THE DAILY NEWS

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THE OREGONIAN

"Portland police declare riot Sunday after small crowd marches on police union"


By Staff | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Updated Aug 10, 2020; Posted Aug 09, 2020

A crowd of around 200 that marched on a police union building in North Portland on Sunday evening was quickly pushed back and scattered by police in the city’s 74th night of protests.

Police declared the gathering a riot as officers advanced on retreating protesters, some of whom threw objects at police, video from the scene showed.


At one point, a large firework exploded between the groups.

Police responded by firing crowd control munitions.

Police said a mortar injured two officers and cited “direct attacks on officers” in declaring the demonstration a riot.

Sixteen people were arrested, including Black activist Demetria Hester, who leads Mothers United for Black Lives Matter and is a regular presence at Portland protests.

Hester is the survivor of a hate crime committed by MAX train murderer Jeremy Christian in 2017 and testified against him in his trial.

She, like others arrested in the demonstration, faces misdemeanor accusations of disorderly conduct and interfering with a peace officer.

The event came a day after protests Saturday night in the same area that were mostly peaceful until a small group of people lit a fire inside the police union building.

Saturday’s standoff, which lasted into early morning hours Sunday, prompted police to declare a riot and advance on the crowd using impact munitions and physical force, a pattern that’s unfolded on several recent nights in which a small group provoke police by damaging property and throwing objects at officers.


Sunday set up a potential repeat of the prior night’s hostilities, though with a smaller crowd.

About 200 people marched from Kenton Park to the Portland Police Association office on North Lombard Street shortly before 10 p.m.

Minutes after protesters arrived outside the union office, police warned demonstrators via loudspeaker not to participate in criminal activities.

The warning also was posted on Twitter.

Demonstrators blocked access at North Lombard Street and Fenwick Avenue using dumpsters and fences dragged into the street from nearby.

At least one dumpster was set on fire.


Shortly before 10 p.m., police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.

Minutes later, police in riot gear advanced on the crowd, which began to retreat down North Denver Avenue.

Video showed officers hit by small thrown objects.

At one point, a large firework exploded between the police line and the retreating protesters.

Police also fired crowd-control munitions.

Around 10:10 p.m., police declared the gathering a riot and officers appeared to arrest several people on the street.

Marchers returned to Kenton Park, where they had gathered.

A little before 10:30 p.m., police followed the group into the park and appeared to make more arrests.

The crowd had largely scattered, and police left the park.

The event unfolded in less than an hour.

A small crowd of about two dozen returned to the police union building by 11 p.m.

Police arrived minutes later, ordered those gathered to leave and appeared to make an arrest.

Portland Police and Oregon State Police officers formed a line around the building as protesters stood by, then departed around 11:45 p.m.

Protesters remained, milling about in the street.

Late the night before, a small group of demonstrators lit a fire inside the Portland police union building, sparking the riot declaration from police, who ordered everyone to leave the area.

The fire was quickly extinguished.

Police advanced on the group and hundreds of others gathered, pushing them into the heart of the Kenton neighborhood.

Protesters piled together wooden items from downtown Kenton, such as picnic tables and road barrier signs, to build a large barricade across Denver near Schofield Street.

In the early morning, someone lit part of the barricade on fire, and police advanced again.


The back-and-forth continued until well after 1 a.m.

Some neighbors came out to help clean up the debris on Denver Avenue and put out fires on the barricade in the road.

Terrance Moses, the chair of the Kenton Neighborhood Association, who is Black and owns a business nearby, expressed dismay in a statement posted by the association’s Facebook page.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with the cause, so I want to implore all of you to stop this nonsense,” he said.

Police said they had made nine arrests late Saturday and early Sunday.

Among those detained was Kathleen Mahoney, a protest observer from the ACLU who was one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that resulted in arrest protections for journalists and legal observers.

Police also said that three officers were injured, including two who were transported to a hospital and released soon after.

Police did not describe the nature of any of the officers’ injuries.

However, an Oregonian/OregonLive journalist saw one officer limping away from the crowd while getting assistance from other officers.

Widespread protests against systemic racism and police violence began 74 days ago, shortly after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd.

The focus of the largest nightly protests has turned from the downtown Portland Police headquarters, then the nearby federal courthouse, to roving marches that usually end outside police precincts and facilities throughout the city.

The headquarters of the Portland Police Association, the union for frontline police officers, has also become a target for demonstrators.

On two occasions, including Saturday, someone has broken into the union building and lit a small fire inside.

The crowds, which ballooned as federal officers arrived in Portland to protect the federal courthouse and quell the protests, have grown smaller but more confrontational after the federal officers disappeared from public view.

Portland police have responded with crowd-control munitions and other force, usually in response to protesters they say are trespassing, lighting fires or vandalizing the facilities.

Mayor Ted Wheeler, Portland Police Chief Chuck Lovell and others in the community have said that they support Black Lives Matter but condemn the violence of some protestors at the nightly demonstrations.

“If you are a nonviolent demonstrator and you don’t want to be part of intentional violence, please stay away from these areas,” Wheeler said.

“Our community must say that this violence is not Portland, that these actions do not reflect our values and these crimes are distracting from reform, not advancing.”

But during a virtual town hall held Sunday evening, several people involved in the nightly protests, including Hester and the writer Mac Smiff, disagreed, saying the protests were still necessary.

