fortune--2020-07-08--Walmart’s reported $98 annual subscription service could fuel the chain’s explosive e-commerce busin

Walmart’s reported $98 annual subscription service could fuel the chain’s explosive e-commerce business

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Walmart is reportedly planning to debut an Amazon-rival subscription service later this month, allowing customers to get their groceries and home and health products delivered to their door.
The service, called Walmart+, will cost consumers $98 a year—$21 less than an annual subscription for Amazon Prime—and is expected to include discounts at its gas stations and unlimited same-day delivery, according to Recode. The company declined to confirm the report.
Robert Ohmes, analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, has also not received any official confirmation that Walmart+ will soon roll out. But he said the service makes a lot of sense, given Walmart’s strategy of providing people with more ways to buy the products sold in its stores.
“This is the natural extension of what Walmart’s already been doing,” he said. “Walmart’s constantly trying to improve the level of omnichannel services of its stores.”
The company, which boasts approximately 4,756 U.S. Walmart stores, announced last year that it was expanding its Delivery Unlimited service, a $98 grocery membership, to 1,400 stores in the fall. Then in April it “accelerated the development” of Express Delivery, a two-hour delivery service for food and general merchandise, in light of the coronavirus pandemic. The service costs consumers $10 plus the original delivery charge. In May, Walmart combined its general merchandise app with its grocery app.
Walmart+ is the next evolution in giving customers more bang for their buck, Ohmes said.
The reported development of the service comes as consumers buy more items online while sheltering in place during the coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile, Walmart has been rapidly growing its market share of the e-commerce industry, given the popularity of grocery delivery and pickup during the pandemic.
Amazon reported that its first-quarter sales jumped 26% compared to the same quarter last year. That’s nearly 10% more growth than last year’s first quarter. Meanwhile, Walmart said its first-quarter sales increased 8.6%, with e-commerce sales jumping a whopping 74%.
“There are a lot more people engaging Walmart digitally than they have before,” Ohmes said. “Walmart and Target are some of the biggest winners in a COVID environment, just looking at the significant growth rates.”
Amazon has long dominated e-commerce, and with its Prime membership, which debuted in 2005, it’s only gotten bigger. In addition to delivery, the $119 annual membership gives customers access to Prime Video, Amazon’s streaming library, exclusive shopping deals, and free access to Prime Reading’s 1,000 e-books and magazines.
Walmart+ may also include video entertainment, according to Recode, and Morgan Stanley analyst Simeon Gutman said the retailer likely would consider including discounts or services related to its optical department and pharmacy. It could also consider adding special offers through Sam’s Club, its bulk retailer. Walmart also has a wider reach when it comes to grocery delivery, as it has thousands of stores across the nation. Amazon is dependent on Whole Foods, which has only about 500 stores in the U.S., for its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery service.
In order for Walmart to successfully take a bite out of Amazon, Walmart will have to prove that it can consistently deliver. It also will have to appeal to Amazon’s somewhat “wealthier” customer and change the perception that Amazon is the go-to for delivery, Gutman said.
“It’s going to take time to change that perception,” Gutman said. “But there’s definitely room for two.”


fortune--2020-07-08--Apple and Google’s coronavirus contact tracing system gains more participants across the globe

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Less than two months after Apple and Google launched a system to help government health authorities slow the spread of COVID-19 by tracing people exposed to the disease, the tech giants have attracted a modest amount of participation.
Multiple U.S. states and 11 countries, including Italy and Germany, are currently working with the companies to develop mobile phone apps to facilitate contact tracing, Dr. David Feinberg, vice president at Google Health, said on Wednesday at Fortune’s Brainstorm Health virtual conference.
“We think it’s a tool that’s important in the big concept of how you really do contact tracing,” he said.
Health authorities face a dire need to warn people who have been exposed to disease carriers, but tracing the contacts of infected individuals is a complex and difficult task. In May, Apple and Google launched an addition to their respective mobile phone operating systems that would help track incidental exposures to COVID-19. The system is designed to protect the privacy of individual users while also avoiding false reports. Health authorities could use the help; the novel coronavirus outbreak has so far infected 12 million people worldwide, including 3 million in the U.S. More than 500,000 people—including over 130,000 in the U.S.—have died.
Though some health authorities have criticized the privacy protection features of the Google and Apple system, which does not keep a record of the actual location of each encounter, Feinberg said it was designed to meet the authorities’ needs.
“We were really hearing from the public health world that they needed help with contact tracing,” he said. The goal is to be “able to set the phones so that folks that would have the information about who’s positive could use the technology to let people know that they’ve been exposed.”
“Google and Apple don’t keep any of the actual medical information. That’s at the public health level,” he added.


fortune--2020-07-08--How parking lots can provide an early clue to COVID-19 outbreaks

Last fall, researchers from the organization HealthMap noticed a curious phenomenon in Wuhan, China: Hospital parking lots were filling up at a higher rate than usual. That discovery was one of several early clues that led HealthMap, which pulls in data from a range of digital sources, to be one of the first entities to warn of a coming coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking at Fortune‘s Brainstorm Health virtual event, Dr. John Brownstein, who helped create HealthMap in 2006, explained how combining disparate digital clues—such as unusual hospital parking lot activities—is critical to detecting and managing outbreaks of COVID-19 and other diseases.
Brownstein pointed to an uptick in searches related to coughs and diarrhea on Baidu, China’s main search engine, as another early source of evidence of the outbreak.
HealthMap works by pulling in vast amounts of data from publicly available sources, including news reports, government agencies and academic publications. Its software, which scans sources in nine different languages, then compiles the data in public repositories available on the software-development site GitHub for other researchers to parse.
The goal is to “bridge digital sources to detect outbreak,” said Brownstein, who is also chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital. He added that the process is both more comprehensive and much cheaper than many similar initiatives carried out by government agencies.
In response to the current pandemic, HealthMap has helped launch “Covid Near You,” a sister tool to the long-established “Flu Near You.” Both services, available as websites and apps, rely on members of the public to submit their symptoms so as to help track outbreaks across the country.
Brownstein says the data HealthMap collects can not only help detect outbreaks, but help inform responses too. Health authorities, for instance, can assess how receptive a given population will be to receiving COVID-19 vaccines based on what percentage of that population has historically received flu shots.
All of this points to an increasingly data-driven approach to health policy, and one that relies on contributions from the public as well as from scientists.
“It’s putting the public back in public health,” Brownstein says.


fortune--2020-07-08--How much the NHL could make by restarting its season

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The National Hockey League is gearing up for a return. On Monday, the league and its players’ union announced an agreement to finish the 2019–20 season with a 24-team postseason tournament starting Aug. 1. The plan hinges on strict health and safety protocols, including daily COVID-19 testing for players and staff, but, as of now, the NHL is set to resume action for the first time since March 12.
The decision isn’t without controversy. The novel coronavirus pandemic is still raging across the U.S., leading the NHL to reportedly center the remaining games in two Canadian hub cities, Toronto and Edmonton. A week before the restart was agreed upon, Sportsnet reporter Eric Engels, quoting players anonymously, said, “One player said a majority of the players do not want to return to play this summer. Estimated 75%.”
Engels quoted another saying: “Calls with the NHL [Players’ Association] have been ‘a joke’” and that they merely revolved around the financial incentives. This speaks to the point that while the spirit of competition and a sense of closure is important to some, there are financial stakes hinging on the season’s completion, as well.
The NHL would stand to lose out on roughly $1 billion if the season was not completed, according to projections from the Associated Press and other outlets. As of now, total revenues for the 2019–20 season sit at $3.9 billion, the Los Angeles Times reported. The season before, the NHL brought in just over $5 billion.
A big part of that revenue comes from a hefty television deal with NBC. The NHL signed a 10-year national deal with NBC in 2011 that nets the league $200 million annually in the U.S. alone. The NHL also has a national TV deal with Canada’s Rogers Communications worth $4.9 billion over 12 years, beginning in 2013. These totals don’t count various deals signed with local broadcasters, as well. Per the Philadelphia Inquirer, completing the playoff tournament could net the NHL roughly $500 million altogether in TV revenue.
There are stakes beyond this season when it comes to TV revenue. The NBC deal is set to expire in 2021, and the NHL will be looking for the best possible leverage when it comes to negotiating a new contract.
For now, it looks like the NHL will get some of that leverage back with plans to finish the season in place. Players are set to return to training camp on July 13, and there will be a chance to see how fans respond to watching empty-arena games for the remainder of the season.
The NHL is not the only league looking to finish what was started: NBA players have reported to Disney World in Orlando to compete in a similar style tournament, and MLB recently announced a schedule for a shortened season. Meanwhile, major soccer league competition in Europe has been underway for several weeks now, albeit in empty stadiums, to finish the teams’ respective seasons.


fortune--2020-07-08--These 5 numbers tell you everything you need to know about racial disparities in health care

