The daily business briefing: February 28, 2020

1. Stocks plunge into correction at record speed due to coronavirus fears

Wall Street took its sharpest plunge of an already terrible week on Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling by 1,190.95 points, or 4.4 percent, as fear mounted about economic damage from the coronavirus outbreak. The S&P 500 also dropped by 4.4 percent, capping its fastest dive ever from a record high into a 10 percent-plus correction. The Nasdaq fell by 4.6 percent. All three of the main U.S. indexes posted their biggest single-day point drops ever. The losses brought Wall Street's six-day decline to more than 10 percent as news of the increasingly rapid spread of the virus outside China, where the outbreak started, fueled uncertainty about how bad the crisis would get. U.S. stock futures dropped sharply again ahead of Friday's opening bell.

The Wall Street Journal CNBC

2. Report: Walmart to test service to take on Amazon Prime

Walmart is preparing to test a paid membership with perks to rival Amazon's Prime service, Recode reported Thursday. Walmart reportedly plans to launch the program as soon as next month, presenting it essentially as a rebranding of its existing $98-a-year Delivery Unlimited service, which offers customers unlimited same-day delivery of fresh groceries from participating stores. The new Walmart+ program is expected to add enticements that Amazon can't offer, including discounts on fuel and prescription drugs, as well as Scan & Go service to avoid lines at brick-and-mortar stores. Recode said Walmart might test several price points for the new program.

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Recode

3. California regulator raises PG&E's fine to $2.14 billion over wildfires

California's utilities regulator on Thursday increased its fine against Pacific Gas & Electric to a record $2.14 billion for starting devastating wildfires in 2017 and 2018. The California Public Utilities Commission had agreed to a $1.7 billion settlement in December. Critics had called that too lenient, given the massive destruction the fires caused in Northern California. PG&E was driven into bankruptcy by the deadly wildfires, which exposed it to potential liabilities of more than $30 billion. The company said it was disappointed by the decision to hike the penalty by $462 million, saying it had worked "diligently over many months with multiple parties" to hammer out the old deal.

The Associated Press Reuters

4. Beyond Meat losses shrink as revenue triples

Beyond Meat reported that its fourth-quarter losses fell to $452,000 last year, down from $7.5 million in the same period the previous year, as sales of its plant-based meats rose sharply. Still, the company's loss of 1 cent per share fell short of Wall Street forecasts of a 1 cent per share gain. Investors reacted strongly, sending Beyond Meat's stock tumbling by 7 percent in after-hours trading. The California-based company's revenue beat analysts' estimates, more than tripling to $98.5 million as it got its plant-based burgers and sausages into more restaurants and retail outlets, including Costco. "Right now is a time for growth for Beyond Meat," the company's CEO, Ethan Brown, said.

The Associated Press

5. Wells Fargo to pay $35 million settlement for recommending risky investments

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that Wells Fargo will pay a $35 million fine to settle allegations that the bank's employees improperly encouraged customers, including risk-averse retirees, to buy risky investments. The SEC accused Wells Fargo Clearing Services and Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network of failing to adequately supervise investment advisers who pushed single-inverse exchange-traded funds, which use complex engineering to profit when stocks fall. Wells Fargo said it would stop selling "single-inverse ETFs" in its "full-service brokerage." The news came a week after the bank agreed to pay $3 billion to settle criminal charges in its fake-accounts scandal.

The Washington Post Reuters