The perils of developing a vaccine at warp speed | CNBC Explains

(Reuters) &#8211; U.S. solar stocks rose on Friday after U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden said in the final pre-election debate on Thursday night that if elected he plans to transition to a more climate-friendly economy.



Shares of Renesola Ltd&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SOL.N">SOL.N</a>, Jinkosolar Holding Co Ltd&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/JKS.N">JKS.N</a>, Canadian Solar Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/CSIQ.O">CSIQ.O</a>&nbsp;and SunPower Corp&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SPWR.O">SPWR.O</a>&nbsp;were up between 2% and 3% in premarket trading.



Biden and President Donald Trump were asked at their matchup in Nashville, Tennessee, what they would do to combat climate change &#8211; the first time in a presidential debate they were not asked if they believed in it or not.



Biden said the country should eventually replace oil with solar, wind and other forms of non-polluting power.







“I would transition from the oil industry,” Biden said, adding his plan for a more climate-friendly economy would create high-paying jobs and boost U.S. businesses.



Shares of oil companies were broadly unchanged as U.S. crude&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/quote/CLc1">CLc1</a>&nbsp;ticked up 0.4% to $40.79 with demand concerns raised by surging coronavirus cases in the United States and Europe being offset by the prospect of an extension to OPEC-led supply curbs.



After the debate, Biden told reporters, “We’re not getting rid of fossil fuels.”







“We’re getting of the subsidies for fossil fuels. But we’re not getting rid of fossil fuels for a long time&#8230;they’re not going to lose their jobs. Besides, a lot more jobs are going to be created in other alternatives.”



Trump, during the debate, cited a federal program to plant trees and a drop in carbon emissions to say he loves the environment, but added he was not willing to harm businesses.



He accused Biden of planning to ban hydraulic fracturing, a process of extracting oil and natural gas from shale that is opposed by many environmentalists. Biden, however, said he would ban fracking on federal land only.

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U.S. solar stocks rise on Biden’s clean energy focus in pre-election debate

How the economic crisis is hitting young people the hardest | CNBC Reports

(Reuters) &#8211; Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Wednesday as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said it was difficult that a deal on more fiscal stimulus would be reached before the presidential election in November.



The downbeat comments added to the fragile sentiment following a mixed bag of quarterly earnings reports from major Wall Street lenders.



“At this point getting something done before the election and executing on that would be difficult just given where we are and the level of detail, but we’re going to try to continue to work through these issues,” Mnuchin said at a conference sponsored by the Milken Institute.



U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mnuchin had a productive discussion about relief proposals, but the administration’s lack of a national strategic testing plan remained a “major area of disagreement”, a Pelosi spokesman said. They will speak again on Thursday, he added.



“The market is a little worried about not having that extra support for the next couple of months into the holidays,” said Thomas Hayes, chairman at Great Hill Capital LLC in New York.



“This was viewed as a bridge to a full therapeutic or a vaccine (but) everything is getting delayed and without the stimulus, there’s not that short-term bridge that we needed to get to the vaccine, to get us to the finish line.”







Fading hopes of a deal on federal aid, as well as a halt in trials of a COVID-19 vaccine and a treatment have pulled the three main stock indexes back from one-month highs, but investors have held out for stimulus after the Nov. 3 presidential election.



At 12:50 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.53%, the S&amp;P 500 was down 0.69% and the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.97%.



Goldman Sachs edged up as strength in its trading business helped quarterly profit surge 94%, but Bank of America and Wells Fargo shed 4.0% and 5.4%, respectively, after a disappointing showing.



The S&amp;P 500 banks index dropped 1.4% as the third-quarter earnings season took off amid improving expectations over the extent of the drop in overall profits for S&amp;P 500 firms.



Analysts now expect earnings to fall 18.9% from a year earlier, according to Refinitiv IBES data, versus a 25% drop forecast on July 1.







Markets have also begun to digest the prospect of a Democratic victory, strategists and fund managers said.



While many investors view Democratic candidate Joe Biden as more likely to raise taxes, they are increasingly pointing to potential benefits of a Biden presidency, such as greater infrastructure spending and less global trade uncertainty.



Energy stocks rose the most among major S&amp;P sectors on the back of a rise in oil prices. [O/R]



UnitedHealth Group Inc dropped 2.8% despite raising its profit forecast as the U.S. insurer said it was difficult to predict the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic on earnings.



