Stocks up modestly after yesterday’s rout
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are modestly higher on Wall Street as the market regains its footing following yesterday’s sharp drop. The S&P 500 was up 0.3% at midday. The gains were led by health care and consumer-focused stocks. Big technology stocks, which took the biggest hit yesterday, edged higher. Treasury yields stabilized, a welcome sign for investors who had been spooked by a sharp increase in yields over the previous week. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which is used to set interest rates on many kinds of loans, remained at 1.53%.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Health care workers who were once saluted for saving lives in the COVID-19 outbreak are now being issued panic buttons and ditching their scrubs before going out in public to avoid harassment. Across the country, doctors and nurses on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic are dealing with hostility, threats and violence from patients angry over safety rules designed to keep the virus from spreading. Some hospitals are so concerned that they equipped workers with panic buttons, while others have limited the number of public entrance to their facilities. In Idaho, nurses they’re scared to go to grocery stores unless they’ve changed out of their scrubs so they aren’t accosted by angry residents.
UNDATED (AP) — YouTube has announced immediate bans on false claims that vaccines are dangerous and cause health issues like autism, cancer or infertility. The tech company also deleted the accounts belonging to some of the most notable propagators of vaccine misinformation and conspiracy theories. The ban on vaccine misinformation extends to all approved immunizations and comes as countries, including the U.S., struggle to ramp up vaccination rates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNDATED (AP) — In an economy upended by the coronavirus, shortages and price spikes have hit everything from lumber to computer chips. Not even toilet paper escaped. Now they’re cutting into one of the humblest yet most vital links in the global manufacturing supply chain: The plastic pellets that go into a vast universe of products ranging from cereal bags to medical devices, automotive interiors to bicycle helmets. Like other manufacturers, plastic, paint and other petrochemical companies have been shaken by the pandemic and by the way consumers and businesses responded to it. Yet petrochemicals, which are made from oil, have also run into problems all their own, one after another.
UNDATED (AP) — The National Labor Relations Board says college football players and some other athletes in money-making sports are employees of their schools. The guidance in a memo from the board’s top lawyer could lead to expansive rights for players to unionize and negotiate over their working conditions. NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo also threatened action against schools, conferences and the NCAA if they continue to use the term “student-athlete.” She says the term was designed to obscure the employment relationship with college athletes and discourage them from pursuing their rights.
