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Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc is being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, posting a record quarterly net loss of nearly $50 billion. NEW YORK: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc is being hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, posting a record quarterly net loss of nearly $50 billion on Saturday and saying performance is suffering in several major operating businesses. Berkshire said most of its more than 90 businesses are facing "relatively minor to severe" negative effects from COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus and now punishing the global economy, with revenue slowing considerably in April even at businesses deemed "essential." The BNSF railroad saw shipping volumes of consumer products and coal fall, while Geico set aside money for car insurance premiums it no longer expects to collect. Some businesses cut salaries and furloughed workers, and retailers such as See's Candies and the Nebraska Furniture ...

Before the health crisis, gold typically traveled around the world on commercial flights. Swiss refiner Valcambi SA tried for five straight days last month to move a shipment of gold out of Hong Kong. Twice the metal was packed carefully onto a plane, only to be offloaded again. After daily attempts and numerous arguments, the gold suddenly arrived in Switzerland without warning, said Chief Executive Officer Michael Mesaric. “We had not even asked for a slot.” The coronavirus crisis has shone a light on a corner of precious metals markets that usually draws little attention: the logistics of transporting gold, silver and other metals across the world. The business is dominated by companies including Brink’s Co., G4S Plc, Loomis AB and Malca-Amit, which link miners and refiners with gold trading and consumption hubs around the world. In normal times, gold bars worth millions of dollars travel the world in the cargo holds of commercial planes, just a few meters f...

The U.S. economy is facing the worst contraction in modern history — and a “confidence shock” will make the recovery slow, says one economist.  Frances Donald, head of macro strategy at Manulife, predicts GDP this quarter could shrink by a whopping 20% amid the  coronavirus pandemic .  “We are going to see, without hyperbole, the worst economic contraction in modern economic history. It will be likely double digits,” Donald told Yahoo Finance. “We are not looking for growth to come back online really until the fourth quarter of this year.” The latest jobless claims show more than  4.4 million Americans filed for first time unemployment  last week. Since the spread of the outbreak, more than 26 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance as companies big and small have laid off or  furloughed employees  and  shuttered commerce . “What worries me as an economist is that we can give people their jobs back when we turn the economy...

Investors may be ahead of themselves if they’re expecting an economic V-shaped recovery, according to one top strategist. “We've got this epic battle between monetary and fiscal policy on one side, and weak economic earnings, earnings data on the other,” Tony Dwyer, managing director and chief market strategist at Canaccord Genuity, told Yahoo Finance. Dwyer says looking at the yield curve spread between the 2-year and 10-year US Treasury (^ TNX ) can be an indicator not only of when the economy goes into a recession, but when it’s expected to come out of one. “Having a very, very flat yield curve is telling you that the economy is going to be very slow coming out of the recession and that you want to maybe just kind of wait for some of the overbought condition that was created on this relief rally to work itself out,” he added. Dwyer notes the markets went from a “panic mode” in March into the recent relief rally and are now in a “frustration phase” where investors don’t ...

Thursday, April 30, 2020 Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET.  And so is the recovery. The U.S. economy is in recession. Take a look outside your window and this reality is plain to see. Businesses are closed, traffic is nonexistent. Efforts to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus have resulted in a forced stoppage of economic activity. First quarter GDP  data published Wednesday  confirmed this slowdown. Economic growth contracted at an annualized rate of 4.8% in the first quarter of the year, a drop in activity that marks the largest since 2008. Many economists expect revisions to this data will show an even sharper first quarter drop in the coming months. Second quarter GDP will be more shocking, with economists widely forecasting declines in growth in excess of 30% or 40%. But unlike recessions that result from excesses in the economy, this recession is a choice. “The forceful measures that...

Walmart has plenty in its favor, including fast growth in e-commerce sales iStockphoto Email icon Facebook icon Twitter icon Linkedin icon Flipboard icon Print icon Resize icon Referenced Symbols WMT +1.12%   AMZN -7.59%   DIA -2.44%   DJIA -2.55%   AAPL -1.61%   FB -1.19%   GOOG -2.08%   GOOGL -2.18%   Walmart has beaten Amazon. No, that’s not a joke. As incredulous as that may seem, let me explain. Please click  here  for a chart comparing Walmart’s  US:WMT  stock to Amazon.com’s  US:AMZN  and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF  US:DIA ,  which tracks the Dow Jones Industrial Average  US:DJIA .  Note the following: • For the period shown on the chart, Amazon stock is up 15.55%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 18.8% and Walmart stock is up 27.65%. • Earlier this year, many investors were having difficulty understand...