Week of Sept 11, 2020 Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
“Every once in a while, an up-or-down-leg goes on for a long time and/or to a great extreme and people start to say “this time it’s different.” They cite the changes in geopolitics, institutions, technology or behaviour that have rendered the “old rules” obsolete. They make investment decisions that extrapolate the recent trend. And then it turns out that the old rules still apply and the cycle resumes. In the end, trees don’t grow to the sky, and few things go to zero.”
― Howard Marks
1. Citigroup’s Jane Fraser to Succeed Michael Corbat as CEO — Jane Fraser will become the first woman to run a major Wall Street bank, succeeding Michael Corbat as Citigroup Inc. C -0.88% chief executive when he retires in February. During the financial crisis, she ran the bank’s strategy division, laying the groundwork to sell units like the Smith Barney brokerage and shrink the overall bank. In 2015, she was sent to run the bank’s important Latin America divisions.
2. U.S. Unemployment Claims Held Steady Last Week — Unemployment claims were unchanged at 884,000 last week, the Labor Department reported. The number of people seeking and collecting unemployment benefits has remained at historically high levels in recent weeks, a sign the labor-market recovery is losing steam six months after the pandemic struck the U.S.The total number of workers receiving assistance from state and federal programs also remained high in late August, as more workers turned to pandemic-related programs for assistance. The total of about 29.6 million people, which isn’t seasonally adjusted and lags two weeks behind new state claims figures, includes temporary pandemic programs for self-employed and gig workers in addition to those receiving regular state benefits.
3. Century 21 Files for Bankruptcy, to Close All 13 Stores — Century 21, where generations of New Yorkers shopped for deep discounts on everything from Prada handbags to Jerry Garcia ties, filed for bankruptcy, the latest retailer to fall victim to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Century 21 Department Stores LLC said Thursday that it is closing all 13 of its department stores and that it plans to liquidate its assets under chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York. In recent years, Century 21 expanded beyond its roots in New York City to open stores in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Florida. Going-out-of-business sales are set to start soon.
4. China Injects Hundreds of Thousands With Experimental Covid-19 Vaccines — China National Biotec Group Co., a subsidiary of state-owned Sinopharm, has given two experimental vaccine candidates to hundreds of thousands of people under an emergency-use condition approved by Beijing in July, the company said this week. Separately, Chinese drugmaker Sinovac Biotech Ltd. said it has inoculated around 3,000 of its employees and their family members, including the firm’s chief executive, with its experimental coronavirus vaccine. The three vaccine candidates are still undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials, which involve testing a vaccine’s safety and effectiveness on thousands of people. Six other leading Covid-19 vaccine candidates are also in this final phase, according to the World Health Organization.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
