And in Florida, the Trump Organization sought guidance last week from Palm Beach County about whether it expected the company to continue making monthly payments on county land that it leases for a 27-hole golf club.

...

"These days everybody is working together," said Eric Trump, the president's son, who helps manage the family business. "Tenants are working with landlords, landlords are working with banks. The whole world is working together as we fight through this pandemic."

The Trump Organization's requests put lenders and landlords in the awkward position of having to accede or risk alienating Mr. Trump.

Wow, kumbaya, Eric Trump! That's totally what individuals and businesses without "Trump" in their names are experiencing -- their lenders and landlords coming together in a veritable drum circle to help out, instead of, for example, landlords who won't budge, a government and big bank incompetent roll-out of small business aid, clogged unemployment offices, and tax rebate checks that will likely take months to get out.

...

Both of these programs are very good ideas. The trouble is that both are having a hard time getting started -- and time is one thing millions of distressed Americans, many of whom were already living on the edge, don't have.

On unemployment benefits: State unemployment offices, already overwhelmed by the surge in applications, aren't ready to disburse these extra benefits, and may not be ready for quite a while -- a disastrous delay for families already in dire financial straits.

Small business loans are also facing a crippling lag in processing, with potential borrowers either unable to complete the forms or being told that they will have to wait three weeks. Furthermore, for some reason the federal government, instead of lending money directly, is channeling small-business lending through private banks -- and the banks are complaining that they have yet to receive crucial guidelines and that the administration is setting unworkable requirements.

Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had expected 3.1 million for last week, one week after 3.3 million filings in the first wave of what has been a record-shattering swelling of the jobless ranks. The previous week's total was revised higher by 24,000.

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"Sadly, this probably still underestimates the actual numbers because of the overload in the systems and not every call getting through," said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab. "Even if we're accurately calculating the numbers, we still likely have worse to come."

...

the sudden shutdown from social distancing policies caused a cascade of joblessness unlike anything the nation has ever seen.

"Not only was the number worse than expected, but with lockdowns becoming stricter and being extended, we should anticipate further surges in jobless claims over the coming weeks," said Seema Shah, chief strategist at Principal Global Investors.

... "I'm trying not to panic," said Christopher Athineos, whose family owns nine apartment buildings in Brooklyn with about 150 tenants. "In my lifetime and even my parents' and grandparents' lifetime, we have never seen anything like this."

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Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York has ordered a 90-day moratorium on evictions, a lifeline to people who cannot pay rent and are worried about losing their homes during the crisis. Other states have followed New York State's lead, including California, which introduced a 60-day ban on evictions.

But that doesn't wipe away that rent from having to be paid later on.

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The current economic crisis has all the ingredients to cause a collapse in the New York City real estate market, said Joseph Strasburg, the president of the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents 25,000 landlords in New York City.

A significant drop in April rent payments would create an immediate domino effect and leave many landlords without enough money to pay their water and sewer bills for their properties, he said.

Rent payments could drop even more drastically in May, Mr. Strasburg s..

aid, when tenants who lost jobs in March may have even less money to pay that month's rent.

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Some landlords have worked out payment plans with tenants, while others have said they cannot offer concessions because they face their own challenges.

Mr. Strasburg said landlords who have first-floor commercial tenants, such as restaurants, fear that those tenants too will not be paying rent in April. Landlord representatives said property owners also deserve a lifeline, including the option to defer utility payments and their property taxes.

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The $2 trillion federal stimulus bill offers assistance specifically for renters and homeowners, though they are limited in most cases to people with federally backed or supported mortgages.

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A record 3.3 million Americans filed initial jobless claims for the week ended March 21. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones expect another 2.65 million to join them this week.

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The central part of Faria-e-Castro's compilations comes from previous Fed research showing 66.8 million workers in "occupations with high risk of layoff." They are sales, production, food preparation and services. Other research also identified 27.3 million people working in "high contact-intensive" jobs such as barbers and stylists, airline attendants, and food and beverage service.

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That would bring the U.S. unemployment rolls to 52.8 million, or more than three times worse than the peak of the Great Recession. The 30% unemployment rate would top the Great Depression peak of 24.9%.

But the virus, and the global economic collapse that it's sparking, have created such extreme price distortions that those easy-exit options disappeared on them. Which means that they suddenly faced the threat of having to deliver actual gold bars to the buyers of the contract upon maturity.

...

Signs of distress picked up on Friday, March 20, when the cost to swap New York futures and spot physical gold in London -- the world's biggest market -- rose to about $2. Typically, this trade cost almost nothing. After the close of the next session on Monday, that premium had jumped further to $6.75.

...

The spread between April and June futures contracts on Tuesday jumped to $20 an ounce, meaning it cost that much more to buy metal for April than it did for two months later. That signaled more near-term demand for bullion and the need to soon have physical supply in hand.

By the end of the week, though, the situation had flipped. The June contract cost almost $30 more than the April contract, suggesting that traders appetite for physical gold has subsided for now.

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The measure includes $367 billion in loans for small businesses. If the companies don't make any changes to payroll, these loans will be forgiven.