Figured this was a good article to kick it off......

The price of US oil has turned negative for the first time in history.
That means oil producers are paying buyers to take the commodity off their hands over fears that storage capacity could run out in May.
Demand for oil has all but dried up as lockdowns across the world have kept people inside.
As a result, oil firms have resorted to renting tankers to store the surplus supply and that has forced the price of US oil into negative territory.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52350082

ww.theguardian.com › business › apr › virgin-australia...
12 hours ago - This would allow Virgin Australia to eventually fly again, even if in a ... no meaningful competition under the two airline policy of the 1970s and

Virgin Airlines in Australia just about to go into receivership ( administration ) and they are not the only airline in deep trouble

Most world airlines 'bankrupt by the end of May 'www.afr.com › Companies › Transport
Mar 17, 2020 - Virgin Australia is also seen as under a cloud, but has emphasised ... But if they get into a cash crunch we're going to try to help them," he said.

.....have to think there are lots of categories teetering...

Covid-19 shuts down a quarter of UK businesses
More than half a million companies reported to be in ‘significant distress’

https://www.ft.com/content/f9537538-d7a ... b9a984aae4

Study: 40% of businesses fail to reopen after a disaster
Editor’s note: This piece was updated on April 14, 2020 to remain current in light of recent world events.

There’s nothing worse than trying to pick up the pieces following a natural disaster.

https://www.accesscorp.com/access-in-th ... -disaster/

I suspect there is a very long list getting longer rapidly.....

Time for national airlines again I guess.

I suspect so.
With fuel prices so far down ....wonder who will jump on the cheap flights bandwagon ...buy one get one free kind of deal.

I would not want to be navigating an airline through this

First plague - then starvation ....horsemen on the loose ....

Coronavirus crisis could double number of people suffering acute hunger - UN
Report from UN and World Food Programme warns 265m people are facing acute risk
Coronavirus – latest updates
See all our coronavirus coverage
Fiona Harvey Environment correspondent
Tue 21 Apr 2020 10.00 BST Last modified on Tue 21 Apr 2020 10.46 BST

The coronavirus crisis will push more than a quarter of a billion people to the brink of starvation unless swift action is taken to provide food and humanitarian relief to the most at-risk regions, the UN and other experts have warned.

About 265 million people around the world are forecast to be facing acute food insecurity by the end of this year, a doubling of the 130 million estimated to suffer severe food shortages last year.

“Covid-19 is potentially catastrophic for millions who are already hanging by a thread,” said Dr Arif Husain, chief economist at the World Food Programme.

“It is a hammer blow for millions more who can only eat if they earn a wage. Lockdowns and global economic recession have already decimated their nest eggs. It only takes one more shock – like Covid-19 – to push them over the edge. We must collectively act now to mitigate the impact of this global catastrophe.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/ ... s-pandemic

Well maybe not nationalization for Virgin AND Qantas

Bidders line up as Virgin clears the debt
Elizabeth Knight

April 21, 2020 — 4.59pm

https://www.theage.com.au/business/comp ... 54lv1.html

Gov view ....no picking winners...

"This is an opportunity for the company to recapitalise and come out stronger on the other side of the coronavirus crisis."

Mr Scurrah said the Government's indication that it was keen to see Virgin survive the voluntary administration process and restore itself as a second national airline was encouraging for the future of the group.

Mr Frydenberg added that the Government was committed to a "market-led solution".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-21/ ... d/12169952

I guess I'm of two minds on this ....not sure that "market solutions" to the consequences of a natural disaster serves the common weal. I understand companies going under due to mismanagement ....I'm not sure going under due to a world pandemic is mismanagement.

At least Australia has strong worker protection in place. Brother-in-law is Qantas captain with high seniority so he should be okay. Our entended family group between Canada and Aus are doing okay as all in secure jobs or essential services. It does feel a bit like sitting in a bus shelter with a lot of crumbing bricks falling all around ....

I think the shit will hit the fan come May 1 when rent and mortgages come due along with

44% of Canadian households report lost work amid COVID-19 ...globalnews.ca › news › coronavirus-canada-job-loss-poll
Mar 25, 2020 - In Alberta, 50 per cent of households said they had seen work or job loss due to COVID-19. In British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic ...

The support package is pretty good and accessible and very welcome in my case letting me keep staff afloat at reduced hours but a number of clients who are very much in the gig economy are having a hard time accessing the benefits.
Despite high demand for media content the leasing companies have their credit controls so tight even tho a long term independent senior editor with a 780 credit score could not get a lease for gear she needed.

And banks in their wisdom while happily handling the gov largesse and grumpily cutting their interest rates on credit cards by 50%, have laid off thousands of staff, closed branches to preserve their bottom line and left 4 hour line ups in place for the few places still open.....and it's still wintery outside.

Some things require a branch....they seem to quickly forget about serving the public weal as a bonus for their privileges

Covid is bad .....the economic fall out could be truly a disaster for many.

Where's James? This thread is made for him!

You need to say his name 3 times. There may be a sacrifice involved too, I'm not sure.

ronmcd wrote:You need to say his name 3 times. There may be a sacrifice involved too, I'm not sure.

Pretty sure it's badgers you have to sacrifice. And then refrigerate.

I keep reading Corvid when someone posts about Covid. Crows... shady fuckers.

Jamest!
Jamest!
Jamest!



There! Done it!

Waits...

Covid Corvid ...yup . .....and please no invoking sleeping mice.
The economic consequences are very real especially for the poorest....in some ways I suspect worse than the health impact.

There will come a point when we have to open up anyway and damn the torpedoes. I'll still be isolating, because I can, but a lot of people cannot. Both my girls, for example, are about at the ends of their financial ropes. One found another job and can (barely) make ends meet, but the other is in pretty dire shape. I'm helping out as much a I can, but I'm limited in what I can do as we have zero income at the moment.

It’s ironic. This “Christian Nation” is up against it. The Buybull clearly states the “The love of money is the root of all evil”. Now the love of money is driving the movement to open up the nation, and if a few folks die, oh fucking well. If there was ever an example of just how hypocritical, and utterly bullshit, the whole concept of moral superiority that “faith” provides, this pandemic is a spotlight on the concept. What’s the problem if a few thousand more Americans die if it means money starts flowing again? Praise Jebus and “Drill baby drill”.

RS

The Metatrix is a nursing assistant. I have a modest military pension and my bike service shop. The Metatrix is forming an accounting business, which Primus is going to ultimately operate. None of these things are going away. I think we’re better prepared financially than a great many people. We have no debt. I’ve had decades to get into this position, I realize.

My boys are twelve and sixteen years old, so we are still all together.

I have a nagging feeling we planned poorly about something, but it shouldn’t be a huge impact when I find that oversight.

I’m still working. Can easily do my job from home, but I don’t like it.

Fallible wrote:I’m still working. Can easily do my job from home, but I don’t like it.

Me too. But my contract only runs until October so I don't know if it'll be renewed. On the one hand, it's quite easy to just not renew it, but on the other hand, it's quite hard to run a school without teachers. But with children, there's the question of how soon parents will be willing (or allowed) to send their kids back to a proper classroom. With adults, we rely quite a bit of overseas students (probably the last market to return), and you can also expect anyone who has their company pay for classes to have that funding cut. However, it can actually have the opposite effect too, where mass unemployment can cause people to do anything to make themselves stand out and English classes are often one way of doing that. I had some friends who went to Spain after the financial crash in about 2010 expecting it to be really tough, but it was something of a boom time for English teaching because there were so many people who had the same idea of improving a language to boost their job prospects. Unfortunately for me, that sort of thing will probably come a bit too late for me and the short term cash flow issue might be a more pressing issue.

I predict short term cash flow issues here too shortly - we’ve seen a dramatic decrease in referrals to the service since the lockdown, with gaps starting to appear in my diary. It’s worrying really, because I think we can expect suicide rates to increase during this time.

Fallible wrote:It’s worrying really, because I think we can expect suicide rates to increase during this time.

Tragically this feels all but inevitable.

I know the people I’m working with have all experienced a hike in their self-reported anxiety levels since lockdown. Some are in a terrible state, and it greatly concerns me.

I have a disability retirement, which isn't enough to live on and I supplement it with my hobby of buying/selling mostly used items. I'm lucky that I can still do my hobby online, and unless the whole government goes south, will have my main income untouched.
Who knew an adulthood of chronic pain and discomfort would all of a sudden become sort of an advantage. I had to take a 2/3 pay cut to retire though.