Industrial production plunges unprecedented 11.2% in April

US economy, consumer will see coronavirus recovery: Moody’s economist

John Lonski Moody’s Analytics chief markets economist on why he sees optimism in Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s coronavirus comments.

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American industry recorded the biggest drop on record last month as factories, mines and utilities were all battered by the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.

VIRUS OUTBREAK DEVASTATED THESE INDUSTRIES IN APRIL

The Federal Reserve said Friday that its industrial production index plunged a record 11.2% in April. Manufacturing output also posted a record drop — 13.7% — as production of cars, trucks and auto parts plummeted more than 70%. Output dropped 6.1% at mines and 0.9% at utilities.

CORONAVIRUS LAYOFFS HIT WOMEN, MINORITIES THE HARDEST

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Stock Alert: Alta Equipment Stock Jumps 20%

Shares of Alta Equipment Group Inc. (ALTG) are currently up over 20% on Friday morning, driven largely by higher first-quarter revenues.

ALTG is currently trading at $5.01, up $0.87 or 21.01%, on the Nasdaq.

First-quarter revenues increased 76% year-over-year to $180.5 million from $102.3 million last year. Industrial and Construction revenues reach $94.6 million and $85.9 million, respectively.

Net loss for the quarter widened to $17.0 million from $2.6 million last year.

“Our strategy to expand into new geographic markets and diversify our customer base has served us well during the current economic slowdown,” CEO Ryan Greenawalt said.

U.S. Wholesale Inventories Slump Slightly Less Than Expected In March

A report released by the Commerce Department on Friday showed wholesale inventories in the U.S. decreased by slightly less than expected in the month of March.

The Commerce Department said wholesale inventories slumped by 0.8 percent in March after falling by 0.7 percent in February. Economists had expected inventories to tumble by 1.0 percent.

Inventories of non-durable goods led the way lower, plunging by 2.7 percent, although the nosedive was partly offset by a 0.5 percent increase in inventories of durable goods.

Meanwhile, the report said wholesale sales plummeted by 5.2 percent in March after sliding by 0.7 percent in the previous month.

Sales of durable and non-durable goods both showed substantial decreases, tumbling by 5.5 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively.

With sales falling by much more than inventories, the inventories/sales ratio for merchant wholesalers jumped to 1.37 in March from 1.31 in February.

Stock Alert: Aurora Cannabis Jumps 40% On Higher Revenue

Shares of Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB) are surging more than 40% Friday morning on the back of better-than-expected third-quarter revenue.

Revenue for the quarter increased 18% year-over-year at C$78.4 million. The company that serves both medical and consumer markets has achieved revenue growth in both the markets.

Michael Singer, Executive Chairman and Interim CEO of Aurora stated, “I am incredibly proud of the Aurora team for working through these challenging times in order to maintain uninterrupted operations at all of our production facilities and ensure we continue to meet the needs of our patients and consumers. I am also pleased that our third quarter 2020 financial results were in-line with our expectations, and that we remain firmly on track with the cost-savings and capex goals we detailed during our business transformation plan in February 2020.”

Aurora Cannabis stock is currently trading at $9.38. It has traded in the range of $108.60- $0.66 in the last 52 weeks

New Jersey hit hard by COVID-19 crisis

US state has the second-highest number of cases and fatalities and has been locked down since mid-March.

More than 36 million people have filed unemployment claims in the United States since mid-March.

One state hit particularly hard is New Jersey, bordering New York. It has the second-highest number of cases and fatalities and has been locked down since mid-March.

Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo reports from Atlantic City.

Facebook is buying GIF company Giphy for $400 million

Facebook is reportedly buying animated-image database Giphy for $400 million.

Under the deal, New York-based Giphy — whose trove of cute animals, bizarre cartoon characters and mugging celebrities are popular on social media and messaging apps — will remain its own brand, but would be primarily integrated through Facebook-owned Instagram.

“GIPHY makes everyday conversations more entertaining, and so we plan to further integrate their GIF library into Instagram and our other apps so that people can find just the right way to express themselves,” Instagram vice president of product Vishal Shah said in a blog post.

The acquisition, first reported by Axios, would see Giphy continue to manage and operate its own library, according to Facebook. Giphy’s GIF library, which is available to other social networks like Twitter, will still be accessible.

Giphy had raised around $150 million in private funding from venture-capital firms like Betaworks, Lerer Hippeau and Lightspeed Venture Partners.  Its most recent private valuation was around $600 million, according to Axios.

Shares of Facebook were down 0.4 percent Friday morning, trading at $205.92.

Apple lobbyist Cynthia Hogan resigning after joining Biden campaign

A top Apple lobbyist is reportedly leaving the company after joining Joe Biden’s presidential campaign.

Cynthia Hogan, Apple’s vice president for public policy and government affairs, plans to leave her post next month, the iPhone maker told Axios and Bloomberg News.

Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, tapped Hogan and three others in late April to lead a committee that will vet candidates to be his running mate.

Hogan previously served as Biden’s chief counsel when he was a senator and Barack Obama’s vice president. She spent about two years as the NFL’s executive vice president for public policy before joining Apple in 2016.

Hogan will join former Sen. Chris Dodd, Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on Biden’s vice presidential vetting panel. Biden has said he plans to pick a woman to join his ticket against President Trump.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday morning.