Daily business briefing

Wall Street rattled by fears of 2nd coronavirus wave, Starbucks tells workers not to wear Black Lives Matter gear, and more 1. Stock futures rebound after coronavirus fears spark plunge 2. Starbucks tells workers not to wear Black Lives Ma Daily business briefing 1. [Stock futures rebound after coronavirus fears spark plunge]( Stocks plunged on Thursday in Wall Street's worst day in three months as fears mounted about a second wave of coronavirus cases in the United States. The [Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,800 points]( or nearly 7 percent. The S&P 500 dropped by nearly 6 percent after briefly returning to positive territory on the year after climbing 45 percent above its March lows in a rally fueled by optimism about the reopening of businesses as states eased coronavirus lockdowns. Even the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which hit record highs this week, dropped by more than 5 percent. Lawmakers are considering possible steps to offer workers more aid as the economic fallout from the pandemic continues. Stock futures surged early Friday, pointing to a partial rebound. [[The New York Times]( CNBC]( mailto:?Subject=Stock+futures+rebound+after+coronavirus+fears+spark+plunge%0A&body=Read the story here: 2. [Starbucks tells workers not to wear Black Lives Matter attire]( Starbucks told employees in an internal memo last week that they were not allowed to wear clothing or accessories expressing support of the Black Lives Matter movement at work, BuzzFeed News reported Thursday, citing a copy of the memo it obtained. The memo said such clothing and accessories would violate a company policy against garb that advocates "a political, religious, or personal issue." Numerous employees told BuzzFeed that the company has made exceptions to the rule in the past, including letting employees wear pins expressing support for LGBTQ equality, including Pride Month every June. "We have partners who experienced harassment and transphobia/homophobia for wearing their pins and shirts," one black transgender employee said, "and Starbucks still stands behind them." [[The Hill]( mailto:?Subject=Starbucks+tells+workers+not+to+wear+Black+Lives+Matter+attire%0A&body=Read the story here: 3. [1.5 million more people file jobless claims]( About [1.5 million Americans filed initial applications for unemployment benefits]( last week, the Labor Department reported Thursday. The new claims lifted the total over the 12 weeks of the coronavirus crisis to 44.1 million. The weekly total was down from 1.9 million the week before. It has dropped for 10 consecutive weeks since reaching a high of 6.9 million in mid-March, when coronavirus lockdowns. Economist Ian Shepherdson of Pantheon Macroeconomics said if the trend continues as more businesses reopen, the weekly figure will drop below 1 million by early July. That would still be well above the pre-pandemic record of 695,000 weekly unemployment claims set in a 1982 recession. [[USA Today]( mailto:?Subject=1.5+million+more+people+file+jobless+claims%0A&body=Read the story here: 4. [Zoom acknowledges blocking meetings at China's request]( Zoom admitted Thursday that it suspended three activists' accounts after China warned that they were planning meetings to mark the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. The company said that China, which bans public dissent, demanded in early May and June that the meetings on Zoom's video conferencing app be blocked and that Zoom revoke the users' accounts, even though they didn't live in China. Zoom has since restored the accounts of U.S.-based activists Zhou Fengsuo and Wang Dan, and Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Lee Cheuk-Yan. "Going forward Zoom will not allow requests from the Chinese government to impact anyone outside of mainland China," Zoom said in a Thursday blog post. [[TechCrunch]( The Associated Press]( mailto:?Subject=Zoom+acknowledges+blocking+meetings+at+China%27s+request%0A&body=Read the story here: 5. [American Cancer Society cuts 1,000 jobs]( The American Cancer Society said Thursday that it would have to [lay off about 1,000 U.S. employees]( because the coronavirus pandemic was hurting its fundraising efforts. The Atlanta-based organization, the country's largest nongovernmental supporter of cancer research, invested $147 million in cancer research and $269 million in patient support in 2018. It said in a statement that it had been forced to reduce its overall budget by about 30 percent, "with cuts to both non-personnel and personnel expenses." Executives have seen their salaries slashed between 10 to 20 percent and the nonprofit is expecting to have, at minimum, a shortfall of $200 million. [[ABC News]( mailto:?Subject=American+Cancer+Society+cuts+1%2C000+jobs%0A&body=Read the story here: MOST POPULAR [The woke revolution in American journalism has begun]( Damon Linker [Trump aides have reportedly turned off notifications for his tweets: 'What's the point?']( Kathryn Krawczyk [Rupert Murdoch reportedly 'thinks Trump is going to crash and burn' in November]( Peter Weber [Tucker Carlson loses 6 major advertisers after criticizing Black Lives Matter]( Catherine Garcia [Trump's campaign reportedly knew the significance of the Juneteenth Tulsa rally date, expected less blowback]( Peter Weber [Late night hosts aren't exactly baffled by Trump's Confederate sympathizing]( June 12, 2020 [Rupert Murdoch reportedly 'thinks Trump is going to crash and burn' in November]( June 12, 2020 [Trump's campaign reportedly knew the significance of the Juneteenth Tulsa rally date, expected less blowback]( June 12, 2020 [American Cancer Society cuts 1,000 jobs, as pandemic affects fundraising]( June 12, 2020 [Is this email not displaying correctly? 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