Welcome to the new month.
Last week saw some astounding numbers. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released 2nd quarter GDP numbers, with U.S. GPD dropping 32.9% from the last quarter (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2020). Interestingly, the personal savings rate- savings as a percentage of disposable income- increased from 9.5% to 25.7%, showing that consumers in the U.S. are not spending and are preferring to save in case of emergency.
The world has also surpassed 17.5 million COVID-19 cases, with deaths topping 675,000 (COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC, 2020). The 7-day moving average of new cases in the U.S. appears to have reached a new plateau. However, without more action, it is probably that there will be another increase in cases. Australia is seeing a true second wave, setting records for daily cases, daily deaths and active cases. Total cases have doubled since the 23rd of June. The state of Victoria is in a strict lockdown and NSW has closed their borders with Victoria (Guardian Staff, 2020). Spain is also seeing an increase in cases, although nowhere near their peaks. The U.K. announced that they would be increasing restrictions of movement to and from Spain because of this spike. We are even seeing the U.K. announcing that they will be pausing the lockdown easing in England.
Some interesting news coming out of Capitol Hill with four big tech companies testifying before the U.S. Congress and several have published their earnings reports. See the first link below for a video covering this. Additionally, politicians are also debating a second round of support for unemployed.
Video Picks of the Week
- Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google Report Earnings: https://youtu.be/P6H2b2vFJdc
- Professor of Marketing discusses Big Tech: https://youtu.be/QfMWBDAZsRI
- Business Professor and CEO discusses unemployment benefits: https://youtu.be/zAClHTpF3R0
- Pausing of lockdown easing in U.K.: https://youtu.be/LdOu6XCvV2s
References
Bureau of Economic Analysis. (2020). Gross Domestic Product, 2nd Quarter 2020 (Advanced Estimate) and Annual Update.
COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. (2020, August 01). Retrieved from Worldometer: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Guardian Staff. (2020, July 30). Australia's Covid-19 lockdown rules and coronavirus restrictions explained. Retrieved from The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/29/australia-covid-19-lockdown-rules-coronavirus-restrictions-how-far-can-travel-interstate-border-social-distancing-nsw-victoria-vic-queensland-qld-wa-sa-act-how-many-people-over-house
