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Trump Extends US Virus Restrictions; Moscow Goes On Lockdown

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In an abrupt turnaround, President Donald Trump extended lockdown measures across the United States as deaths in New York alone from the new coronavirus passed 1,000. Moscow went on its own lockdown Monday as all of Russia braced for sweeping nationwide restrictions.

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State insurance regulators moved briskly through four topics as they try to thread the needle between suitability and fiduciary in crafting an annuity sales model law.

Nearly 700 health insurance and benefits advisors from across the nation will travel to Washington to meet with members of Congress. In addition, NAHU members will hear from industry experts, members of Congress and members of the Trump administration as they look at the future for health care reform.

Congress has a lot of its plate, but financial services would like to see a retirement income security bill get passed before the end of the year.

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The largest stimulus bill in U.S. history is almost reality, thanks to a deal struck this morning between the White House and U.S. Senate okaying $2 trillion to keep alive and revive the nation's faltering economy under the weight of COVID-19 restrictions, according to CNN.. Likewise, complete details are still to be released, but the measure is said to include $250…

The Senate passed an unparalleled $2.2 trillion economic rescue package steering aid to businesses, workers and health care systems engulfed by the coronavirus pandemic. The unanimous vote Wednesday came despite misgivings on both sides.

An unprecedented $2 trillion stimulus package to help with the medical and financial crises caused by the coronavirus pandemic has been crafted by the U.S. Senate. Citizens would also receive one-time direct payments from the federal government, starting with $1,200 for individuals.

One was famously expressed by Rahm Emanuel, the discredited former mayor of Chicago who dropped his reelection bid rather than get wiped out over his clumsy suppression of a police video of a black teenager being killed by a white cop. Now he dispenses wisdom as a talking head on ABC. Napoleon must have been talking about Republicans who are just as human, and…

Orders to U.S. factories for big-ticket manufactured goods rose by a solid amount in February, but the gain came before the coronavirus had shut down much of the country. The Commerce Department said Wednesday durable goods orders rose 1.2% last month, rebounding from January when orders had shown a tiny 0.1% gain.

The White House and Senate leaders of both parties have struck an agreement on a sweeping $2 trillion measure to aid workers, businesses and a health care system strained by the rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak. Top White House aide Eric Ueland announced the agreement in a Capitol hallway shortly after midnight.

“I would love to have the country opened up and just raring to go by Easter, “he said during a Fox News virtual town hall. The reassessment comes as the White House is encouraging lawmakers on Capitol Hill to pass a roughly $2 trillion stimulus package to ease the financial pain for Americans and hard-hit industries.

Mar. 24– Wayne Goodwin knew this year would seem endless. He chairs the Democratic Party in North Carolina, a state that will see 2020' s most expensive race for governor, one of the most contentious Senate contests and potentially national attention as a battleground state in the presidential election. He hopes to erase or erode GOP majorities in the legislature…

A snapshot of the emerging rescue package in Congress to provide healthcare and economic aid amid the coronavirus outbreak and national shutdown. The details are subject to change as congressional leaders and the White House continue negotiating the nearly $2 trillion package. The measure would provide a quick, one-time stipend of about $1,200 per…

Mar. 23– Gun sales in Northeast Pennsylvania soared as the coronavirus pandemic took hold. The Tommy Gun Warehouse of the Kahr Arms company in Blooming Grove, Pike County, has been selling all kinds of firearms, “everything, across the board,” co-manager Bob Smart said Friday. Roll Call in West Scranton declined to comment to The Times-Tribune on Thursday about high…

Top-level negotiations between Congress and the White House churned late into the night over a now nearly $2 trillion economic rescue package, as the coronavirus crisis deepened, the nation shut down and the first U.S. senator tested positive for the disease.

July 15 is the new April 15 this year.

Americans now have three more months to pay — and file — their taxes, as of Friday’s announcement by the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.