Declining issues outnumbered advancers 1.18-to-1 on the NYSE and 1.60-to-1 on the Nasdaq.



The S&amp;P index recorded 22 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 100 new highs and nine new lows.

wall street

Wall Street slides as Mnuchin says stimulus difficult before election

Is sustainable investing just a marketing ploy? | CNBC Reports

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; The Bank of England asked banks on Monday how ready they are for zero or negative interest rates, following up its announcement last month that it was considering how to take rates below zero if necessary.



Other central banks have pushed rates into negative territory in an attempt to spur banks to lend more, and the BoE said in September it was looking into what such a policy might mean in Britain.



“As part of this work, we are requesting specific information about your firm’s current readiness to deal with a zero Bank Rate, a negative Bank Rate, or a tiered system of reserves remuneration – and the steps that you would need to take to prepare for the implementation of these,” Deputy BoE Governor Sam Woods said in a letter to banks.



The BoE and lenders had to understand the implications of any such moves “since the MPC may see fit to choose various options based on the situation at the time,” he said, referring to the central bank’s Monetary Policy Committee.



Woods said he wanted to know if there were any technology challenges to implementing zero or negative rates.



“We are also seeking to understand whether there may be potential for short-term solutions or workarounds, as well as permanent systems changes,” he said.



The BoE set a deadline of Nov. 12 &#8211; a week after its next monetary policy announcement &#8211; for banks to respond.







Most euro zone banks have held off passing negative rates on to the bulk of their retail customers despite borrowing costs being below zero for the majority of this decade.



However, UK banks would likely face a sharper hit to profitability if they opted not to shift rates in line with the Bank of England due to their differing business models.



Banks in most euro zone countries charge customers a fee for having accounts, whereas in Britain such charges are rare, and lenders’ returns are largely based on the difference between lending and deposit rates.



Money markets last week pushed back bets that the BoE would cut rates below zero. Investors see rates falling below zero in May 2021, instead of March.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/quote/BOEWATCH">BOEWATCH</a>



The BoE cut its benchmark rate to record low of 0.1% in March to help the economy through the coronavirus crisis.



Its next move is widely expected to be an increase in its 745 billion-pound ($972 billion) bond-buying programme in November.







Sterling and British government bonds were little changed in early trade on Monday.



Governor Andrew Bailey has said the BoE’s assessment of negative rates was not a sign that it would cut rates below zero, and Woods echoed those comments in his letter.



Banks earn money from interest and negative rates would hit profitability, but Wood’s letter made no specific mention of this, focusing instead on the technical preparedness of lenders.



An accompanying questionnaire asked banks how their retail and wholesale business’s IT systems could cope, and how much time and money it would cost to make short-term “tactical” and permanent “strategic” changes.



Banks are already under pressure to help households and businesses struggling with the pandemic. They also could face a reduction in access to markets in the European Union when Britain’s post-Brexit transition period expires.

london

Bank of England asks banks how ready they are for sub-zero rates

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will on Monday impose a tiered system of further restrictions on parts of England as the COVID-19 outbreak accelerates, though anger is rising at the cost of the stringent curtailment of freedoms.



Johnson has chaired an emergency response committee, known as a COBRA meeting, and will then address parliament at around 1430 GMT, offering lawmakers a vote later in the week on the measures. He will then hold a press conference.



Johnson’s three-tiered local lockdowns will include shutting bars, gyms, casinos and bookmakers in some areas placed into the “very high” alert level, probably across the north of England, British media reported.



“Pretty much all areas of the UK are now seeing growths in the infection rate,” England Deputy Chief Medical Officer Jonathan Van-Tam told reporters. “The epidemic, this time, has clearly picked up pace in the north of England earlier than it did in the first wave.”



Van-Tam said the freshest data showed infections were rising across the north of England and in some more southerly areas too while the virus was creeping up age bands towards the elderly from those aged 16-29 years.



“Nightingale” emergency field hospitals in Manchester, Sunderland and Harrogate have been told to mobilise, NHS England’s Medical Director Steve Powis said.



Manchester intensive care consultant Jane Eddleston said 30% of critical care beds were taken up with COVID-19 patients &#8211; starting to impact on healthcare for others.



