The pool of American workers on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic is getting a lot bigger.
The big picture: Just as grocery and delivery workers found themselves fighting a crisis they didn't sign up for back in March, teachers, hairstylists and temperature checkers are part of a new wave of workers who are now in harm's way as the pandemic rages on.
Snap's stock price is slowly rebounding after a sharp after-hours drop as the company met or beat Wall Street expectations for its second quarter but declined to offer Q3 guidance given ongoing coronavirus-driven uncertainty.
Why it matters: Snap is among the companies that has been able to capitalize on the pandemic which has forced people to stay home much of the time, leaving them with a lot more free time to consume media and entertainment.
Four U.S. and European airlines are asking government leaders to begin a joint coronavirus testing program so that transatlantic travel can resume.
Why it matters: Flights between the U.S. and Europe are a huge source of profit for the airline industry, which has collapsed since the pandemic hit. But government restrictions effectively prevent all non-essential travel between the regions.
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were deployed to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to brief the Senate Republican conference, alongside Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, on the details of the GOP coronavirus stimulus bill.
Driving the news: The Senate Republican lunch descended into chaos, several GOP lawmakers said, revealing that the White House and Republican senators remain far apart on key priorities in the next economic package.
The Senate Banking Committee voted on Tuesday to advance Trump's picks to fill the Federal Reserve board, Judy Shelton, and her much less controversial fellow nominee Christopher Waller, for confirmation by the full Senate.
Why it matters: Shelton's nomination is the most contentious in recent memory. Economists and policymakers worry about her record of fringe views and that granting the former Trump campaign adviser a spot on the Fed board would politicize the central bank.
There has been a sizable increase in the percentage of female decision-makers at U.S. venture capital firms, albeit nothing near parity, according to an Axios analysis.
By the numbers: Nearly 12.4% of decision-makers at U.S. venture capital firms are women, up from 9.65% in a similar study conducted in February 2019.
Amazon spent nearly $7 billion on U.S. advertising in 2019, making it the top ad spender in the country, according to a new analysis from Kantar featured in AdAge.
Why it matters: It wasn't that long ago in 2009 that Jeff Bezos triumphantly declared that "Advertising is the price you pay for having an unremarkable product or service."
AIG will move its world headquarters next year from New York City's Financial District to Rockefeller Center, where it will occupy 8 floors and 325,000 square feet, the corporation announced Tuesday.
The big picture: The move to 1271 Avenue of the Americas will see the insurance giant depart the city's Financial District after more than three decades. AIG will also consolidate the rest of its footprint in the area to two new locations, including one at the Goldman Sachs Tower.
Even after the financial crisis, the annual number of newsroom layoffs won't come close what we're expected to see this year during the coronavirus pandemic, according to new data from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc.
By the numbers: In the first 6 months of 2020, more than 11,000 newsroom jobs have been lost. That's nearly as many as were lost in all of 2009.
In an upcoming book about Matt Drudge's life and influence, author Matthew Lysiak, a former New York Daily News reporter, says Drudge is frustrated by the way the unwieldy internet — driven by algorithms and big social media sites — has disrupted the American psyche.
Data: Parse.ly; Chart: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios
Why it matters: Drudge has been a dominant force in the trafficking of news and information online since the early days of internet publishing. But in recent years, data shows that the reclusive digital maverick doesn't push traffic to publishers like he used to, although he's still considered a powerful force.
A number of writers and journalists have recently flocked to services like Substack to publish their own newsletters under the banner of independence, even as those services and writers themselves are increasingly recreating various benefits of working in a traditional newsroom.
Driving the news: Last week, Substack announced it will provide legal help to some its authors of paid newsletters, including pre-publication review and defense against threats.
Disappearing revenue at hotels and throughout the entertainment and hospitality industries is straining the U.S. commercial real estate market, as delinquencies rise at a record pace and credit ratings continue to fall.
Why it matters: Ratings agencies are growing especially concerned about the commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) market — the business side of the residential mortgage-backed securities market that touched off the 2008 global financial crisis.
So far, second quarter earnings have beaten estimates" FactSet senior earnings analyst John Butters notes.
The big picture: With 9% of S&P 500 companies reporting so far, 73% have reported a positive EPS surprise and 78% have reported a positive revenue surprise.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen and President Trump's approval rating sinks, Wall Street analysts are discussing the increasing probability of a "blue wave" Democratic sweep of the House, Senate and presidency.
Why it matters: With a blue wave, Biden could realistically enact major policy shifts such as higher taxes, climate change reform and increased health care spending.
Since the day after George Floyd's death on May 26, the rate of hate speech online in the U.S., as tracked by one digital measurement firm, has been nearly three times higher than typical.
By the numbers: On June 3, at the height of nationwide protests, DoubleVerify, which uses its own technology to scan pages online so advertisers can avoid objectionable content, says instances of hate speech were more than 4.5 times higher than usual — the highest-ever rate it has measured to date.
"In Oklahoma, one of the poorest states, unemployment — which reached a record 14.7 percent in April — has pushed many to the point of desperation, with savings depleted, cars repossessed and homes sold for cash," the WashPost's Annie Gowen reports.
John Jolley, a 58-year-old single father, "arrived in the parking lot of the River Spirit Expo center in Tulsa around 9 p.m. on a sultry night" for one of the state's "mega-processing events."
"Dozens more sat in the parking lot overnight with Jolley, unable to get their questions answered through the unemployment agency’s overloaded phone system."
eBay on Tuesday said that it will sell a majority stake in its classifieds unit to Norwegian classifieds firm Adevinta.
The big picture: eBay came under pressure in early 2019 from activist investor Elliott Management, which wanted it to spin off both its classifieds and StubHub units from its flagship marketplace platform. StubHub was sold to Viagogo just before the pandemic hit.
TV's infamous fall lineup of new shows and series is going to look a lot different this year, thanks to paused production during the coronavirus pandemic and the uncertain future of sports.
Why it matters: With fewer dramas, scripted shows and sports, analysts expect more consumers to "cut the cord" or ditch expensive cable and satellite TV subscriptions. For live TV loyalists that chose to stick around, expect more news, animation, reality TV, live performances and documentaries.
New clinical trial data from two experimental coronavirus vaccines — one from Oxford University and AstraZeneca in the United Kingdom, and the other from CanSino Biologics in China — are providing cautious optimism in the race to combat the pandemic.
The big picture: Science has never moved this fast to develop a vaccine. And researchers are still several months away from a clearer idea of whether the leading candidates help people generate robust immune responses to this virus.
