"Trump says he expects Russia, Saudis to cut oil production" by Aya Batrawy and Cathy Bussewitz Associated Press, April 2, 2020
DUBAI — President Trump said Thursday that he expects Saudi Arabia and Russia will dramatically cut production and end an oil war that sent energy prices to record lows, but the Kremlin disputed part of his tweet, leading to skepticism that a deal was imminent.
A global glut in production, coupled with an economy reeling from the coronavirus pandemic, has sent energy prices to lows not seen since 2002. Trump tweeted Thursday that he had spoken with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, just days after talking to Russian President Vladimir Putin about the matter.
Trump tweeted; “I expect & hope that they will be cutting back which, if it happens, will be GREAT for the oil & gas industry!” He also tweeted that Prince Mohammed bin Salman had spoken with Putin, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and the prince have not spoken recently. ‘‘No, there wasn’t such a conversation,’’ he said, according to Russian state news agency Tass.
Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia called for an urgent meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers Thursday, just weeks after triggering the price war with Russia that sent oil prices plummeting.
Russia’s refusal last month to extend and deepen production cuts with OPEC and its de facto leader Saudi Arabia sparked immediate backlash from Riyadh, where oil policy is largely dictated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The clash is taking place during a period of vastly reduced energy demand. The pandemic arrived with the global economy entering a cycle of slower growth. The confluence has pushed Brent crude oil prices to below $30 a barrel, far below what Saudi Arabia or Russia need to balance their budgets. The price of US crude fell harder than at any point in history, plunging more than 65 percent to around $20 per barrel, lower than what many US shale companies can withstand.
Yeah, the coronavirus gave everything a big $hove for what was inevitably planned anyway.
In a statement carried on the state-run Saudi Press Agency Thursday, the kingdom said its call for a meeting of major oil producers indicates the country’s support for the global economy, and is “in appreciation of” Trump and the request made by the United States. Trump also has said he will meet with US oil and gas company executives Friday.
They are giving him lip service, which is okay if he maintains social distancing.
There is skepticism over an international deal, however. Trump’s engagement could persuade Saudi Arabia, if not the Kremlin, to relent, said Kevin Book, managing director at Clearview Energy Partners, but an agreement to reduce output would likely require US cuts, too, he said.
We are already at full capacity and will soon be swimming in it (or will it get sopped up in a war?)
Low crude prices make many drilling operations in the US unsustainable, and in response companies have announced thousands of layoffs and furloughs. At the same time, for most consumers, falling oil prices can be a blessing. Some stations are selling gasoline for less than $1 a gallon, though the national average is closer to $2, and many Americans staying home won’t see a benefit from low gas prices.....
If only we could drink it, and this price war that was initiated by the Saudis is meant to kill the US shale market and eliminate it as a competitor, and then our war machine is once again a hostage to foreign oil.
--more--"
They can also return the supertankers to the sender.
Related:
"Wall Street rallied Thursday for its first gain in three days after a sudden surge in oil prices revived beaten-down energy stocks. The price of crude spurted as much as 30 percent higher after President Trump said he expects Russia and Saudi Arabia to back away from their price war, which erupted last month and helped drag US oil to its lowest price in 18 years. The surge lifted energy stocks enough to pull the S&P 500 higher and outshine another dismal report showing that millions of Americans are joining the unemployment queue by the week. “This is a knee-jerk reaction more than anything else,” said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird. “I don’t think it changes much of the bigger picture.”
Time for some triangulation:
"In diplomatic whipsaw, US and China seek to cooperate on pandemic and economy" by Edward Wong and Ana Swanson New York Times, April 2, 2020
WASHINGTON — As the the crippling coronavirus pandemic spreads, relations between the United States and China have whipsawed wildly. Washington and Beijing were at each other’s throats for weeks over the outbreak, which began in Wuhan, China, and was initially covered up by Communist Party officials, but in recent days, the two sides have settled on a tentative, uneasy truce. They have agreed to hold fire on public sniping over the virus and to look for ways to cooperate to slow the contagion.
I did a quick check on the byline, so noted.
Some US officials had recognized that the deteriorating state of relations — at the worst point since the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 — was impeding global efforts to fight the pandemic. Several of President Trump’s aides quietly reached out to Chinese officials through American businessmen with extensive ties in China, according to people familiar with the efforts.
Like Scowcroft toasting them after Tiananmen.
National security officials and China hawks in the State Department are skeptical the détente will last, but several top advisers to Trump have advocated restraint — notably Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law; Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary; and Larry Kudlow, the director of the National Economic Council.
The power behind the throne.
They argue that the two superpowers need to work together to suppress the virus and resuscitate the global economy, and Kushner worked with Chinese officials to arrange a series of shipments of purchased protective gear for medical workers, the first of which arrived in New York on Sunday. The partnership between the government and several of the nation’s largest health care distributors is expected to funnel much-needed masks, gowns, and protective gear to hospitals in the coming weeks.
Why hasn't more been made of that, and I'll bet China has a better safety net.
Chinese officials are trumpeting the truce while denouncing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; Peter Navarro, a hawkish trade adviser, and other US officials who have continued to criticize China this week, even if their barbs have been more muted.....
They think Taiwan is a good jumping off point for an invasion of the mainland.
--more--"
Also see:
"President Vladimir Putin on Thursday ordered most Russians to stay off work until the end of the month as part of a partial economic shutdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Speaking to the nation on Thursday, Putin said he was extending the no-working policy he ordered earlier for this week to remain in force throughout April. He emphasized that all employees should continue earning their regular salaries during the period. Putin said some essential industries will keep operating, and grocery stores and pharmacies will remain open. Russian officials registered 771 new cases on Thursday, a 43 percent increase from the previous day, bringing the country’s reported total to 3,548 with 30 deaths....."
