Daily Archive: May 4, 2020

Investing

May 4, 2020

‘The world has changed’ for the aviation industry: Warren Buffett sells entire stake in airlines

Berkshire Hathaway Inc sold its entire stakes in the four largest U.S. airlines in April, Chairman Warren Buffett said Saturday at the company’s annual meeting, saying “the world has changed” for the aviation industry.

The conglomerate had held sizeable positions in the airlines, including an 11 per cent stake in Delta Air Lines, 10 per cent of American Airlines Co, 10 per cent of Southwest Airlines Co and 9 per cent of United Airlines at the end of 2019, according to its annual report and company filings.

The conglomerate was one of the largest individual holders in the four airlines and in 2016 disclosed it had begun investing in the four carriers after avoiding the sector for years.

Airline stocks have been hard hit by the near collapse U.S. travel demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. airlines are cutting hundreds of thousands of flights, parking thousands of planes as U.S.

… Read More

News

May 4, 2020

Global coronavirus cases surpass 3.5 million amid underreporting fears By Reuters

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York

By Jane Wardell

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Global coronavirus cases surpassed 3.5 million on Monday and deaths neared a quarter of a million, according to a Reuters tally, concerning experts who fear substantial underreporting even as the rate of fatalities and new cases slows.

North America and European countries, where growth rates are easing, still accounted for most of the new infections reported in recent days.

But case numbers were rising from smaller bases in Latin America, Africa and Russia, and experts expressed concern that the overall data falls well short of the true impact of the pandemic.

Globally, there were 74,779 new cases over the past 24 hours, according to the Reuters tally that is based on official government data, taking total cases to around 3.52 million.

That compares with around 3 million to 5 million

… Read More

Finance

May 4, 2020

From ‘vice spike’ to ‘hitting a brick wall’: How cannabis purveyors are coping during the pandemic

As the coronavirus pandemic escalated in March and businesses across the U.S. began shutting down, retailers in the nascent recreational cannabis industry experienced an unprecedented surge in sales activity.

“We saw sales that were four or five times what our normal averages are for a few weeks,” says Terra Tech chairman Derek Peterson, whose company cultivates and sells cannabis products in California and Nevada. Terra Tech was not alone; in California, Colorado, and other states where recreational marijuana is legal, retailers witnessed a sharp increase in sales—close to 100% in some markets—as the coronavirus outbreak worsened and authorities began rolling out stay-at-home orders.

Peterson attributes the March sales spike to “panic buying” by customers uncertain whether marijuana dispensaries would remain open much longer. “Then,” he adds, “we hit a brick wall.”

While dispensaries in most states have been allowed to remain open as “essential businesses,” April has brought … Read More

Editor Picks

Categories

  • Partner links

    • Categories