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FINANCIAL MARKETS
Stocks sink, bonds soar as fears spread that virus will stunt economy
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are falling sharply for a second day, as traders worry that the spreading coronavirus will threaten global economic growth. United Airlines and Mastercard joined a growing list of companies warning investors of the virus' impact on their finances. The steep sell-off on Monday erased all of the Dow Jones Industrial Average’s gains for the year. Energy companies fell as crude oil prices moved lower. U.S. government bond prices rose, sending yields even lower.
CONSUMER CONFIDENCE
US consumer confidence rises slightly to 130.7 in February
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumer confidence improved slightly in February, rising to a reading of 130.7, the highest point since August.
The Conference Board said Tuesday that its measure of consumer sentiment is up from a revised reading of 130.4 in January. Consumers views on the present situation for business and labor market conditions fell this month, but their expectations for the future rose.
Conference Board economist Lynn Franco said that consumers continue to view the outlook as favorable and when this is combined with solid employment growth, it should be enough to support continued spending and economic growth in the near term.
Consumer spending has been the driving force in the current economic expansion, now in its 11th year.
HOME PRICES
US home prices rise 2.9% in December on low rates, inventory
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. home prices rose at a faster pace in December as mortgage rates remained low and a falling supply of available properties set off bidding wars between buyers.
The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city home price index climbed 2.9% in December from a year earlier after posting a 2.5% gain in November.
Prices rose in all 20 cities, led by increases of 6.5% in Phoenix, 5.3% in Charlotte, North Carolina and 5.2% in Tampa, Florida. Prices rose just 1% in Chicago and New York.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-VACCINE TESTING
Drugmaker readies possible coronavirus vaccine for testing
UNDATED (AP) — Drugmaker Moderna says it has shipped its first batch of a possible coronavirus vaccine for humans to government researchers for testing.
Shares of the biotech company are soaring Tuesday, a day after the company said it sent vials to an arm of the National Institutes of Health for early-stage testing in the United States.
More than 80,000 people have been infected globally from the viral outbreak that began late last year in China. A total of 35 cases have been reported in the United States. The virus has killed more than 2,700 people globally.
NTSB-TESLA
NTSB: Driver in fatal Tesla crash was playing video game
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Transportation Safety Board says the driver of a Tesla SUV who died in a Silicon Valley crash two years ago was playing a video game on his smartphone at the time.
Chairman Robert Sumwalt said at the start of a hearing Tuesday that partially automated driving systems like Tesla's Autopilot cannot drive themselves. Yet he says drivers continue to use them without paying attention.
Sumwalt says the board made recommendations to six automakers to stop the problem and only Tesla has failed to respond.
The board will determine a cause of the crash at the hearing and make recommendations to prevent it from happening again.
EARNS-MACY’S
Macy’s has strong fourth quarter heading to transition year
NEW YORK (AP) — Macy's is reporting stronger-than-expected sales and profits for the fourth quarter. The quarterly report comes three weeks after the department store chain said it was closing 125 of its least productive stores and cutting 2,000 corporate jobs as it tests new smaller-store formats.
The company says it's viewing 2020 as a transition year and reiterated its annual profit guidance.
The guidance doesn't include the impact from the new virus in China. However, CEO Jeff Gennette says the department store chain is seeing a slowdown in sales at its 70 U.S. Macy's stores that do a big Asian business.
HOME DEPOT-RESULTS
Home Depot's same-store sales surge in final quarter of 2019
UNDATED (AP) — Home Depot is reporting a better-than-expected fourth quarter with strong comparable-store sales.
The home improvement retailer is also boosting its quarterly dividend by 10%.
Home Depot earned $2.48 billion, or $2.28 per share. That's better than the per-share earnings of $2.11 projected by industry analysts. Home Depot anticipates earnings this year of about $10.45 per share, far better than analysts projections of $10.08.
BANK PROFITS
Banks have second-most-profitable year
NEW YORK (AP) — The banking industry collectively made $233.1 billion in profits in 2019. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said Tuesday it was the industry's second-most profitable year ever.
The slight drop in profits from 2018 is due to the drop in interest rates, which happened in the second half of last year. The Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate twice, in an effort to shore up the U.S. economy, which was facing difficulties from the U.S.-China trade war and a slowing manufacturing sector.
FORD RECALL
Ford recalls popular F-150 pickup to fix headlamp problem
DETROIT (AP) — Ford is recalling more than 217,000 pickup trucks mainly in North America to fix a problem with the daytime running lights.
The recall covers certain F-150 trucks with LED headlights from the 2018 through 2020 model years. The Dearborn, Michigan, automaker says the running lights will keep working if the driver moves the headlight switch from auto to the low beam position. U.S. safety standards require vehicles to change to parking lights in that case.
The problem could reduce visibility to other drivers, but Ford says it doesn't know of any crashes.
Dealers will update software to fix the problem.
OPIOID CRISIS-LAWSUITS
Drugmaker Mallinckrodt reaches $1.6B opioid settlement
UNDATED (AP) — The generic drugmaker Mallinckrodt has announced a $1.6 billion deal to settle lawsuits it faces over its role in a national opioid crisis.
The company announced the deal Tuesday, saying it has agreement with most states and lawyers representing local governments suing it.
The English company was one of the highest-volume opioid producers in the U.S. and is seeking bankruptcy protection as part of the deal. The deal comes as more disputes have become public in some other companies' efforts to settle opioid suits.
AMERICAN AIRLINES-QANTAS
American Airlines, Qatar will split revenue on some flights
DALLAS (AP) — American Airlines and Qatar Airways say they are putting aside past differences and reviving a partnership selling seats on some of each other’s flights and sharing the revenue.
American says it hopes the arrangement will boost its ability to sell travel to India and elsewhere in Asia and also to Africa.
The two airlines broke off a similar partnership — called code-sharing — back in 2018 in the middle of a fight over government subsidies for Middle Eastern airlines. The CEO of Qatar Airways even went after flight attendants on U.S. airlines, calling them grandmothers. Now he says that's all in the past.
VAPING INVESTIGATION
39 states investigating Juul's marketing of vaping products
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Investigators from 39 states will look into the marketing and sales of vaping products by Juul Labs, including whether the company targeted youths and made misleading claims about nicotine content in its devices, officials announced Tuesday.
Attorneys general from Connecticut, Florida, Nevada, Oregon and Texas said they will be leading the multi-state investigation into San Francisco-based Juul, which also is facing numerous lawsuits by teenagers and others who say they became addicted to the company's vaping products.
Juul released a statement saying it has halted television, print and digital advertising and eliminated most flavors in response to concerns by government officials and others.
JPMORGAN-CLIMATE CHANGE
JPMorgan to stop lending to coal companies, arctic drillers
NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. will no longer do business with coal companies and will restrict financing to companies that drill in the Arctic, the company announced Tuesday.
The announcement came in tandem with the bank announcing it would extend $200 billion in financing to clean and renewable energy companies by 2025.
The bank has been holding its annual investor day in San Francisco, where the announcement was made.
AMAZON-GROCERY STORE
No checkout needed: Amazon opens cashier-less grocery store
NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon wants to kill the supermarket checkout line.
The online retailing giant is opening its first cashier-less supermarket, where shoppers can grab milk or eggs and walk out without waiting in line or ever opening their wallets. It's the latest sign that Amazon is serious about shaking up the $800 billion grocery industry.
At the new store, opened Tuesday in Amazon's Seattle hometown, shoppers scan a smartphone app to enter the store. Cameras and sensors track what's taken off shelves. Items are charged to an Amazon account after leaving.
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