Smiff called the changes that local officials have committed to insubstantial or performative.

“We’ll be in these streets until we can feel the change in our bodies,” he said.

Sunday afternoon’s planned protests included a Black Lives Matter protest outside Nike headquarters in Beaverton, a sign-waving protest in Northeast Portland, and a family march in downtown Portland.

A Black Lives Matter rally is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. in St. Johns, and the nightly rally outside the Multnomah County Justice Center downtown is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.


-- The Oregonian/OregonLive

https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/08 ... night.html
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THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE

"Aftermath of looting in downtown Chicago: 13 cops injured, 2 people shot, more than 100 arrests, Mag Mile trashed"


By Paige Fry, Jeremy Gorner, Gregory Pratt, Megan Crepeau, Stacy St. Clair and Claire Hao

Aug 10, 2020 at 3:01 PM

Hundreds of people swept through the Magnificent Mile and other parts of downtown Chicago early Monday, smashing windows, looting stores, confronting police and at one point exchanging gunfire with officers, authorities said.

More than 100 people were arrested as of 9 a.m., according to Chicago police Superintendent David Brown.

Thirteen officers were injured during the unrest, including a sergeant who was hit by a bottle.

A civilian and private security guard were shot and wounded.

“What occurred in our downtown and surrounding communities was abject criminal behavior, pure and simple,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said.

“And there cannot be any excuse for it."

"Period.”

It took police officers roughly four hours to get the downtown back under control, leading to finger pointing across the political spectrum and calls for the Illinois National Guard to once again help quell unrest in the country’s third-largest city.

Downtown Ald. Brian Hopkins, who said he was on Michigan Avenue from midnight to 4 a.m., described a scene in which officers were overwhelmed by looters and apparently did not have much of a plan for restoring order.

He criticized Lightfoot for failing to develop an effective strategy following looting incidents in May and June.

“The real question today is, where was the strategy?"

"What was the decision making at the highest levels?” Hopkins said.

“That means the police superintendent and the mayor, who’s a very hands-on mayor when it comes to these kinds of decisions.”


City officials said the seeds for the violent crime spree were sown on social media Sunday afternoon following an officer involved shooting in the Englewood neighborhood.

Officers shot and wounded a 20-year-old man Sunday after he fired shots at them while being chased, authorities said.

The man was taken to University of Chicago Medical Center and is expected to survive, Brown said.

The Civilian Office Police Accountability, the city agency that investigates all officer-involved shootings, released a statement confirming Brown’s assertion that the wounded male is an adult.

Some social media accounts that authorities say fueled the unrest referred to him as a 15-year-old boy.

There is no body camera video to support the police department’s account and authorities are seeking security footage from residents in the neighborhood.

The lack of immediate, independent corroboration drew skepticism from several community groups, including Black Lives Matter Chicago.

The group, which planned a protest outside a near South Side police precinct Monday night, blasted Lightfoot for accepting the police version of events and not doing more to institute reforms.

The organization also suggested the man was right to flee authorities, given the department’s history of racism and abusive tactics.


They also criticized the officers for pursuing the man in light warnings from the U.S. Department of Justice about the dangerous turn foot chases can take.

“In a predictable and unfortunate move, she did not take this time to criticize her officers for shooting yet another Black man,” the organization’s statement read.

“Lightfoot instead spent her time attacking ‘looters.’"

"The mayor clearly has not learned anything since May, and she would be wise to understand that the people will keep rising up until the CPD is abolished and our Black communities are fully invested in.”


More than an hour after the shooting, police and witnesses said a crowd of about 30 people faced off against officers holding a police line near 56th and Aberdeen streets.

During a scuffle, one officer was hit with pepper spray and a second officer suffered a minor shoulder injury.

Two people were arrested and a police car window was shattered by a brick, police added.

A large number of officers cordoned off streets in nearly every direction until the mood of the crowd cooled off.

But by that time, Brown said, messages began appearing on social media encouraging people to head downtown.

The looting and vandalism began shortly after, with people streaming in and out of high-end stores.

Some could be seen throwing merchandise into rental trucks and other large vehicles before driving away.


“This was not an organized protest,” Brown said.

“Rather this was an incident of pure criminality."

"This was an act of violence against our police officers and against our city.”

The looting began shortly after midnight as people darted through broken store windows and doors along Michigan Avenue carrying shopping bags full of merchandise.

Cars dropped off more people as the crowd grew.


One woman with shopping bags in her hands fell on the sidewalk as an officer was chasing her.

Another woman appeared to have been pepper-sprayed.

A rock was thrown at a squad car.

At least five guns were recovered, officials said.

The scene was reminiscent of the looting that occurred earlier this summer amid the response to the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

Both Lightfoot and Brown implicitly criticized Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, saying there weren’t consequences for looters earlier this summer.

Lightfoot, who endorsed Foxx for reelection, became angry when asked follow-up questions about Foxx’s handling of cases and told a reporter not to bait her.


“What we’re saying is, as a result of what happened last night, there have to be consequences,” Lightfoot said.

“We’ve got teams of people that are aggressively out there identifying the people responsible, looking at the plates, and we’re going to bring them to justice."

“But when we do make those arrests, our expectation is that this is going to be treated with the level of seriousness it should be."