RELATED COVERAGE<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-who/pandemic-can-be-overcome-quickly-with-right-tools-who-idUSKBN26X1DD"></a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-who/pandemic-can-be-overcome-quickly-with-right-tools-who-idUSKBN26X1DD">Pandemic can be overcome quickly with right tools &#8211; WHO</a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-powis/covid-hospitalisations-rising-rapidly-in-northern-england-health-official-idUSKBN26X1B7"></a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-health-coronavirus-britain-powis/covid-hospitalisations-rising-rapidly-in-northern-england-health-official-idUSKBN26X1B7">COVID hospitalisations rising rapidly in northern England &#8211; health official</a>



See more stories



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-lockdown-fatigue">LOCKDOWN FATIGUE</h2>



But as millions of people across the United Kingdom grapple with a patchwork of local restrictions, the hospitality sector says it is being brought to its knees by the government.



A group of English pub and nightclub owners led by Manchester club night and events operator Sacha Lord will instruct lawyers to begin opposing the government if Johnson orders pubs closed.



“If he is suggesting that pubs and bars need to shut down in Greater Manchester, we’re launching an immediate judicial review,” Lord, creator and operator of Manchester’s Parklife festival and The Warehouse Project, told Reuters.



Lord has the support of The Night Time Industries Association, the British Beer and Pub Association, JW Lees Brewery, Joseph Holts Brewery, New River Pub Company, and a host of other operators in northwest England.

The Tories have it – Boris Johnson returns to power with a stronger Brexit mandate

PM Johnson to impose further COVID-19 restrictions but pubs angry

WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; Donald Trump’s doctor said on Wednesday the president has had no COVID-19 symptoms for the past 24 hours, as the Republican seeks ways to get back to a normal working schedule and revive his struggling re-election bid with four weeks left until U.S. Election Day.



White House physician Sean Conley said in a statement that Trump has been fever-free for more than four days and has not needed or received any supplemental oxygen since his initial hospitalization, which began on Friday.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/hqdefault-105-e1595151517959.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-372625" width="688" height="897"/><figcaption>Trump’s Renewed Fight With China Explained</figcaption></figure>



Since he returned to the White House in a dramatic display before cameras on Monday, Trump has not been seen in public or on video, although his Twitter account has been busy sending messages attacking opponents and downplaying the coronavirus pandemic.



Conley said Trump’s physical exam and vital signs “all remain stable and in normal range.”



Tests from Monday showed Trump had evidence of coronavirus antibodies, which are protective against the infection, the doctor said. A spokeswoman for Regeneron, which makes an experimental antibody treatment given to Trump last week, said the detected antibodies are likely from that treatment.



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Despite his illness, Trump has been looking for ways to get his election message out and cut into Democrat Joe Biden’s lead in battleground states where the Nov. 3 election will be decided, advisers said.



They said they had been discussing Trump delivering a national address, while a speech to senior voters is being contemplated for Thursday. Vice President Mike Pence’s debate with Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris in Salt Lake City will take center stage of the campaign on Wednesday evening.



Aides say Trump is impatient to get back on the campaign trail and insistent on going ahead with the next debate on Oct. 15 in Miami, but Biden said on Tuesday he will not participate if Trump is not virus-free.



The White House’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said on Wednesday that Trump was eager to get back to work in the Oval Office. He has been working from a makeshift space in his residence in the White House since returning from hospital.



RELATED COVERAGE<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-trump-fauci/fauci-says-white-house-covid-19-infections-could-have-been-prevented-idUSKBN26S06X"></a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-trump-fauci/fauci-says-white-house-covid-19-infections-could-have-been-prevented-idUSKBN26S06X">Fauci says White House COVID-19 infections could have been prevented</a>



“He wanted to go to the Oval yesterday. If he decides to go the Oval we’ve got safety protocols there,” Meadows told reporters, adding there would be adequate personal protective equipment and ventilation.



Any political boost Trump could get from a fresh injection of stimulus money into Americans’ pockets appears to be out of reach after he abruptly ended negotiations with Democrats on Tuesday, with both sides far apart on how much money to devote to a deal.



Both Biden and the top Democrat in the U.S. Congress, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, accused Trump of abandoning needy Americans. Republican Senator Susan Collins, facing a tough re-election bid in her home state of Maine, called Trump’s move a “huge mistake.”