Senators Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler face calls to resign after it was revealed the Republican lawmakers sold off stock holdings before coronavirus crashed the market. Burr, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sold off up $1.72 million of his holdings on Feb. 13 after receiving briefings on the then-impending pandemic. Fox News host Tucker…

—The White House says it's postponing an upcoming state visit by Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia because of the coronavirus pandemic. White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham cited the coronavirus pandemic in announcing the postponement on Wednesday. “In order for the United States and Spain to continue to devote their full resources and…

With millions of people of people forced to stay home around the world, mental depression has a good chance of sneaking its way into the global psyche. Analysts have started to bounce around the D-word following dramatic declines on Wall Street and concerns that the COVID-19 virus will take months to be contained, bringing global business to a near standstill.

—Sharing the primary calendar Tuesday are two states that represent different pieces of America: Ohio, a largely white state that’ s barely growing and looking to rebound from a decline in manufacturing, and Arizona, a state where one-third of the population is Latino and growth is exploding. Arizona may finally be in play for the Democrats. Both states hold…

The last two major U.S. Democratic presidential candidates– former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Both assailed Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., with Sanders accusing him of “undermining scientists” and Biden faulting the administration for refusing in the early stages of the crisis to import test kits from other countries…

Instead of a half-percent rate cut when the Federal Reserve meets March 18, and gathers again April 29, the “meltdown” in financial markets and the “dark storm clouds” over the economy will accelerate the rate cut, analysts predict.

As the number of infections in the U.S. surpassed 1,300 and deaths approached 40, major stock indexes posted another furious sell-off and plunged well into bear market territory. Consumer spending, which makes up about two-thirds of the economy, also was slowing in the U.S. and around the world.

The rout came after President Trump imposed a travel ban on most of Europe and offered few new measures to contain the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Benchmarks in Europe fell more than 7% even after the European Central Bank announced more stimulus measures. Global stocks plunged Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a travel ban…

—U.S. wholesale prices fell 0.6% in February, the biggest decline in five years, led by a sharp drop in energy costs. The Labor Department said the decline in its producer price index, which measures price pressures before they reach the consumer, followed a 0.5% rise in January. Many economists are looking for another half-point cut when the Fed meets next week,…

Stocks nose-dived again Wednesday on concerns about the growing economic harm from the coronavirus outbreak, while the White House and House Democrats crafted separate fiscal rescue plans including extensions for small business tax payments, free virus testing and paid sick leave.

With big wins in state after state over the avowed democratic socialist and erstwhile frontrunner for the nomination, Joe Biden has underlined in 2020 what Hillary Clinton demonstrated in 2016, and what mainstream Democrats who dominated swing districts across America proved in 2018.. No, the 30% or so on the leftmost edge are not unwelcome in a center-left,…

If ever there was a time voters might consider switching to vote-by-mail, it might be now, in the midst of the coronavirus disruption. But Saturday was the last day for voters to make that switch ahead of next Tuesday's Florida presidential preference primary, and Volusia County Elections Supervisor Lisa Lewis said she hasn't seen a surge of new vote-by-mail…

–QuoteWizard ®, a LendingTree company, and one of the nation's leading online insurance marketplaces, released a report on which states are most prepared for public health and natural disasters. Virginia, Connecticut and Colorado are most prepared for public health disasters. Wyoming, Arkansas and West Virginia are least prepared for public health…

“I would veto anything that delays providing the security and the certainty of health care being available now,” Biden, the Democratic presidential front-runner, said in an interview that aired Monday evening on MSNBC. Biden went on to say that health care should be a “right” in the United States.

The White House and Congress have started wrangling over measures to spark the wounded economy, as fear around COVID-19 has threatened to tip it into recession. Congress would send every American adult $1,000 and $500 to every child under Jason Furman’s proposal, at an estimated ultimate cost to taxpayers of $350 billion.

The White House invited Wall Street executives to a meeting with the president Wednesday to discuss ways to prevent the economy from faltering. Immediately after the meeting, Mr. Trump joined his top advisers in the White House press briefing room to outline the crisis-driven steps that include a payroll tax cut and expanded sick leave.

