Weekend reads: How states are planning to lift coronavirus restrictions

April 24, 2020

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With so much economic damage springing from the coronavirus shutdown, President Trump has made it clear that the states will be left to come up with their own plans to reopen closed businesses and institutions, even if he disagrees with some of those plans.

Here’s a summary of plans and announcements for 10 states. It will continue to be updated.

Also:This conservative economist says President Trump’s plan to reopen the economy fails in crucial ways

Life after coronavirus

Will summer be canceled? Or at least summer camp?

Then there’s how it changes New York, the pandemic’s U.S. epicenter: 119 things you wouldn’t understand pre-COVID-19

Plus: Here’s what’s happening in Germany, where small shops were allowed to reopen this week but ‘people are afraid to come and shop’

Beware coronavirus fraud

The Securities and Exchange Commission has taken enforcement action against 23 companies that made questionable claims about research into COVID-19 cures.

Oil rout points to ETF danger for investors

Headlines early this week screamed that the price of oil had fallen below zero. What really fell below zero was the price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures for May delivery in the final 24 hours before the contract expired on Tuesday. Nobody wanted to commit to taking delivery of oil in May because there was no place to store it. (Prices have recovered somewhat, based on the new front-month futures contract CL00, 3.82%, though they remain soft.)

But exchange-traded funds that invest in oil futures and their investors suffered severe losses. Andrea Riquier explains the special danger of commodity ETFs.

Here’s a list of highly-leveraged oil companies that may be especially risky for investors during this period of low demand.

Plus:how Russia could fall apart because the crash in oil prices.

Realistic coronavirus expectations

It’s easy for anyone to say “we’ll have a vaccine in a year” to prevent COVID-19 infections, but there is nothing to support that expectation. Here’s the future of a successful coronavirus response: Mass testing at work and in church and self-administered tests.

How people are coping

Dozens of people share there stories about how they have been affected and have helped others during the coronavirus crisis in MarketWatch’s Disptaches from a pandemic.

Believe it or not, this is a good time to buy a car

If you are fortunate enough not to face the dire prospect of being unemployed, and were already thinking of buying a new car, there are excellent deals available from desperate dealers, featuring zero-interest loans.

These stocks lose support as buybacks are cut

During the bull market, companies spent billions of dollars buying back their own shares, at record prices, to lower their share counts and boost earnings per share. But now many companies have stopped buying back shares to preserve cash. Here are 13 stocks that may be hurt by the curtailment of buybacks.

Stock picks: Safe tech dividends

With interest rates so low and many companies being forced to cut dividends to preserve cash, income-seeking investors are having a difficult time. Jeff Reeves lists five low-key tech stocks with “decent and safe” dividend yields.

Read on: This respected market-timing model just flashed a bullish four-year outlook for stocks

Stock picks: Midcap innovators

Dave Carlsen, the manager of the Buffalo Discovery Fund BUFTX, -0.22% has outperformed the broad indexes this year and over the long-term. He lists seven stocks of innovative companies for long-term investors.

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Originally Published on MarketWatch