“The president turned his back on you,” Biden said in a Twitter post.







With layoffs in key industries mounting by the day and threatening the fragile recovery, Trump late on Tuesday urged Congress to quickly pass $25 billion in funding for passenger airlines, $135 billion for small businesses and provide $1,200 stimulus checks for Americans.



But White House officials on Wednesday downplayed the likelihood of any kind of stimulus being passed before the election.



Trump’s drive to get Judge Amy Coney Barrett confirmed to the vacant seat on the Supreme Court by the Republican-controlled Senate before the election also may be in doubt, since three Republican senators have been infected with the coronavirus and may not be able to vote.Slideshow&nbsp;( 4 images )



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-costly-absence">COSTLY ABSENCE</h2>



A wave of infections at the White House among Trump’s top lieutenants and press office aides has left the West Wing struggling to find its footing. ABC News said its count of cases related to the White House was now 23, including Trump and his wife, Melania.



Trump has attempted to use his coronavirus infection to his political advantage, making a prime-time exit from Walter Reed military hospital on Monday and whipping off his face mask before the cameras on his return to the White House.



He depicted himself as a man who vanquished the disease and emerged stronger, telling Americans: “Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.”



But Trump’s handling of the pandemic, which has killed more than 210,000 people in the United States, has been met with skepticism from many Americans.Slideshow&nbsp;( 4 images )



The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll, conducted Oct. 2-6, found that 38% of adults approved of Trump’s handling of the coronavirus, while 56% said they disapproved.



The poll found that 79% of U.S. adults, including 94% of registered Democrats and 70% of registered Republicans, said they are “very” or “somewhat” concerned personally about the spread of the virus.



Advisers say Trump wanted to be talking about other issues instead of the virus by this stage of the campaign, to put pressure on Biden. Opinion polls show Trump down double digits, and Biden with sizeable leads in many swing states.



Trump had been expected to go on tour this week through Western states to raise millions of dollars for a campaign facing a deficit to Biden’s well-funded effort.







One adviser noted that almost exactly four years ago in 2016, Trump’s campaign was knocked off the rails by release of an “Access Hollywood” tape in which he boasted about groping women. He went on to beat the odds and win the election.



“He’s the real comeback kid and if anybody can come back from something it’s him,” the adviser said.

396×276(5)

Doctor says Trump is symptom-free as election fight looms

Why is tourism picking up so slowly in Southeast Asia? | CNBC International

LONDON (Reuters) &#8211; Britain is urgently looking at ways to reduce the 14-day quarantine period which applies to some arriving passengers, transport minister Grant Shapps said on Wednesday, adding that a mix of COVID-19 testing and self-isolation was promising.



Arrivals from countries like France, Spain and the United States must self-isolate for 14 days on arrival in Britain, a restriction which airlines say is crushing travel demand.



Shapps said he was setting up a Global Travel Taskforce to open up international travel.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="594" height="276" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-78144533-594x594.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-351946" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-78144533-594x594.jpg 594w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-78144533-594x594-300x139.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px" /><figcaption>The first-ever Boeing aircraft 777 delivered to the state-owned Qatar Airways stands on the runway at Doha airport, 29 November 2007. Earlier this month, the rapidly expanding airline ordered from the US aircraft manufacturer 30 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and five 777 cargo planes in a deal valued at over 6.1 billion dollars at list prices. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



“The overall aim of the Taskforce will be to consider what steps the government can take&#8230; to enable the safe and sustainable recovery of international travel,” he added in a statement.







It would report back no later than early November.



In July, Britain changed its policy from a blanket quarantine to one which established “travel corridors” to countries with low infection rates.



But with cases on the rise in several places, the list of countries on the quarantine exemption list is dwindling, and the travel industry has warned it faces an existential crisis unless the policy is changed again.







“My ministerial colleagues and I have agreed that a regime, based on a single test, provided by the private sector and at the cost of the passenger after a period of self-isolation, could achieve our objective,” Shapps said.



Virgin Atlantic, easyJet, London’s Heathrow airport and Manchester Airports Group said that a test of a passenger after five days should be the starting point of proposals in a joint statement.



