Executives from companies such as Marriott and Hilton convened at the White House on Tuesday to discuss a bailout, consisting of $150B in direct aid for the hotel sector and $100B for related travel companies. They warned that half of the hotels in the country could close this year and the sudden cratering of demand would cause the loss of 4.6M jobs. Chip Rogers, CEO of the American Hotels and Lodging Association, said the economic impact of the pandemic on the hotel industry was already bigger than "September 11th and the 2008 recession combined." (SA)

Following hours of talks that extended well into the night, GM, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler negotiated "extensive plans" with the United Auto Workers union to prevent America's auto industry from coming to a standstill. "They will be working on shift rotation to minimize risk," according to a statement. The 'Big Three' "agreed to review and implement the rotating partial shutdown of facilities, extensive deep cleaning of facility and equipment between shifts, extended periods between shifts, and extensive plans to avoid member contact." (CNBC)

Economists at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have joined the chorus of other Wall Street prognosticators to declare that COVID-19 has pushed the global economy into recession. It won't be as steep as the 0.8% contraction of 2009, according to the IMF's measure, but would be worse than the 2001 and early 1990s recessions. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin warned of 20% American unemployment without federal action, while today's Fed meeting was canceled following the central bank's emergency actions.

With Northwest Quadrant Wealth Management, a Registered Investment Advisor I am Josh Fenili.