Despite all the progress we have achieved in medicine and all the knowledge accumulated, a single virus has upended our world. COVID-19 has humbled so many in biomedicine, and I must count myself among them. And yet I remain confident that this pandemic will pass to history. Although it is far from over, this is a story with an ending. As I write, researchers around the world are investigating more than 120 vaccine candidates. Long-standing business competitors have pledged to share resources and clinical trial data to accelerate new therapies. And cross-sector partnerships are flourishing. Together, these efforts will defeat the virus; human ingenuity will win out.
I am less assured, however, about how a different public health crisis ends. It is a crisis that has persisted for generations at a tragic cost. To understand this challenge, you only need five numbers: a zip code. Far more than our family histories or genetic code, our zip code—the place we call home—remains the single greatest predictor of long-term health and life expectancy.
Consider Washington, D.C. The difference in life expectancy between our national capital’s longest-lived zip code, 20088, and its shortest, 20020, is a staggering 32.9 years. Yet the physical distance from tony Friendship Heights to hard-pressed Barry Farm is less than 10 miles. This disparity shows how health is profoundly shaped by our environment: the air we breathe, the food we eat, the services we have access to, the opportunities afforded to us.
We refer to these factors as the social determinants of health. But beneath the surface of this term lies an ugly truth. It is not a coincidence that Friendship Heights is a majority-White neighborhood, while Barry Farm is predominantly Black. Nor is it a fluke that similar racial disparities show up in neighborhoods across Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and other major cities. Up close, when we study social determinants of health, what we are really studying are the enduring health consequences of racist policies and prejudice encoded in our society.
If you are not convinced, consider these facts: Food deserts—when income is accounted for—occur more frequently in Black neighborhoods; Black Americans, owing to residential segregation, are more likely to breathe polluted air and drink lead-poisoned water; Black households with children still hold just one cent of wealth for every dollar held by an average White family; schools in minority districts receive an average of $2,226 less per student per year than those in White-majority districts, a gap that adds up to billions of dollars; Black Americans are incarcerated at five times the rate of White Americans—an outcome fueled, in part, by a disturbing “school-to-prison” pipeline. And the list of inequities goes on.
These are the bitter fruits of racial prejudice, the same I encountered growing up in Little Rock, where, in junior high, I was bused from my majority-White school to a school across town as part of a court-ordered desegregation plan. It was the first time I viscerally experienced the lie that was “separate but equal.” The tragic reality—that segregation engenders inequity—lay exposed in the school’s scarcely stocked library, where rats had visibly damaged books on the shelves, between the missing rails of stairwells, and behind the plaster peeling from the walls.
Though decades have passed since then, historically marginalized communities continue to bear the extreme financial and health costs of systemic exclusion and neglect. In every sense, it is a public health crisis—most recently exposed by COVID-19 and by the murder of George Floyd, which awoke many in our nation to the malignant nature of racial injustice.
If we are to achieve meaningful change, we as a medical community—and a country—must see “social determinants” for what they truly are. Ten miles and a 30-year gap in life expectancy: This should not be the legacy we leave for future generations. How can we make a difference against decades of racist policies that have brought us to this pass? For the nation’s teaching hospitals and academic health centers like Stanford Medicine, we must embrace three crucial avenues of change.
First, we must make social determinants a distinct research priority. To that end, we should publicly report the annual percentage of our research portfolios dedicated to advancing the understanding of social determinants, their health effects, and—critically—how to intervene. We should likewise set clear benchmarks to grow this body of work over time.
A second and no less critical priority arises from our core mission as instructional institutions. As we train tomorrow’s physician leaders, we must strive to extend educational opportunities to promising students from underrepresented communities. A more diverse physician workforce is essential to enhancing the cultural competence of care that patients receive and improving access in under-resourced areas.
As a path to bolstering applicant diversity and encouraging graduates to pursue their passions, Stanford Medicine has committed to providing debt-free education—including living expenses—for all medical students based upon financial need. Accredited colleges and universities must similarly address student debt as an urgent mandate. In addition, medical schools must include instruction on how to engage patients about social determinants, how implicit bias affects patient-clinician interactions, and the consequences of racism on human health.
Finally, in the care we provide, we must make lasting commitments to increasing community-based programs focused on equitable outcomes and expanding access. Treating those who are underserved and dispossessed when they come to the Emergency Department with life-threatening conditions is a bare minimum. We must find ways to systematically prevent such occurrences from happening in the first place—and this commitment must be shared by health insurance providers.
This, however, is only a start. Advocating for nutritious eating makes a scant difference in a food desert. Praising the benefits of physical exercise helps little when jogging in a nearby neighborhood could cost your life. And warnings about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse will hardly be heard in areas devoid of opportunity and hope. These challenges will not be solved by medicine alone. As a society, we have been shaken to our core by the recent injustices we have witnessed; we cannot look away. We must confront and address through policy the systemic inequities that have turned our zip codes into such powerful predictors of human health.
Lloyd B. Minor is a scientist, surgeon, and the Carl and Elizabeth Naumann dean of the Stanford University School of Medicine. He is also the author of Discovering Precision Health.


fortune--2020-07-08--WhatsApp leader: You don’t want us eavesdropping on you, right?

Will Cathcart, head of Facebook-owned WhatsApp, recently gave a rare interview to Chris Anderson of TED, my old employer. In it, he defends the world-conquering chat app’s embrace of privacy technologies, like end-to-end encryption.
End-to-end encryption is a data-transferring setup that restricts access to the content of messages solely to their senders and recipients. It helps prevent spies, hackers, and even tech companies themselves from eavesdropping on people’s digital conversations.
Law enforcement officials tend to object to strong encryption because, they say, it hinders investigations. Technologists and civil liberties advocates, on the other hand, counter that the tech underpins digital security, and any attempt to create a workaround, or otherwise undermine it, can and will be exploited by bad actors.
Here’s how Cathcart frames the debate over end-to-end encryption, now raging in Congress. He cleverly finds common ground with Facebook’s biggest critics by tapping into the anti-surveillance zeitgeist that possesses so many of them: You don’t want Facebook to collect your most intimate data, do you?
“We believe that fundamentally the security trade-off, the cost to your safety for us to start collecting every one of those messages, would be disastrous,” Cathcart says. “And you don’t want us to,” he adds, quite accurately. (Cambridge Analytica, anyone?)
Cathcart paints a scene ripped straight from the dystopian bible, 1984. “We, at this point, could build a camera and a microphone and install it in every living room in the United States hooked up to a central server for the government to access it,” he says. “But I think, naturally, we would recoil in horror at the consequences of doing something like that, even if there would be some cases where it would help solve crimes.”
Cathcart’s scenario may seem hyperbolic, but the point hits home—literally. As the coronavirus pandemic has swept the globe, more people are connecting virtually, turning to the Internet in lieu of infection-risking physical contact. People are commiserating, gossiping, interacting, and living online.
As some Senators threaten to outlaw strong encryption in the U.S., it is worth reiterating a point made recently by more than 75 pro-encryption cybersecurity experts, civil liberties groups, companies, and trade associations: Privacy is the foundation of security. You cannot have the latter without the former.
Or, as Cathcart puts it: “If we’re going to be forced to have conversations digitally, because we can’t be sitting face to face, we shouldn’t have to give up the security and privacy we’ve had for hundreds of years in that transition.”
COVID-19 adds even more urgency to the equation.
Robert Hackett
Twitter: @rhhackett
Email: robert.hackett@fortune.com
THREATS
Between TikTok and a hard place. Tech companies—including TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance—have been suspending operations in Hong Kong after China imposed a controversial new security law there. Despite its many attempts to distance itself from China (including naming an American CEO), TikTok has entered the White House's crosshairs. President Trump said Tuesday that his administration is considering banning TikTok in the U.S. His threat follows a similar ban in India, widely seen as retaliation for a lethal border clash with China last month.
Up against the wall. Retail behemoth Walmart's answer to Amazon Prime will launch this month, Vox's Recode reports. Called Walmart+, the subscription service is said to cost $98 and include same-day grocery delivery, among other perks. While Walmart figures out a belated strategy to counter its arch-nemesis, Amazon is doing the same in video streaming. Copying a feature long supported by rivals like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video has just added user profiles. The feature lets people keep their video preferences and watch histories separate from each other.
Red delicious. Apple is reportedly updating its next generation AirPods to use a "system-in-package" chip system, a design that could help it squeeze more components inside. In layman's terms, this means Apple's AirPods 3, expected next year, could come equipped with more advanced features once reserved for AirPods Pro, like noise cancelling, some Apple bloggers speculate. Meanwhile, a new beta version of Apple's forthcoming iPhone software, iOS 14, appears to contain code allowing for QR code payments, 9-to-5Mac reports.
Manna from heaven. After years of hype, Google parent Alphabet's balloon-beamed Internet "moonshot" project, Loon, is actually launching. The company received permission from the Kenyan government to disperse a "floating network of cell towers" above the country. The 35-balloon fleet will hover over eastern Africa "in the coming weeks," Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth said in a blog post.
Hot takes from hot fakes.
ACCESS GRANTED
Facebook is a rogue state whose aptest analogue on the global stage is North Korea, writes Carole Cadwalladr, the journalist responsible for exposing the company's Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018. She makes a powerful case for the extreme comparison; in a scathing op-ed for the Guardian Cadwalladr eviscerates the media giant for exacerbating societal divisions, broadcasting violence, promoting conspiracy theories, and inciting genocide. Parrying former UK deputy minister-turned-Facebook flak Nick Clegg's assertion that "platforms like Facebook hold a mirror up to society," she ripostes: "Facebook is not a mirror. It's a gun."
There is no power on this earth that is capable of holding Facebook to account. No legislature, no law enforcement agency, no regulator. Congress has failed. The EU has failed. When the Federal Trade Commission fined it a record $5bn for its role in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, its stock price actually went up.
Which is what makes this moment so interesting and, possibly, epochal. If the boycott of Facebook by some of the world’s biggest brands – Unilever, Coca-Cola, Starbucks – succeeds, it will be because it has targeted the only thing that Facebook understands: its bottom line. And if it fails, that will be another sort of landmark.
FORTUNE RECON
If you’re reading this, Beijing says its new Hong Kong security law applies to you by Naomi Xu Elegant
Some of the oddest PPP loan recipients: From Kanye to Jeff Koons by Christopher Rugaber
Gig workers sound off on the Uber-Postmates deal: ‘It’s like an embezzler buying a bank’ by Robert Hackett
Self-driving cars are returning to work too by Jonathan Vanian
Overstock CEO: How blockchain can help pull us out of the coronavirus recession by Jonathan Johnson
Facebook boycott organizers on meeting Mark Zuckerberg: ‘The company is functionally flawed’ by Danielle Abril
ONE MORE THING
Deepfakes are a controversial technology that let people to create videos in which digital clones of real-life humans do or say whatever a techno-puppeteer wants. The tech can be abused for media manipulation, political disinformation, and sexual harassment—but the technology isn't all bad, apparently. Now the A.I.-generated avatars are being used...for corporate training videos.
Don't you just miss the good old days of Nick Cage deepfakery lolz?


