June, 2020

• 6 June

  Massachusetts to review ‘gas utilities’

  

  Bloomberg Massachusetts’s top law-enforcement officer is asking regulators to investigate the future of natural-gas utilities in the state as it fights climate change. Attorney General Maura Healey called on the Department of Public Utilities to examine what steps need to be taken as the state weans itself off fossil fuels to help meet its goal to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions ...

  Read More »
• 6 June

  Green Tasmania could help wean Australian cities off coal

  

  Bloomberg Tasmania wants to turn itself into a battery. The island state off the Australian mainland’s southern tip is pursuing what its leaders say is the world’s most ambitious renewable energy target, boosting hydro and wind generation to twice its own needs by 2040 and exporting the rest via a planned undersea cable. The strategy could play a key role ...

  Read More »
• 6 June

  Covid-19: There are two recessions now, not one

  

  Of the 21.4 million nonfarm payroll jobs that disappeared in the US from mid-February to mid-April, 17.6 million, or 86%, were in the six lowest-paid (as measured by average weekly wages in February) of the 11 supersectors into which the Bureau of Labor Statistics divides our economy. In May, those supersectors together added 3 million jobs, or well more than ...

  Read More »
• 6 June

  WhatsApp gets raw deal in payments

  

  Money is many things, but it’s not fake news. So why block WhatsApp from spreading it around? India is the laboratory of choice for Western tech firms to test out their mobile payment capabilities so they can be rolled out from Bangladesh to Nigeria. Facebook Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg entered the fray two years ago by enabling the popular messaging ...

  Read More »
• 6 June

  Keep the middle seat empty for now, please

  Perhaps the most notorious of the many full-airline-cabin photos recently posted on Twitter is one taken by a cardiologist on his return trip to California after helping treat Covid-19 patients in New York City: Passengers wearing a variety of surgical and makeshift masks fill every seat. “I guess @united is relaxing their social distancing policy these days?” the caption asks. ...

  Read More »
• 6 June

  Fed’s Covid-19 rescues invite bigger bailouts

  The Federal Reserve has responded aggressively to market strains and the sharp drop in the economy caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The central bank cut short-term interest rates nearly to zero, bought hundreds of billions of dollars of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities and it introduced a plethora of special liquidity facilities designed to support markets. The Fed’s actions have largely ...

  Read More »
• 6 June

  US limits China’s airlines to two weekly flights over spat

  

  Bloomberg The Trump Administration, in the latest move ratcheting up tensions in US-China trade, said that the nation had continued to violate airlines’ rights by restricting flights and ordered new limits on its carriers. Responding to a move by China to limit US passenger airlines to one flight per week each, the US Department of Transportation said it would only ...

  Read More »
• 6 June

  Avianca may get aid over ‘state measures’

  

  Bloomberg An emergency measure allowing Colombia’s government to take equity stakes in private companies opens the door for a bailout of the nation’s largest airline, Avianca Holdings SA, which declared bankruptcy last month amid an unprecedented downturn in travel. The new regulation, which permits the government to take minority positions in companies that have been impacted by the sharp economic ...

  Read More »
• 6 June

  Delta to pause flights to 11 cities in reminder of US weakness

  

  Bloomberg Delta Air Lines Inc will drop service to 11 midsize US cities next month amid weak demand because of the Covid-19 pandemic, a reminder of the industry’s fragility after a record stock rally. The service suspensions affecting cities from Aspen, Colorado, to Bangor, Maine, will help lower costs, Delta said in a statement. The affected airports are among 75 ...

  Read More »
• 6 June

  Boeing heads for $35b weekly gain in airline rally’s wake

  

  Bloomberg Boeing Co is heading for its best week in more than two months as surprise job gains and airline bookings signal that demand for air travel — and jetliners — is poised to recover from a historic plunge. The US planemaker’s status among investors has recently flipped to darling from market pariah, although analysts caution that Boeing still faces ...

  Read More »