He took a while to come around, but all world governments are on board with the massive transformation of life on Planet Lockdown -- soon to become a Prison Planet.
Related:
"The number of coronavirus infections worldwide has surpassed 1 million, a milestone reached just four months after the first cases surfaced in China. More than 52,000 people have died around the world, according to tracking by Johns Hopkins University, as the outbreak continued to hit the United States and Europe especially hard, with more than 240,000 people infected in the United States and the death toll topping 5,900."
That is what the simulations are saying, so be it the country singer, songwriter, trumpeter, or judge, they all died of COVID-19.
"As the number of virus-related deaths in the UK accelerated in recent days, the unity behind the government’s response is shattering. Government figures showed Thursday that the country had 33,718 confirmed cases and 2,921 deaths — an increase of 569 deaths from the day before as the right-leaning Daily Mail newspaper slammed the “testing fiasco” on its front page Thursday....."
So they say after the Imperial College guy lowered all his projections.
"The worldwide race to protect people against being infected by unwitting coronavirus carriers intensified Thursday, pitting governments against each other as they buy protective gear and prompting new questions about who should wear masks, get temperature checks, or even be permitted to go outside. A top official in France’s hard-hit eastern region complained Thursday that American officials swooped in at a Chinese airport to spirit away a planeload of masks that France had ordered....."
That was Kushner!
"Germany relies on private labs to ramp up virus testing, a powerful weapon in the battle to contain COVID-19: a wealth of private laboratories that are helping it test more than 50,000 people a day....."
Fortunately, "there are signs that the worst may soon be over at the epicenter of Europe’s coronavirus crisis. The death rate is easing in Italy as growth in new cases moderates. While daily fatalities are still rising in Spain and Britain, the virus appears to be spreading more slowly in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and other countries. Pressure on hospital intensive-care units is letting up in some of the hardest-hit areas, including the Milan region. Italy’s progress in battling a disease that has killed more than 13,000 people there suggests that the unprecedented lockdown that has kept most of Europe indoors for the past few weeks is working. That said, health officials warned that restrictions must remain in place for a long time to come and government officials will need to resist pressure to reopen their economies too soon."
You can send that back up from where it came.
"Nine leading European university hospitals are warning they will run out of essential medicines needed for COVID-19 patients in intensive care in less than two weeks as they are increasingly crushed by the pandemic. The European University Hospital Alliance said that without countries cooperating to ensure a steady supply of these drugs, doctors and nurses might no longer be able to provide adequate intensive care for people critically ill with the new coronavirus. In a statement published this week and sent to national governments, the group said that aside from the need for protective gear and ventilators, “the most urgent need now is for the drugs that are necessary for intensive care patients.” They wrote that existing stocks of muscle relaxants, sedatives, and painkillers were likely to run out in two days at the hardest-hit hospitals, and in two weeks at others."
Good thing the worst may be over.
"The Justice Department says it is distributing about 192,000 N-95 masks to frontline medical workers in New York and New Jersey that were found during an investigation by the new coronavirus hoarding and price gouging task force. Officials say the masks, gloves, gowns, hand sanitizer, and other personal protective equipment were found by the FBI on March 30. The Justice Department says it notified the Department of Health and Human Services, which compelled the supplies be turned over as part of the Defense Production Act. Agents also found nearly 600,000 medical-grade gloves, 130,000 surgical masks, some N100 masks, and disinfectant spray and towels. Authorities said the owner would be paid “fair market value” for the supplies. The equipment is being sent to officials with the New York city and state health departments and the New Jersey Department of Health."
Related(?):
"A Brooklyn man was arrested for coughing on FBI agents who came to investigate whether he was selling medical supplies, including N95 masks, at inflated prices in what appears to be one of the first cases related to alleged profiteering from the coronavirus pandemic. Baruch Feldheim, 43, was charged with assaulting federal officers and lying to them about his accumulation and sale of medical supplies, the US attorney’s office in New Jersey said Monday. He wasn’t charged with profiteering. The agents had been staking out Feldheim’s residence in Brooklyn, watching people leave with what looked like medical supplies. Prosecutors said that Feldheim sold supplies at as much as a 700 percent markup to doctors and nurses. Hospitals in New York, New Jersey, and elsewhere are running so short on medical equipment that doctors and nurses are being forced to reuse disposable masks for days at a time. That’s spurred a wave of brokers and hustlers who are bombarding purchasing departments with offers, claiming they’ve located sources of supplies. Even if the administrators are willing to pay high prices, they’re having trouble telling who’s legitimate. The Trump administration has said it will crack down on profiteering. One doctor in New Jersey contacted Feldheim on March 18 through a WhatsApp chat group called “Virus2020!” and arranged to buy about 1,000 N95 masks and other goods for $12,000, prosecutors said. Feldheim sent the doctor to an auto repair shop in Irvington, N.J., to pick up his order, according to the statement. The doctor later said that the shop had enough hand sanitizer and surgical supplies to outfit a hospital, prosecutors said."
It's gotta be him, so why did the jew$paper shield him?
Is the the "owner" they were talking about?
Too bad he can't escape to Florida:
"A cruise ship that has been floating at sea with coronavirus patients aboard for two weeks after being turned away from South American ports was finally allowed to dock in Florida on Thursday. The Zaandam and a sister ship sent to help it, the Rotterdam, were both given permission to disembark passengers at Port Everglades after days of negotiation with local officials who feared it would divert needed resources from a region that has seen a spike in virus cases. Holland America had said 45 passengers who were mildly sick would stay on board until they recovered, but that it needed 10 people to be taken to a Fort Lauderdale hospital for immediate medical care. Broward County Commissioner Michael Udine said the agreement only allowed for fewer than five people to be taken to a hospital....."
