Coronavirus Pandemic coverage this week includes articles on the soon-to-be stimulus bill, actions by the Federal Reserve, unemployment statistics, the stock market volatility, and potential implications for student loans.

Stimulus Bill

• What is in it, and what is not. The NYT provides the answers with an FAQ.
• Will you qualify to a direct payment? (WaPo) provides a calculator for stimulus checks.
• If you don’t need your stimulus check to pay bills, what should you do with it? Save it (start that emergency fund—see below) or spend it? (NBC)

Unemployment

• Take your pick of articles here outlining and graphically representing just how huge last week’s unemployment claims figure of 3.28 million really is. (NPR) (WaPo) (AP)

Investing

• Stock markets through Thursday this week had the best three days since the Great Depression. (Reuters via Morning Brew) (But as of this writing, markets are in red territory today.)
• Yields on short-term Treasuries went negative this week. What does that mean? (WSJ)

Fed Watch

• In this Upshot article, Neil Irwin gives some historical perspective to the Federal Reserve and the tools it could use to soften the blow of this crisis. (NYT-subscription)
• Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was interviewed on the Today Show on Thursday, March 26. Listen to this informative session here: (YouTube/NBC) Or read a summary of the interview: (Reuters)
• The Fed is buying ETFs to prop up the bond market (see article on Treasury yields above too). (MarketWatch)

Student Loans

• What provisions are currently in the stimulus legislation? One would give a one-time tax credit to employers who offer student loan payment assistance as a benefit. (Inside Higher Ed)
• Another provision puts Federal student loan payments on hold for several months (and would stop the clock on interest accruals as well.) However, about 5% of borrowers currently would not qualify. (Inside Higher Ed2)

Emergency Funds

• This crisis is bringing home the point to anyone who was not previously convinced that having an emergency fund for times like these make all the difference. No surprise here: yet another survey shows how few Americans actually have one. (PR Newswire)
• GoFundMe is seeing a surge in coronavirus related drives. (NYT)
• Three in ten Americans are hoarding cash during this crisis. Here are the stats? (PRNewswire) (MagnifyMoney)

Higher Education

• What is usually a busy recruiting time on now empty college campuses may lead to an increase in college amissions rates as schools are concerned about filling next year’s freshman class. (WSJ)

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