What We’re Reading This Week [October 19, 2020]
The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. consumer retail spending rose 1.9% in September 2020. September is the fifth straight month of retail sales growth according to the United States Department of Commerce. [WSJ; Oct. 16, 2020]
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in City of Chicago, Illinois v. Robbin L. Fulton, et al. on Tuesday, October 13, 2020, reports CBS. The case implicates the intersection between the bankruptcy code’s automatic stay and turnover provisions and whether consumer debtors whose cars were impounded for unpaid tickets before bankruptcy may have their cars returned from impound after filing for bankruptcy. [Oct. 14, 2020]
Bloomberg reports that a surge in COVID-19 cases during the fall and winter could push a significant number of hospitals into bankruptcy. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, more than three dozen hospitals have filed bankruptcy. Bloomberg further reports that nearly half of all domestic hospitals could be operating at a loss by the year’s end. [Bloomberg; Oct. 14, 2020]
CNN reports that AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc., the world’s largest movie theater chain, may exhaust its existing cash reserves by the end of 2020 or early in 2021 if it is not able to raise additional capital in the near-term. AMC has reopened 83 percent of its theaters nationwide, but reports that attendance is down about 85 percent from 2019. [CNN; Oct. 13, 2020]