But airline body IATA said that 80% of travellers said they would not fly at all if any quarantine were in place.



“The proposals on the table do not go as far as we had hoped,” the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said. “A reduction in the length of quarantine is the very minimum needed to restart travel demand.”

Britain examining how to reduce travel quarantine period using tests

GENEVA (Reuters) &#8211; Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and South Korea’s Yoo Myung-hee are through to the final round of selection for the next director-general of the World Trade Organization, three sources said on Wednesday.



The reduction of the field from five to two means, if confirmed, that the Geneva-based trade body is now certain to be led by a woman for the first time.



If the sources are correct, it means the the line for Amina Mohamed the former Kenyan cabinet minister who fought a very strong campaign and at some stage was considered favourite.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Amina-Mohamed.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-376640" width="657" height="677"/></figure>



Mohamed was campaigning strongly on the issue of climate change.



“How is it possible that the WTO does not discuss climate change?… WTO must be a part of the global conversation on climate change,” she told an online media briefing from Geneva.



Mohamed, who was involved in the development of green financial instruments when she was the deputy head of the U.N. agency for the environment (UNEP), said she would make the WTO’s trade and environment committee active.



“At the end of the day, it is about the bottom line, but that bottom line can actually be improved by going green because that is the future,” she said.



Whomever gets the job will have the difficult task of reforming an increasingly dated WTO.

Okonjo-Iweala

Nigerian, South Korean women through to final round in WTO chief race: sources

NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; A federal appeals court on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump’s effort to block Manhattan’s district attorney from obtaining eight years of his tax returns for a criminal probe into the U.S. president and his businesses.



In a 3-0 decision, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan rejected Trump’s accusations that a grand jury subpoena from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance was overly broad, or issued in bad faith to harass him.



“The President has a ‘difficult’ burden and an ‘unenviable’ task: to make plausible allegations that could persuade the court that the subpoena that has been served on him could not possibly serve any investigative purpose that the grand jury could legitimately be pursuing,” it wrote. “His complaint fails to do so.”



Wednesday’s decision heralds a renewed clash between Trump and Vance at the U.S. Supreme Court.



That court in July rejected the Republican president’s argument he was immune from criminal probes while in the White House.



But it said he could raise other objections to the subpoena to his longtime accounting firm, Mazars USA, for his corporate and personal tax returns from 2011 to 2018.







Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Trump, said the president will appeal to the Supreme Court. Both sides agreed Vance would not enforce the subpoena during an appeal, according to court papers.



A spokesman for Vance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



The unsigned decision upheld an Aug. 20 ruling by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan.



It followed a Sept. 28 report in The New York Times that Trump had paid $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017, and no income taxes in 10 of the prior 15 years, reflecting “chronic” losses he used to avoid paying taxes.



Trump has rejected findings from the Times report, tweeting that he had paid many millions of dollars in taxes but was entitled to depreciation and tax credits.



He has long resisted making his tax returns public, unlike his six immediate predecessors occupying the White House.



‘IMPLAUSIBLE’ CLAIM



Vance’s probe began more than two years ago, and had focused on hush money payments that the president’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen paid before the 2016 election to two women who said they had sexual encounters with Trump.



The district attorney has suggested in recent court filings that his probe is now broader and could focus on bank, tax and insurance fraud, as well as falsification of business records.



Trump argued that the probe was still focused on the Cohen payments, making the subpoena an improper “fishing expedition” targeting his business interests around the world, and said Vance improperly copied a similar congressional subpoena.







But the appeals court called it “implausible” speculation to suggest the probe was limited to the Cohen payments.



The court said grand juries “necessarily paint with a broad brush,” especially in complex financial investigations, and do not know at the outset what their needs are.



It also found “no logic” to suggest the documents Vance wanted were irrelevant to legitimate law enforcement purposes, just because a congressional committee wanted the same documents for its own investigation.



The court also found no specific allegations that partisanship motivated Vance, a Democrat, to seek Trump’s tax returns.



All three judges on the appeals court panel were appointed by Democratic presidents. Five of the eight current Supreme Court justices were appointed by Republican presidents.



