Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted, or were predicted to be impacted, by the comments, actions and policies of President Donald Trump and his administration with this weekly recap compiled by The Fly:
1. COVID-19 TREATMENTS: President Trump, in a coronavirus update press conference from the White House on Thursday, mentioned remdesivir, which is being developed by Gilead (GILD), as "very close" to being approved by the FDA. Commenting on the press conference, Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said it was "a relatively minor disappointment" as it did not necessarily include any major change or anything new since remdesivir is already known to be available for compassionate use.
After the press update, Gilead told CNBC's Meg Tirrell: "Gilead is working with urgency to respond to the pressing need for an effective treatment for COVID-19. Remdesivir is an investigational antiviral with limited data at this time -- it is not approved anywhere globally and has not been demonstrated to be safe for effective for any use. Gilead is supporting five clinical trials of remdesivir around the world -- three of which are enrolling patients in the United States -- to rapidly determine the safety and efficacy of remdesivir as a potential treatment for COVID-19."
Bayer (BAYRY) also announced that it is joining the U.S. government's fight against COVID-19 with a donation of 3M tablets of the drug Resochin, or chloroquine phosphate. Resochin, a product discovered by Bayer in 1934 and indicated for prevention and treatment of malaria, also appears to have broad spectrum antiviral properties and effects on the body's immune response. New data from initial preclinical and evolving clinical research conducted in China, while limited, shows potential for the use of Resochin in treating patients with COVID-19 infection, the company announced.
Currently not approved for use in the U.S., Bayer is working with appropriate agencies on an Emergency Use Authorization for the drug's use in the U.S.
2. UNITED ASK EMPLOYEES TO PRESS LAWMAKERS: United Airlines (UAL) CEO Oscar Munoz, President J. Scott Kirby, and labor leaders issued a message to nearly 100,000 United Airlines employees, in which they encouraged employees to send a letter or email to their representatives in Washington, D.C. urging them to take quick, bipartisan action to protect airline jobs. In the letter, Munoz and company said that if Congress doesn't act on sufficient government support by the end of March, "our company will begin to take the necessary steps to reduce our payroll in line with the 60% schedule reduction we announced for April," adding that "May's schedule is likely to be cut even further."
On Monday, Airlines for America, or A4A, the industry trade organization for the leading U.S. airlines, stated that it is recommending "the following combination of programs to provide immediate and medium to long-term assistance to the U.S. airline industry and protect their employees: 1) grants; 2) loans; and 3) tax relief...U.S. airlines are in continuous conversations with the Administration, Congress and labor unions in an effort to secure financial assistance from the federal government to protect and preserve the 750,000 jobs of hardworking men and women who are directly employed by U.S. airlines, as well the 10 million jobs supported by the airline industry." Other publicly traded companies in the space include Alaska Air (ALK), American Airlines (AAL), Delta Air Lines (DAL), JetBlue (JBLU), Southwest (LUV), and Spirit Airlines (SAVE).
3. HOTEL INDUSTRY, THEATER OPERATORS ASK FOR BAILOUT: The U.S. hotel industry has asked the Trump administration for a $150B bailout Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal's Ted Mann and Alison Sider reported. Hotel industry groups requested $100B to retain workers and $50B to service debt as they warned that half the hotels in the country could close this year after getting hammered by the fallout of the coronavirus. The $150B is in addition to a $100B request for aid to related businesses, such as rental-car companies and travel agencies. Publicly traded companies in the space include Choice Hotels (CHH), Hilton (HLT), Hyatt (H), InterContinental (IHG), Marriott (MAR), Starwood (HOT) and Wyndham (WYN).
Meanwhile, the trade group that representing movie theaters in the U.S., the National Association of Theater Owners, has asked for immediate help on Thursday morning. The organization, which represents most of the industry's cinemas, said that it's asking for immediate federal help for its chains and its 150,000 employees. The theaters are requesting loan guarantees for exhibitors, tax benefits for employees and funds to compensate for lost ticket sales and concessions. Publicly traded companies in the space include AMC Entertainment (AMC), Marcus (MCS), Cineworld Group (CNNWF), Imax (IMAX), and Cinemark Holdings (CNK).
