass yet another bill in coming weeks and that state aid and election protection can be added to those bills. Perhaps. At some point, though, Democrats will have to decide when they’re going to stop accepting bills that they know fall short of what the country needs.
I don't think this is going to work as well as Mitch McConnell thinks. "well, I'm not so sure we should pay to do Coronavirus testing" is a politically moronic corner you are painting yourself into - maybe spend less time watching dipshits with AK47's and more time actually listening to people.
Just an update on how the wealth gap is set to expand during this pandemic. More at the link https://ips-dc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Billionaire-Bonanza-2020.pdf This year’s Forbes report examines billionaire wealth as of March 18, 2020, a bit later than the February dates fixed upon in the magazine’s previous 33 annual reports. By April 5, two-plus weeks after March 18, U.S. billionaires had seen their collective wealth rise back to $3.017 trillion, and by April 10 their wealth had surged to $3.229 trillion, surpassing the 2019 level. Between March 18 — the near bottom point of the pandemic financial swoon — and April 10, 2020, U.S. billionaire wealth rebounded by $282 billion. The Jeff Bezos Wealth Surge is an unprecedented dynamic in the history of modern markets. Tracking Bezos’ wealth requires a real-time hour-by-hour tracker. As of the publication of this report, Bezos’ wealth has increased over $25 billion since January 1, 2020 and $12 billion since February 21st, 2020, the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Billionaire wealth, as these numbers show, tends to rebound from market meltdowns. In the immediate aftermath of the global economic crisis of 2008, the Forbes 400 saw their combined wealth decline $300 billion from $1.57 trillion in 2008 to $1.27 trillion in 2009. Within 30 months of the September 2008 crash, most of these fortunes recovered. By 2012, billionaire wealth had reached $1.7 trillion,26 exceeding pre-2008 levels. Between 2010 and 2020, the combined wealth of the U.S. billionaire class surged by a staggering 80.6 percent, from $1.631 trillion to $2.947 trillion in 2020 dollars. We can probably expect that Wall Street and equity markets will rebound faster than the rest of the economy, including unemployment, savings, home values, and other economic indicators that measure the economic security of the bottom 80 percent of households. Billionaire Pandemic Profiteers Ordinary people around the globe may now be struggling to survive a ravaging public health and economic crisis, but early indicators suggest the billionaire class will maintain its wealth or even see a major surge. Since January 1, 2020, 34 of the wealthiest 170 U.S. billionaires have seen their total net worth increase by tens of millions of dollars according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. 28 These include eight billionaires who, as of April 10, have seen wealth gains of over $1 billion
This was written a week ago...prior to Mitch's "Let them eat cake" comments. Don't believe the Republicans when they say there is no more money...there's plenty...they just don't want to use it to prop up anything except their allies. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/opinion/trump-coronavirus-economy.html But the special loan program for small businesses has already been exhausted. State and city governments are reporting drastic losses in revenue and soaring expenses. And the Postal Service is on the edge of bankruptcy. So we need another large relief package, targeted at these gaps. Where would the money come from? Just borrow it. Right now, the economy is awash in excess savings with nowhere to go. The interest rate on inflation-protected federal bonds is minus 0.56 percent; in effect, investors are willing to pay our government to make use of their money. Financing economic relief just isn’t a problem. Yet at the moment further relief legislation is stalled. And let’s be clear: Republicans are responsible for the impasse. It’s true that Senate Republicans are trying to push through an extra $250 billion in small-business lending — and Democrats are willing to go along. But the Democrats also insist that the package include substantial aid for hospitals and for state and local governments. And Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, is refusing to include this aid. McConnell claims that he would be willing to consider additional measures in later legislation. But let’s get real. There is absolutely no reason not to include the money now. Everyone, and I mean everyone, knows what is really happening: McConnell is trying to get more money for businesses while continuing to shortchange state and local governments. After all, “starve the beast” — forcing governments to cut services by depriving them of resources — has been Republican strategy for decades. This is just more of the same.
This isn't surprising. It's not like no one knew the unemployment numbers were coming - the markets reacted to those numbers long before they were released.
Just an absolute disaster of an administration. Republicans destroy the economy, every single time, EVERY SINGLE TIME.
