The daily business briefing: June 8, 2020

1. Reebok ends Crossfit partnership after founder's Floyd tweet

Reebok announced Sunday that it was dropping talks on extending its relationship with Crossfit beyond this year, after the fitness network's CEO, Greg Glassman, tweeted a joke equating the coronavirus pandemic with the uproar over the death of George Floyd in police custody. After the director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington issued a statement calling racism a public health issue, Glassman tweeted, "It's FLOYD-19." Glassman, who founded Crossfit with his wife in 2000, later apologized. Numerous Crossfit members also criticized Glassman, and some affiliated gyms also ended their partnerships with the company.

Yahoo Sports Men's Health

2. NYC starts to reopen 100 days after its 1st coronavirus case

New York City is scheduled to start gradually reopening its economy on Monday, 100 days after it confirmed its first case of coronavirus. The city has been the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States. More than 205,000 infections have been recorded in the city, as well as nearly 22,000 deaths. The first phase of New York City's reopening will let about 400,000 workers return to construction, manufacturing, and retail jobs. Just weeks ago, the city's hospitals were overwhelmed and as many as 800 people died of COVID-19 in a single day. During the first phase of reopening, many stores will offer curbside and in-store pickup to help customers and employees minimize their risk of infection.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The New York Times

3. Optimism about reopening lifts Wall Street

U.S. stock index futures made solid gains early Monday, putting Wall Street in position to continue last week's surge on optimism over the economy's reopening after coronavirus lockdowns. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up by 0.5 percent several hours before the opening bell. Futures for the broader S&P 500 gained 0.3 percent, while those of the tech-heavy Nasdaq were flat. The Nasdaq rose by 3.4 percent last week, reaching record levels for the first time since Feb. 19. The Dow closed the week up by 6.8 percent and the S&P 500 gained 4.9 percent after the Labor Department released unexpectedly strong jobs numbers, although neither has made it back to the record levels they reached in February before U.S. coronavirus cases spiked.

CNBC

4. Samsung leader back in court 2 years after release

Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee made an appearance in a South Korean court on Monday for a hearing ahead of a ruling on whether he will be arrested on new accounting fraud and stock manipulation allegations. A decision is expected on Monday or early Tuesday. Lee has been out of jail for more than two years after being jailed for about a year for his role in a bribery scandal. He was accused of giving horses to the daughter of a confidante of former President Park Geun-hye in a bid to get the government to back the merger of two Samsung affiliates. Investors don't expect Samsung's operations to be disrupted but they are "fed up with these controversies," said Park Jung-hoon, fund manager at HDC Asset Management.

Reuters

5. German factory production takes record plunge

Germany's industrial output fell by a record 17.9 percent in April at the height of the country's coronavirus lockdown, according to newly released figures from the country's Statistics Office. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 16 percent decline. The country's factories began shutting down in mid-March under Germany's efforts to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, so April marked the first full month under the restrictions, the Economy Ministry noted. "The low point has been reached," the ministry said. "With the gradual easing of protective measures and the resumption of production in the automotive industry, the economic recovery is beginning now."

Reuters