—U.S. companies buffeted by supply chain chaos and a growing awareness of the scope of a viral outbreak are facing new threats to begin the week. An oil war between Saudi Arabia and Russia sent the price for a barrel of U.S. crude below $34. Treasury bonds continue to grow more expensive with so many investors looking for a safe place to park their money.

They've spent time in Spain, Australia and other countries where people don't have the same worry. The young Bernie Sanders supporters who gathered for a Super Tuesday watch party in Michigan came with reasons both personal and ideological for wanting him to be president. “Young people are aspirational, “said Jaclyn Schess, 24, a health economics researcher at…

Construction jobs were among the big gainers in the new federal jobs report.

The U.S. unemployment rate held steady at 3.5% in February as the economy added 273,000 jobs, according to figures released Friday by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. According to the numbers, notable job gains occurred in health care and social assistance, food services and drinking establishments, government, and construction.

The CBIZ Small Business Employment Index reported reasonably flat hiring in February, with a seasonally adjusted decline of 0.39%. The February 2020 data reflects a historical trend for the month’ s numbers over the last 10 years, with winter weather typically contributing to a slowdown in economic activity.

Trump had planned to sign the bill during a visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Vice President Mike Pence said late Thursday on his trip to Washington state, where 11 of the 12 U.S. victims have died. But the Atlanta stop was left off of the president's public schedule, and the White House said Friday that Trump would no longer visit the…

Mar. 5– If South Carolina was Joe Biden's firewall, Florida may be his springboard. The two will clash head-to-head for the first time Tuesday across six states, and then one week later compete for a massive delegate haul in four more, including Florida– a favorable state for Biden that could propel him toward the party's nomination. “I think Joe Biden cleans up in…

Widespread layoffs can transform slowdowns in just one or two sectors — the travel industry, say, or manufacturing — into a full-blown downturn for the overall economy. When workers lose jobs and pay, they typically cut spending. Friday’s jobs report will be a revealing glance at where the economy stands.

The race for the Democratic nomination has come down to a battle between former Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Biden, Sanders and Warren outlasted billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who spent tens of millions in Florida, as well as brief bursts in the polls for former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Sen. Campaigning in Florida had barely begun…

The 4.5% climb reversed losses from a tough Tuesday on Wall Street, where coronavirus fears have battered the markets over the past two weeks. A half-percentage point interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve on Tuesday– the first emergency slashing since 2008– had done little to calm the financial waters. But Biden’ s monster performance Tuesday night, which…

The former vice president streaked to several significant wins Tuesday, building on the Saturday victory in South Carolina that reinvigorated his 2020 campaign. Combined with the South Carolina results three days earlier, Tuesday's results altered a race that had looked like Sanders' to lose. Biden swept the South, carrying Virginia, North Carolina, Alabama,…

Reports say at least 92,000 people have been infected globally from the coronavirus, while over 3000 of this number have died with the highest figures being in China since December 2019. South Korea, Italy and Iran are fighting the largest outbreaks outside of China. In Italy, it was reported that Pope Francis was still suffering from a cold and not exhibiting…

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 785 points and bond prices surged after an emergency interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve failed to reassure markets racked by worries that a fast-spreading virus outbreak could lead to a recession. While the cut helped raise confidence for some investors- and gave exactly what some had been calling for-…

Sanders addresses his Senate colleagues with the high-volume urgency of his campaign rallies. It’ s an awkward if familiar relationship in the otherwise insular world of the Senate. Dick Durbin, D- Ill., the assistant party leader, said what voters expect from Sanders on the campaign trail is“ verbatim exact” with what senators have heard for the past decade in the…

The coronavirus is creeping through the U.S., with Washington State reporting the nation’s first two deaths and infections at a nursing home as President Trump tightened the borders to project calm amid an outbreak with sweeping human, financial and political stakes.