It's heading for Bo$ton next.
"The Navy removed the captain of the stricken aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt on Thursday, only days after he implored his superior officers for more help as a coronavirus outbreak spread aboard the ship. In a letter that leaked to news organizations Tuesday, Captain Brett Crozier laid out the dire situation unfolding on the warship, with almost 5,000 crew members, and described what he said were the Navy’s failures to provide the proper resources to combat the virus by moving sailors off the vessel and disinfecting areas on board. About 114 sailors have been infected so far. Senior Defense Department officials were angry that the letter found its way first to The San Francisco Chronicle and then to other news outlets, where it was widely reported. Thomas Modly, the acting Navy secretary, said Crozier was fired because the growing coronavirus outbreak “overwhelmed his ability to act professionally.” The leadership issue, Modly noted, was that Crozier did not go through the military’s formal chain of command but sent the letter on an unclassified e-mail system to 20 to 30 people. The letter created a panic on the ship and among the crew’s families when it was made public, Modly said. He noted that there was no evidence that Crozier leaked the message. The captain demonstrated “extremely poor judgment” by not taking his concerns directly to his immediate superior, an admiral also aboard the Roosevelt, even though the Navy’s 7th Fleet in Japan was sending medical supplies to the ship, Modly said. The Navy tried to frame the decision to remove Crozier as one about loss of confidence and not retribution for the letter, but in firing a captain who complained that the Navy was not doing enough to stop the spread of the coronavirus, the Navy opened itself to criticism that it was insufficiently concerned about the health of its sailors. Lawmakers reacted angrily, and some reached out to Pentagon officials to urge them to reconsider removing the captain from his post. Modly told reporters Wednesday that he welcomed the captain’s decision to express his concerns — but that the captain would be punished if he were responsible for leaking the letter to the news media. On Thursday, Modly announced that he had lost confidence in Crozier and was removing him from his post (New York Times).
At least we won't be waging any wars on foreign enemies then, right? I mean, there is no indication that military operations around the globe have halted. That's a tell, and when you think about it, soldiers and commanders have to take orders. They an't blow the whistle on the simulation without severe repercussions.
Also see:
"The Pentagon confirmed that it is seeking to provide as many as 100,000 military-style body bags for potential civilian use as the United States warns that deaths could soar in the coming weeks from the coronavirus pandemic. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has requested 100,000 body bags through an interagency group that directed it to the Defense Department. While the Pentagon works to buy more bags, it will draw some initially from a stockpile of 50,000 it maintains, according to two people familiar with the request. The move is a somber counterpoint to the Pentagon’s highly praised deployment of two hospital ships to New York and Los Angeles to help alleviate pressure on regional hospitals. The DLA’s Troop Support unit manages the Pentagon’s stockpile of the green nylon, 94-inch by 38-inch body bags that are typically distributed to war zones. The unit has been in contact with the current contractor to assess its manufacturing capabilities but hasn’t yet placed a formal order, according to one of the people. As many as 200,000 Americans are projected to die in the US coronavirus outbreak, a top White House official said Tuesday, even with another 30 days of the most stringent public health restrictions in place. Reviewing the projections, President Trump warned Americans of a difficult period ahead. ‘‘This is going to be a painful two weeks,’’ Trump said at the White House on Tuesday. ‘‘Our strength will be tested, our endurance will be tried.’’ The government had not previously shared details on its projections for the spread of the virus."
Why not? Because the models are faulty and wildly off the mark?
Trump is doing all that he can to fight the evil with the warning, but what can he really do?
Meanwhile, beneath the radar:
"6.65 million file jobless claims as job market collapses under weight of coronavirus pandemic; Americans by the millions are seeking unemployment pay as the economy grinds to a halt — this week’s surge in the number of claims is double last week’s record amount. In Massachusetts, filings rose 22 percent to 181,032 on an unadjusted basis" by Larry Edelman Globe Staff, April 2, 2020
The coronavirus crisis took a fearsome toll on the once-vigorous US job market for the second straight week, as the spike in people thrown out of work, with its chilling echoes of the Great Depression, comes as pandemic shutdowns bring the economy to a grinding halt. Americans are fearful about their livelihoods at the very moment the country braces for a surge in COVID-19 cases that the White House estimates could result in 100,000 to 240,000 deaths.
I fear for the future, and may not be long. I look at the above paragraph and all I can think is how evil. I'm not saying the world was great, far from it. Conditions in the West via the wealth gap was yawning before all this; however, at least we had fun and distraction available. People were partying. That's all gone now.
Nearly 10 million Americans have sought unemployment pay over the past two weeks, or more than 6 percent of the total workforce. In Massachusetts, more than 329,500 people have filed claims, or just under 9 percent of the workforce.
“The increases are sobering and staggering, but the worst is yet to come,” said Thomas Kochan, a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
I gue$$ they would know all about it over there.
The United States entered March with an envious unemployment rate of 3.5 percent, a level not seen since 1969. Payrolls had grown for 113 straight months, to more than 151 million, and the biggest worry of most employers was finding enough qualified workers.
Even if those numbers are skewed and jiggered, what I said above still held true. We had freedom. Freedom to move about, freedom to assemble. No longer.
Now, layoffs are mounting with shocking speed. Pandemic containment measures cover 294 million people in at least 37 states, 74 counties, 14 cities, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, according to an April 1 tally by The New York Times.
