1.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 1,293 points or 5.1 percent on Monday, rebounding from a slump stemming from coronavirus fears. It was the Dow’s biggest one-day point gain of all time and its biggest percentage gain since 2009. The rise comes “on hopes that central banks will take action to shelter the global economy” from the coronavirus’ effects, The Associated Press reports. The Nasdaq Composite also rose 384 points, or 8.5 percent, and the S&P 500 rose 135 points, or 4.6 percent. Last week was the Dow’s worst since the 2008 financial crisis, with a loss of more than 3,000 points. U.S. stock index futures surged further early Tuesday. [CNBC, The Associated Press]
2.
Former General Electric chairman and CEO Jack Welch died at his home late Sunday, his wife, Suzy, said Monday. He was 84. Welch led GE for two decades, a period when the company’s market value rose from $12 billion to $410 billion. President Trump tweeted condolences to the family, writing, “there was no corporate leader like ‘neutron’ Jack.” Welch earned that nickname, which he reportedly disliked, after GE’s workforce was cut from 411,000 to 299,000 in his first five years in charge, and he was likened to a neutron bomb, designed to kill people but leave cities standing, he wrote in his 2001 book, Jack: Straight From the Gut. He was credited with streamlining the industrial giant’s bureaucracy and empowering managers to spot problems and make changes. [The New York Times, CNBC]
3.
President Trump early Tuesday called for the Federal Reserve to make a “big” interest rate cut, tweeting that it was necessary to “make up for China’s coronavirus situation and slowdown.” The pressure from Trump, who repeated his criticism of the Fed for not cutting rates faster, came just after the Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday said it would reduce its cash rate to 0.5 percent to offset “significant” damage to the country’s economy due to the outbreak. Group of Seven finance chiefs are preparing to meet and discuss the crisis. The Fed and central banks in other countries, including Japan, Britain, and France, have hinted that they will take action. [The Washington Post, CNBC]
4.
Twitter shares jumped by nearly 7 percent on Monday after reports that activist investor Elliott Management Corp. had taken a $1 billion — or 5 percent — stake in the company. Elliott reportedly plans to push for management changes, and has started talks with Twitter’s board about the need for a full-time CEO. Years ago, current CEO Jack Dorsey left Twitter to start payments company Square before returning in 2015. He now divides his time between the two companies. Elliott sees that as a possible problem in retaining top executives and fostering innovation, and possibly part of the reason why Twitter’s growth and ad revenue have lagged behind that of Facebook, Google, and other tech leaders. [The Associated Press]
5.
Shares of German meal kit maker HelloFresh shot up by 7 percent on Tuesday after the company reported that it made a quarterly profit as it gained strength in the United States and other international markets. HelloFresh posted strong revenue growth, including 45.5 percent improvement in the U.S. The company said it expected the gains to continue in 2020 at an overall pace of 22 percent to 27 percent. “The business concept seems to work well and delivery service also appears to be an attractive solution for people who don’t want to go shopping when a virus is circulating,” a trader in Frankfurt said. [MarketWatch]
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