fortune--2020-07-08--COVID-19 transformed telehealth. Now it needs to transform other diseases

The coronavirus pandemic has already transformed the telemedicine industry. The question is: What happens to telehealth once COVID is under control?
COVID-19 disrupted research and clinical trials for rare disease patients. It’s kept those with chronic conditions out of the hospital for fear of infection, especially people at high risk. But that’s not a sustainable dynamic. And this crisis presents the opportunity to extend digital health technologies to many more Americans over the long term, according to a panel who spoke during Fortune’s virtual Brainstorm Health conference on Tuesday.
Former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner and current foreign secretary for the National Academy of Medicine Margaret Hamburg fielded a discussion with Baxter International CEO Joe Almeida and GE Healthcare CEO Kieran Murphy.
People with chronic conditions such as heart disease or rare disorders “cannot be ignored or put on the back burner,” said Hamburg.
The panelists agreed and emphasized the role that digital health can play in addressing these disparities.
“We need to create a safety net where people can feel protected,” said Almeida.
Both Baxter and GE Healthcare have been deploying tech to figure out the on-the-ground logistics which are critical in the current moment and beyond.
“We have to make sure that we can segment capacity into COVID-treating and separate diagnostic centers, for example,” said GE’s Murphy. “We’ve deployed real time data to show where such capacity exists and divert patients to there… There needs to be a market where we can deploy telemedicine.”
One practical example? Murphy said that, in Oregon, and with the use of GE’s “Command Center” technology, the firm was “able to identify 90% of capacity of all ICU beds, and so that meant we were able to divert patients to the right place.”
The next step after the coronavirus pandemic has passed will require extending that sort of thinking to a broader population with various diseases. And that, according to Murphy and Almeida, will require a whole lot more data-sharing.


fortune--2020-07-08--Renters face a financial cliff with fewer protections than homeowners

Renters are nearing the end of their financial rope.
People who rent have largely been able to survive the initial months of the pandemic helped by unemployment and federal relief checks. But the extra $600 in unemployment benefits ceases at the end of July and local eviction moratoriums are expiring. There is no agreement between the White House and Congress on a second federal relief package.
More broadly, there are fewer supports in place for renters than for homeowners. And as a jump in virus cases in numerous states nationwide adds more uncertainty to the economy and job market, many who rent are facing a precarious future.
“It’s an incredibly stressful situation for renters,” said Bruce McClary, spokesman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, a nonprofit that works directly with consumers. “I don’t know what lies in the road ahead.”
Sam Moore knows this pressure all too well. Shortly after the stay-at-home orders hit in California, Moore and his four roommates who live in San Francisco’s Treasure Island found themselves with no regular income. Only two of them received relief checks from the federal government, one was receiving unemployment and two are still waiting on it.
Ultimately, they had to decide whether to use the money they did have to cover rent or food; they chose to stop paying rent. The five eventually used a GoFundMe campaign to raise the roughly $10,000 needed to pay the back rent for April through June plus the $2,500 bill due for July.
The group, all in their early 20s, are looking for work but will have to move in with their families if they aren’t able to find jobs and face eviction.
Rough time to rent
Renters already faced a dire situation before the pandemic hit, said Alexander Hermann, a researcher at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.
The center reported in January that vacancy rates for rentals had hit the lowest level in decades, pushing up rent far faster than income. At last count, one in four renters spent more than half their income on housing.
Then came the pandemic, which hit renters particularly hard financially. U.S. Census data shows about 19% or renters were late or deferred their rent payments in May. And about 31% of renters surveyed in June they have little to no confidence they will be able to pay next month’s rent.
Renters tend to have lower incomes and to be more economically vulnerable than their homeowner counterparts. They also cannot tap into the equity in their homes as a line of credit in case of an emergency. A disproportionate number of renters are black, Hispanic and other minorities.
The COVID-19 Eviction Defense Project, a coalition of economic researchers and legal experts, estimates that 19 million to 23 million Americans are at risk for eviction by the end of September.
First step
If possible, tenants should continue to pay rent. Reach out to your landlord or property owner if you are having financial difficulties to see if an agreement can be made. Some are willing to negotiate discounted or deferred payments.
If you live in federally-subsidized housing and your income has changed, you may qualify for a reduction in rent; contact your housing authority to talk about income recertification.
Renters should be sure to take advantage of other relief programs as well to free up cash. If they qualify for unemployment, apply as soon as possible as the process takes time. Banks have been willing to make some accommodations for credit card and other loan payments for those financially hurt by coronavirus.
Protections
A number of cities and states have put some assistance programs in place, as well as moratoriums on evictions amid the pandemic.
See if you qualify for help. The National Low Income Housing Coalition has a list of state and local rent assistance programs on its website. United Way’s 211.org website also has links to local charitable assistance for housing, food and other essentials.
Find out what local protections you have. The Eviction Lab maintains a list of local and regional actions to pause evictions of renters. It’s policy scorecard provides useful detail on actions in your state.
There is also some protection for renters at the federal level.
Congress put a temporary nationwide eviction moratorium in place for renters who live in a federally subsidized building or one with a federally backed mortgage through July 25. Landlords cannot charge fees or penalties for nonpayment during this time as well. Tenants can search the Fannie Mae website or the Freddie Mac site to find out if their building has a federally backed mortgage.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has helpful information on its website as well.
Next steps
While you may get temporary relief from eviction, rent is still due.
Tenants may need to work out an arrangement to pay back rent or cope with potential eviction. They may want legal assistance through this process.
The Stanford Legal Design Lab along with Pew Charitable Trusts, has created a user-friendly website for tenants with questions about their legal rights or facing other rent issues as well. Just Shelter, a tenant advocacy group, also offers information on local and national organizations that can provide advice to renters in distress.
Renters can also find a certified housing counselor through the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s website to see if they qualify for housing assistance or eviction issues.


fortune--2020-07-09--Environmental regulations bring a halt to two major oil and gas pipelines

J & J ’ s CEO says creating a vaccine is only ‘ part of the puzzle ’

U.S. pipeline manufacturers suffered a bad week. Or, maybe, a bad year.
On Monday a federal judge ordered the Dakota Access Pipeline development shut down pending a new environmental review while, the same day, the Supreme Court rejected an environmental permit the Keystone XL pipeline needs to continue construction. Both pipelines have already lost billions over years of delays won by environmental campaigns.
On Sunday, Dominion and Duke Energy—two of the U.S.’ largest utilities—scrapped plans for a 600-mile long Atlantic Coast Pipeline, too. Environmental lawsuits and delays increased the projected cost of the pipeline from $5 billion to $8 billion.
And back in May, New York State blocked two natural gas lines by withholding water permits. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) said construction of the underwater pipes would have churned up contaminants such as mercury in New York harbor.
National Grid, which proposed the New York pipeline, has discussed trucking in oil and gas as an alternative delivery system. That’s not great either. According to the Fraser Institute, trucking oil has the highest instances of spillages per million barrels moved. Pipes are actually the safest, with the lowest spillage rates. But when it comes to environmental protection, spillages aren’t everything.
Building entirely new pipelines to increase fossil fuel supply goes against the consensus on climate change, which calls for reduced reliance on carbon-emitting fuels. The DEC said as much when it rejected National Grid’s pipeline plans.
The department argued that prolonging the use of natural gas is inconsistent with New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act 2019, which mandates New York state achieve an 85% reduction in carbon emissions across all sectors by 2050.
As renewables become cheaper and carbon emissions become more expensive, demand for fossil fuels will decline. Some say it has already peaked, although it could make a comeback once the pandemic clears—as Fortune’s Katherine Dunn points out in an article about Warren Buffett’s latest bet on energy storage. Buffett bought Dominion’s pipeline network and storage units but, crucially, the Atlantic Coast Pipeline remains cancelled.
There might well be a fossil fuel spike post-pandemic, providing a boon for owners of current storage facilities. But betting on long-term expansion—the sort you’d need new pipes for—no longer seems smart.
More below.
Eamon Barrett
-eamon.barrett@fortune.com
CARBON COPY
Tideline
New data shows the U.S. underestimated the number of homes exposed to flood risks by 67%. The non-government report warns 14.6 million properties are at risk from severe flooding; far more than the 8.7 million properties shown on federal maps. The sudden redrawing of flood boundaries could prompt a spike in insurance applications.
Diet plan
The pandemic is set to knock global meat consumption down 3% this year, to its lowest level since 2011, data from the UN shows. A number of factors have contributed to the slimdown, including restaurant closures, consumers saving on grocery bills, and disruption to production. China, the world’s largest consumer of pork, has also endured a mass culling of its pig stocks. It’s unclear how long the low-meat diet will continue after the pandemic.
Winds of change
By the end of the decade, U.S. investment in offshore wind power will rise to a level nearly on par with spending on offshore oil drilling, according to energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie. Ten years ago, U.S. spending on offshore wind farms was zero. Now, offshore wind projects are on course for about $78 billion in capital spending this decade, compared with the $82 billion planned for U.S. offshore oil and gas development.
Heating up
The World Meteorological Organization warns there’s a 20% chance global warming will rise above 1.5C over pre-industrial levels within the next five years. Maintaining a temperature rise below 1.5C would stave off the worst effects of climate change and was a target set by signatories of the Paris Agreement.
Climate check
Denmark passed a law that seeks to hold successive governments accountable for meeting climate change goals. The law is designed to safeguard against short-term policy planning, which is often a consequence of election cycles, by forcing the government to seek an annual parliamentary vote on its climate progress. Technically, if the government fails to achieve a majority, it would have to step down.
Mark down
Rio Tinto slashed estimates of how much copper and gold it can extract from its $6.8 billion expansion project of a mine in the Gobi Desert. Rio cut its estimates for gold by 17% and for copper by 15%. The expansion plan has suffered numerous setbacks since it began. The latest write down adds more pressure to CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques. His company recently destroyed two sacred Aboriginal sites to make way for a mine expansion in Australia.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Warren Buffett’s buy-on-fear strategy will be tested with his latest bet on fossil fuels by Katherine Dunn
Shell’s $22 billion Q2 write-down is just the tip of the iceberg for fossil fuels by Katherine Dunn
Airline bailouts highlight the debate over how green the coronavirus recovery should be by David Meyer
CLOSING NUMBER
17%
In early April, global CO2 emissions were down 17% on 2019 levels as shutdowns prompted by the coronavirus reduced traffic, production, and energy usage. By mid-June, global emissions were only down 5%, showcasing how quickly pollution has returned as governments attempt to restart their economies. Emission levels in China, which hit a trough in mid-February, appear to have already returned to normal. I recommend a click through to the report for some good visuals on the turnaround.


