Coronavirus

The World Health Organization declares the Coronavirus is now a pandemic. This past week, we saw the worst day on Wall Street since 1987 on Thursday (NYT), and worst week since 2008. As I write this, markets are bouncing back, but the day isn't over yet. 

• Neil Irwin in his Upshot article explains the troubling phenomenon with this financial crisis: all asset classes are down.  Listen to him on MarketPlace Morning report recapping the crazy week. (listen to the 3/13/20 episode "the weird science" of our financial system)
• Neil Irwin touched on the Fed’s injection of liquidity this week in his article. Here is a thorough explanation of that action. (NYT)
• Circuit breakers stopped trading early during Thursday’s record market drop. NPR explains how stock market circuit breakers work.
• Capital Group offers some advice navigating this market with four ways to stay calm.
• Investment Group recaps how target date funds have fared during this crisis.
• How is the virus impacting your average worker? This WSJ article talks about the impact on those working in service industries, like Starbucks, and what these companies are doing to help.

The Wall Street Journal is providing news/information in front of their pay wall related to the pandemic.

Technology/Education

• Schools (K-12 and higher education institutions) across the country are or will be closing down. (USA Today) The follow-on issues are mind-blowing. What will parents do about childcare? How will the students that get breakfast and lunch at school be fed? (ABC Columbus OH) Will financially strapped colleges have to refund room and board? (Inside Higher Ed)
• What happens to the students and people sent home to work or study and who don't have internet?  Comcast is offering free internet essentials to low income customers. (ABC - Detroit)
• Zoom CEO announces today that he will make Zoom available to K-12 schools/students for free. (Forbes) (link in article)
• Between schools moving online and people working from home, how have the tech companies that support remote work/education handled the surge? (The Register, Vox)

Technology/Social Media

• NGPF has FinCap Friday. Today I learned about CashApp Friday. In case you were in the dark like me, Money explains the twitter phenomenon.

 Career

• Inside Higher Ed looks at a new working paper from the NBER that tries to answer the question ”are there any good jobs for people without degrees?”
• Investment News suggests women should consider becoming financial advisors. Their empathy for others gives them an edge.

Taxes

• Sunday’s New York Times Business section was devoted to taxes. Here is a link to the entire section: 03/06/30 Business
• Average tax refund is $3,100. Michelle Singletary suggests you hang on to your refund to offset any financial impact of the coronavirus. The Washington Post
• Some folks may get extra time to pay their taxes this year. (USA Today)

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