4. $1T STIMULUS PACKAGE: The White House is seeking a stimulus package worth anywhere from $850B to over $1T as the Trump administration looks to battle the economic impact from the coronavirus pandemic, CNBC's Kevin Breuninger and Lauren Hirsch reported earlier this week, citing a source familiar with the matter. An administration official said the package could include $500B-$550B in direct payments or tax cuts, $200B-$300B in small business assistance, and $50B-$100B in airline and industry relief, the authors added. Potentially $250B of the package could go toward making direct payments to Americans, an official there told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.
On Thursday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that the U.S. government's coronavirus stimulus plan could see every American receive two $1,000 checks from the government within nine weeks, The Hill's Niv Elis reported. The proposed $1T package would provide each adult American with a $1,000 check, plus $500 for each child, the author noted.
5. DELAYED MORTGAGE PAYMENTS: The White House is weighing a plan to allow homeowners whose income was cut by COVID-19 to delay mortgage payments, Bloomberg's Prashant Gopal reported, citing the Mortgage Bankers Association. It has yet to be decided what mechanism will be used for borrowers to catch up, Gopal said. Publicly traded companies in the space include Bank of America (BAC), Citi (C), Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan (JPM), Morgan Stanley (MS), U.S. Bancorp (USB) and Wells Fargo (WFC).
6. TSMC CONSIDERING NEW U.S. PLANT: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) is weighing whether to build an advanced chip facility in the U.S. in response to pressure from Washington, which wants the company to produce on American soil over security concerns, Nikkei's Cheng Ting-Fang and Lauly Li reported. TSMC, which makes chips for U.S. F-35 (LMT) fighter jets and supplies almost all global chip developers, including Apple (AAPL), Huawei, Qualcomm (QCOM) and Nvidia (NVDA), is actively considering a U.S. plant, two sources said, adding that a new plant would aim to be the world's most cutting-edge, producing semiconductors more advanced than the 5-nanometer node chips that Apple will adopt in its latest 5G iPhones this year.
7. SAUDI-RUSSIA OIL STANDOFF: The Trump administration is considering intervening in the Saudi-Russian oil-price war with a diplomatic push to get the Saudis to cut oil production and threats of sanctions on Russia aimed at stabilizing markets, The Wall Street Journal's Timothy Puko reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The new strategy follows lobbying from U.S. oil companies asking for the Trump administration to ramp up its diplomatic intervention in the oil markets, the people said. Publicly traded companies in the space include BP (BP), ConocoPhillips (COP), Total (TOT), ExxonMobil (XOM) Chevron (CVX) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B).
Gilead
-5.26 (-6.70%)
Bayer
+ (+0.00%)
United Airlines
+3.3 (+15.51%)
Alaska Air
-0.57 (-2.36%)
American Airlines
+0.1 (+0.97%)
Delta Air Lines
-0.13 (-0.60%)
JetBlue
-0.44 (-5.79%)
Southwest
+1.245 (+4.06%)
Spirit Airlines
+0.295 (+3.53%)
Choice Hotels
+1.765 (+3.15%)
Hilton
+3.72 (+6.41%)
Hyatt
+6.83 (+17.13%)
InterContinental
+2.33 (+8.19%)
Marriott
+7.79 (+11.66%)
HOT
+
Symbol is WH
+ (+0.00%)
AMC Entertainment
-0.21 (-6.21%)
Marcus
-0.185 (-1.72%)
CNNWF
+
Imax
-0.86 (-7.51%)
Cinemark
-0.015 (-0.13%)
Bank of America
-1.56 (-7.36%)
Citi
-1.575 (-3.97%)
Goldman Sachs
-10.5 (-7.04%)
JPMorgan
-1.85 (-2.17%)
Morgan Stanley
-1.195 (-3.87%)
U.S. Bancorp
-0.45 (-1.36%)
Wells Fargo
-1.84 (-6.50%)
Lockheed Martin
-24.005 (-7.63%)
Apple
-16.39 (-6.68%)
Qualcomm
-4.1 (-6.31%)
Nvidia
-7.26 (-3.41%)
TSMC
+0.775 (+1.77%)
BP
+0.39 (+2.29%)
ConocoPhillips
+1.38 (+5.41%)
Ticker changed to TTE
+0.54 (+2.16%)
Exxon Mobil
-1.745 (-5.06%)
Chevron
+1.78 (+3.10%)
Symbol changed to SHEL
+0.98 (+4.07%)
Symbol changed to SHEL
+1.43 (+6.36%)