"Period,” she said.

“Don’t try to bait us, mischaracterize, pit one against the other, we’re not playing that."

"We’re in a serious situation here and we need a serious response."

"That’s what we’re saying.”

Foxx pushed back with her own news conference a few hours later, denouncing any finger pointing in her direction blaming Monday night’s looting on her response to Floyd unrest.

She encouraged prosecutors to dismiss misdemeanor charges - and felony charges, in certain cases - related to the protests, but her office approved the vast majority of felony arrests brought by the Chicago Police Department, she said.


Those cases are making their way through the courts, slowed by the pandemic and typical pace of the Cook County justice system.

In denouncing the looting and promising to be tough on those responsible, Foxx insisted the cause of Monday night’s unrest cannot be conflated with her office’s response to protests earlier this year.

The situation also must be viewed, she said, amid the backdrop of a global health crisis, record unemployment and nationwide protests against systemic racism.

“The reality is that as we seek to figure out what is happening in a truly unprecedented summer, it requires us to ask tough questions, to deep deliberations and to put all hands of deck,” Foxx said.

“All hands on deck means rather than pointing fingers, work together.”

The looting seemed to be centered in Streeterville and North Michigan Avenue, but some looting was reported on State Street in the Loop and on the Near North Side.

By 4 a.m. police appeared to be getting things under control.

But some vandalism continued into the daylight hours, and the CTA suspended train and bus service into downtown during the morning rush, while the Illinois state police blocked off ramps from expressways.

Bridges across the Chicago River were raised, except for the one on LaSalle Street for emergency vehicles.

People were seen running out of a PNC Bank, its windows smashed, at Huron and State streets.

Down the block, other stores, including a Sally Beauty Supply, had been cleaned out by vandals.


Other parts of downtown, including around Grand and Wabash avenues, were littered with trash.

Crowds repeatedly tried to bash in the windows of the Omega watch store at Delaware Place and Michigan Avenue.

“The watch store,” one officer said.

“They’re gonna get it eventually.”

A group of people went in and out through a broken window of the Louis Vuitton store along Walton Place across the street from the Drake Hotel.

A squad car drove by and the group ran away.

But as the car rode off, at least one person tried to go into the shop.

The police returned.

“Go home!” One cop shouted.

“You go home!” Someone shouted, apparently back at the officer.

Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin called for the National Guard to be brought in.

The Guard was used to help enforce street closures during looting earlier this summer, marking the first time in more than a half century that a Chicago mayor had asked for the Guard’s help in quelling unrest.

“Once again, Illinois government has failed to protect its residents and businesses,” the Western Springs legislator said in a statement.

“It is time to bring in the National Guard and accept any and all federal assistance to stop the chaos that is destroying our state."

"No more excuses."

"No more failures.”

The Illinois National Guard has not received any requests for support at this time.

Lightfoot, who has fought President Donald Trump’s insistence that federal troops are the best way to restore order in troubled American cities, said she will not seek military assistance.

She predicted her refusal would be ridiculed by the president, who has sent federal law enforcement agents to Chicago to help with its rising crime rate.

“No, we do not need federal troops in Chicago, period, full stop,” Lightfoot said.

“I’m sure the president will have his way with this incident but I’m calling upon him to do the things that we do need (such as gun control).”

City officials will restrict access to the downtown from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. for time being.

The Police Department has canceled all previously scheduled days off, and Brown has assigned a special team of detectives to review video footage.

“I don’t care, I do not care, whatever justification was given for this,” Lightfoot said.

“There is no justification for criminal behavior, ever."

"You have no right to take and destroy the property of others."

"Our residents deserve to be safe."

"Our businesses deserve to understand and enjoy safety and security of their property and their employees."

"Our police officers deserve to be able to do their job without having to worry about shots being fired, projectiles being thrown, and being maced."

"This is not anywhere near acceptable.”

pfry@chicagotribune.com

jgorner@chicagotribune.com

gpratt@chicagotribune.com

mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com

sstclair@chicagotribune.com

chao@chicagotribune.com

Paige Fry

Paige Fry is an overnight crime reporter for the Chicago Tribune. She graduated from the University of Florida, where she was the editor-in-chief of the student-run paper The Independent Florida Alligator. She has also previously written for the Tampa Bay Times, The Palm Beach Post and The Gainesville Sun.

Jeremy Gorner

Jeremy Gorner is a beat reporter for the Tribune's Metro staff, covering the Chicago Police Department. He joined the Tribune in 2006 to cover breaking news for its online news desk. Before joining the Tribune, Gorner covered crime at the now-defunct New City News Service, formerly known as the City News Bureau of Chicago.

Gregory Pratt

Raised in Little Village, Gregory Pratt covers Mayor Lori Lightfoot and City Hall. Before joining the Tribune in 2013, he worked for the BGA, alt-weeklies in Phoenix and Minneapolis, and Hoy. He has been a finalist for the Livingston and earned other national honors, including from the National Headliner Awards, the Lisagors, and Scripps Howard.

Megan Crepeau

Megan Crepeau is the Tribune's Cook County criminal courts reporter, covering trials, policy and legal affairs from her post at one of the nation's busiest courthouses.

