“An expert in any field will have an advantage over a rookie. But neither the veteran nor the rookie can be sure what the next flip will look like. The veteran will just have a better guess” — Howard Marks

1. Former Vice President Joe Biden Won the South Carolina Democratic Presidential Primary — Pete Buttigieg dropped out of the race, a day after Tom Steyer ended his bid. The rapid ascent of Mr. Sanders in the primaries confronts American business with the once unthinkable: The most powerful policy maker in the world could soon be a strident, lifelong critic of capitalism and big business. Also, SuperTuesday results in Biden sweeps the South, wins Texas; Sanders takes California. Joe Biden notched an impressive string of Super Tuesday victories, while Bernie Sanders won delegate-rich California, as the pair broke away from the field in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. The Democratic nomination contest has narrowed to essentially a two-person race
2. Washington State Emerged as the U.S. Center of a Spreading Coronavirus — state health officials reported four additional deaths there and 18 confirmed cases, and a number of schools closed for disinfection. The OECD said global economic growth will slow sharply this year as governments attempt to contain the epidemic, although the scale of the setback is highly uncertain. Industries from airlines to oil and energy face weakened business.
3. Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Half Percentage Point to Combat Virus Fear — the Fed made an emergency half-percentage-point rate cut, the first rate change between scheduled policy meetings since the 2008 financial crisis. But U.S. stock markets fell anyway, and the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slipped below 1% for the first time, reflecting fears of a coronavirus recession.
4. General Motors is Renewing Its Push to Convince Wall Street on Electric Cars — in a presentation at the company’s engineering center near Detroit, GM executives detailed their strategy, including plans for new battery technology that will allow its vehicles to travel up to 400 miles on a single charge. The company said it would spend $20 billion to develop electric and autonomous vehicles. Investors have so far been putting their money on Tesla as the company best positioned to capitalize on a big swing toward electric vehicles. Tesla’s valuation has soared to more than $130 billion, roughly three times GM’s.
5. The number of U.S. coronavirus cases has risen Rapidly — the number of U.S. coronavirus cases has risen to 206, with 11 deaths. Ten of those deaths are in Washington state. While many of the overall cases are linked to travel, a growing number in certain parts of the country is linked to what is known as community transmission. Community transmission is a milestone for any disease, given that the virus could be circulating among the general public. But U.S. health officials said the mortality rate for the virus was likely lower than what other health organizations have estimated, citing the probability of many unreported cases. Seattle-area companies and schools reacted swiftly. The Northshore School District shut its 33 campuses for up to 14 days, affecting over 23,500 students. Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft all asked many employees to work from home. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency as the number of cases there rose to more than 50. Officials said two New York City residents and nine people in surrounding counties tested positive, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 22.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: