“The U.S. mortgage finance system could collapse if the Federal Reserve doesn’t step in with emergency loans to offset a coming wave of missed payments from borrowers crippled by the coronavirus pandemic,” Politico reports.

“Congress did not include relief for the mortgage industry in its $2 trillion rescue package — even as lawmakers required mortgage companies to allow homeowners up to a year’s delay in making payments on federally backed loans.”

“U.S. stocks rallied sharply Tuesday, with the Dow surging to its biggest one-day gain in more than 85 years on signs that lawmakers and the Trump administration were nearing a deal on a giant stimulus package aimed at limiting the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Washington Post: “The massive stimulus is designed to be a lifeline to Americans and their employers until the coronavirus is brought under control and the country returns to some semblance of normalcy. The Federal Reserve signaled the gravity of the situation Monday when, in an unprecedented move, said it would spend whatever it takes to preserve the U.S. financial system.”

“Top executives at U.S.-traded companies sold a total of roughly $9.2 billion in shares of their own companies between the start of February and the end of last week,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

And a reader reminds me of this post from November.

“U.S. stock futures opened sharply lower on Sunday night as Wall Street waits on Washington to agree to an economic stimulus and rescue plan to combat the giant economic blow from the coronavirus outbreak,” CNBC reports.

“Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell more than 900 points, or 5%, to hit their ‘limit down’ level.”

“The most brutal stretch for global markets since the financial crisis likely isn’t over yet, say investors and analysts who believe it is too early to assess the possible scale of economic damage from the coronavirus,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Associated Press: “Over the course of the last eight days–all on which he held extended news conferences about the coronavirus response in the midst of trading — his comments haven’t stopped the bleeding. The Dow has lost more than 17% since March 13, and has plummeted more than 34% since the market hit an all-time high Feb. 19.”

“The president’s decision to offer daily affirmations to the health of the stock market, and the economy writ large, is not surprising. But no president has tied his fortunes to Wall Street more closely than Trump, who until the market crash bragged that the rising stock market was evidence of his success leading the economy.”

Financial Times: “U.S. Treasury bill yields dipped below zero while longer-dated government debt yields rose on Wednesday in a sign of frightened investors flocking to more easily traded securities during the global market tumult.”

“U.S. stock futures dropped on Thursday, deepening the market turmoil even as the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank introduced fresh measures to protect the global economy from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The New York Stock Exchange said Wednesday it will temporarily close its trading floor and move fully to electronic trading after traders tested positive for coronavirus infection,” CNBC reports.

“All-electronic trading will begin on March 23 at the open.”

“Financial markets continued to spasm Wednesday, with U.S. stocks plunging toward levels that pause trading, as the economic fallout from the pandemic outpaces the massive response from governments and central banks,” Bloomberg reports.

“The S&P 500 fell more than 6% and wiped out all the gains logged since Donald Trump’s inauguration.”

Wall Street Journal: “Investors are even shunning assets that are normally considered the safest, including long-term government bonds and gold. That rarely happens when riskier assets like stocks are also falling.”

Wall Street Journal: “U.S. stock futures fell by the maximum allowed, and international indexes tumbled, as the financial turmoil sparked by the novel coronavirus continued to roil markets.”

“The Federal Reserve announced Tuesday that it will try to keep credit flowing to households and businesses by buying up commercial paper, short term promissory notes companies use to fund themselves,” the New York Times reports.

“The program, enacted using the Fed’s emergency lending powers, pulls a page from the central bank’s financial crisis playbook. Putting it into action required the signoff of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Treasury will provide $10 billion of credit protection to the Fed, using Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund.”

Wall Street Journal: “The Fed can’t lend directly to households and businesses, but it can invoke emergency powers to establish lending facilities that can, in turn, extend credit.”

“U.S. stocks dropped sharply Monday even after the Federal Reserve slashed its benchmark interest rate to near zero, reflecting investors’ concerns that the emergency measures may not be enough to ward off a coronavirus-induced recession,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 12.9%, or 2,999 points, as of the 4 p.m. Eastern time close of trading, dropping further during an afternoon news conference by President Trump.”

“It makes me very happy. I think that people in the market should be very thrilled.”

— President Trump, quoted by Barrons after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to zero yesterday.

Stock trading was halted this morning just seconds after the market opening.

“The Federal Reserve’s drastic easing measures Sunday are doing little to stem the market bleeding, judging by some of the world’s largest exchange-traded funds,” Bloomberg reports.

“The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust, a $248 billion product that tracks the American equity benchmark, slumped 9.1% as of 5:08 a.m. New York time in pre-market trading.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Sunday that it’s unlikely that the central bank will entertain negative interest rates as the next step to help the economy during the coronavirus scare, CNBC reports.

After announcing a cut of short term interest rates to near zero, stock market futures did not react well and were halted after falling nearly 5%.