Job losses came early in the travel, food, and hotel industries and have spread throughout the economy.
Handling the surge in jobless claims has become a major challenge for the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance, which has increased its call center staff tenfold to 500 and is endeavoring to respond to the thousands of calls from applicants who have encountered problems trying to file online.
Do you really want to $ee that, especially when that is the world into which we are being shoved? That will be your contact with government.
Claims totals may understate how many people have been laid off because they don’t include those who are ineligible for unemployment based on the specifics of their case, said Alan Clayton-Matthews, an economics professor at Northeastern University.
The ranks of the unemployed are expected to mount as the initial round of business shutdowns affect related companies and because the federal government will, for the first time, allow self-employed and gig workers to receive benefits in a non-disaster-relief situation.
Not $o fa$t.
Once those new eligibility rules are put into place, “the total numbers will be even more mind boggling,” Arindrajit Dube, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said on Twitter.
More than they are already.
The Labor Department will release its March jobs report Friday, but since the data is based on employer and household surveys taken earlier in the month, the numbers will not reflect the full scope of recent layoffs.
I would say throw it in the trash, but you might need that paper.
Many forecasters see a US unemployment rate of at least 10 percent by the end of June. Beyond that, predictions vary widely because so much depends on assumptions made about the length and severity of the pandemic.
Like the computer modeling driving the response during the simulation.
Goldman Sachs economists see the jobless rate climbing to 15 percent by midyear. James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, has one of the most pessimistic forecasts: He told Bloomberg that the jobless rate may hit 30 percent in the second quarter.
Nearly one in four US residents say they already have lost a job or income due to the crisis, according to the latest Health Tracking Poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
Congress last week passed a $2 trillion rescue package that includes a boost to unemployment benefits and financial aid to businesses aimed at protecting jobs. The bill will give laid-off employees — including newly eligible gig workers and independent contractors — $600 a week on top of their state benefits for four months. It would also extend benefits for 13 weeks beyond state limits.
Okay, they $ay that i$ the gig.
Meanwhile, the Fed has moved even more aggressively than during the 2007-2009 recession to ease the flow of credit and stabilize stressed financial markets.
“It almost feels like a turning point for gig workers,” said Scott Alderman, 59, of Shrewsbury, who drives for Uber and Lyft as his main source of income. “It’s a real positive thing.”
I'm not seeing anything positive in this, sorry.
Related: "Self-employed workers got the good news last week that they would be eligible to apply for unemployment — a first for independent contractors who drive for Uber and other gig-economy companies that have experienced a major downturn in business due to the coronavirus pandemic. but the bad news is: It's unclear how it will work and how long it will take for workers to get their money. States are not yet prepared to offer assistance to unemployed gig workers, according to news reports....."
That flies in the face of everything Edelman wrote.
WTF?
Alderman stopped driving March 14 on the advice of his doctor, who was concerned about an underlying medical condition. Alderman said he often took people to and from Logan Airport, and he grew increasingly worried about his exposure to the virus from international travelers.
If he croaks it's corona.
He applied for unemployment benefits Saturday and is waiting for approval; however, the state Department of Unemployment Assistance has since told nontraditional workers to hold off applying until it receives federal guidance on how to handle such claims.
The banks get their loot within hours, no questions asked.
WTF?
Before it imploded, the nation’s job boom had brought many lower-income, minority, and underskilled workers into the workforce. They are among the most vulnerable now, according to Eric Rosengren, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.....
Has he been tested?
Yeah, the boom imploded like a WTC tower and it demolished the economy at free-fall speed.
--more--"
Oh, yeah, about that check:
"IRS to start sending stimulus checks April 9; some Americans won’t receive them until September" by Lisa Rein Washington Post, April 2, 2020
The IRS plans to send electronic payments as soon as late next week to more than 115 million Americans as part of the $2 trillion coronavirus law, a week sooner than expected, according to a plan circulated internally Wednesday.
However, $30 million in paper checks for millions of other Americans won’t start being sent out until April 24, because the government lacks their banking information. And some of those checks won’t reach people until September, the document shows, underscoring the reality that many Americans could have to wait five months to receive their checks.
The speed with which the money is disbursed will depend largely on people’s method of filing taxes. Electronic payments can be distributed quickly, whereas the IRS must print paper checks and mail them separately. About 8 in 10 taxpayers have signed up for direct deposit payments for their past tax refunds, a number that has grown in recent years.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Thursday that these Americans would receive the money within two weeks.
An IRS spokesman couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
The IRS plan would distribute paper checks to the lowest-income Americans first, prioritizing payments for individual taxpayers with incomes of $10,000 or less on April 24.
Checks for earners of $20,000 or less would be in the mail May 1, followed by those with incomes of $30,000 on May 8, $40,000 on May 15, and continuing in income increments of $10,000 each week, according to the plan. The IRS plans to issue about 5 million checks each week.
Stimulus checks would be issued on Sept. 4 to joint taxpayers earning around $200,000, the maximum allowed under the stimulus. All others would be sent on Sept. 11, in most cases because the IRS did not have prior tax information for them and they need to apply for the checks.
Another turn of the mind-f*** knife or what?
The tax agency is racing to set up payment systems as millions of Americans have been forced out of the labor force by the pandemic, with jobless claims soaring to a staggering 6.6 million last week.
The plan is to generate electronic checks on April 9, according to the payment schedule reviewed by The Washington Post. Depending on how quickly banks process the payments, they would be deposited by April 14 at the latest.
Our fates are in their hands!