Even if Vance gets Trump’s tax returns, grand jury secrecy rules make it unlikely he will reveal their contents unless criminal charges were brought. If that happened, it would likely occur after the Nov. 3 election.

gettyimages-1071817812-594×594-1

Trump fails to block tax return subpoena, will appeal to Supreme Court

(Reuters) &#8211; Investors are gauging how a potential deterioration in President Donald Trump’s health could impact asset prices in coming weeks, as the U.S. leader remains hospitalized after being diagnosed with COVID-19.



So far, markets have been comparatively sanguine: hopes of a breakthrough in talks among U.S. lawmakers on another stimulus package took the edge off a stock market selloff on Friday, with the S&amp;P 500 losing less than 1% and so-called safe-haven assets seeing limited demand. News of Trump’s hospitalization at a military medical center outside Washington, where he remained on Saturday, came after trading ended on Friday.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/396x27611.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-383035" width="678" height="488"/></figure>



Many investors are concerned, however, that a serious decline in Trump’s health less than a month before Americans go to the polls on Nov. 3 could roil a U.S. stock market that recently notched its worst monthly performance since its selloff in March while causing turbulence in other assets.



If the president’s health is in jeopardy, there’s “too much uncertainty in the situation for the markets just to shrug it off,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird.



The various outcomes investors currently envision run the gamut from a quick recovery that bolsters Trump’s image as a fighter to a drawn-out illness or death stoking uncertainty and drying up risk appetite across markets.



Should uncertainty persist, technology and momentum stocks that have led this year’s rally may be particularly vulnerable to a selloff, some investors said. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell more than 2% on Friday, double the S&amp;P 500’s decline.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-large is-resized"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://www.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-352574" width="674" height="500" srcset="https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-80x60.jpg 80w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-265x198.jpg 265w, https://cms.cnbcafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/gettyimages-642093036-594x594-2-485x360.jpg 485w" sizes="(max-width: 674px) 100vw, 674px" /><figcaption>WASHINGTON, DC &#8211; FEBRUARY 16: U.S. President Donald Trump stands during a news conference announcing Alexander Acosta as the new Labor Secretary nominee in the East Room at the White House on February 16, 2017 in Washington, DC. The announcement comes a day after Andrew Puzder withdrew his nomination. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>



“If people &#8230; get nervous right now, probably it manifests itself in crowded trades like tech and mega-cap being unwound a bit,” Delwiche said



A record 80% of fund managers surveyed last month by BofA Global Research said that buying technology stocks was the market’s “most crowded” trade.



The concentration of investors in big tech stocks has also raised concerns over their outsized sway on moves in the broader market.



The largest five U.S. companies – Google parent Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft – now account for almost 25% of the S&amp;P 500’s market capitalization, according to research firm Oxford Economics.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-fiscal-stimulus-talks">FISCAL STIMULUS TALKS</h2>



Trump’s diagnosis has intensified the spotlight on the fiscal stimulus talks in Washington, with investors saying agreement on another aid package could act as a stabilizing force on markets in the face of election-related uncertainty.



U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, said on Friday that negotiations were continuing, but she is waiting for a response from the White House on key areas.



Fresh stimulus could speed economic healing from the impact of the pandemic, which has put millions of Americans out of work, and benefit economically-sensitive companies whose stock performance has lagged this year, investors said.



For those who are underweight stocks, “we would be using this volatility as an opportunity to increase equities because we think we’re in an early-stage economic recovery,” said Keith Lerner, chief market strategist at Truist/SunTrust Advisory.



Market action on Friday suggested some investors may have been positioning for a stimulus announcement in the midst of the selloff.







The S&amp;P 500 sectors representing industrials and financials, two groups that are more sensitive to a broad economic recovery, rallied 1.1% and 0.7%, respectively, while the broader index declined.



Even with worries over Trump’s condition, “the fiscal program has been the loudest noise in the market,” said Arnim Holzer, macro and correlation defense strategist at EAB Investment Group.



Investor hedges against election-related market swings put in place over the last few months may have softened Friday’s decline and could, to a degree, mitigate future volatility, said Christopher Stanton of hedge fund Sunrise Capital Partners LLC.



Despite Trump’s illness, futures on the Cboe Volatility Index continued to show expectations of elevated volatility after the Nov. 3 vote, a pattern consistent with concerns of a contested election.



