1. $8.3 BILLION EMERGENCY FUNDING TO FIGHT COVID-19 CRISIS: 

The House passed a roughly $8.3 billion emergency spending package for fighting the coronavirus outbreak, sending the legislation to the Senate, The Wall Street Journal's Andrew Duehren reported on Thursday, March. 5. The bill provides more than $3 billion for developing treatments for the virus and $2.2 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to contain the outbreak, among other measures. Additionally, more than $1 billion will go overseas, while $20 million will be made available to fund administrative expenses for loans to U.S. small businesses.

On Friday, March. 6, as worldwide cases of the virus surpassed 100,000, President Trump signed the bill.

Smaller-cap stocks that are working on coronavirus tests or treatments - such as Co-Diagnostics (CODX), iBio (IBIO), NanoViricides (NNVC) and Inovio (INO) - or companies that make or sell protective medical gear - such as Alpha Pro Tech (APT), Allied Healthcare (AHPI) and Lakeland Industries (LAKE) - were among the week's best performing stocks.

2. COVID-19 COVERAGE: 

Meanwhile, President Trump has criticized Comcast's (CMCSA) coverage of the coronavirus outbreak.

"I NEVER said people that are feeling sick should go to work. This is just more Fake News and disinformation put out by the Democrats, in particular MSDNC. Comcast covers the CoronaVirus situation horribly, only looking to do harm to the incredible & successful effort being made!,"

the President said via Twitter.

3. CAP ON CHINESE STATE MEDIA PERSONNEL:

 The Trump administration is ordering China's major state media companies to reduce the number of Chinese nationals in the U.S., in retaliation for years of tightening restrictions on American news outlets by Beijing, The Wall Street Journal's Courtney McBride reported on Tuesday, March. 3.

State Department officials say that a personnel cap is being imposed on four Chinese media companies -- Xinhua News Agency, China Radio International, China Global Television Network and China Daily -- forcing them to reduce their Chinese employees in the U.S. to 100 in total, from 160. The outlets must comply with the new limits by March 13, officials said.

4. FED CUTS FEDERAL FUNDS RATE: 

The Federal Reserve issued a FOMC statement saying that,

"The fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong. However, the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity. In light of these risks and in support of achieving its maximum employment and price stability goals, the Federal Open Market Committee decided [Tuesday] to lower the target range for the federal funds rate by 1/2 percentage point, to 1 to 1-1/4 percent. The Committee is closely monitoring developments and their implications for the economic outlook and will use its tools and act as appropriate to support the economy."

Commenting on the news, President Trump said via Twitter that,

"The Federal Reserve is cutting but must further ease and, most importantly, come into line with other countries/competitors. We are not playing on a level field. Not fair to USA. It is finally time for the Federal Reserve to LEAD. More easing and cutting!"

5. CRUISE AND AIRLINE INDUSTRIES MAY GET BREAKS: 

Shares of Carnival (CCL), Royal Caribbean (RCL) and Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCLH) were all bouncing back in early Friday trading, but that recovery got derailed after Reuters' David Shepardson, Alexandra Alper and Ted Hesson reported that four officials familiar with the situation said the Trump administration is considering ways to discourage U.S. travelers from taking cruises as part of a broader effort to limit the spread of the virus.

No decision has been made and talks about the matter are taking place ahead of a meeting between Vice President Mike Pence and the cruise industry this weekend, the report noted.

Meanwhile, Jeff Stein, Heather Long and Erica Werner of the Washington Post reported that White House officials are considering deferring taxes for industries hurt by the coronavirus outbreak, including the cruise, travel and airline industries. Publicly traded airlines include Alaska Air (ALK), American (AAL), Delta (DAL), JetBlue (JBLU), Southwest (LUV), Spirit (SAVE) and United (UAL).