The coronavirus has triggered the fastest financial crash from a record ever, in a frightening snap from historic highs. For traders, it was about “survival, not returns” as a key borrowing benchmark plunged the most in a decade and betting began on an emergency Fed rate cut. Fear spread along with the virus: Sub-Saharan Africa reported its first cases, South Korea has more than 2,000 infections and Germany quarantined 1,000 people. But what does it really mean if the coronavirus is called a pandemic? What you’ll want to read this weekend The “haven of last resort?” Goldman Sachs predicts gold could climb to $1,800 an ounce in this jittery market, despite its surprising fall this week. Former Vice President Joe Biden looks like a lock in the South Carolina primary, but to win the nomination he’d have to defy history. Then it’s on to Super Tuesday, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi calming House Democrats who are nervous about the possibility that Senator Bernie Sanders will be the nominee. Wall Street is giving Sanders a pass. Why? They don’t think he’ll beat President Donald Trump. But that may not be a smart bet. A Russian airstrike killed dozens of Turkish soldiers in Syria, roiling an already troubled region. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may be isolated, but James Stavridis writes in Bloomberg Opinion that America needs to remember that Moscow is Enemy No. 1. Desktop printers still churn out 3 trillion pages a year. A product that seemed a relic is now triggering a $35 billion fight between HP and Xerox. What you’ll need to know next week What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg Features Indians who can’t prove their citizenship face an uncertain future under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his widely criticized citizenship law, which largely affects India’s 200 million Muslims. Like Bloomberg’s Weekend Reading? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com. You’ll get our unmatched global news coverage and two premium daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close, and much, much more. See our limited-time introductory offer. Sign up for the Bloomberg Recession Tracker: Bloomberg Economics crunches the numbers every month using our proprietary model to reveal the probability of a downturn over the next year. We’ll deliver an updated assessment of all relevant indicators, directly to your inbox. This free newsletter includes analysis showing whether recession risk is increasing or decreasing, with comparisons to the past month’s performance as well as previous recessions. Sign up here . Download the Bloomberg app: It’s available for iOS and Android. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. Learn more. |