Nagging doubts over whether the Republican president would agree to hand over the keys to the White House if he loses have grown in recent weeks. During his first debate with Democratic challenger Joe Biden on Tuesday, Trump declined to commit to accepting the results, repeating his unfounded complaint that mail-in ballots would lead to election fraud.



“If Trump’s health does not recover &#8230; then he might give up on contesting the election,” said Michael Purves, chief executive of Tallbacken Capital Advisors. But “markets are not shifting off the contested election thing right now.”

Trump’s diagnosis fuels uncertainty for skittish U.S. stock market

The accounting oligopoly: What’s next for the Big Four? | CNBC Explains

CHICAGO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) &#8211; American Airlines and United Airlines, two of the largest U.S. carriers, said they were beginning furloughs of over 32,000 workers on Thursday as hopes faded for a last-minute bailout from Washington.



Both airlines told employees, however, in memos seen by Reuters on Wednesday that they stood ready to reverse the furloughs, which affect about 13% of their workforces before the pandemic, if a deal was reached.



Tens of thousands of other employees at those airlines and others including Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines have accepted buyouts or leaves of absence aimed at reducing headcount as carriers battle a health crisis that has upended the global travel industry.



U.S. airlines have been pleading for another $25 billion in payroll support to protect jobs for a further six months once the current package, which banned furloughs, expires at midnight EDT.







Earlier, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said talks with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi had made progress on a bipartisan aid plan, although no deal was reached and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell called a $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief proposal “outlandish.”



In a memo to employees, American Chief Executive Doug Parker said Mnuchin told him that he and Pelosi were continuing to negotiate on a bipartisan COVID-19 relief package that would include an extension of aid for airlines and could reach an agreement in coming days.



“Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that any of these efforts will come to fruition,” Parker said.



RELATED COVERAGE<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-american-airline-j/american-airlines-ceo-leaves-door-open-to-delaying-oct-1-furloughs-cnn-idUSKBN26L2P3"></a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-american-airline-j/american-airlines-ceo-leaves-door-open-to-delaying-oct-1-furloughs-cnn-idUSKBN26L2P3">American Airlines CEO leaves door open to delaying Oct 1 furloughs: CNN</a>



American will furlough 19,000 employees, including some 1,600 pilots. More than 13,000 United employees will be on furlough, but not any pilots following an agreement reached this week.



“Tomorrow, tens of thousands of essential aviation workers will wake up without a job or healthcare and tens of thousands more will be without a paycheck,” Association of Flight Attendants-CWA President Sara Nelson said in a statement that urged lawmakers to reach a deal.



Nick Calio, who heads the airline trade group Airlines for America, said earlier that the industry was still pursuing all potential avenues for new assistance as time runs short.







“People keep talking, but we need results,” Calio told Reuters. “We are hopeful but not confident about them reaching a deal on a larger bill.”



U.S. airline shares ended flat on Wednesday.



Weeks of intense airline lobbying has won over many but not all Washington lawmakers, while drawing attention to the plight of other pandemic-hit industries as the crisis persists.Slideshow&nbsp;( 2 images )



U.S. airlines are operating about half their 2019 flying schedules and suffering a 68% decline in passenger volumes.



The impact of the coronavirus on travel may cost as many as 46 million jobs globally, according to projections published on Wednesday by the Air Transport Action Group.



Airlines have argued they need trained employees to help drive an economic recovery as the pandemic subsides. American Airlines’ Parker told CNN he believed one more round of aid would be sufficient.

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NEW YORK (Reuters) &#8211; There have only been two direct listings on the New York Stock Exchange in the last two years. There are about to be two more in a single day.



Data analytics company Palantir Technologies&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/PLTR.N">PLTR.N</a>&nbsp;and workplace software maker Asana Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/ASAN.N">ASAN.N</a>&nbsp;are set to debut on the U.S. stock market on Wednesday bypassing an initial public offering (IPO).



The last direct listing was workplace messaging platform Slack Technologies Inc&#8217;s&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/WORK.N">WORK.N</a>&nbsp;debut in 2019, which came a year after music-streaming service Spotify Technology SA&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SPOT.N">SPOT.N</a>&nbsp;went public without an IPO.



It is a seminal moment for some investors and corporate executives who have been pushing to shed investment banks as their middlemen. For years, they have criticized IPOs as chummy deals that allowed bankers to allocate the most shares to their top clients.