But some experts and Democrats warn that the candidates risk exacerbating a public health crisis if they go too far in politicizing the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness. Amy Klobuchar all went after Trump during their CNN town halls Wednesday night. It’ s a potent political issue, as it gets at what Democrats see as two major potential weaknesses for Trump:…

The bond market saw similar volatility, with the yield on the 10- year Treasury at one point falling to another all-time low. “People can demand things that feel safe for irrational amounts of time,” said Katy Kaminski, chief research strategist at AlphaSimplex Group. Investors came into 2020 feeling confident that the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates…

—President Donald Trump faces a critical personal challenge in grappling with the new coronavirus outbreak: asking Americans to believe him after he and some of his top advisers have contradicted federal scientists in playing down the threat. But he continued to minimize the risk, saying the outbreak“ may get a little bigger; it may not get bigger at all.” And he…

The fast-moving coronavirus isn’ t just confounding health officials. The Dow Jones industrial plunged 878 points— 3%— after plummeting more than 1,000 points Monday, the sharpest drop in two years. The outbreak will have a significant effect on worldwide demand for tourism, travel, and other services, economic officials say.

Feb. 25– COLUMBIA, S.C.– Days before the South Carolina primary, billionaire businessman Tom Steyer released an ad across the state punching at the two front-runners in the Palmetto State race. “South Carolina has a chance to make history, but we have to get this right,” the ad says. Steyer has barely registered in national polls, but has managed to pick up some support in…

Who will occupy the White House in 2021? The upcoming election is sure to hinge on the economy, pundits agree.

The right couldn’t have invented a better candidate than Bernie Sanders. The following year, he got married and left the next day for a combination fact-finding trip and honeymoon in the Soviet Union. Sanders thought the Soviet Union was the future three years before it collapsed.

—Joe Biden, standing on a Las Vegas stage roughly 1,000 feet from the scene of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, took on White House rival Bernie Sanders Saturday night for his past vote to exempt gun manufacturers from liability for shootings. The former vice president devoted the majority of his speech at a Democratic gala on the Las Vegas Strip…

Caterpillar this week said most of its Chinese suppliers had returned to work. But Foxconn, a major electronics producer for Apple, said it will be the end of the month before even half of its facilities are operating. Both United Airlines and American Airlines said this week they would not resume normal service to mainland China until April 24, almost a month…

“Republicans only have a one-vote margin on the Banking Committee,” so a nominee like Shelton, opposed by Democrats, “cannot afford to lose a single Republican vote,” Gardner said later in an email. Pat Toomey, R- Pa., and Richard Shelby, R- Ala., “were the most skeptical Republicans of the ones who attended the hearing and asked questions” of Shelton, Gardner added.

The facade of the Federal Reserve Bank.

One of President Donald Trump’s nominees for the Federal Reserve will likely face skeptical questioning from a Senate committee Thursday over her unconventional economic views. Trump has nominated Judy Shelton for the Fed’s Board of Governors, a position with significant influence over interest rate policy and the regulation of banks.

WASHINGTON- Republican and Democratic senators voiced strong support for an independent Federal Reserve during a hearing with Fed Chair Jerome Powell, one day after President Donald Trump launched another attack directed at Powell on Twitter. The support from members of the Senate Banking Committee suggests Trump's attacks on Powell and the Fed have…

Democrats ranked education as well as social insurance ahead of the environment while only 12% of Republicans believe the environment should be considered a top spending priority. Meanwhile, Republicans believe social insurance, defense and international security, and infrastructure should be the top government spending priorities.

Feb. 12– NASHUA, N.H.– Pete Buttigieg surged to a runner-up finish in New Hampshire's primary, capitalizing on Iowa momentum and delivering another strong performance that will carry into Nevada and beyond, he told fired-up supporters Tuesday night. “Now our campaign moves on, to Nevada, to South Carolina, and to communities all across our country, and we will welcome…

Who will occupy the White House in 2021? The upcoming election is sure to hinge on the economy, pundits agree.

In 2016, Sanders carried New Hampshire by 22 points, pummeling Hillary Clinton and setting the stage for a protracted fight over the Democratic presidential nomination. Taken together, Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar and Joe Biden drew support from more than 50 percent of New Hampshire voters— twice as much as Sanders.