Business & Economy

On The Money: Stocks suffer worst losses since 1987 crash amid coronavirus panic | Wall Street clamors for stimulus | Pelosi open to tweaking virus bill but won’t wait long for GOP

Happy Thursday and welcome back to On The Money, where we’re hoping to see a lot more dog pictures online if many of you are going to be working from home this much. I’m Sylvan Lane, and here’s your nightly guide to everything affecting your bills, bank account and bottom line.

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THE BIG DEAL– Stocks suffer worst losses since 1987 crash amid coronavirus panic: Stocks cratered Thursday as the escalating coronavirus pandemic and lingering questions about President Trump’s response drove the worst day of losses for Wall Street since the 1987 crash.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with a loss of 2,352 points, dropping 10 percent for its steepest loss by percentage since falling 22.6 percent on Oct. 19, 1987–known as “Black Monday.”

The Dow’s Thursday losses also exceeded its 7.87-percent plunge on Oct. 15, 2008, the day the House voted down the financial sector bailout bill, which was the index’s most recent record for the steepest single-day drop by percentage.

The S&P 500 fell 9.5 percent to join the Dow in bear market territory — a 20 percent decline from a stock or index’s 52-week peak. The Nasdaq composite also dropped 9.4 percent, bear market territory.

I’ve got more on the brutal day for the financial system here.  

 

What drove the losses: 

 

Wall Street clamors for stimulus: Stocks tanked throughout Thursday as Trump and lawmakers negotiated over a bill to boost the government’s virus mitigation efforts and shore up economic protections for the most vulnerable Americans. 

“Nothing happened overnight to soothe investors. In fact, you could argue things seem even more grim this morning,” wrote JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, in a Friday research note. “The travel ban and so many big events closing or being limited in scope seem to have ratcheted up worries about a recession.”

 

LEADING THE DAY

Pelosi: Democrats open to tweaking virus bill, but won’t wait long for GOP backing: 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said Thursday that Democrats are open to amending their legislation to stimulate the economy amid the coronavirus turmoil, but warned that she won’t wait for Republicans to get on board.

“I don’t want to stick around because they don’t want to agree to language,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol. 

“Everybody could have a complaint about this or that,” she added. “Save it for another day.”

The remarks both highlight the significant leverage the majority House Democrats have in the coronavirus debate and signal that Pelosi is not backing down from her initial plan to pass a relief bill through the House and then recess the lower chamber, putting enormous pressure on the Senate to act.

The Hill’s Mike Lillis fills us in here.

 

Trump weighing potential emergency declaration for coronavirus: While lawmakers squabble over a deal, President Trump is weighing whether to declare a national emergency over the coronavirus, which would free up additional resources to combat the rapidly spreading disease.

The president indicated to reporters that using an emergency declaration under the Stafford Act was under consideration, but would not say definitively whether he would sign it on Thursday.

Asked if he planned to declare a national emergency on Thursday, Trump deflected.

The Hill’s Brett Samuels explains here.

 

GOOD TO KNOW