Stacy St. Clair

Stacy St. Clair joined the Chicago Tribune in 2007. Before that she reported for the Daily Herald, the Dayton Daily News and The Topeka Capital-Journal. She has received numerous national honors for her work. Stacy has a journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, with minors in American politics and Spanish.

Claire Hao

Claire Hao is an intern on the metro desk. She is a junior at the University of Michigan majoring in philosophy, politics and economics (PPE). On campus, Claire works at her student newspaper as a news editor overseeing the campus life beat and as a part of the Access & Inclusion committee. In her free time, she is an avid runner and reader.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/bre ... story.html
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MARKETWATCH

"Oil ends higher, lifted by Saudi Aramco’s demand optimism, China data"


By William Watts

Published: Aug. 10, 2020 at 3:37 p.m. ET

Oil futures ended higher Monday, getting a lift from optimistic remarks about demand from the chief executive of the world’s largest oil company and positive data out of China.

West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery rose 72 cents, or 1.8%, to close at $41.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while the global benchmark, October Brent crude, gained 59 cents, or 1.3%, to finish at $44.99 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Amin Nasser over the weekend said there had been a “partial recovery” in demand, and lauded a strong rebound in crude appetite in major markets, including what he described as a return to nearly pre-COVID-19 levels of demand for gasoline and diesel fuel in China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, news reports said.

The majority state-owned company’s net income plunged by 50% in the first half of the year.

“The rosy demand outlook, combined with Iraq saying it will cut production by a further 40,000 barrels a day to compensate overproduction over the past three months are overshadowing the stimulus deadlock in Washington, at least for now,” said Fiona Cincotta, analyst at City Index, in a note.

After the White House and Democratic lawmakers failed last week to come to an agreement on a new round of coronavirus aid, Trump on Saturday signed executive orders to pause the collection of payroll taxes, provide help on rent, assist with student-loan payments and extend a portion of additional unemployment benefits that had lapsed at the end of last month.

The measures are almost certain to face legal challenges and logistical hurdles, but are seen potentially pushing negotiators back to the table.

Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said they were willing to resume talks.

Meanwhile, China’s consumer-price index in July rose 2.7% from a year earlier, compared with June’s 2.5% increase, as recent pork price increases and floods in southern China drove up food prices.

The rise was in line with forecasts.

Producer prices dropped 2.4% in July from a year earlier, after a 3% decline in June, the National Bureau of Statistics.

Economists polled The Wall Street Journal had predicted the gauge of industrial prices would drop 2.6%.

In other energy trading, September gasoline gained 2.17 cents, or 1.8%, to finish at $1.2293 a gallon, while September heating oil rose 1.7 cents, or 1.4%, ending at $1.2369 a gallon.

Natural gas for September delivery dropped 8.5 cents, or 3.8%, to settle at $2.1530 per million British thermal units.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-p ... latestnews
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MARKETWATCH

"Republican senator calls Trump’s stimulus executive order ‘unconstitutional slop’"


By Greg Robb

Published: Aug. 9, 2020 at 11:37 a.m. ET

President Donald Trump’s executive order and memorandums ostensibly providing relief amid the intractable coronavirus pandemic don’t seem feasible or legal, experts said Saturday.

One Republican lawmaker, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska, called Trump’s unilateral moves “unconstitutional slop.”


“President Obama did not have the power to unilaterally rewrite immigration law with DACA and President Trump does not have the power to unilaterally rewrite the payroll tax law,” Sasse said in a statement.

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump’s rival in the 2016 presidential election, in an MSNBC interview called the executive actions signed on Saturday at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, N.J., “a stunt.”

Trump made an end run around Congress on Saturday with an executive order and three memoranda aimed at boosting the economy, but analysts said the wording of the orders raised more questions than the answers provided.

For instance, the executive order will allow companies to avoid collecting payroll taxes, but analysts said workers would still be on the hook to pay the taxes by next April 15.

Trump, prodded by some of his economic advisers, has been a vocal fan of a payroll-tax holiday, but the tax break is not popular among Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill, as these taxes fund the Social Security program.

One Trump memorandum would provide $400 a week in extra unemployment benefits.

The federal money would come from disaster relief funds.

Analysts questioned the wisdom of using such funds with the U.S. hurricane season ahead.

Cash-strapped states would be required to chip in $100 of the extra benefit.

The program could last just four weeks before it runs out of money,

Ernis Tedeschi, a former Treasury Department economist, tweeted that he didn’t think the unemployment insurance plan would work:

The Trump memorandum that on its face extends the CARES Act’s eviction moratorium merely asks whether certain agencies could “maybe do something” about evictions, said Bharat Ramamurti, a member of the COVID-19 Congressional Oversight Commission, in a tweet:

Congressional Democratic leaders issued a joint statement condemning the executive actions as feckless and urging Republicans to return to the negotiating table.

Sen. Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, from California, called Trump’s actions “unworkable, weak and narrow.”

Diane Swonk, chief economist at Grant Thornton, agreed that Congress needs to pass legislation.

The July employment report showed that job growth is slowing as the coronavirus pandemic spreads.

“The crisis is real, while the economy has already shown signs of losing momentum.” Swonk said in a tweet.

