response

Americans ‘are paying the price’ for shoddy coronavirus response, doctor says

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

The spike in coronavirus cases in parts of the U.S. came as no surprise to many public health experts. 

Arizona, Texas, and Florida are three states, in particular, that reopened their economies sooner than others are seeing record numbers of hospitalizations and cases. 

“We’ve seen a roughly 300% increase in the number of cases statewide, in ICU and hospital usage here in Austin and Houston,” Dr. Pritesh Gandhi, a primary care physician and internal medicine specialist in Austin, Texas, said on Yahoo Finance’s The Ticker (video above). “This is part of that first wave. We just frankly didn’t open in the right way. Didn’t embrace key public health principles and are paying the price for it right now.” 

Coronavirus cases keep climbing outside the U.S. (Graphic: David Foster/Yahoo Finance)

‘An absence of leadership’

Houston and Austin are both seeing major surges in hospitalizations, so much so that ICU bed

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Fed gets ‘good marks’ on crisis response

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

Despite grilling Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell on the central bank’s corporate bond purchases earlier this week, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) says the Fed gets “good marks” for its response to the economic crisis spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We need to follow very carefully what the Fed and the Treasury are doing,” Toomey told Yahoo Finance on Thursday. “But I think so far, they have complied with the law and I think so far it looks like it’s been successful.”

On Tuesday, Toomey pressed Powell on the Fed’s efforts to backstop the corporate debt market by purchasing corporate bond ETFs and, as of this week, individual corporate bonds in the secondary market. Responding to the Republican’s concerns that the purchases may “diminish price signals” in the market, Powell said the Fed is trying to ensure that markets continue to function properly.

“I don’t see us as wanting to run

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Companies with past ‘problems’ are ‘setting the best models’ in response to George Floyd’s death: Yale professor

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

The police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last month elicited statements denouncing racial inequality from major corporations with past scandals and legal settlements tied to alleged discrimination, including Bank of America (BAC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Walmart (WMT).

Some of those companies have been “awakened” by current unrest over racial inequality, says Yale University professor of management Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who posits that large companies that faced past allegations of discrimination have often responded best in the aftermath of Floyd’s death due perhaps to the criticism they once received for their shortcomings.

Last week, Sonnenfeld convened a virtual discussion of race relations with over 300 chief executives, mayors, and government officials.

“Companies that historically had the biggest problems are often setting the best models right now,” he says. “Maybe it’s from litigation or legislation or people in the media.”

“Some of the irony is that large lumbering older giants have

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Government response pivoting to ending lockdowns after having to ‘shut down the planet’

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told Yahoo Finance on Tuesday he continues to work with the White House coronavirus task force to focus on states reopening— including a meeting Tuesday with Vice President Mike Pence.

The nation’s top infectious disease expert is not yet breathing a sight of relief, but feels the U.S. has improved its response to the outbreak as states relax restrictions on public life — even as some concerns remain about regions seeing a new flare up of COVID-19 cases.

“Things that [officials] are concentrating on right now are how do we safely reopen,” he said. How do we get the cities, these towns, these counties to try to get sort some sort of normality to get the economy back. That’s most of what’s being discussed,” Fauci added.

On the topic of a vaccine, and whether or not one

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Nike’s social media engagement soars after its response to the death of George Floyd

By Tommy Flemm 1 year ago

Whether it’s supporting former NFL star and social activist Colin Kaepernick, rethinking the symbolism of the Betsy Ross flag on a sneaker, or its recent “Just don’t do it!” statement condemning the death of George Floyd — Nike continues call the right play on social justice issues. 

According to data analytics firm Thinknum, Nike’s (NKE) ‘Don’t turn your back on racism’ social media campaign is its most successful social justice effort to date. The firm tracked Nike’s Facebook (FB) mentions, which showed that the brand’s “chatter” on the social network spiked the weekend following the release of its campaign.

“Nike chatter shot to multi-year highs in recent days, even as looters pillaged some of its retail locations. … Nearly 800,000 people – triple its usual chatter – were talking about Nike on the social network, and it’s a figure that could yet rise in days to come,” according to

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