fortune--2020-07-09--A hotel-turned-security office signals Hong Kong’s big chill

This is the web version of Eastworld, Fortune’s newsletter focused on business and technology in Asia. Subscribe here to get future editions in your inbox.
Priceline.com, the global travel site, touts the MetroPark Hotel in Hong Kong’s bustling Causeway Bay neighborhood as combining “warm hospitality with a lovely ambiance” and putting “everything the city has to offer just outside your doorstep.” Good luck trying to book a room there.
Occupancy rates at other Hong Kong hotels remain at all-time lows amid the pandemic. But the four-star, 266-room MetroPark is sold out, indefinitely, thanks to a VVIP who checked in Wednesday. The guest: the newly-established Office for Safeguarding National Security of the Central People’s Government of the People’s Republic of China in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
The office, which has commandeered the MetroPark as its headquarters, is part of a sweeping new institutional infrastructure created to oversee Hong Kong’s enforcement of national security legislation Beijing imposed on the territory last week.
The law also establishes:
A new Committee for Safeguarding National Security to be chaired by Hong Kong’s chief executive but include a new national security adviser appointed by Beijing and operate “under the supervision of and accountable to” central government authorities.
A new national security department within the Hong Kong police force with wide powers to interrogate, tap phones, monitor internet activity, seize private assets, and conduct warrantless searches.
A new section in Hong Kong’s Justice Department to prosecute national security cases with the authority to conduct trials in secret, without a jury, and detain suspects without bail.
The office’s new chief, Zheng Yanxiong has said he would enforce the new law “without infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of any individual or organization.”
But the law grants Zheng’s office, which answers directly to Beijing, broad discretionary authority in dealing with those deemed a national security threat. It is unclear how many agents will work in the 33-story MetroPark tower, but the new law states explicitly that they are to operate beyond the scrutiny of Hong Kong’s residents or local courts and “shall not be subject to inspection, search or detention” by local police.
As Dan Strumpf notes in the Wall Street Journal, the speed with which MetroPark was transformed into a base for mainland intelligence is a measure of “how quickly this cosmopolitan financial center is changing” since the June 30 enactment of the law—and of Beijing’s determination to quell large and increasingly violent anti-government protests.
Prior to the law’s enactment, mainland security agents weren’t allowed to come and go openly in Hong Kong (though that didn’t stop them from abducting a Hong Kong bookseller who peddled titles embarrassing to President Xi in 2015, or seizing a mainland billionaire from the Four Seasons Hotel in 2017). Now they will operate from a skyscraper overlooking Victoria Park, a rallying site for anti-government demonstrations.
It remains unclear whether Beijing’s surprise decision to foist a national security law on the city will damage Hong Kong’s status as the region’s financial capital. The main effect of U.S. attempts to punish China by pressuring Chinese companies to delist from American exchanges will be to redirect those companies to the Hong Kong exchange, providing a bonanza to the city’s financial industry.
Rumors this week that the Trump administration might seek to limit the ability of Hong Kong banks to purchase dollars drew ridicule from analysts and global bankers. Meanwhile, China’s central bank last week announced a “Wealth Management Connect” initiative that promises a torrent of mainland money for investment in financial products in Hong Kong and Macau. Hong Kong’s stock market has gained about 7% since the security law took effect.
But there’s no denying that the breadth of the new law—and the zeal with which it’s being implemented—has spooked foreign executives here and sent a chill through local dissenters.
One source of concern is the vagueness of the four new categories of national security offenses identified by the law: secession, subversion of state power, terrorism, and collusion with a foreign country.
Another is the severity of the potential punishments. Persons found guilty of committing “grave” offenses face up to life in prison and must be incarcerated for a minimum of ten years. Companies or organizations found guilty of national security offenses are subject to fines and may have their licenses and business permits revoked. The bill even includes an extraterritorial jurisdiction clause that asserts China’s authority to punish offenses committed “outside the region by a person who is not a permanent resident of the region.”
Foreign executives contemplate a kaleidoscope of risk scenarios: Must my firm publicly declare support for the security law? What if my employees participate in a protest or post something deemed seditious on social media? If the U.S. adopts sanctions against China and my company adheres to them, will we face prosecution on national security grounds in Hong Kong?
Many privately cheered announcements by Facebook, Twitter, and Google this week that they are suspending the processing of Hong Kong government requests for user data, effectively putting up a united front against the new law. But the tech firms can afford to take such a principled stand because they are shut out of China’s mainland. For other global businesses, it’s a much harder decision.
More Eastworld news below.
Clay Chandler
clay.chandler@fortune.com
This edition of Eastworld was curated and produced by Grady McGregor. Reach him at grady.mcgregor@fortune.com.
Eastworld news
No middle road
Li Ka Shing, Hong Kong’s wealthiest tycoon and retired head of the Hong Kong conglomerate CK Hutchinson, built his fortune by being able to navigate both China and the west. But as his company’s recent struggles show, straddling the divide is becoming increasingly difficult amid escalating tensions between Beijing and the U.S. CK Hutchinson earns 80% of its revenue overseas, yet its stock has declined 30% in value in the last year on Hong Kong’s exchange as the company has lost out on major contracts abroad due to the company’s perceived ties to the Chinese government. In China, meanwhile, Li has drawn criticism for not being supporting enough of the Chinese Communist Party even though he has voiced support for the nw Hong Kong public security law. As Li’s recent struggles indicate, it may grow increasingly hard for multinationals to pacify both sides of the Pacific. Bloomberg
Tech takes sides
Tech companies from China to the United States are being forced to reckon with Hong Kong's new reality. On Tuesday, major tech firms including Facebook, Google, and Twitter announced that they would temporarily stop sharing data with the Hong Kong government amid new Internet rules imposed amid Beijing’s new national security law in the city. Apple was a notable outlier in this group, saying it is still assessing the implications of the law. The iPhone maker has a lot more to lose in taking a stand in Hong Kong since it has an established mainland business whereas other American tech giants are banned there. The Chinese-owned Tiktok, on the other hand, announced that it was pulling out of Hong Kong completely even as the White House said it was mulling banning the app in the U.S. Fortune
Campus wars
Over the past year, the University of Rochester in New York has become a hotbed of U.S.-China tensions. In the fall of 2019, a group of campus Republicans announced that it was holding talks about human rights issues in Tibet and Xinjiang. The university’s Chinese Students Association objected to the events and some students even called for their cancellation. The incidents sparked campus unrest, with competing talks and graffiti scrolls. In this feature from the South China Morning Post, journalist Eric Fish provides a nuanced portrait of how escalating geo-political tensions are playing out on campuses across the U.S. and around the world. South China Morning Post
Supplying the world's demand
More than ever before, the world needs China’s medical supplies. Before the pandemic, the Peterson Institute for International Economics said China exported more respirators, surgical masks, medical goggles and protective garments than the rest of the world combined. Amid the pandemic, its dominance in supplying medical equipment has only grown. With government support, entrepreneurial ventures, and the conversion of privately-owned plants into medical supply factories, China has led the production of masks, personal protective equipment, and testing kits. From March to May, for example, China produced 70.6 billion masks—50 billion more than the entire world produced in 2019. New York Times
Singapore's fraternal fight
After a frenzied nine-day campaign, Singaporeans are heading to the polls on Friday to elect a new parliament. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called the election in June, hoping that his ruling People Action Party (PAP) could translate success in Singapore’s falling rate of COVID-19 infections into a streak of unbroken dominance in the city state’s government, where the PAP currently controls 83 of 89 seats. Lee’s party is widely expected to remain dominant, yet he is facing a challenge this year from an unexpected foe—his estranged brother. His brother, Lee Hsien Yang, joined the opposition Progress Singapore Party last month, and has called the PAP “dangerous for the future of Singapore” and is urging Singaporeans to send a wake-up call to his brother’s party. South China Morning Post
Coronavirus by country
Bangladesh has been one of Asia’s hardest-hit countries by the pandemic. Thus far, the south Asian country has reported over 172,000 confirmed cases of COVD-19 and over 2,100 deaths. The country went into lockdown from March 23 to May 30, but after reopening in June, Bangladesh’s numbers have continued to rise and the country has recorded 50,000 cases in the last two weeks. The pandemic has been devastating for Bangladesh’s garment industry, which makes up 80% of the country’s exports, and has also led to a backlash against the nearly one million Muslim Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar in recent years amid government persecution. Even amid cramped living conditions, Rohingyas in Bangladesh have thus far avoided devastating outbreaks, and there has been less spread detected among the refugees than in surrounding communities. Still, anti-Rohingya discrimination is on the rise as Bangladeshis have blamed the refugees for facilitating the spread of the virus. Nikkei Asian Review
Markets and movers
Didi Chuxing – China’s ride-hailing giant announced on Wednesday that it will partner with the Chinese central bank to pilot a digital currency on its platform. The details of the partnership remain private, but, as Naomi Xu-Elegant writes for Fortune, “Didi’s huge customer base, existing digital payment infrastructure, and range of services make it an ideal platform for the digital currency’s biggest trial so far.” Fortune
Sequoia Capital – The venture capital firm announced on Monday that it will launch a $1.3 billion fund that it will invest in India and Southeast Asia. Sequoia, which already has backed major startups in Southeast Asia like the ride-hailing giant Gojek, is seeking to strengthen its foothold in the region’s startup ecosystem even while other funders tighten their wallets amid the pandemic. TechCrunch
SMIC – China’s largest chipmaker, the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp, is preparing to raise up to $7.5 billion in its upcoming secondary listing on the Shanghai STAR stock exchange. The company’s expected debut in Shanghai later this month may rank as the world’s largest offering of the year and may help bolster China’s ambitions to build a globally competitive chipmaker. Bloomberg
Final figure
924%
On Thursday, the stock price for QuantumCtek Co., a Chinese information security company, closed 924% above its opening price after its debut on the Shanghai’s STAR stock exchange. The company’s soaring stock is just the latest example of China’s hot streak. Over the past eight days, Chinese stocks have gained over $1 trillion in value, a bonanza that some attribute to encouragement from state media. Amateur individual investors make up the majority of China’s stock trades, which gives the government an opportunity to inject confidence into the market. The last boom in 2015, which was similarly bolstered by government messaging, preceded a large crash, but investors say they are being more cautious this time around. Bloomberg


