With Hurricane Sandy bearing down on the East Coast Monday, a number of major U.S. companies have postponed quarterly earnings as financial markets shut down for the first time since 2001, The Associated Press reports. JPMorgan Chase is among banks waiving fees for customers coping with the storm.
Acorda Therapeutics Inc., Pfizer Inc., Thomson Reuters and NRG Energy Inc. have already delayed earnings reports. Pfizer and NRG Energy — both of which have operations and power plants in Connecticut — made the decision early, as they were not set to report earnings until Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
Acorda will now announce its third-quarter results on Wednesday, while Pfizer and Radian Group Inc. will now report earnings on Thursday. Thomson Reuters and NRG Energy will report their third-quarter results on Friday. Entergy Corp. will report on Nov. 5.
Other companies, including Burger King, are reporting as planned.
The New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and CME Group in Chicago will remain closed Monday and possibly Tuesday. Trading on the NYSE was last closed on Sept. 11, 2001, and last closed for a weather related event in 1985, for Hurricane Gloria.
If the exchange remains close Tuesday, it would be the first consecutive-day closing since 1888, when a blizzard left drifts of snow as high as 40 feet.
Chase announced Monday that it would waive or credit the following fees Monday night through Wednesday for customers in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia.
• Overdraft Protection Transfer, Extended Overdraft, Returned Item and Insufficient Funds Fees for deposit accounts.
• Late fees on credit cards, business and consumer loans, including mortgages, home-equity, auto and student loans.
Chase also plans to increase staff and extend hours at key branches in severely affected areas once the storm passes. Chase has more than 1,050 branches and 3,200 ATMs in the Tri-state area of Connecticut, New York and New Jersey.
Webster Bank is shutting its branches at 1:30 p.m., to comply with the storm threat and the governor’s order closing all state highways.
Wells Fargo said its 150 retail banking stores in Connecticut and New York are closed Monday to ensure the safety of customers and its workers. It said it will decide Tuesday when to reopen them. Meantime, customers have access to all Wells Fargo automated teller machines.
Sandy strengthened before dawn Monday and stayed on a predicted path toward Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York — putting it on a collision course with two other weather systems that would create a superstorm with the potential for havoc over 800 miles from the East Coast to the Great Lakes. About 2 to 3 feet of snow were even forecast for mountainous parts of West Virginia.
Lower parts of Manhattan around the Financial District are under mandatory evacuation orders.
