Oil's 'scary,' 'unprecedented' week | Why isn't the stock market lower? | Latest on the coronavirus

Stocks finished the week lower because of the historic turmoil in the oil market.

VIEW IN BROWSER | SUBSCRIBE SAT, APR 25, 2020 WEEKEND BRIEF EDITOR'S NOTE In this edition of Weekend Brief, we tackle two astonishing perplexities of the market: How a barrel of oil can have a negative value, and why today's stock market is worth about the same as it was last summer when there was full employment, record corporate profits and no pandemic.   Anyone old enough to remember the 1973 Arab oil embargo may find it especially difficult to imagine a barrel of oil dropping to negative $37.63. But that's what happened to May futures contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude on Monday.   CNBC's Pippa Stevens explains, blow by blow, how this anomaly happened, how it could happen again, and why next time it might go to negative $100 a barrel.    Crashing oil prices are a product of oversupply, but they are also a measure of plummeting demand and global economic decline. More than 26 million people have filed unemployment claims in the past five weeks and the course of the coronavirus pandemic that put them there remains unknowable.   Michael Santoli, CNBC's senior markets commentator, writes that even the pros on Wall Street are nonplussed about the S&P's performance amid all this terrible news, including Cantor Fitzgerald strategist Peter Cecchini.   "The equity market just isn't getting the joke," Cecchini said.   Next week will bring more challenges, writes CNBC's Patti Domm.  We'll hear once again from the Federal Reserve, get a look at first-quarter gross domestic product numbers, and see millions more workers show up in the weekly jobless claims report. We'll also get earnings reports - but probably not much future earnings guidance - from 140 S&P 500 companies.   "The most important earnings story is not what happens this quarter, it's how long does it take to get back to peak earnings again," said Jonathan Golub, chief U.S. equity strategist at Credit Suisse. "My estimate is this is going to take three years to get back to peak profits."   Three years? And yet the S&P 500 is already up 29% from its low a month ago.   And don't forget to check out the new Activist Spotlight column from Ken Squire. In his second exclusive article for CNBC, he details an activist with a soft touch going after a wireless company that's lost its way.   Thanks for reading Weekend Brief.  Email your thoughts to EveningBrief@nbcuni.com or follow me on Twitter @tellittoal.   Subscribe to CNBC PRO for exclusive insights and analysis, and live business day programming from around the world. Al Lewis | CNBC Markets Editor @tellittoal MICHAEL SANTOLI'S MARKET COLUMN Making sense of a stock market just 16% off its high while a pandemic costs 26 million jobs   THE WEEK AHEAD Stocks face headwinds as investors look forward to a big earnings week, a Fed meeting and state reopenings   YOUR WEEKEND BRIEFING  'Scary,' 'visceral,' 'unprecedented': Traders describe oil's wild week and fall to negative prices Trump pulls punches and clings to his China trade deal as backlash against Beijing grows Activist fund with a soft touch looks to shake up a wireless company that's lost its way PRO: Analysts say stocks like Walmart and Chipotle will emerge even stronger after the pandemic Boeing terminates joint venture agreement with Brazil's Embraer Latest coronavirus news here: WHO warns about reinfection, US cases top 900,000 How GM, other automakers plan to reopen US plants during coronavirus pandemic Leaked White House emails reveal behind-the-scenes battle over chloroquine in coronavirus response PRO: These 'strong buy' rated stocks with high dividend yields are expected to beat the market He was approved for a Paycheck Protection Program loan. Here's his advice to business owners who want one, too     Unsubscribe Manage Newsletters Terms of Service Join the CNBC Panel Digital Products Feedback Privacy Policy   © 2020 CNBC LLC. All rights reserved. A property of NBCUniversal. 900 Sylvan Avenue, Englewood Cliffs, NJ 07632 Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes. Global Business and Financial News, Stock Quotes and Market Data and Analysis. Data also provided by THOMSON REUTERS