fortune--2020-07-09--Deutsche Bank eagerly took on clients dumped by JP Morgan Chase. Now it’s facing big fines

The trio of clients that got Deutsche Bank AG in regulatory trouble this week had a shared back story: They were all castoffs of JPMorgan Chase and Co.
Deutsche Bank moved millions of dollars across the globe for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in the past decade, and billions on behalf of international lenders Danske Bank A/S and FBME Bank Ltd. Along the way, the German bank missed or disregarded compliance red flags for years, New York’s Department of Financial Services said Tuesday in levying $150 million in penalties.
JPMorgan’s moves to offload those same clients years earlier may have helped it dodge a similar bullet. The biggest U.S. bank stepped away from handling money for FBME in 2009. It distanced from the others around 2013, the same year it undertook a broad purge of higher-risk clients from its correspondent banking business.
The bank had incentive to offload risky clients. JP Morgan’s primary U.S. regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, put it on notice in early 2013, faulting its due diligence processes and ordering it to clean up its anti-money laundering controls. Later that year, the bank said it would spend $4 billion to shore up its compliance operations — a process that included reviewing the accounts of hundreds of clients and shedding many of them.
JPMorgan declined to comment.
Deutsche Bank, whose business is regulated in New York, said this week that it has cooperated with authorities and that it regretted bringing Epstein on as a client. Although it acknowledged deficiencies in its oversight of the FBME and Danske relationships, the bank said it found no intentional effort to facilitate unlawful activity. It declined to comment for this article.
Danske Flags
Concerns about Danske Bank, Denmark’s biggest bank, centered on its Estonia unit. News organizations including the Organized Crime Corruption and Reporting Project wrote in 2018 that the unit had helped rich Russians move nearly a quarter-trillion dollars from their country over the course of a decade, largely through anonymized shell corporations. The bank acknowledged later that year that many of those transactions should have been flagged as suspicious.
JPMorgan stopped providing the Estonia unit access to the U.S. financial system in 2013, citing the high percentage of client accounts domiciled outside the Baltic country. Deutsche Bank continued providing banking services to Danske for another two years.
The Justice Department is investigating the role played by Danske’s correspondent banks in the U.S., including Deutsche Bank, people familiar with the matter have said, adding that the authorities are also trying to understand JPMorgan’s role.
Deutsche Bank had a decades-long relationship with FBME, which is registered in Tanzania and based in Cyprus. In the 1980s, the small bank was a client of Banker’s Trust, which Deutsche Bank acquired the next decade. By 2005, Deutsche Bank had deemed FBME high on its risk scale, and its monitoring systems were flagging suspicious transactions at a rate of more than twice a week during some years, according to the New York regulator. Although Deutsche Bank admonished FBME at times over its practices and demanded more information about its clients, the German bank continued doing business with it, the regulator said.
JPMorgan started doing business with FBME in the early 2000s and quickly grew frustrated with its failure to fully explain certain transactions, according to documents reviewed by Bloomberg News. The banking giant was also wary of other practices at FBME, such as offering “hold mail” services, in which a bank allows clients to use the bank’s address to limit paper trails, according to those documents.
Deutsche Bank provided banking services to FBME for five years after JPMorgan stopped, processing some $618 billion in all. It ended the relationship in 2014, after the U.S. Treasury labeled FBME a “primary money laundering concern” for its alleged work with organized crime and terror groups, effectively freezing it from the U.S. financial system. FBME has disputed those allegations.
The late Epstein, for his part, was a longtime client of JPMorgan — characterized inside the bank as a “center of influence” who could help it attract lucrative clients. Epstein stayed with the bank well after 2008, when he pleaded guilty in Florida to soliciting minors for prostitution. Epstein moved over to Deutsche Bank in 2013, after a banker who’d recently joined from JPMorgan persuaded executives to bring him aboard, according to the DFS.
Epstein’s legal troubles mounted again in 2018. That November, the Miami Herald published a series of articles cataloging allegations from women who said they had been abused sexually by him as minors. Deutsche Bank notified Epstein in December 2018 that it would be closing his accounts.


fortune--2020-07-09--J&J’s CEO says creating a vaccine is only ‘part of the puzzle’

Deutsche Bank eagerly took on clients dumped by JP Morgan Chase .
Now it ’ s facing big fines

Good morning.
Will a vaccine end the pandemic? At Fortune Brainstorm Health this week, there was lots of talk about the 200-plus efforts to find a COVID vaccine, and the extraordinary collaboration among companies and governments to get vaccines tested, manufactured and distributed—far faster than ever before. “We are taking what normally takes five to seven years, and doing it in five to seven months,” said Johnson & Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky.
But Gorsky—whose company is one of the leaders in the vaccine race—also issued a strong warning to the group not to think of a vaccine as a silver bullet.
Gorsky said he still hopes to have “hundreds of millions” of doses of a vaccine on the market by the first quarter, and more than a billion by the end of next year. But, he said, “none of us should be thinking that this is the single solution that is going to take us back to the old normal.” There are issues about how effective the vaccine will be, how many doses it will require, and how long its protection will last.
“A vaccine, while a very critical element to bringing an end to this pandemic, is part of the puzzle.” Developing therapies for treating the disease, improving hospital protocols, continuing tactics like testing, contract tracing, social distancing and mask wearing also matter. “It is going to take a combination of all of those things to bring an end to this virus.”
In other words: Don’t expect the current health and economic challenges to end with a touchdown pass. It’s more likely to be three yards and a cloud of dust.
More from Brainstorm Health here. And by the way, this morning marks six days since I got tested for COVID-19, and I still haven’t gotten results. Testing and contract tracing won’t work with delays like that. (Fortunately, I’m symptom free.)
Alan Murray
@alansmurray
alan.murray@fortune.com
TOP NEWS
Three million
U.S. COVID-19 cases have surpassed 3 million, only a week after hitting the 2 million mark. The country also hit another one-day record, with 60,000 new cases in a single day. The record came with yet another warning. “We have never gotten out of the first wave,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci. “So I wish we would stop talking about waves and just look at the reality of where we are right now.” WSJ
United cuts
United Airlines says it is exploring furloughing almost half its U.S. workforce, sending notice to 36,000 employees that their jobs are at risk. That comes a week after American Airlines said it has 20,000 more employees than it needs. The jobs are at risk despite billions of dollars in government aid for the global aviation sector, as air travel in the U.S., after a brief pickup, dropped again amid new lockdowns and quarantine rules. Fortune
The end of Brooks Brothers
The iconic retailer since 1818 to the American business class—and U.S. presidents—has filed for bankruptcy, one of a wave of other classic brands struggling with the hit to both in-store shopping and customers' finances. In an era of remote work, the retailer has also had the additional struggle of adapting to the expansion of casual Friday to, well, everyday. New York Times
A quantum leap
A Chinese information security firm soared 924% in its trading debut in Shanghai on Thursday to achieve the largest first-day leap in the history of China's stock markets. The company, QuantumCTek Co., makes quantum tech based information products. Fortune
AROUND THE WATER COOLER
U.K. stimulus plan
In response to the economic ravages of the pandemic, Britain is launching another round of stimulus worth GBP 350 billion ($443 billion)—a sum that is expected to reach 18% of the country's national income, and push the deficit to levels nearly double those seen during the previous financial crisis. Part of that plan involves financial incentives to bring furloughed workers (there are currently about 9 million) back on the payroll. FT
Chief Medical Officer
Does your company need a chief medical officer? That's a question executives are increasingly facing, as the pandemic has forced them to make difficult decisions about the safety of their employees and customers, and to dive head first into major questions about public health—without much scientific training to rely on, writes Fortune's Erika Fry. Fortune
Mafia hospitals
Yesterday, the FT released an investigation into how funds from mafia front-companies in Italy's Calabria region were reaching the most respectable reaches of high finance. Now it looks at where those funds come from: increasingly, Calabria's public hospitals, where the ’Ndrangheta keeps a stranglehold over government contracts and health workers, while scions acquire MBAs and run networks that increasingly resemble multi-billion dollar corporations. FT
No screaming, please
As Japan's theme parks allow riders back on their rollercoasters, commercials of quiet, stern, mask-wearing executives feature the message "please scream in your heart." The worry is that screaming will expel extra virus-loaded droplets. The challenge is obvious. “If a scream comes out, it comes out", said one visitor. WSJ
This edition of CEO Daily was edited by Katherine Dunn.