“Ever since the IPO process has existed, entrepreneurs and their investors have believed that bankers have sub-optimized and taken too much for themselves,” said Ben Narasin, a partner at U.S. venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates.



“If Palantir and Asana are successful, which they should be, more and more companies will return to looking seriously at direct listings,” Narasin added.



IPOs have been on a tear this year, as companies rode the stock market rally that followed the coronavirus-induced slump. Companies have launched almost $50 billion in U.S. IPOs so far in 2020, excluding special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) IPOs. This has already outpaced the haul for all of 2019 and is on track to be the busiest since 2014 and second biggest since 2000.







In 2020, the price of a newly listed company’s shares has risen by an average of 38% on the first day of trading, according to IPOScoop data and Reuters calculations.



This has fueled renewed criticism among investors snubbed by the investment banks underwriting the IPOs, as well as suspicion among some companies that bankers are leaving money on the table in their IPO to help create a first-day trading “pop”.



Phil Hellmuth, an angel tech investor and poker player with over $20 million in career winnings, said in an interview that he tried to buy $500,000 worth of shares in data warehouse company Snowflake Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SNOW.N">SNOW.N</a>&nbsp;during its $3.36 billion IPO earlier this month.



Hellmuth knocked on the door of four hedge funds, acquaintances in Silicon Valley, mutual fund Fidelity, and one of the banks underwriting the Snowflake listing, but had no success getting into what has been this year’s largest IPO. As a result, he missed out when Snowflake’s shares more than doubled in its debut.



“If I can’t get a piece, the average investor has no chance to get a piece,” said Hellmuth.



Snowflake CEO Frank Slootman told Reuters he had no regrets with how the company’s IPO went.Slideshow&nbsp;( 2 images )



Fidelity said it was not possible to ascertain why an investor was unable to participate in an IPO without knowing the customer’s details.



In a direct listing, no shares are sold in advance, as is the case with IPOs. The company’s share price in its market debut is determined by orders coming into the stock exchange.



The downside is that the companies involved cannot raise money, though both NYSE and Nasdaq have requested U.S. regulators allow them to change their rules to allow companies to sell new stock in a direct listing.



This inability to raise funds has so far curbed the enthusiasm for direct listings of many cash-hungry companies, especially during the economic downturn brought about by the pandemic.



“I think we were going to see more direct listings this year but for COVID-19. Many companies that were thinking about a direct listing switched to an IPO for the capital raise aspect,” said Ran Ben-Tzur, a capital markets lawyer at Fenwick &amp; West LLP.







<h2 class="wp-block-heading">NO MONEY RAISED</h2>



Palantir and Asana are two technology companies defying the coronavirus downturn.



Palantir will also be the first direct listing where the majority of shares will be restricted from being sold until after the company reports 2020 earnings early next year. Such lock-up agreements are standard in IPOs but have so far been absent from direct listings and can result in a company achieving a higher valuation.



“Banks have done the math on the impact of not having lock-up agreements in a traditional IPO and believe that without a lock-up structure a company will not able to raise at as high of a valuation because there’s no scarcity of shares,” Ben-Tzur said.



For Asana, whose investors will not be subject to any lock-up restrictions, one reason the company was attracted to a direct listing was the desire for a fairer way to price the shares, according to a person familiar with the matter.



Asana declined to comment.



Kevin Hartz, who took the event-ticketing company he co-founded, Eventbrite Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/EB.N">EB.N</a>, public through an IPO two years ago, said in an interview that more companies are considering alternative ways to go public including direct listings in search of a better price-discovery process.







“It’s still a very broken process for new issuances like the Snowflake IPO. By underpricing, this brought significant dilution. That is not an optimal outcome for the company nor existing investors,” said Hartz.



Both Palantir and Asana hired banks to provide financial advice for their direct listings. On the direct listings done to date, a smaller group of banks have shared a smaller pot of fees.



For its 2019 listing, Slack, which was worth around $23 billion when it started trading, expected to pay $22.1 million in fees to three financial advisers. By comparison, 26 banks earned $85 million in commissions from the 2017 IPO of Snap Inc&nbsp;<a href="https://www.reuters.com/companies/SNAP.N">SNAP.N</a>, which was worth about $31 billion at the time of its public listing.

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