The House passed a next-phase coronavirus relief package called the HEROES Act in May, but the Senate and White House opted to remain on pause till public pressure built when the benefits provided by the prior program expired at the end of July.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump ... cle_inline
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MARKETWATCH

"Paul Krugman: Trump’s payroll tax cut is ‘the hydroxychloroquine of economic policy’"


By Nicole Lyn Pesce

Published: Aug. 10, 2020 at 4:31 p.m. ET

President Trump’s bold move to bypass Congress by signing his own executive order and memorandums for coronavirus relief over the weekend drew plenty of strong reactions from both Democrats and Republicans.

His actions to defer payroll taxes and replace the expired supplemental $600 unemployment benefit with a plan that would pay up to $400, in particular, drew questions about their effectiveness, and whether the president has the right to overwrite the legislative branch of U.S. government.


Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is among the most vocal critics, calling payroll tax cuts “the hydroxychloroquine of economic policy” in both a CNN interview and on his official Twitter account on Sunday.

His dig harks back to the fervid belief by some during the pandemic, including the president, that the malaria drug would be a silver bullet against COVID-19.

That has not proven to be the case.

Krugman said that payroll tax cuts are a “known bad idea” on CNN, adding, “Even Senate Republicans basically said, ‘Let’s forget about that.'"

"'That’s a really stupid idea,’” during deliberations for a new relief package.

Indeed, Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska called the executive order “unconstitutional slop” in a statement on Sunday.

“President Obama did not have the power to unilaterally rewrite immigration law with DACA and President Trump does not have the power to unilaterally rewrite the payroll tax law,” he said.

Top Democratic senators Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer also piled on, releasing a statement calling the president’s actions “unworkable, weak and narrow.”

Some experts told MarketWatch that they were skeptical whether the order would even bump up take-home money all that much per paycheck.

But Trump supporters such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) praised the executive decision.

“Struggling Americans need action now,” McConnell said in a statement on Saturday.

“Since Democrats have sabotaged backroom talks with absurd demands that would not help working people, I support President Trump exploring his options to get unemployment benefits and other relief to the people who need them the most.”

In a Twitter thread, Krugman wrote that payroll taxes help fund Social Security and Medicare, and so cutting them would “undermine the finances of programs that are absolutely crucial to the lives of older Americans.”

“It’s a known quack remedy that everybody who knows anything has said is useless and dangerous, including Republicans.”

What’s more, he said that combining a payroll tax cut with a new and more complicated unemployment benefits program, especially after many people struggled to claim their benefits from the first Cares Act package, could have “dangerous side effects.”

“I’m extremely worried about a greater recession coming from it,” said Krugman.

Trump announced last week that he was eyeing an executive order after Congress failed to compromise and pass a new coronavirus rescue package, even though using his executive power to provide economic aid over the legislative branch is a legal gray area.

Stocks opened modestly higher off the news on Monday, however, with analysts noting that even if the executive orders are illegal or ineffective, they could give Congress a kick in the pants to finally reach an agreement on a bipartisan stimulus plan.

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/paul- ... _headlines
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MARKETWATCH Market Snapshot

"Dow, S&P 500 book 7th straight day of gains, Nasdaq ends lower as high-flying tech stocks take a breather"


By Joy Wiltermuth and Sunny Oh

Published: Aug. 10, 2020 at 4:52 p.m. ET

The S&P 500 booked its longest stretch of gains in about 16 months Monday, as investors monitored signs that a long-awaited rotation on Wall Street into more economically sensitive cyclical stocks could be brewing, but at the expense of their high-flying counterparts.

Investors also focused on the significance of President Donald Trump’s weekend signing of executive orders extending some elements of coronavirus relief.

The measures face likely legal hurdles and questions about their effectiveness, but the act may spur further talks among lawmakers.

Market participants also took stock of U.S.-China tensions.

How did major benchmarks fare?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 357.96 points higher, or 1.3%, to 27,791.44, booking its seventh straight day of gains.

The S&P 500 added 9.19 points, or 0.3%, finishing at 3,360.47, within 1% of its Feb. 19 closing record of 3,386.15.

It also clinched its seventh straight day of advances, its longest streak of gains since April 2019, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

The Nasdaq Composite retreated 42.63 points, or 0.4%, to end at 10,968.36.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average rose 288.56 points, or 2.7%, to finish at 10,864.90, extending its wins streak to nine sessions in a row, its longest string of gains since January 2018, according to Dow Jones Market Data.

Stocks scored gains last week, with the Dow advancing 3.8% to 27,433.48, and the S&P 500 posting a weekly rise of 2.5% to 3,351.28.

The Nasdaq gained 2.5% to finish at 11,010.98.

The Nasdaq edged lower on Friday after hitting a series of record finishes that propelled it above the 11,000 milestone.

What drove the market?

Monday trading showed signs of a rotation away from high-growth stocks in the tech sector to more economically sensitive cyclical companies, a trend that has been subject to fits and starts over recent weeks.

“As the summer COVID-19 spike wanes, investors are more inclined to view the economic recovery as real."

"That could mean the recent move toward cyclical stocks is real and sustainable for the first time since the pandemic began,” said James Meyer, chief investment officer at Tower Bridge Advisors.

Still, investors say it is unclear how far any nascent rally in cyclical companies might run, with the coronavirus still an obstacle that is weighing on the U.S. economic recovery and the feasibility of new fiscal stimulus measures announced by the Trump administration in question.

The U.S. reached another dire milestone on Monday as new COVID-19 cases topped 5 million, more than one-quarter of the global total of nearly 20 million cases.

