1. Dow set to drop after best three-day rally in 89 years
Dow futures were pointing to about a 700-point decline at Friday's open. Questions are emerging on whether the House can organize a vote before the weekend on the massive Senate-passed coronavirus economic relief package. The U.S. has becomes the nation with the most coronavirus cases, topping China and Italy. On Friday, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he's tested positive for coronavirus. On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged over 1,350 points, or 6.4%, capping its biggest three-session winning streak since 1931. The Dow was up more than 20% in the three-day rally. However, it was still 23.7% off last month's record highs. The S&P 500 has been following a similar up-and-down pattern over the past two weeks.
2. House tries to get enough members back to DC to vote on relief bill
House members were scrambling to get back to Washington to vote Friday on the $2 trillion stimulus bill. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who opposes the measure, has threatened to demand a recorded vote, instead of just a voice vote, which would require at least 216 House members to be present to vote. House rules require half its membership to be present if one member demands a quorum. With five vacancies in the 435-member House, 216 is the magic number. The House plans to kick off two hours of debate at 9 a.m. ET.
3. Bailout options for airlines and cruise lines discussed
The Trump administration is raising the possibility of the government getting ownership stakes in U.S. airlines in exchange for $25 billion in direct grants to help the carriers survive a downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic, according to people familiar with the matter. The bill under consideration on Capitol Hill would allocate $500 billion to distressed U.S. businesses. But many cruise lines could be excluded because they're not incorporated in America. The idea of having them register in the U.S. being discussed.
4. Trump to hear options to 'open the country up'
President Donald Trump is set to hear recommendations from the White House coronavirus task force this weekend on plans to "open the country up" as the economy continues to strain under the pandemic. Case in point, General Motors on Thursday told its 69,000 salaried workers that they were getting temporary, 20% pay cuts. To get America working again, Trump wants to develop criteria to "help classify counties" by low-, medium- and high-risk levels, using surveillance testing to allow local governments to track the spread. In a call late Thursday after the G-20's emergency video conference, Trump spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump then tweeted, "We are working closely together."
5. US has the most coronavirus cases in the world
U.S. coronavirus cases spiked higher to about 86,000, overtaking China and Italy as the world's biggest hot spot. China, on the down side of the virus curve, has had more than 81,800. Italy, with over 80,500 cases, may be seeing the rate of infection slow. However, Italy's death toll of 8,215 is the highest of any country by far. China, where the outbreak started in December, has 3,296 deaths. Spain, with over 4,365 deaths among its 57,700 cases, also has more fatalities than China. The U.S. death toll of 1,296 is not in the top five. Globally, there are more than 542,700 cases, 24,360 deaths and over 123,400 recoveries.
— NBC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report,.