fortune--2020-07-09--A tech firm just recorded the largest first-day jump of any Chinese IPO—924%

A Chinese information security firm soared 924% in its trading debut in Shanghai on Thursday to achieve the largest first-day leap in the history of China’s stock markets.
QuantumCTek, which develops quantum technology–based information products, reached $50.49 per share by the midday break, 876% up from its $5.18 issue price on Shanghai’s Star market board. By the end of the day, the stock had jumped 924% from the issue price.
The Star market launched in July 2019 and is known for its focus on science and technology companies. Unlike peer exchanges, it has no trading limits on a stock’s first days.
The tech firm’s debut broke a short-lived record set on Tuesday by Beijing-based Tinavi Medical Technologies, which debuted on the Star board with a 614% jump from its issue price.
QuantumCTek’s sky-high debut comes amid a hot streak for stock markets across China. Bullish state media reports have encouraged China’s investors, as has optimism about China’s economic recovery from the coronavirus.
The CSI 300 index, which includes the largest publicly listed companies on the exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, jumped nearly 6% on Monday and has continued to make gains every day since. Chinese stocks have risen in value by more than $1 trillion this month alone.
Stocks in Hong Kong also made gains on Thursday. Shares in Hong Kong–listed Alibaba Group jumped 10%, the company’s biggest gain since it debuted in a secondary listing in Hong Kong in November.
QuantumCTek is the first quantum technology company to go public in China. It specializes in quantum key distribution, a type of communications technology for securely transmitting encryption keys that uses phenomena from quantum physics. Quantum communication is prized for its supposedly unhackable nature and is considered a much more secure form of communication than traditional encryption systems.
QuantumCTek, based in Hefei, in China’s Anhui province, filed for an initial public offering on the Shanghai Star exchange in March 2019 and gained final approval in June. It had aimed to raise $43 million from the listing.


fortune--2020-07-09--United Airlines tells nearly half its staff they could lose their jobs this autumn

United Airlines Holdings Inc. notified 36,000 employees, or 45% of its U.S. workforce, that their jobs are at risk after federal payroll aid expires at the end of September.
The final layoff tally hasn’t been finalized and may be smaller as workers weigh offers to leave voluntarily, United told employees Wednesday. The planned furloughs include about 15,000 flight attendants, 11,000 customer service staff and 5,500 maintenance employees. About 3,700 workers have already taken voluntary separation packages.
United’s warning signals the depth of potential job losses at U.S. airlines later this year, even after the federal government provided $25 billion in payroll support plus another $25 billion available in loans. The carrier told employees this week that state quarantines prompted by a jump in coronavirus infections were jeopardizing a nascent U.S. travel recovery. United expects that travel demand will remain weak until a treatment or vaccine is widely available.
“We are living through the most disruptive financial crisis in the history of commercial aviation,” the company said in a letter to employees. “The reality is that United simply cannot continue at our current payroll level past October 1 in an environment where travel demand is so depressed.”
The shares were little changed at $32.53 at the close in New York. United has tumbled 63% this year, the biggest drop on a Standard & Poor’s index of major carriers.
Seniority, Performance
In a regulatory filing, United said it expected to book charges of about $300 million in the second quarter to cover costs of voluntary employee separations. That will include a cash portion of about $50 million.
Workers represented by union contracts will be furloughed based on their seniority, while management employees will be culled based on their performance and job-specific needs, United executives said. Those who are cut will be given the option to return to their jobs whenever travel demand returns and additional labor is needed.
The proposed furloughs are “a gut punch” for United flight attendants “but they are also the most honest assessment we’ve seen on the state of the industry,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents 25,000 employees at the airline.
“This crisis dwarfs all others in aviation history and there’s no end in sight,” she said in a statement. “Demand was just barely climbing back to 20% of last year and even those minimal gains evaporated over the last week due to surging Covid-19 cases across the country.”
United is in “active discussions” with its pilots’ union, the Air Line Pilots Association, on terms of an early-retirement package for more senior aviators, a company executive said. That could reduce the proposed 2,250 pilots who face furloughs in October.
Mitigating Furloughs
“ALPA has been intensely focused on securing an early-out package that will mitigate furloughs by incentivizing pilots to retire early,” Todd Insler, chairman of the United ALPA group, said in a statement.
The union also plans to review terms of voluntary separation and leave-of-absence programs United is offering pilots. Those programs will offer “significant mitigation” of the number of United pilots facing a furlough, said Insler, who also sits on the airline’s board of directors.
United’s rivals are also studying major job cuts. Last week, American Airlines Group Inc. said it would have in excess of 20,000 more employees than it needs to operate a reduced flying schedule later this year. Delta Air Lines Inc. said last month it would inform almost 2,600 pilots about a possible furlough and encouraged a total of 7,900 eligible aviators to accept early retirement.
Airlines are restricted from mass layoffs through Sept. 30 under the terms of federal aid, which is part of the $2 trillion Cares Act.
The industry’s major job cuts are expected to commence Oct. 1, roughly a month before the U.S. presidential election. That dynamic has raised the prospect that Congress may decide to extend payroll-support measures to avoid tens of thousands of job losses. Some airline unions are using the prospect of mass layoffs to press for additional funds.
United cannot rely on additional taxpayer support for its business to survive and considers the job cuts necessary, an executive told reporters on a call. Last month, lobbying group Airlines for America said big carriers such as United and American weren’t pursuing additional government assistance.


fortune--2020-07-09--The bull run in tech and Chinese equities rolls on even as coronavirus cases spike

This is the web version of the Bull Sheet, Fortune’s no-BS daily newsletter on the markets. Sign up to receive it in your inbox here.
Good morning, Bull Sheeters. The rally in Chinese equities continues today, and investor enthusiasm is proving infectious. Europe opened in the green, and U.S. futures (well, the Nasdaq, anyhow) are off their lows.
That’s despite yet another grim COVID milestone: 12 million cases around the world, with more than one-quarter of those in the United States.
Let’s see where investors are putting their money.
Markets update
Asia
The major Asia indexes are all in positive territory in afternoon trade. Shanghai leads the way, looking to extend the rally to eight straight days.
leads the way, looking to extend the rally to eight straight days. There are new coronavirus flare-ups in Hong Kong and Tokyo . The Japanese capital reported 224 new cases , a new high. So far, stocks haven’t moved on the news.
flare-ups in and . The Japanese capital reported , a new high. So far, stocks haven’t moved on the news. Alphabet’s Google appears set to shut down a cloud-computing service in China as the geopolitical tensions in this major market are forcing tech companies to make hard decisions. Not to fear. Google picked up a big cloud deal with France’s Renault.
Europe
The European bourses all ticked higher at the open. The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 was up 0.4% in early trading.
all ticked higher at the open. The benchmark was up in early trading. Angela Merkel traveled to Brussels yesterday to urge member nations to back a €750 billion coronavirus bailout package . The big summit on that divisive package comes late next week.
traveled to Brussels yesterday to urge member nations to back a . The big summit on that divisive package comes late next week. Back to the office! That’s the message from the U.K.’s tax man as the country faces a crippling shortfall in income tax revenue brought on, primarily, by so many well-paid finance workers doing their jobs abroad following lockdown measures.
U.S.
The major averages rebounded on Wednesday with Apple and the Nasdaq hitting fresh all-time highs again.
again. But the so-called reopening trade is closing fast as the U.S. tops 3 million coronavirus cases, including a record 60,000 cases on Tuesday. The number of sick and dying may mean nothing to Nasdaq bulls, but the escalating cases are enough to alarm Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester .
is closing fast as the U.S. tops coronavirus cases, including a record on Tuesday. The number of sick and dying may mean nothing to Nasdaq bulls, but the escalating cases are enough to alarm . Speaking of the reopening trade… shares of airlines, hotels, casinos and restaurants have had a rough month. On cue, [holink]United Airlines[/hotlink] says it may need to furlough 36,000 workers at the end of September.
Elsewhere
Gold is up, trading well north of $1,800 an ounce.
is up, trading well north of an ounce. The dollar is flat.
is flat. Crude is trading sideways with Brent above $43/barrel.
***
The rich list
The rich are getting richer. That’s the big take-away from Capgemini’s World Wealth Report 2020, published this morning. The net worth of wealthy individuals topped $74 trillion last year, up 8.7% from 2018. To put that in perspective, the U.S. GDP, in nominal terms, hit $21.7 trillion last year. Peanuts.
What I found intriguing about the report is where the wealthy are putting their money. They are long stocks—or at least they were as of February. As the calendar flipped into the new year, equities regained the top spot as the preferred asset allocation for HNWIs (high net worth indviduals).
Source: Capgemini
According to Capgemini, HNWIs in North America are most bullish on stocks with 39% of their portfolio weighted to equities. It’s becoming a global trend. The Japanese in recent years have shifted out of cash and into equities as well. The recent run on the Nikkei may reflect this thinking.
There are some doubts, however, about what the 2021 report will show next year. Stock market volatility, as we’re living through, typically forces HNWIs to rethink their portfolios to emphasize less-risky assets. Capgemini saw this in 2017, a down year.
One last thing to point out from the report… The wealthy are growing increasingly frustrated with fees. This is potentially bad news for the wealth-management industry. About one-third of wealthy clients registered their discontent with the fees they’re paying wealth advisors. That number could rise further if the markets get any more turbulent in the second half.
***
Have a nice day, everyone. I’ll see you here tomorrow.
Bernhard Warner
@BernhardWarner
Bernhard.Warner@Fortune.com
A note from my Fortune colleagues on a timely new initiative:
Many companies are speaking out against racial injustices right now. But how do they fare in their own workplaces? Black employees in the corporate world, we want to hear from you: Please submit your anonymous thoughts and anecdotes here. https://bit.ly/WorkingWhileBlack
As always, you can write to bullsheet@fortune.com or reply to this email with suggestions and feedback.
Today's reads
The Prime killer. Analysts are hot on Walmart as the retailer appears set to announce an annual subscription plan to take on Amazon Prime. It would be priced a bit cheaper and would include discount gas fill-ups. Walmart is up nearly 1% in pre-market trading this morning.
The S&P bull run, explained. What's fueling the benchmark S&P 500's incredible bull run? It's up 42% since its March lows. Fortune's Anne Sraders hits up her Wall Street sources and gives us five reasons. Hint: it's not a Biden bounce.
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Market candy
8th place
The personal wealth of stock picker extraordinaire Warren Buffett is estimated at a cool $68.6 billion. Not bad for you or me. But he's now slipped to eighth-place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He's looking up at a lot of tech titans.


