Business Highlights
___
AP: Publicly traded firms get $300M in small-business loans
NEW YORK (AP) — An Associated Press investigation has found that a relief fund Congress created to protect small businesses amid the coronavirus crisis has helped companies with thousands of employees, past regulatory run-ins and risks of financial failure even before the economy got walloped. The Paycheck Protection Program was supposed to help small businesses, which typically have less access to quick cash and credit. Its $349 billion in emergency loans are intended to keep workers on the job and bills paid on time. But the AP found 75 companies that collectively received $300 million were publicly traded, and some had market values well over $100 million.
___
Oil’s chaotic collapse deepens; stocks drop worldwide
NEW YORK (AP) — Oil prices are continuing to collapse, and U.S. stocks dropped to their worst loss in weeks as worries sweep markets about the economic damage caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The S&P 500 fell 3.1% for its biggest loss since April 1, and markets across Europe and Asia had similar drops. Oil prices crumbled again as demand for energy withers with planes parked, cars garaged and factories shut down. Storage tanks for all that excess crude are getting close to their limits, meanwhile. Treasury yields fell, meaning investors are willing to get paid even less to get the safety of owning U.S. government bonds.
___
Pandemic and chill: Netflix adds a cool 16M subscribers
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Netflix picked up nearly 16 million global subscribers during the first three months of the year, helping cement its status as one of the world’s most essential services in times of isolation or crisis. Netflix more than doubled the quarterly growth it predicted in January, well before the COVID-19 outbreak began to shut down many major economies. It was the biggest three-month gain in the 13-year history of Netflix’s streaming service. The quarter spanned the beginning of stay-at-home orders in the U.S. and around the world. The numbers suggest that video streaming may thrive even as the U.S. economy sinks into recession.
___
Back to work? Companies finding it easier said than done
NEW YORK (AP) — As state and federal leaders tussle over when and how fast to “reopen” the U.S. economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, some corporations are taking the first steps toward bringing their employees back to work. Which in many cases is easier said than done. In Detroit, automakers are negotiating safety steps with the United Auto Workers in order to reopen factories, although many plant employees will still work in close quarters. Retailers, restaurants and mall operators are looking at China’s experience for tips on reopening stores. Many tech companies, by contrast, are taking their time bringing back their remote workforces — although there are some striking exceptions.
___
Chipotle agrees to record $25 million fine over tainted food
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chipotle Mexican Grill has agreed to pay a record $25 million fine to resolve criminal charges that it served tainted food that sickened more than 1,100 people in the U.S. from 2015 to 2018. The fast food company was charged Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court with two counts of violating the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by serving adulterated food. The charges stem from illness outbreaks at some Chipotle restaurants in California, Massachusetts, Virginia and Ohio. The Newport Beach, California-based company will avoid conviction by improving its food safety. The company says it will continue improving food safety practices as it puts the outbreaks in the past.
___
SBA reports data breach in disaster loan application website
NEW YORK (AP) — The Small Business Administration has reported it had a potential data breach last month in its website handling disaster loan applications. The agency says the personal information of more than 7,000 business owners applying for economic injury disaster loans was potentially seen by other applicants on the SBA website on March 25. The SBA said only the disaster loan program was affected, not the Paycheck Protection Program, which did not begin until April 3 and which is handled by a separate system. SBA spokeswoman Carol Wilkerson says the agency has notified the business owners whose information may be have been exposed and offered them a year of free credit monitoring.
___
Virus forces cancellation of iconic events like Oktoberfest
ATLANTA (AP) — Spain called off the Running of the Bulls in July, the U.S. scrapped the national spelling bee in June and Germany even canceled Oktoberfest, making it clear that the gathering drive to return to normal in Europe and the U.S. could be a two-steps-forward, one-step-back process in the effort to stave off coronavirus. Meanwhile, U.N. leaders called for efforts to ensure that all people have access to testing, medical supplies, drugs and future vaccines, especially in developing countries where virus cases were beginning to crest. African officials have been outspoken about the need for medical supplies across the 54-nation continent.
___
The S&P 500 fell 86.60 points, or 3.1%, to 2,736.56. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 631.56 points, or 2.7%, to 23,018.88, and the Nasdaq ended down 297.50, or 3.5%, to 8,263.23. The Russell 2000 index of smaller-company stocks fell 28.25 points, or 2.3%, to 1,185.09.