Uneven efforts within the U.S. to contain the coronavirus come as the White House and Democratic lawmakers failed last week to come to an agreement on a new round of pandemic aid.

In response, Trump on Saturday signed executive orders that aim to pause the collection of payroll taxes, provide help on rent, assist with student-loan payments and extend a portion of additional unemployment benefits that had lapsed at the end of last month.

The measures are almost certain to face legal challenges and logistical hurdles.

Specifically, one order authorizes states to pay $400 a week in additional unemployment benefits, with 75% of the funding coming from the federal government, versus the $600 in additional benefits that had expired at the end of July, which has been credited with helping borrowers and lenders, thus far, avoid a wave of consumer defaults.

“Executive orders that spend money, or presumably cut taxes are fraught with peril,” said Steven Skancke, chief economic adviser at Keel Point, and a former White House National Security Council and U.S. Treasury Department staffer.

“To be sure, there have been efforts to try to do that,” Skancke said, pointing to efforts by the Nixon administration to use line-item vetoes over spending he disagreed with from a policy standpoint.

“All of that was overturned in the courts,” he said, adding that the precedent doesn’t bode well for Trump’s efforts to override powers of Congress to tax and spend.

“They certainly will be challenged, and as a result they don’t provide certainty in terms of their impact,” he told MarketWatch.


Meanwhile, U.S.-China tensions intensified, with Beijing on Monday announcing unspecified sanctions against 11 U.S. politicians and heads of organizations promoting democratic causes, including additional measures targeting Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, who already were subject to a travel ban.

Also, Chinese jet fighters briefly crossed the midline of the Taiwan Strait on Monday, news reports said, as U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar visited the island.

Azar is the most senior U.S. official to visit Taiwan in around four decades.

Earnings season also further winds down this week.

Through Friday, companies representing 89% of the S&P 500’s market cap had reported second-quarter results, according to Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. equity strategist at Credit Suisse Securities.

In aggregate, 81% of the companies that have reported beat lowered projections.

Earnings have exceeded estimates by 23.2% in aggregate, with 81% of the reported companies beating their lowered projections during the pandemic.

Golub also noted that while second-quarter earnings per share have surpassed projections by over 23%, consensus 3Q estimates have been raised by only 3%, and fourth-quarter estimates remain unchanged.

In economic data, the number of job openings in the U.S. rose 518,000 to 5.8 million, climbing for a second month in a row.

But the number of jobs available was running around 7 million before the pandemic.

Which companies were in focus?

FedEx Corp. and United Parcel Service Inc. shares gained 9% and 1.7%, respectively, Monday, amid bullish analyst comments on the package delivery giants given signs of increasing e-commerce volumes and improved pricing.

Shares of MGM Resorts International led the S&P 500’s gains Monday, with the stock adding 13.8% after Barry Diller, chairman of IAC/InterActiveCorp unveiled a 12% stake in the company.

Pinterest Inc. shares rose 2.5% in Monday trading after Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight and raised his price target to $44 from $34.

Shares of Beyond Meat fell 4.1%, despite a big upgrade from Goldman Sachs analyst Adam Samuelson who raised his price target for the alternative-protein pioneer from $44 to $112, an 155% increase.

McDonald’s Corp fell 0.2% Monday after the fast-food chain said it was suing its former chief executive to recoup severance and benefits worth up to $42 million.

The company is alleging that its now ex-CEO Steve Easterbrook lied to its board about sexual relationships he had with employees before he was fired last year.

Shares of social media platform Twitter Inc. gained 0.8% after The Wall Street Journal reported it had held preliminary talks about a potential combination with TikTok, the video-sharing app that the Trump administration has declared a national-security threat due to its Chinese ownership.

Microsoft Corp., however, is still seen as the front-runner in any deal with TikTok after weeks of talks between it and TikTok’s owner, Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., the report said.

Shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. rose 1.5% after the conglomerate run by billionaire investor Warren Buffett on Saturday reported an 87% jump in second-quarter profit thanks to the rising value of its investment portfolio, though it also took a write-down of around $10 billion on the value of its aircraft parts manufacturing business.

Marriott International Inc. shares gained 3.6% despite the hotel operator reporting a wider-than-expected second-quarter loss and revenues that came in below Wall Street estimates.

Shares of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. climbed 10% Monday even after the cruise operator announced a bigger-than-expected second-quarter loss.

But revenue fell less than forecast as cruises were suspended due to the pandemic.

Eastman Kodak Co. Shares of plummeted 27.9% after reports the U.S. International Development Finance Corp. is withholding its planned $765 million loan after the deal came under regulatory scrutiny.

How did other markets trade?

The 10-year Treasury note yield rose 1.1 basis point to 0.573%.

Bond prices move inversely to yields.

The greenback was up 0.2%, with the ICE U.S. Dollar Index, a gauge of the buck against a half-dozen currencies, at 93.60 Monday.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 index finished 0.3% higher, after advancing 2% last week, and the FTSE 100 also added 0.3%, following its 2.3% weekly advance.

In Asia, China’s CSI 300 index ended trade up 0.4%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index closed 0.6% lower.

U.S. benchmark oil tacked on 72 cents, or 1.8%, to end at $41.94 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold futures for December GCZ20, -0.09% settled $11.70 higher, or 0.6%, to end at $2,039.70 an ounce.

