US stocks are having another dismal day: April 1, 2020

America is still at the beginning of seeing the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on its economy. That means last week's data -- showing nearly 3.3 million Americans filing for unemployment benefits for the first time -- will not have been the last of it for the labor market.

Economists expect 3.5 million people filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week, according to the Refinitiv consensus estimate. That would set a new all-time high, surpassing the previous week's data.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAC) even expects 5.5 million Americans filed for benefits last week. Barclays expects at least 5 million.

BAML sees three reasons for the spike:

The Economic Policy Institute expects some 20 million American jobs to be lost between March and July, via a combination of furloughs and lay-offs.

With stocks plunging, many short sellers who bet that the market will continue to fall are licking their chops. And one of the most famous bearish hedge fund managers, David Tice, is coming out of semi-retirement to try and find more stocks that are ripe for a steeper drop.

Tice, who sold his Prudent Bear family of funds to Federated Investors in 2008, said in a letter emailed to CNN Business that he's "getting back in the game" to join Ranger Alternative Management, which runs the Ranger Equity Bear ETF (HDGE), as its chief investment officer. One of Tice's proteges, John Del Vecchio, is a co-manger of the ETF.

Tice is most famous for raising red flags about the accounting practices at industrial conglomerate Tyco in the late 1990s -- a few years before it eventually blew up due to fraudulent practices. Former Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski went to prison in 2005 and was released in 2014.

So why is Tice getting back into the short selling game after more than a decade on the sidelines? He thinks the current sell-off may be still in its early stages.

"I have watched with great interest as the market has experienced an 11-year spectacular bull run largely through piling up debt while the economy grew at its slowest rate of any expansion over the last fifty years," Tice wrote in the letter. "Now, after this hiatus, it has become obvious to me that another secular bear market lays in front of us." 

Stocks opened lower today -- the first day of a new month and a new quarter. At midday, not much has changed and the three main US equity indexes remain down.

This is the third out of the past four trading sessions that stocks are down.

As the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic, investors are pulling their money out of all kinds of investments, seeking safety. One place they are emphatically not putting their cash? Emerging markets.

Investors are pulling money from both stocks and fixed income assets in the developing world. While this outflow started in China, where the initial virus outbreak took place, its has shifted to multiple countries as the pandemic sweeps across the globe, creating an emerging market shock more severe than during the 2008 financial crisis.

"All of this points to a sudden stop in EM due to the combination of uncertainty around the spread of COVID-19, and large oil price and financial shocks," Fortun and Hilgenstock said.

At least one retailer had a decent March: Kroger.

The grocery store said same-store sales surged 30% last month as shoppers crowded its aisles amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Kroger said in a press release that it experienced "dramatically heightened demand" in mid-March, which tapered but "remained higher than normal in the final week."

Not surprisingly, Kroger's best-selling items were boxed meals, and cleaning and paper products. Its fresh food departments also had an increase in sales.

As a result, Kroger said it expects its first quarter results to be better than expected.

Kroger (KR) shares are up 4% and nearly 8% for the year.

The coronavirus pandemic has thrown the world into an unprecedented crisis. In many ways, it's like a war, according to the International Monetary Fund.

And wars need war-time policies.

There are two phases, the IMF's economists wrote in a blog post: phase one is the war, with the epidemic in full-swing a mitigation measures curtailing economic activity. This could last at least one to two quarters.

Then comes phase two: the post-war recovery.

To ensure a swift and sustainable upswing, the public sector needs to be on top of things.

Governments will need to guarantee the functioning of essential sectors like regular health care, food production and distribution, infrastructure and utilities. On top of that, enough resources and government support need to be provided for people directly hit by the crisis.

Finally, governments need to put policies in place that prevent excessive economic disruptions by safeguarding "the web of relations among workers and employers, producers and consumers, lenders and borrowers," the economists said.

All of this will come at a price of higher public debt balances across the world, and lower interest rates for a longer period -- but it will ensure that the economy can start up again properly after the virus is defeated.

America's factories fell into a recession in the second half of 2019, but started to do better in the first months of the year. This respite was short-lived because of the coronavirus pandemic's crippling impact on the economy.

The Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing PMI for March slipped to 49.1, its first drop below 50 in two months. Any reading below 50 indicates a contraction, whereas a reading above 50 denotes an expansion.

Manufacturers are getting squeezed from two sides: There's decreasing demand and issues with supply chains as well as volatility in energy markets.

Still the March PMI was better than expected. Much of last month's economic data is not expected to show the full impact of the coronavirus crisis, which really took hold in the second half of the month.

The long-awaited, eagerly anticipated merger between T-Mobile and Sprint is officially complete.

The "New T-Mobile" comes with some changes to its leadership ranks and Sprint's stock. T-Mobile has a new CEO, with Mike Sievert replacing John Legere. The latter will remain on the board until at least June.

And the Sprint branding and stock is going away. T-Mobile will trade on the Nasdaq with the ticker TMUS. Sprint's shares are being absorbed into the new company and will no longer trade on the New York Stock Exchange.

T-Mobile said the $26 billion merger will "supercharge" its strategy, including ending wireless contracts and the rollout of nationwide 5G. Attorneys general from more than a dozen states sued to block deal last year.

US stocks kicked the second quarter off in the red.

Equities are down across the globe as investors grapple with growing number of economic reports that suggest we are in a deep recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic. New White House estimates for how many Americans could die from the disease are also weighing on markets.