American adults who earned less than $75,000 will receive a $1,200 payment, with children receiving $500. About 145 million Americans are eligible for stimulus checks, depending on their income. Mnuchin had said he expected most Americans to get their payments by April 17. The IRS still has not said publicly how long it would take the agency to issue paper checks, or how it plans to decide who should get them first.
Here are those who will not be getting checks.
Another 64 million Americans receiving Social Security and disability income will also receive checks, many of them electronically, after the Treasury Department announced Wednesday that they can get payments even if they typically do not file a tax return.....
I hope it doesn't get lost in the mail.
--more--"
"The economic shocks from the pandemic are reaching deep into the Massachusetts work world; Even industries long insulated from recessions, such as health care, are idling workers or cutting paychecks" by Tim Logan and Shirley Leung Globe Staff and Globe Columnist, April 2, 2020
Chris Crompton has many contacts in the tourism industries in Asia and Europe, so he had a sense of impending doom as the coronavirus spread into the United States and began to grip Boston just a few weeks ago.
We all have that.
By the second week of March, Old Town Trolley Tours of Boston business was off by 50 percent; last week Crompton, general manager of Old Town Trolley, laid off 96 employees, or about 90 percent of his staff. The remaining employees have taken pay cuts, including Crompton.
Workers at hotels and restaurants were the first faces of the unemployment line created by a COVID-19-induced economic shutdown, but they were only the first, and economists expect the damage will only spread as the virus puts an ever-broader swath of American life into a deep freeze.
“I would say pretty much every sector is at risk,” said Jay Zagorsky, a senior lecturer at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. “Many white-collar professions are tied indirectly to COVID-19. … I don’t think we’ve seen the white-collar wave yet.”
It’s starting. Some health care and life science companies, such as Atrius Health and Boston Scientific, are already cutting pay or mandating furloughs. Other industries, including those long insulated from recessions, have cut even deeper.
The Massachusetts Dental Society, for instance, recommended its members close for all but emergency care, said president Janis Moriarty. It was a painful but practical decision that shuttered hundreds of Main Street businesses across the state.
“It was not something we took lightly,” said Moriarty, who has furloughed the 18 employees at her own clinic in Winchester. “It’s tough financially, but we had to think beyond the business aspects of this.”
If you have one you like, pray he/she doesn't go out of practice.
Dan Brownbridge, who co-owns Joint Ventures Physical Therapy, made a similar choice, closing his 10 outpatient clinics around Greater Boston. They could have stayed open, with physical therapy considered “essential” under Governor Charlie Baker’s stay-at-home advisories, but Brownbridge said he couldn’t risk getting staff, or patients, sick.
“I can’t say we’re essential enough for that,” he said. “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.”
Some people won't be able to do that.
So Brownbridge and his business partner laid off 95 employees and turned off the lights on a company they’ve spent 15 years building. These days, they’re on the phone with bankers, landlords, business advisers, trying to figure out how best to navigate stimulus programs and keep their remaining costs in check, and he’s still in touch with all those laid-off employees, updating them on his progress several times a week.
“We’re trying to stay positive about it,” Brownbridge said. “Everybody right now is depressed and scared. I feel like, as a business owner, it’s my job to try and be a leader, to rally the troops.”
I know, we are perpetually at war with something; however, this saddens me almost to tears. People's dreams, people's lives, ripped from them by a band of greedy, evil fu**s! You spend ll those years building up a business then.... poof, gone.
In some white-collar and professional services fields, layoffs haven’t really hit yet. There’s still a backlog of work left over from those busy days just a few weeks ago. That’s true in real estate where, despite the challenges that come with social distancing, sales are still closing and renters are still looking for apartments, at least virtually, but the longer this lasts, the more the troubles will ripple through that industry too, said Jason Gell, a Newton-based real estate agent and president of the Greater Boston Association of Realtors.
Clear that backlog as slowly as you can!
“We can absorb what’s going on right now,” he said, noting that peak apartment-hunting season is only really beginning in Greater Boston, “but if this stretches into June, July, we’re going to have some real concerns,” and that’s one of the biggest looming questions around this whole episode: How long will it last?
Some companies are betting on a short, albeit painful recession, followed by a recovery later this year. So they’re laying off workers with an eye to bringing them back.
At Merrimac Tool Co., a machine shop in Amesbury, founder Alan Porter let go all 16 employees last month in response to Baker’s order to shut nonessential businesses, but Porter remains bullish about the future and expects a solid rebound once the health crisis ends. If the quarantine ended today, Porter said, he could rehire his whole crew and resume production at full capacity.
Another one, and he's living a pipe dream.
“I think business will be great afterward,” he said, partly because some companies will turn their backs on shipping work to China, but for some industries, the prognosis is far less clear.
Logan Airport was nearly deserted on Thursday. Many workers at the airport and for the airlines have lost their jobs. (Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff)
Looks like some at Logan are “as good as laid off,” and they DID NOT LOSE their jobs. Their jobs were TAKEN FROM THEM!
The federal government’s $2 trillion economic rescue package aims to cushion the blow for laid-off workers and small businesses caught in the undertow by increasing the amount of unemployment benefits and offering employers $349 billion in forgivable loans.
See: Protecting Your Paycheck
It's the banks that are looking after it!
Peter Marks, president of Everett specialty food distributor Paul W. Marks Co., praised the government response and plans to apply for a loan, but when he looks at the financial hit his company is taking, he knows the aid won’t be enough.
The business is still delivering cheese, milk, and other perishables to restaurants and institutions such as hospitals, but revenue is down dramatically. So Marks has trimmed his staff to about 30, down from about 100. The company has a fleet of 30 trucks, but only eight are in use now. “We’re going to need more money," said Marks, and for laid-off workers, it’s a waiting game. The shutdown, while necessary to stop the virus, hurts. “It’s horribly unfortunate," said Bob Regan, 59, a conductor for Old Town Trolley Tours. "This too shall pass, unfortunately at a great cost.”
