Worldwide, the novel coronavirus is officially a pandemic. Within the US, 44 states and Washington, DC, have identified people infected with the virus. The global wave of Covid-19 is about to crash over the country–and the weak point in what happens next is the nation’s health care workers. Or rather, […]
Coronavirus weighs on U.S. consumer sentiment in early February
By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer sentiment fell less than expected in early March as households responded to the coronavirus pandemic and a sharp stock market sell-off, but also hoped that any disruptions to economic activity would be temporary. While the survey on Friday from the University of […]
Fed starts bond purchases under ramped up liquidity program
Economic Indicators5 hours ago (Mar 13, 2020 11:16AM ET) (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve on Friday launched a wave of $37 billion of Treasury security purchases under the enhanced market liquidity measures it announced on Thursday to address volatile conditions in the government bond market caused by the coronavirus outbreak. […]
U.S. Consumer Sentiment Falls Less Than Forecast in March
Economic Indicators6 hours ago (Mar 13, 2020 10:25AM ET) (Bloomberg) — U.S. consumer sentiment fell slightly less than forecast in March amid stock market declines as Americans remained somewhat optimistic in their initial response to the growing coronavirus outbreak. The University of Michigan’s preliminary sentiment index fell to 95.9 from […]
U.S. consumer sentiment drops in early February, coronavirus blamed
EconomyMar 13, 2020 10:21AM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer sentiment fell in early March as households responded to the coronavirus pandemic and steep declines in stock market prices, a survey showed on Friday. The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index fell 5.0% to a reading of 95.9. […]
Can You Calculate Pi by Drawing a Circle?
If you think about it, pi is really weird. This irrational number shows up in the craziest places. If you swing a mass back and forth on a string, there’s a pi in there. It pops up in the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, Einstein’s general relativity, and the interaction between two […]
U.S. import prices post biggest drop in six months
Economic Indicators7 hours ago (Mar 13, 2020 09:12AM ET) (C) Reuters. An aerial photo looking north shows shipping containers at the Port of Seattle and the Elliott Bay waterfront in Seattle WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. import prices fell by the most in six months in February as the cost of […]
Twitter and Facebook Must Not Allow Trump’s Covid-19 Lies
But now we are in a different phase: The verbiage from the Orange Man in the White House has regularly involved misleading assurances about a lethal pandemic. If heeded, those words have the potential to increase people’s chances of being exposed to a disease that may kill them. I don’t […]
Investors hope Fed can help calm markets as big rate cut expected
By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) – Interest rate cuts won’t cure the coronavirus but investors are still hoping the Federal Reserve can take some actions to help soothe the roiled stock market. Only days after a rare emergency rate cut, the Fed is expected at its regularly scheduled meeting […]
Data Sharing and Open Source Software Help Combat Covid-19
On February 27, a teenager in the Seattle area was diagnosed with Covid-19. Shortly after, researchers at the Seattle Flu Study shared genomic data about his strain of the virus with other researchers on an “open science” site. Armed with that data, researchers involved with a second open science project […]