William Watts contributed reporting

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MARKETWATCH

"U.S. job openings slowly climbing out of deep hole"


By Greg Robb

Published: Aug. 10, 2020 at 4:10 p.m. ET

The numbers:

Job openings rose 518,000 to 5.9 million in June, according to the Labor Department on Monday.

That’s above the median forecast of 5.3 million jobs in an Econoday survey of economists.

The increases follows a gain of 375,000 in May.

The number of jobs available was running around 7 million before the pandemic.

The number of layoffs and firings rose 522,000 to 4.8 million in June.

Hiring eased to 6.7 million from a record 7.2 million in May.

The JOLTS data lag behind the monthly employment report by a month.

What happened:

The largest gains in openings came from accommodation and food service, other service and arts.

The biggest declines were in construction and state and local government education.

The share of people who left jobs on their own, known as the quits race, rose to 1.9% from 1.8% in May.

That’s down from a peak of 3.2% less than a year ago.

Few people are willing to quit a job during a recession.

Big picture:

With job openings 16% below their pre-pandemic level in June, there were still three unemployed workers for every job opening.

This shows the labor market has a long way to go to get back to the pre-pandemic strength.


There are still 13 million workers who lost jobs in March and April who remain unemployed.

Job growth slowed to 1.8 million in July from 4.8 million in June.

The unemployment rate fell to 10.2%.

What are they saying?

“Importantly, the backward-looking data tell little about the current trajectory of the recovery."

"High-frequency indicators instead show that the labor market has lost some momentum amid an alarming resurgence of coronavirus cases."

"In the absence of a comprehensive fiscal package, recouping the remaining 13 million jobs lost since February will be a very long and slow slog,” said Lydia Boussour, senior U.S. economist at Oxford Economics

Market reaction:

Stocks mostly gained Monday as traders looked past the data, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing more than 350 points higher.

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MARKETWATCH Bond Report

"Long-term Treasury yields move higher as traders make room for record auctions"


By Sunny Oh

Published: Aug. 10, 2020 at 4:05 p.m. ET

Long-term U.S. Treasury yields rose on Monday as traders made room for this week’s record auctions of government bonds, which will finance the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

What are Treasurys doing?

The 10-year Treasury note yield rose 1.1 basis points to 0.573%, compared with 0.562% on Friday.

The two-year note was at 0.129%, after trading at 0.127% at the end of last week.

The 30-year bond yield was virtually unchanged at 1.230%.

What’s driving Treasurys?

This week, bond traders will take down a wave of bond supply, after the Treasury Department increased the size of all of its major debt auctions to their highest levels last week.

The U.S. Treasury will sell $112 billion of notes and bonds across maturities ranging between three years and 30 years this week.

Without significant catalysts for trading, supply played a part in putting pressure on the bond market Monday as dealers and traders priced in a “concession,” in effect, lifting yields to accommodate the new issuance.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order and memorandums over the weekend aimed at boosting the U.S. economy.

He announced an extension of federal unemployment benefits to $400 a week and ordered that companies will be able to avoid paying payroll taxes.

But economists say the order is likely to face legal challenges.

However, the president’s moves may provide some incentive for congressional lawmakers to return to the negotiating table.

On the data front, the Labor Department said job openings in the U.S. stood at 5.9 million, increasing for a second straight month.

Still, that figure falls short of the 7 million seen before the pandemic.

What did market participants say?

“In the absence of any new salient information, the curve incrementally steepened ahead of $112 billion in coupon supply over the next 72 hours,” said Jon Hill, an interest-rate strategist at BMO Capital Markets.

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MARKETWATCH

"New York Fed says rising number of U.S. companies less able to weather ‘liquidity shocks’ due to pandemic"


By Sunny Oh

Published: Aug. 10, 2020 at 4:42 p.m. ET

Researchers at the New York Fed said the number of U.S. public companies that couldn’t generate enough cash to pay for their interest costs shot up in the first quarter of 2020.

They cast a spotlight on the weakness around big businesses that issued a record amount of debt this year in order to keep themselves afloat during the COVID-19 pandemic until earnings recovered.


Their data showed that though interest expenses had fallen, the decline in cash flow more than offset that boost, expanding the ranks of businesses vulnerable to a sudden decline in revenues.

“A sizable share of U.S. corporations have interest expense greater than cash flow, raising concerns about the ability of those corporations to endure further liquidity shocks,” the researchers said in a Monday note at the New York Fed’s Liberty Street Economics blog.

To be sure, the New York Fed’s data only reflected the first-quarter disruption from the pandemic, which is expected to pale next to the second-quarter hit to corporate earnings.

They pointed out that the rise in the number of vulnerable corporations was particularly acute in the oil and hospitality industries, which were already running high levels of debt and were struggling to generate enough cash to cover interest payments before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Around a third or more of companies in the two sectors had an interest coverage ratio of less than 1.

In other words, the cost of servicing their debt exceeded their ability to bring in cash.


Businesses would have to borrow funds to make up the difference.

Analysts have previously fretted over so-called zombie companies that are unable to cover their debt servicing costs with their profits.

Some have argued their swelling ranks could end up crowding out other more productive firms, and hamper economic growth.