Time to be ever more vigilant.
--more--"
What would you do?
"Layoffs, furloughs, or pay cuts? Businesses and workers grapple with unappealing options; With revenue cratering amid the coronavirus shutdown, companies are slashing payroll costs" by Andy Rosen Globe Staff, April 2, 2020
Some employees are out of a job entirely. Some are off work without pay until the COVID-19 emergency ends and their workplaces can reopen. Some are doing the same job, but for less pay. As employers reckon with catastrophic declines in revenue, they face a slate of unappealing choices in how to manage payroll.
Really?
See:
"Supermarket chains aren’t the only ones raising their workers’ pay during the coronavirus pandemic. Convenience stores and gas stations are getting in on the act, too. The New England Convenience Store and Energy Marketers Association reported that several local c-store groups are giving bonuses and raises to employees for helping them keep the stores open and safe. Duxbury-based Verc Enterprises, for example, has given all full-timers a $500 bonus and all part-timers a $200 bonus, while increasing the pay of store managers by $100 per week and store workers by $2 per hour. Other examples: Nouria Energy gave a $1 per hour pay raise to all its employees, and Global Partners is giving its retail workers $50 in gift certificates for food each month."
Maybe they need to find another job, huh?
Layoffs, furloughs, and salary reductions can all buy struggling businesses time, but they come at a substantial human cost, and the decisions that companies make now will determine how quickly they’ll be able to resume operations when the public health and economic crises subside.
“I find that a lot of employers are reluctant to do permanent layoffs, because, frankly, this is such an unusual event that no one can accurately predict what’s going to happen just a few months from now,” said Christopher Feudo, an employment attorney at Foley Hoag LLP who serves on the firm’s COVID-19 task force.
They can and have, be it the genocidal creep Gates or MIT.
Despite the uncertain fallout from the viral pandemic, however, many employers are in such dire shape that they feel they have no other choice but to make cuts.
Nancy Waldron, a business professor at Lasell University, said businesses that don’t have a realistic hope of recovering fully from the economic shock would be best served to level with their staffers and give them a clean break.
Like what the neocons drew up for Israel to secure the realm?
“You have to be really open with your employees at any time of great change,” she said. “If you are furloughing workers, that gives them a little sliver of hope.”
Furloughs, or temporary layoffs, qualify people for unemployment insurance in Massachusetts if they are caused by the coronavirus outbreak. They also give a business a better shot at quickly reassembling its workforce when the conditions are right.
Still, they are not to be taken lightly, employers say.
Tony Maws, chef-owner of Craigie on Main in Cambridge, furloughed about 40 employees, while keeping on staff five workers to do take out and delivery.
Maws decided to let people go because he doesn’t have the cash flow to keep them on the payroll. Business is dramatically down, even with delivery service. Maws’s goal is to have enough savings to reopen and rehire.
“We’re thinking about long term,” Maws explained. “I want you to have a job to come back to.”
A somewhat less drastic ― if still painful ― decision being taken by some companies is a temporary reduction in pay for employees during a period of financial stress.
Such a measure may be combined with furloughs as a way for businesses to continue operating as fully as possible while facing what they hope are temporary cash flow problems. Pay reductions, depending on the job, may come with a decrease in working hours, or be offset by the prospect of bonuses later, but they keep employees on the payroll.
Waldron said that pay cuts for the rank-and-file should be accompanied by decreases for management. Senior executives can create a lot of good will if they are the first to absorb the financial hit, she added.
You mean $et a good example?
The $2 trillion federal stimulus package provides an incentive for some employers to retain their workforces as they wait out the virus. The new law offers small businesses and nonprofits forgivable loans to pay employees’ salaries or bring back those they’ve laid off, and to cover costs such as rent and utilities.
Yeah, the chump change check you will be waiting months for will $ave you.
Massachusetts’ relatively new casino industry provides a glimpse into the complex calculus that companies are considering as they decide how to handle a crushing loss of income. All three of the state’s casinos agreed to pay at least their full-time workers for two weeks after state regulators shut them down in response to the coronavirus outbreak, but as business closures have spread here and around the country, the owners of MGM Springfield and Plainridge Park have placed huge swaths of their workforces on furlough.
Meanwhile, Encore Boston Harbor says it will keep all of its full- and part-time employees on the payroll through May 15 under a companywide decision announced this week by Matt Maddox, chief executive of parent company Wynn Resorts.
The company came into the crisis with an enviable balance sheet, which left it with options that other businesses don’t have. Encore president Brian Gullbrants said in an interview this week that the decision to keep paying employees will make a smooth reopening more likely whenever it is allowed to resume operations.
If you don't get a bailout, you won't survive.
Carlos Aramayo, president of UNITE HERE Local 26, which represents workers at Encore and in many other parts of the hard-hit hospitality industry, said in an interview that there are many owners of hotels and other facilities that would do well to take note of what places like Encore, Harvard, and MIT are doing by continuing to pay wages.
While not every organization has the financial strength to keep workers on full pay through a shutdown of indefinite length, he said, moves to keep people on benefits or able to receive some compensation will eventually reap dividends.
“It’s important for us as a society to recognize the value that people create through the work that they do every single day," he said. “While people are feeling a pinch right now . . . all of us need to remind ourselves of that and figure out how all of us can bear the brunt of this economic hit and not have it just borne by those workers.”
Only if your "e$$ential," right?