fortune--2020-07-09--4 ways to close America’s huge racial ‘opportunity gap’

The net worth of a typical Black family is only 10% of that of the typical white family, and the unemployment rate for Black Americans consistently has been double that of white Americans for four decades. These are just two of the outcomes resulting from long-standing systemic disadvantages that perpetuate an inequality of opportunity based on the color of one’s skin.
This past month’s national dialogue on racial equality has brought many painful truths to the fore. Acknowledging these truths is important. Taking action to address them is essential.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the largest lobbying organization in the nation, representing businesses of all sizes across all sectors, touching every corner of our country. With that reach comes a responsibility to drive sustained action to eliminate systemic disadvantages. Convinced that our own previous efforts have been insufficient, we have committed to put the collective muscle of American business behind an urgent nationwide push for equality of opportunity.
Two weeks ago, we convened more than 500 state and local chambers of commerce and business associations from across the country; business, government, academic, and civic leaders; and thousands of others for a National Summit on Equality of Opportunity. Informed by this dialogue, driven by data, and building upon years of advocacy, we are putting forward an action plan of policy solutions and best practices to help close opportunity gaps in four key areas: education, employment, entrepreneurship, and criminal justice reform.
First, addressing racial disparities in learning at every level of education is fundamental.
All children deserve a strong K–12 foundation. Rather than making funding for schools a reflection of a community’s socioeconomic status, government should tie funding levels to student needs. Greater accountability and expanded choice would improve both school performance and student achievement.
Business and government should reexamine readiness assessments for all postsecondary paths—college, a certificate program, or a career. Additionally, our nation needs a way to recognize and accredit alternative pathways to careers and help people access and pay for these programs.
Second, closing opportunity gaps in employment can help reduce the Black unemployment rate, lift communities, and ensure that Black Americans are proportionately represented throughout our workforce.
The business community must prioritize diversity in the C-suite, on corporate boards, and in their talent pipelines, and the government can support these efforts. Employers should use data to analyze the diversity of their workforces and take necessary steps to improve performance. Business leaders also must expand their networks and create more pathways, including apprenticeships and mentorships for Black Americans.
The federal government must ensure that funds across numerous programs reach persistently impoverished areas. The private sector should launch a broad, cross-sector campaign to promote impactful investment in these Opportunity Zones, and federal incentives should be expanded to promote local employment in low-income communities.
Additionally, public-private partnerships to advance pay-for-performance job training programs should be expanded in areas with high unemployment. One example is the Chamber’s Talent Pipeline Management program linking job training to current and future jobs, which can be expanded to include more employers and help underserved communities. Coordinated efforts to make childcare more affordable and accessible would boost the impact of all these initiatives.
Next, tearing down barriers to entrepreneurship for Black Americans will help build wealth in families and communities, creating a virtuous cycle of new opportunity.
Lack of access to capital is especially acute for Black entrepreneurs. Financial institutions, private equity firms, and venture capitalists all have a role to play in improving the flow of capital to Black innovators and businesses. Following the model of the successful 2012 JOBS Act, Congress should initiate a formal process through the SEC to develop recommendations for changes in existing law and regulations that would improve access to capital for Black-owned businesses.
The public and private sectors must work together to establish a streamlined and uniform process for certifying Black-owned businesses. Unnecessary state occupational licenses—often costly, time-consuming, and offering little benefit to consumers—should be eliminated. Congress also should increase support for the Minority Business Development Agency, enhancing government contracting opportunities, and the private sector should work closely with the agency to provide additional assistance to Black-owned businesses.
Utilizing a data-driven approach, the private sector also should establish best practices and resources to increase the participation of Black-owned enterprises in corporate supply chains. All of us can help by simply patronizing diverse businesses and promoting them within our communities.
Finally, the criminal justice system must be reformed so that once someone pays his or her debt to society, they really have another chance for a better life.
Federal law should be changed to allow prisoners to get an education through Pell Grants while serving time. This will improve rehabilitation, reentry, and post-prison job prospects. Federal and state governments should reform and more narrowly target licensing and hiring restrictions to provide a means to recognize rehabilitation. Let’s get rid of requirements for disclosure of past criminal convictions on initial job applications, which leads to otherwise qualified candidates being excluded from the hiring process.
We also encourage businesses to see the opportunity in second-chance hiring and replicate best practices, such as those developed by the Society for Human Resource Management, so they can confidently hire employees with a criminal background. These and other policy solutions can help put people back in the workforce, not back in jail or on the margins of society.
Many leaders are asking if this moment is different—if the passion of this moment can be captured to create real change. We say yes. Yes, if leaders rally around these priorities.
We call on a united business community to lead by example and put the pressure on elected officials to do their part. If we do that, this moment can be a true turning point for equality of opportunity for all.
Suzanne P. Clark is president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.


fortune--2020-07-09--Tech giants are aligned against Hong Kong’s security law. Apple is a holdout

