Goldman Sachs on Wednesday said first quarter profit dropped 46% as the coronavirus pandemic wiped out results in its asset management division.  While results were dragged down by losses in debt and equity holdings housed in the asset management business, the firm’s trading division exceeded expectations, helping companywide revenue of $8.74 billion top the $7.92 billion estimate.  

Bank of America said Wednesday that first quarter profit slumped 45% as the company set aside $3.6 billion for loan loss reserves because of the coronavirus pandemic. The bank posted profit of $4.01 billion for the quarter.  (CNBC)

Trouble in Unicorn land… WeWork’s chief executive told employees that plans for new lay-offs, first reported by the FT in March, would be finalized by the end of May. The cuts could affect more than 1,000 of WeWork’s roughly 10,000 employees. Airbnb is raising a further $1bn of debt, just one week after announcing an equal-sized funding round carrying an interest rate of 10%.  (FT)

The International Energy Agency said in its latest report on the oil market this morning that the world risks running out of places to store crude as it predicts global demand to fall by 9% this year. The report warned that the logistics of the industry could be overwhelmed “in the coming weeks.” Despite the agreement from OPEC and its allies to reduce production by almost 10 million barrels per day, the outlook from the IEA was enough to put further pressure on oil with a barrel of West Texas Intermediate. (EIA)

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