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You may want to cross that picket line:
"Boston Scientific cuts pay for many of its 36,000 workers as revenue drops; Medical device maker says postponement of elective surgeries has hurt its business" by Jonathan Saltzman Globe Staff, April 2, 2020
Boston Scientific said Thursday that it’s cutting wages for many of its roughly 36,000 global employees by 20 percent for the next 90 days because the postponement of elective surgeries during the coronavirus pandemic has decreased revenue.
The Marlborough-based medical device maker also plans to make deeper cuts to the base salaries of its chief executive, Mike Mahoney, and those of its board of directors and executive committee. Boston Scientific predicted that the impact of COVID-19 will be worse in the second quarter.
Starting in a couple of weeks, Boston Scientific plans to put most of its full-time US workers who aren’t involved in sales or manufacturing on a four-day work week for 90 days, with a corresponding reduction in base salary. Hours for part-time employees will be maintained at a level to preserve benefits.
Boston Scientific has about 17,000 workers in the United States, including nearly 3,000 in Massachusetts. A spokeswoman declined to say what will happen to Boston Scientific’s 19,000 overseas employees as part its “mitigation plans” or specify the number of workers overall whose pay will be reduced.
In a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said business was down because doctors domestically and abroad are postponing elective surgeries and procedures during the epidemic. Many of those procedures use the company’s products, from coronary stents to endoscopic devices.....
The coronary stent isn't an emergency?
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You wouldn't want to work in that field anyway:
"Near tripling of employee coronavirus infections in largest Massachusetts hospitals in past week; Head of nurses association also says current worker infection numbers may understate the problem" by Priyanka Dayal McCluskey and Travis Andersen Globe Staff, April 2, 2020
Coronavirus infections among employees at major hospitals in Massachusetts nearly tripled over the past week, intensifying alarm about workers’ health, potential spread to others, and the withdrawal of staff at such a critical time in the pandemic.
As of Wednesday, there were 509 infected workers at the hospitals, up from 177 the prior week, according to hospital data tracked by the Globe.
Stay away from the hospital then, and things will stay quiet(?).
This comes as epidemiologists predict Massachusetts is about two weeks away from its peak demand on hospitals, and amid ongoing worries about shortages of masks and other personal protective equipment for health care workers.
It's the “unfortunate reality.”
Not all of the infected employees work directly with patients. “We aren’t seeing clusters,” said Brooke Hynes, a spokeswoman for Tufts Medical Center’s parent company, Wellforce. “We still think a lot of it is coming from the community spread.”
Related:
"The parent company of Tufts Medical Center on Thursday announced temporary layoffs and reduced hours for nearly 2,000 of its employees, the latest hospital system to make cuts amid a sudden drop in revenue during the coronavirus pandemic. “Coronavirus has changed how health care is delivered,” said Tufts Medical Center spokesman Jeremy Lechan in a statement. “We do not know how long this crisis will last, but we must think ahead to ensure we can keep our doors open for our community long-term.” Labor unions, including the Massachusetts Nurses Association, oppose furloughs and have called for halting staff reductions during the pandemic......"
WTF?
If they have had their jobs taken from them, are they more likely to blow the whistle on the simulation or do they have to sign nondisclosure agreements so they can get paid?
The breakdown included 139 infected workers at Massachusetts General Hospital, compared to 41 the prior week; 125 at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, up from 45; 82 at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, up from 40; 65 at Boston Medical Center, up from 15; 66 at Tufts Medical Center, up from 31; and 32 at UMass Memorial Medical Center, up from five. The Beth Israel numbers were current as of Friday, while the others were current as of last Wednesday.
Employees at Partners HealthCare hospitals, which include Mass General and Brigham and Women’s, are required to wear masks at all times during their shifts.
Yea, “PPE” has become a chic term now.
On Thursday, the Kraft family used a New England Patriots team plane to bring about 1 million N95 respirator masks from China to Massachusetts health care workers.
“The sharp increase in hospital employees diagnosed with COVID-19 is concerning, and our thoughts are with those who have been stricken,” Dr. Maryanne C. Bombaugh, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, said in a statement Thursday.
“The rapid surge in confirmed cases within hospitals underscores the dire need for personal protective equipment for all who are confronting this pandemic on the front lines,” she said, "and affirms that social distancing is an absolute must if we wish to protect each other and those who need to be healthy and strong to care for patients.”
I'm sick of being beaten over the head with that.
--more--"
Related:
"A local plastics factory will soon provide health care workers with thousands of protective face shields that engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology hurriedly designed as the rapid spread of the novel coronavirus threatened to overwhelm the medical industry....."
I'm told “people dropped everything to do it.”
Also see:
Health insurers press Congress for premium relief
Disappointing trial results may not bode well for Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug
Boston hospitals getting ‘game changer’ machine that sterilizes 80,000 protective masks a day
Here is a look inside:
N95 respirators staged for decontamination in the Battelle Critical Care Decontamination System. (Battelle)
A person wearing a mask to protect against the coronavirus walked past the Josiah Quincy Elementary School in Chinatown. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)
Boston officials are asking residents to please stop throwing masks and gloves on the ground because it’s gross and it raises concern about the ‘false-negative’ results, although 75% or more are either false positives or the swabs themselves are contaminated with the virus so you will get sick later and, bingo, test now says you positive.
Custodian Patti Alesci cleans desks at a high school in Pepper Pike, Ohio, that was closed to help stem the spread of the coronavirus. (Tony Dejak/Associated Press)
Why isn't she wearing a mask, and why are these fellas not practicing social distancing?
