1. American Airlines (AAL) is waiving change fees on all newly purchased tickets amid declining air travel demand because of the new coronavirus outbreak, Reuters’ David Shepardson reported.
JetBlue (JBLU) said last week it would suspend change and cancellation fees for new flight bookings between February 27 and March 11, the author noted, adding that United Airlines (UAL) CEO Oscar Munoz told employees the U.S. airline would likely need to cut additional flights in the wake of sagging demand because of the coronavirus outbreak.
2. American Express (AXP) staff misled small-business owners to boost card sign-ups, as questionable sales tactics cropped up in push to retain cardholders after Costco (COST) partnership ended, The Wall Street Journal’s AnnaMaria Andriotis wrote, citing more than a dozen current and former AmEx sales, customer service and compliance employees.
The salespeople have misrepresented card rewards and fees, checked credit reports without consent and, in some cases, issued cards that weren’t sought, the current and former employees said. An AmEx spokesman said the company found a very small number of cases “inconsistent with our sales policies.”
“All of those instances were promptly and appropriately addressed with our customers, as necessary, and with our employees, including through disciplinary action,” he said.
3. Amid the coronavirus selloff, investors looking for a haven may want to consider Berkshire (BRK.A) and technology leaders like Alphabet (GOOGL), Microsoft (MSFT), and Apple (AAPL) that have cash-rich balance sheets and durable businesses, Andrew Bary wrote in this week’s edition of Barron’s.
In industry after industry, it may pay to stick with the strongest companies, including a defensive Verizon Communications (VZ) in telecom, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Bank of America (BAC) in banking, Comcast (CMCSA) in cable television, and Chevron (CVX) and ConocoPhillips (COP) in the hard-hit energy sector, the author added.
4. Comcast (CMCSA) subsidiary Universal and Blumhouse’s “The Invisible Man” won this weekend’s North American box office with a $29M debut. Overseas, the movie earned an estimated $20.2M for a $49.2M global start. “The Invisible Man” sports a B+ CinemaScore and a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score.
5. PacWest Bancorp (PACW), Umpqua Holdings (UMPQ) and KeyCorp (KEY) saw positive mentions in this week’s edition of Barron’s.