Philippines to Allow Workers to Return to Hong Kong, Macau

The Philippines will allow citizens employed in Hong Kong and Macau to return to their jobs, partially lifting a ban imposed earlier this month to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

A government task force decided to exempt those working in Hong Kong and Macau from the travel ban “subject to certain formalities,” Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said on his Twitter account on Tuesday. The government also lifted on Feb. 14 a days-old travel ban on Taiwan.

The decision will allow thousands of migrant workers stranded in the Philippines to return to their jobs abroad. The Southeast Asian nation’s overseas workers contribute more than $30 billion in remittances comprising about 9% of the country’s gross domestic product.

Virus Travel Ban Keeps Thousands of Maids From Hong Kong Jobs (2)

IMF team to visit Ukraine for technical discussions

KIEV (Reuters) – A team from the International Monetary Fund will visit Ukraine for technical discussions, Goesta Ljungman, the IMF Resident Representative in Ukraine said on Tuesday.

“A small IMF team will visit Kiev for technical discussions on policies to achieve stronger growth and safeguard stability,” he said.

Shanghai says students won't return to school now, online learning to start March 2

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) – The Shanghai government has said that students will not return to schools now and the semester will start via online learning amid China’s coronavirus outbreak.

Online education for primary and secondary school students in Shanghai will begin on March 2, said Lu Jing, head of the Shanghai Education Committee, at a briefing on Tuesday.

Shanghai had previously said schools would not reopen before the end of February.

Vulcan Materials Expects Double-digit Growth In FY20 Earnings – Quick Facts

While reporting its financial results for the fourth quarter on Tuesday, Vulcan Materials Co. (VMC) provided its financial outlook for fiscal 2020, saying it expects double-digit growth in earnings for the year.

For fiscal 2020, Vulcan Materials projects earnings from continuing operations of $5.20 to $5.80 per share, adjusted EBITDA of $1.385 billion to $1.485 billion, and aggregates shipments growth of 2 percent to 4 percent. The company reported adjusted earnings from continuing operations of $4.70 per share for fiscal 2019.

On average, analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect the company to earnings of $5.72 per share for the year on revenues of $5.28 billion. Analysts’ estimates typically exclude special items.

“Looking ahead, demand in our markets will continue to benefit from higher levels of highway funding and continued growth in residential and nonresidential markets. This visibility into demand growth has already set the stage for solid price improvement in 2020,” said Tom Hill, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vulcan Materials.

Reagan’s Daughter Tears Into Trump’s ‘Cruelty And Wanton Disregard’ For Constitution

Patti Davis, the daughter of former President Ronald Reagan, warned in a scathing new opinion column that America risks “forgetting what the presidency is supposed to be” — because of Donald Trump.

“We are so bombarded with the crudeness of Donald Trump, his cruelty and wanton disregard for the tenets of our Constitution, that the image of a president who has a moral compass, reveres our democracy and follows its laws is fading from our collective psyche,” Davis wrote in a column for The Daily Beast published Monday.

Davis, who has become a vocal critic of Trump, recalled her father once explaining to her why Jewish people sent to Nazi concentration camps didn’t turn on and trample the soldiers (who they outnumbered) because “they were too afraid” and “when people are frightened, he said, anything can be done to them.”

“Almost on a daily basis now, we hear about how frightened people are of Donald Trump — Republican Senators, people working in the White House in various capacities, apparently many in the Department of Justice,” Davis wrote. “They fear his wrath and his insatiable appetite for revenge. Those of us who are horrified at the dismantling of our democracy fear him because he may very well be destroying more than we can ever rebuild.”

Read the full column here.

American Eagle Outfitters shares slide after downgrade on merchandise issues and mall traffic pressure

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. AEO, +0.41% stock slid 2% in Tuesday premarket trading after its shares were downgraded to market perform from outperform at Cowen based on merchandise stumbles and mall pressure. Cowen lowered its price target to $14 from $15. American Eagle had execution issues in its tops assortment, which Cowen estimates at about 20% of revenue. It’s working through styling and inventory, which analysts say will take time. Moreover, mall traffic could suffer further now that Macy’s Inc. M, -0.42% has announced more than 100 store closures. Cowen notes that 95% of American Eagle stores are profitable. "While tariff risk has waned, we are concerned around American Eagle’s ability to drive sustainable traffic without sacrificing merchandise margin especially in the face of tops’ underperformance and general mall traffic headwinds," analysts said. American Eagle stock has fallen 26.2% over the last year while the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.18% has gained 21.8% for the period.