Jamaica Plain residents (from left) Gert Thorn, Kevin Moloney, Michael Epp, and and Ed Forte worked together to persuade Chase to alter the design of a new bank branch. (Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff)
Time to laid the plane for the flight back:
"Boeing offers employees buyouts as US economy shudders" by Aaron Gregg Washington Post, April 2, 2020
WASHINGTON — Boeing has started offering buyouts to its employees in a move to stave off more drastic workforce cuts, the latest in a series of drastic moves to contain the financial damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Details of the ‘‘voluntary layoff’’ plan — including who may be eligible, how many jobs will be cut and specific details of buyout packages — will be provided within three to four weeks, employees were told Thursday.
The Chicago-based aerospace giant’s resilience has been severely tested by a multipronged crisis. For more than a year, the company has been working to revive its flagship commercial jet, the 737 Max, after equipment flaws were linked to two deadly crashes that killed hundreds of people.
More recently, the pandemic has gutted demand for Boeing’s passenger jets as airlines across the globe effectively grind to a halt. Boeing’s problems are compounded by the fact that the Seattle area, the center of its global manufacturing operations, is also an early hot spot for the virus.
Chief executive Dave Calhoun said in a letter to Boeing employees that the buyouts aim to ‘‘reduce the need for other workforce actions,’’ likely alluding to possible layoffs.
He offered a blunt interpretation of the company’s post-crisis prospects, suggesting that the market for its products could change drastically.
‘‘One thing is already clear: It will take time for the aerospace industry to recover from the crisis,’’ Calhoun wrote. ‘‘When the world emerges from the pandemic, the size of the commercial market and the types of products and services our customers want and need will likely be different.’’
He said it might take years for the industry to get back to its former glory.
‘‘We will need to balance the supply and demand accordingly as the industry goes through the recovery process for years to come,’’ Calhoun added.
I thought that was our $y$tem.
The buyouts are the latest aggressive move to contain the financial damage. In mid-March, Boeing drew down the full amount of a $13.8 billion loan meant to cover costs related to the ongoing grounding of the 737 Max. It also halted new hires company-wide.
That's when the print copy lost contact amidst the clouds.
The company halted all production activities in the Puget Sound region of Washington state for two weeks starting March 23, affecting some 70,000 employees. The production halt was largely to contain a coronavirus outbreak within Boeing’s own Everett, Wash., factory, where an employee who contracted coronavirus is reported to have died. As of last week, the company had logged 32 confirmed cases.
Even before the pandemic, Boeing was hitting financial lows never before seen in its 103-year history. It finished 2019 with $76.5 billion in annual revenue, a whopping 24 percent drop from the previous year.
Boeing’s commercial aircraft division — once considered a cash cow that allowed it to outbid competitors for major military deals — could soon make less money than the Arlington, Va.-based defense division, which has historically accounted for a small portion of its revenue. The commercial division made $32 billion last year, compared to $26 billion on the defense side.
In television interviews last week, Calhoun insisted that Boeing had private financing options that could help sustain it, but analysts increasingly believe the company could face bankruptcy, mass layoffs, or both if public funding is not provided.
They go broke without a bailout, and maybe they should. They were never held accountable for withholding from the pilots and public the problems with the computer software systems that led to two horrific plane crashes.
A Boeing official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the company will work with the Treasury Department to ‘‘determine the best path forward for our workforce and our business’’ once the department establishes eligibility requirements.
How much money are they getting?
Boeing has said there should be at least $60 billion in ‘‘public and private liquidity, including loan guarantees,’’ for the broader aerospace manufacturing industry.
The recently finalized $2 trillion federal aid package quietly carved out a $17 billion fund for businesses deemed ‘‘critical to maintaining the national security.’’ Although the provision does not mention Boeing by name, it was inserted into the bill largely for Boeing’s benefit, said people who were involved in the aid deliberations.
So who f***ed us by in$ertion?
In the letter Tuesday, Calhoun said the company would still deliver on its existing commercial and defense orders. He also pledged to be honest and transparent with employees.
He must be light-headed from the altitude!
‘‘I can’t predict with certainty what the next few months will bring, but I can commit to being honest about what’s happening and doing everything we can to protect our people and our business through this crisis,’’ Calhoun wrote.
Just keep the paychecks coming.
--more--"
Related:
Southwest joins American in seeking US help
Also see:
Nation Grid acting US president made permanent
Healey asks DPU to delay natural gas rate increases for pipeline replacements
Nissan recalling more than 250,000 vehicles over air bag inflators
Ford may propose reprise of ‘cash for clunkers’
Coal companies owned by West Virginia governor to pay more than $5m fine
Better keep that power on:
"Shut-in television viewers tuned in to the game show “Let’s Make a Deal” in record numbers last week. TV programs across the dial recorded superlatives last week with a captive audience of millions of Americans told to stay home because of the coronavirus. Few were as interesting as the newfound fervor for CBS’ “Let’s Make a Deal,” which recorded its most-watched week since the show was brought back 11 years ago with Wayne Brady as host, the Nielsen company said. Viewers also gave “The Price is Right,” now hosted by Drew Carey, its biggest audience in four years, Nielsen said."
Related:
"Television, like every other industry, is heading into unknown territory with the coronavirus shutdowns. More people are watching TV as a form of safe entertainment at home — but before too long, what will be available for them to watch? Sure, we can call these episodes up whenever we please, in this age of on-demand. Any “Seinfeld,” any time, but that’s not how many viewers — particularly network TV viewers — operate. They just watch what’s on the air at a given moment, and I admit that sometimes I just want to click around and land on something. In an era, thanks to on-demand and streaming, when we never really have to watch what’s being served up, sometimes it’s soothing to just sit back and be passive....."
Click.
