New York Stock Exchange trading floor set to reopen today

The New York Stock Exchange is set to reopen its iconic trading floor Tuesday with new safety measures in place to ward off the coronavirus.

The partial reopening will bring an end to the floor’s longest closure ever. It shut down more than two months ago on March 23 after some staffers tested positive for the deadly virus.

But only a handful of brokers will be allowed on the floor — and they’ll have to have their temperatures checked, wear face masks and follow social-distancing rules, NYSE president Stacey Cunningham has said. Most NYSE employees will continue working remotely and those who do commute to Wall Street must avoid public transportation, she said.

“The virus will remain a stubborn reality but we can’t keep the country closed indefinitely,” Cunningham wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed earlier this month. “Given that, our reopening will bring a ‘new normal’ for the NYSE, hopefully helping chart a path that other businesses in densely populated areas might follow.”

The NYSE kept trading going electronically as the coronavirus spread around the US and disrupted the global economy. Cunningham has said the Big Board won’t resume its regular schedule of events just yet — though some people were allowed on the floor during the closure for the initial public offering of a Chicago-based mutual fund, as The Post reported last month.

Warner Music Group Launches IPO – Quick Facts

Warner Music Group Corp. has launched the initial public offering of 70 million shares of its Class A common stock. The initial public offering price is expected to be between $23.00 and $26.00 per share. The company has been approved to list its shares of class A common stock on The Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker, WMG.

Warner Music Group noted that the offering consists entirely of secondary shares to be sold by Access Industries, LLC and certain related selling stockholders. The company will not receive any proceeds from the offering.

AECOM Reaffirms 2020 Guidance – Quick Facts

AECOM (ACM) said the company continues to projects fiscal 2020 adjusted EBITDA of between $700 million and $740 million, a 10% year-over-year growth at the mid-point of the range. The company also reiterated its full year free cash flow guidance of between $100 million and $300 million.

Troy Rudd, AECOM’s CFO, stated: “While the severity of the economic downturn and the speed of the recovery remain unknown, some markets are showing signs of recovery, and our actions have best positioned the company to achieve our long-term strategic and financial objectives.”

M6 closed: Huge car fire after horror accident – all lanes closed near Manchester

Fire crews have rushed to the scene of the accident between the Midlands and Greater Manchester. Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service wrote on Twitter: “Fire Service dealing with an incident on M6 North between junctions 12 and 13. Vehicles have been on fire following an RTC, but no reports of any injures. Motorway is closed in both directions. Crews from Cannock, Penkridge, Rugeley and Cheadle in attendance.”

More to follow. This is a breaking news story

Merck To Buy Privately-held Themis – Quick Facts

Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) agreed to buy privately-held Themis for an undisclosed cash payment.

Themis is a company focused on vaccines and immune-modulation therapies for infectious diseases and cancer.

In March, Themis joined a consortium together with the Institut Pasteur and The Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh, supported by funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, to develop a vaccine candidate targeting SARS-CoV-2 for the prevention of COVID-19.

The planned acquisition builds upon an ongoing collaboration between the two companies to develop vaccine candidates using the measles virus vector platform. It is expected to accelerate the development of Themis’ COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Merck said.

The vaccine candidate is in pre-clinical development, and clinical studies are planned to start later in 2020.

Formula One carmaker McLaren cuts 1,200 jobs amid Covid-19 crisis

McLaren Group, the Formula One team owner and maker of supercars, is cutting 1,200 jobs as it seeks to weather the impact of the coronavirus crisis on the automotive industry.

The cuts, which amount to more than a quarter of the Surrey-based company’s 4,000 workforce, were first reported by Sky News. The job losses will be spread across the company’s Formula One, road-car and applied technologies operations.

The company has already furloughed a significant number of its employees as the Formula One season and sales of supercars ground to a halt amidst the spread ofCovid-19.

The cuts come as the group seeks to raise £275m from investors, backed against the value of its classic car collection and its state-of-the-art Norman Foster-designed headquarters building.

McLaren has burned through £257m in the year to 20 April, with production at its Woking plant suspended since March.

The group’s existing shareholders pledged £300m of equity investment in March as McLaren sought to shore up its finances as the pandemic hammered its balance sheet.

McLaren is tentatively hoping for the restart of the Formula One season on 5 July with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, after Boris Johnson gave the green light for it to proceed behind closed doors. The race series accounts for about 12% of the group’s revenues through prize money and advertising deals.

Japanese carmaker Nissan is also expected to announce job cuts in the coming days, with as many as 20,000 jobs globally at risk.