“US oil prices turned negative for the first time in history on Monday amid the deepest fall in demand in 25 years.
“A flood of unwanted oil in the market caused the West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the benchmark price for US oil, to plummet to almost –$40 a barrel after the fastest plunge in history.
“That meant producers were paying buyers to take oil off their hands.”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/apr/20/over-a-barrel-how-oil-prices-dropped-below-zero
““The U.S. government’s ability to fundamentally change this situation are minimal,” said Raymond James oil analyst Pavel Molchanov.
““The real problem is the fact that upwards of 20 percent of global oil demand is currently offline, mainly due to the Covid-related lockdowns.“”
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/04/20/oil-companies-trump-administration-paralyzed-196473
“The American oil industry is facing a doomsday scenario. Many oil companies took on too much debt during the good times. Some of them won’t be able to survive this historic downturn.
“”At $10 per barrel, almost every US E&P company that has debt will have to file Chapter 11 or consider strategic opportunities,” Abramov said.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/20/business/oil-price-crash-bankruptcy/index.html
“Argentina’s biggest bondholders have rejected the government’s offer to restructure $83bn of foreign debt, raising the prospect that the country is headed for its ninth sovereign debt default.
“In statements released on Monday, three creditor groups rebuffed the terms laid out by the government late last week…”
http://archive.vn/PR4Zh#selection-1601.0-1609.42
“Some high-profile sovereign creditors are signalling a tentative willingness to help poorer countries with debt relief during the coronavirus pandemic – but many also caution that it won’t be as simple as it sounds…
“Restructurings are complex and typically take far longer than stricken countries now have.”
“First quarter earnings [US] are set to post the largest year-over-year decline since 2009, the biggest post-great financial crisis slump.
“But the worst may be yet to come as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hit businesses.”
“Perhaps the greatest worry of many investors right now is the potential for this recent market selloff related to the COVID-19 outbreak to turn into a full-blown financial crisis like the one we experienced more than a decade ago.
“Here’s why I think investors ought to be a bit concerned, at least.”
“…the core problem is we know these liquidity actions are not the solution to the underlying problem, as opposed to 2008 when they were actually the cure.
“The Federal Reserve is delivering palliative care. This liquidity is a painkiller, not a cure.”
“If economies continue to deteriorate because of the pandemic, “you will see central banks directly financing governments, they’ll do it explicitly, it’s only a matter of time”.”
“Students are taking their courses totally online. Dorms have shuttered, forcing many students to move home (if that was an option). And the admissions process has been disrupted. All of this—along with the economic downturn—has left colleges across the country on shaky financial footing. And it might get worse.”
“If unemployment hits 30 percent and stays there, as a recent Federal Reserve report has warned, one widely used measure of poverty would skyrocket more than 50 percent, from 12.4 percent to 18.9 percent, according to a report…
“This would add more than 21 million people to the poverty rolls…”
http://archive.vn/o5h1e#selection-1563.0-1577.64
Reuters news in pictures. Long lines at US food banks:
https://uk.reuters.com/news/picture/long-lines-at-food-banks-across-us-idUSRTX7EHU2
“The International Monetary Fund warned this crash is the worst since the Great Depression, wiping out $9 trillion (£7.25 trillion) of economic activity worldwide – equivalent to the entire annual GDP of Japan and Germany combined.
“So how bad was the Great Depression? And how does it compare to today?”
“…The current crash is much more dramatic.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2020/04/21/ten-charts-show-coronavirus-crisis-compares-great-depression/
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