Apple has not taken a firm stand against Beijing’s new national security law in Hong Kong as other U.S. tech firms have. The company has not elaborated on its decision, but there’s no doubt the iPhone maker has more to lose than its peers in taking on Beijing.
On Tuesday, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Microsoft, Zoom, and Telegram announced they will temporarily halt sharing data with the Hong Kong government a week after its national security law took effect. The decision puts the firms at odds with China’s central government, which foisted the law on the special administrative region in what critics see as an attempt to quell pro-democracy protests. Apple’s response, meanwhile, was less explicit; it told Fortune that it is still “assessing the new law.”
Apple clarified that it hasn’t received any content requests from the Hong Kong government since the law went into effect. The company also said that all “content requests from local law enforcement authorities [are] submitted through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty in place between the United States and Hong Kong,” meaning that the U.S. Department of Justice reviews requests made by the Hong Kong government.
Unlike Google, Facebook, and Twitter, whose flagship websites are banned on the mainland’s censored Internet, the mainland remains core to Apple’s business interests. Apple relies on the mainland to manufacture an overwhelming majority of its iPhones, computers, and other products, and some 75% of its suppliers have at least one production site in China. In February, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked on Fox Business if Apple’s supply chain is too reliant on China given the pandemic’s early disruption there. “My perspective sitting here today is that if there are changes, you’re talking about adjusting some knobs, not some sort of wholesale fundamental change,” Cook said.
Apple’s sales in the Greater China region—encompassing the mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau—represent 14.8% of Apple’s overall revenue. In 2019, the Chinese market also made up 17% of the company’s profits, according to Apple’s financial statements. While the iPhone’s popularity in China has dimmed in recent years amid the rise of domestic competitors like Huawei and Xiaomi, the device remains the top-selling foreign smartphone in China and accounted for 8.5% of all smartphone sales in China in the first quarter of 2020, according to tech research firm Canalys.
“Whereas Facebook, Google, and Twitter are already banned, Apple heavily relies on China for both revenue streams and supply chains,” said Brock Silvers, chief investment officer of Adamas Asset Management, in Hong Kong. “Apple has a great deal of risk in China…[and] is understandably lagging its tech peers in suspending data-sharing arrangements with the Hong Kong government.”
Indeed, Apple has been a rare foreign tech firm to find success behind China’s Great Firewall. But that record now appears to be setting it apart from tech companies willing to stand up to Beijing when it comes to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong security law
The tech companies that immediately suspended data sharing with the Hong Kong government saw the provisions as a potential violation of privacy and human rights.
“We believe freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and support the right of people to express themselves without fear for their safety or other repercussions,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement on its pause on reviewing Hong Kong government requests for user data.
An Apple store in Hong Kong. The tech giant’s reliance on sales in the Greater China region make it more susceptible than its peers to Beijing’s demands. Budrul Chukrut/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
The tech firms’ decisions came after Hong Kong’s government announced rules for how it intends to carry out Beijing’s new national security law, which went into effect on June 30 and aims to target the four crimes of subversion, secession, terrorism, and collusion with foreign actors. The new provisions provide broad powers for Beijing authorities to seize user data from Internet publishers and service providers and use it to prosecute those found in violation of the new law.
The wariness that tech firms harbor over Hong Kong’s new law aligns with criticism of the law by U.S. and European governments.
In a tweet on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called the law “draconian” and said the U.S. condemns the “Orwellian assaults on the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people.”
For major tech firms that don’t operate in mainland China, the move ultimately may risk their business in Hong Kong. But Hong Kong’s 7.5 million residents represent a relatively small market for global companies, and tech firms likely would rather sacrifice business opportunities in the city than be seen by Western powers as subservient to Beijing.
“Facebook, Google and Twitter really don’t have much to lose” by taking a stand in Hong Kong, said Jeffrey Towson, a private equity investor in China and investment professor at Peking University in Beijing. “User data and privacy were already hot-button issues in U.S. politics relative to China…So it wasn’t surprising that these U.S. tech firms looked at user data and privacy first.”
In regards to sharing data, the new Hong Kong law is the first time Beijing authorities may be able to access user data from tech companies like Facebook and Twitter.
Facebook, for instance, has never received a request for data from China’s government because the mainland’s Internet blocks its 1.4 billion residents from accessing Facebook’s platform.
Meanwhile, Apple’s established mainland business means it already has mechanisms in place for processing user data requests from Beijing as well as from Hong Kong officials. From January through June of 2019, Apple approved 96% of 906 user data requests from the Chinese government and 91% of 358 requests from Hong Kong.
Siding with Beijing
Apple’s reluctance to pause data sharing with Hong Kong is not the first time Apple has appeared to side with Beijing when it comes to the city.
Amid the protests that engulfed Hong Kong for much of 2019, app developers in Hong Kong created a tool for city residents to track the location of protesters and police via an app called HKmap.live.
The developers submitted the app to Apple in late September. Apple initially rejected the app, claiming that it encouraged illegal behavior. Apple then reversed the decision and released the app on its store on Oct. 4.
Apple CEO Tim Cook attends the China Development Forum in Beijing in 2018. The company has come under fire in the U.S. in the past for appearing to capitulate to Beijing. Getty Images/Visual China Group via Getty Images
In response, China’s state-run newspaper penned an editorial on Oct. 9, accusing Apple of “helping Hong Kong rioters engage in more violence.” The following day, Apple removed the app from its store and in a statement said that the app had been “used to target and ambush police” and “threaten public safety.” Google, on the other hand, decided to leave the HKmap.live app up on its Play store.
Apple’s decision to take down the app drew the ire of U.S. lawmakers who wrote a letter to its CEO expressing deep concerns over the company’s decision.
“Cases like these raise real concern about whether Apple and other large corporate entities will bow to growing Chinese demands rather than lose access to more than a billion Chinese consumers,” said the letter signed by lawmakers like Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
Faced with Hong Kong’s new national security law, Apple is still firmly stuck between the demands of Beijing and its home market.
This story was updated on July 10 to reflect Apple’s comment to Fortune.


fortune--2020-07-09--How India became an unlikely M&A hotspot

Mukesh Ambani’s ambitious courtship of international investors has helped turn India into a rare bright spot for dealmaking in 2020, a shift that bankers say is likely to continue as the battle for the country’s digital economy heats up.
Thanks in large part to $15 billion of investments in Ambani’s technology venture from the likes of Facebook Inc. and Silver Lake Partners, India accounts for more than 12% of announced deals in the Asia Pacific region so far this year, the highest ratio since at least 1998. The country’s tally has jumped 18% from a year ago to $55.3 billion, defying an 18% slide for the region, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
With half a billion Internet users and growing, India is witnessing pitched battles in everything from e-commerce and content streaming to messaging and digital payments — similar to the early days of China’s digital boom. The sector’s importance has only increased this year as the Covid-19 pandemic pushed India to impose the world’s biggest lockdown in late March.
“India has become one of the busiest markets for M&A in Asia,” said Kerwin Clayton, co-head of M&A for Asia Pacific at JPMorgan Chase & Co. “Global companies and investment funds are pondering more options to enter India, in a similar way to what happened with China a decade or so ago.”
Billionaire Ambani’s Jio Platforms Ltd., which houses movie, music apps and India’s biggest wireless carrier, is front and center in the surge of activity. The latest to join Jio’s list of investors is an arm of computer chip giant Intel Corp., propelling its valuation to $65 billion.
“There was significant deal activity in the tech space already but nothing of the speed and quantum we witnessed in Jio Platforms,” said Aalok Shah, managing director at Rothschild & Co. “Jio Platforms is a unique opportunity which attracted significant investor interest.”
The health care and infrastructure sectors are also going to see a surge in investment, Shah said. Sectors such as industrials and travel that have borne the brunt of the Covid-19 pandemic will be hit with divestment, and distressed asset sales will take place, he said.
The pandemic has also put pressure on the country’s long-suffering financial sector. Indian companies, including banks, are more likely to raise funds in the markets to boslter their buffers, according to Srinivas Balasubramaniam, a senior partner at KPMG India. ICICI Bank Ltd. said Wednesday that it plans to raise as much as 150 billion rupees ($2 billion), while Axis Bank Ltd. announced plans last week to raise as much as $2 billion.
“A consolidation of financial services will start once the capital raising is done and dusted,” Balasubramaniam said. “The current economic slowdown coupled with the pandemic is likely to see the central bank force the hand of banks that have large subsidiaries and regulate them to dilute their stakes.”
China Factor
Recent political tensions between India and China have cast a heavy pall over dealmaking prospects between the neighboring countries. Even before their worst military clashes in 45 years, the Indian government drew China’s ire with its move in April to tighten foreign investment rules on countries it shares a border with.
Chinese companies pledged to invest about $579 million in Indian companies in the first six months of this year, down from $1.5 billion for the same period in 2019, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Even as both countries have agreed to deescalate tensions on their disputed border, bankers are expecting further slowdown of Chinese investments for the rest of the year. Yet some are taking the long view.
“There could be delays in new investments or existing investments being topped up this fiscal year,” Balasubramaniam said, adding that the onset of winter will help limit further clashes over territory. “Chinese investments will likely pick up momentum late next year given the current border standoff.”
In the meantime, global investors including private equity firms are driving transactions with India.
KKR & Co. said last week it will acquire a controlling stake in J.B. Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd., while Carlyle Group plans to purchase a 20% stake in Indian billionaire Ajay Piramal’s pharmaceutical business.
The country’s antitrust regulator recently approved Facebook’s $5.7 billion investment in Jio, paving the way for a slew of smaller investments in the digital services business.
“We are already witnessing an increased momentum in deal activity and it is likely to accelerate over the next six months,” Rothschild’s Shah said.


fortune--2020-07-09--Why Warren Buffett is falling on the world’s richest list

Warren Buffett’s $2.9 billion gift this week means he has now given away Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shares valued at more than $37 billion since 2006.
His philanthropy — along with Berkshire’s underwhelming stock performance recently — is finally starting to weigh on his net worth after years where his fortune defied his annual giveaways to rise ever higher. Buffett’s $68.6 billion is enough for eighth-place on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his lowest position since the index started in 2012. He ranked in the top 5 as recently as June.
But in recent weeks the 89-year-old has been leapfrogged first by Steve Ballmer, the former Microsoft Corp. chief executive officer, and this week by Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. The changes underline the extent to which technology fortunes now dominate the upper echelons of the world’s richest people.
Six of the seven richest people on the planet owe their wealth to the sector, including No. 1 Jeff Bezos, who has added $68 billion to his net worth this year, and Ballmer, who’s gained $18 billion. Tech fortunes are the best performing on the index, up 25% in 2020.
Ballmer’s fortune has soared thanks to the 4% stake he’s estimated to have retained since leaving Microsoft’s board in 2014. The software company’s shares have risen almost fivefold since then, boosting his fortune to $76.5 billion. Ballmer declined to comment on his Microsoft stake. Berkshire didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Buffett may welcome signs his gifts are shrinking his fortune. His pledge to give away his fortune only got harder as his fortune continued to rise. In his latest letter to shareholders he said he expects it will now take 12 to 15 years for his estate to dispose of all the shares he holds at the time of his death.


fortune--2020-07-09--You can now sign up to participate in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services debuted a website Wednesday in which people can sign up to participate in clinical trials related to potential COVID-19 treatments and vaccines.
The website, or network as it’s officially called, was developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is affiliated with the National Institutes of Health.
The NIAID said that the website, known as the COVID-19 Prevention Trials Network, was built from the merger of “four previously existing clinical trials networks that focused on HIV/AIDS.”
After people choose to enroll in the various clinical trials via the website, officials will contact and screen the potential volunteers for participation.
“Having a safe and effective medical countermeasure to prevent COVID-19 would enable us to not only save lives but also help end the global pandemic,” NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a statement. “Centralizing our clinical research efforts into a single trials network will expand the resources and expertise needed to efficiently identify safe and effective vaccines and other prevention strategies against COVID-19.”
As CNN noted, the number of required volunteers is unclear.
The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle will oversee the new clinical trial project.