IN BRIEF
Globally, almost 100,000 cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported. 1 A growing number of companies are preparing for the economic fallout from the outbreak—which the CDC and WHO say has a fatality rate of 3.4%— and governments and central banks are responding with stimulus measures. 2 Auto sales in China, the hardest-hit country and the world’s largest car market, fell 80% in February from the year before, the biggest collapse on record. 3 After the U.S. Federal Reserve cut overnight rates by 50 basis points in an emergency move on March 3, the yield on the 10-year Treasury bond fell below 1%. It’s the first time in 150 years that the world’s benchmark bond has dropped to such levels. 4 The House and Senate agreed on an $8.3 billion emergency spending measure…