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Hi there,
Happy Monday! Here's what we're watching in business and tech news this week:
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Look for earnings from Xiaomi, the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, on Tuesday. Xiaomi’s earnings will indicate how China is managing as its economy slowly returns to normal. Also reporting this week is British engineering conglomerate Smiths Group, which has said it will supply medical ventilators to the UK government. For more on medical device manufacturing, clients can take a look at  where the world’s largest medical device manufacturers are investing in healthcare and 100+ of the most well-funded medical device startups.
- Decisions made this week about bills due April 1 could shape the US economy. Much of the relief from last week’s $2T stimulus bill will not come for weeks. Commercial landlords are expecting trouble in April, as many US businesses look set to miss lease payments. But some fear that extending lifelines could threaten the $3T commercial mortgage market.
- Friday’s US non-farm payrolls report will be the first to reflect the impact of Covid-19. The March report, which reflects the number of jobs added or lost over the past month, is expected to contain the worst figures in a decade, but will not take in the full effect of the pandemic as the data is from the month’s first half. Another indicator to look out for is Thursday’s weekly jobless claims report, which could hit another high — potentially breaking 4M claims this time.
- Look for an FDA-approved coronavirus test to start shipping this week. Abbott Laboratories received FDA approval late last week for a portable molecular test that can diagnose patients infected with Covid-19. The company says that positive results can be delivered in as little as 5 minutes, and negative results within 13 minutes.
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Look for more debate to ignite over health surveillance as governments increasingly use tech to contain the pandemic. US federal and state government officials have reportedly started receiving data from mobile advertisers to track the movements of Americans in an effort to contain the coronavirus. The goal is to expand collection of this data and create a portal containing location data from up to 500 US cities, according to the Wall Street Journal. For more on tracking approaches, clients can take a look at our brief on how researchers are leveraging AI to predict and track infectious diseases.
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