In markets, the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher on Monday.

Meanwhile, the 10- year Treasury note yield rose a basis point to 0.57%.

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MARKETWATCH

"Powerful storm with 100-mph winds leaves path of destruction across Midwest"


By Associated Press

Published: Aug. 10, 2020 at 6:33 p.m. ET

IOWA CITY, Iowa — A rare storm packing 100 mph winds and with power similar to an inland hurricane swept across the Midwest on Monday, blowing over trees, flipping vehicles, causing widespread property damage and leaving hundreds of thousands without power as it turned toward Chicago.

The storm known as a derecho lasted several hours as it tore across eastern Nebraska, Iowa and parts of Wisconsin, had the wind speed of a major hurricane, and likely caused more widespread damage than a normal tornado, said Patrick Marsh, science support chief at the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.

It’s not quite a hurricane.

It has no eye and its winds come across in a line.

But the damage it is likely to do spread over such a large area is more like an inland hurricane than a quick more powerful tornado, Marsh said.

He compared it to a devastating Super Derecho of 2009, which was one of the strongest on record traveled more than 1,000 miles in 24 hours, causing $500 million in damage, widespread power outages and killing a handful of people.

“This is our version of a hurricane,” Northern Illinois University meteorology professor Victor Gensini said in an interview from his home about 15 minutes before the storm was about to hit.

Minutes later he headed to his basement for safety as the storm took aim at Chicago, starting with its suburbs.

Gensini said this derecho will go down as one of the strongest in recent history and be one of the nation’s worst weather events of 2020.

“It ramped up pretty quick” around 7 a.m. Central time in Eastern Nebraska.

"I don’t think anybody expected widespread winds approaching 100, 110 mph,” Marsh said.

Several people were injured and widespread property damage was reported in Marshall County in central Iowa after 100 mph winds swept through the area, said its homeland security coordinator Kim Elder.

She said the winds blew over trees, ripped road signs out of the ground and tore roofs off of buildings.

“We had quite a few people trapped in buildings and cars,” she said.

She said the extent of injuries is unknown and that no fatalities have been reported.

Elder said some people reported their cars flipping over from the wind, having power lines fall on them and getting injured when hit by flying debris.

Dozens of cars at one factory had their windshields blown out.

Buildings have also caught on fire, she said.

“We’re in life-saving mode right now,” Elder said.

Marshalltown Mayor Joel Greer declared a civil emergency, telling residents to stay home and off the streets so that first responders can respond to calls.

MidAmerican Energy said nearly 101,000 customers in the Des Moines area were without power after the storm moved through the area.

Reports from spotters filed with the National Weather Service in Des Moines had winds in excess of 70 mph.

Roof damage to homes and buildings were reported in several Iowa cities, including the roof of a hockey arena in Des Moines.

Across the state, large trees fell on cars and houses.

Some semi-trailers flipped over or were blown off highways.

Farmers reported that some grain bins were destroyed and fields were flattened, but the extent of damage to Iowa’s agriculture industry wasn’t immediately clear.

MidAmerican spokeswoman Tina Hoffman said downed trees are making it difficult in some locations for workers to get to the power lines.

In some cases power line poles were snapped off.

“It’s a lot of tree damage."

"Very high winds."

"It will be a significant effort to get through it all and get everybody back on,” she said.

“It was a big front that went all the way through the state.”

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has “both significant and widespread damage throughout the city,” said public safety spokesman Greg Buelow.

“We have damage to homes and businesses, including siding and roofs damaged,” he said.

“Trees and power lines are down throughout the entire city.”

Buelow said residents should stay home so crews can respond to “potentially life-threatening calls.”

Tens of thousands of people in the metro area were without power.

What makes a derecho worse than a tornado is how long it can hover one place and how large an area the high winds hit, Marsh said.

He said winds of 80 mph or even 100 mph can stretch for “20, 30, 40 or God forbid 100 miles.”

“Right now, it’s making a beeline for Chicago,” Marsh said Monday mid-afternoon.

“Whether or not it will hold its intensity as it reaches Chicago remains to be seen.”

But the environmental conditions between the storm and Chicago are the type that won’t likely diminish the storm, Marsh said.

It will likely dissipate over central or eastern Indiana, he said.

What happened is unstable super moist air has parked over the northern plains for days on end and it finally ramped up Monday morning into a derecho.

“They are basically self-sustaining amoebas of thunderstorms,” Gensini said.

“Once they get going like they did across Iowa, it’s really hard to stop these suckers.”


Derechoes, with winds of at least 58 mph, occur about once a year in the Midwest.

Rarer than tornadoes but with weaker winds, derechoes produce damage over a much wider area.

The storms raced over parts of eastern Nebraska before 9 a.m. Monday, dropping heavy rains and high winds.

Strong straight-line winds pushed south into areas that include Lincoln and Omaha, National Weather Service meteorologist Brian Barjenbruch said.

“Once that rain-cooled air hit the ground, it surged over 100 miles, sending incredibly strong winds over the area,” Barjenbruch said.

Omaha Public Power District reported more than 55,500 customers without power in Omaha and surrounding communities.

The weather service’s Marsh said there’s a huge concern about power outages that will be widespread across several states and long lasting.

Add high heat, people with medical conditions that require power and the pandemic, “it becomes dire pretty quickly.”

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