%1

New York is loosening some COVID-19 restrictions this week, signaling a step toward normalcy for a wide range of businesses. But for fitness studios such as Y7 Studio, Barry’s Bootcamp and Mile High Run Club that managed to endure a year of devastated sales, the fight for survival is hardly over, Bloomberg News reported. They must navigate fast-changing and confusing rules. New York has said fitness centers can operate at 50% capacity as of May 15, but also says that, as of Wednesday, it is not basing capacity limits for businesses on a percentage of maximum occupancy, but rather on how many people can fit in a space while staying six feet apart. For small-format workout facilities, that might not be much of a reprieve. Meanwhile, these operators face delicate decisions about what masking rules to enforce at their businesses now that state mandates have eased. Many are finding it difficult to rehire and retrain instructors to adequately staff a full schedule. And none of them know how eager customers will be to return, given lingering virus fears and the possibility that last year’s at-home exercise routines turn out to have staying power.

The Federal Reserve’s historic foray into the credit market has benefitted auto companies the most, supporting an industry that’s borrowed its way through the pandemic and is starting to show signs of recovery, Bloomberg News reported. The central bank can only buy shorter-dated debt of companies that mostly employ Americans, making notes linked to car manufacturers prime candidates. The Fed bought another $224 million of debt tied to auto companies since its last update on July 10, the most of any sector. That debt is now the second-heaviest exposure overall, according to a CreditSights analysis of Fed data released on Monday. Among the Fed’s biggest holdings are the U.S. finance arms of German manufacturers Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG, Japan’s Toyota Motor Co. and Ford Motor Co., strategists led by Jeff Khasin said in a report. While the Fed’s bond investments aim to replicate the broader credit market, the purchases nonetheless support one of America’s biggest home-grown industries. The sector supports nearly 10 million U.S. jobs, and contributes about 3 percent to the domestic economy each year, according to lobbying group the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. Outside of financial companies, consumer-cyclical firms, a category that includes car makers, have been the most active issuers of new investment-grade bonds this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Grupo Aeromexico SAB is considering a chapter 11 filing in the U.S. as the coronavirus pandemic ravages the airline industry, Bloomberg News reported. The Mexican carrier is weighing its options and no final decision has been made. The company is working to coordinate with creditors on a restructuring, and is considering all the alternatives. An Aeromexico bankruptcy would be the third in six weeks by a major Latin American airline, after Latam Airlines Group SA and Avianca Holdings SA sought court protection. Passenger traffic in the region fell by 96 percent in April amid the pandemic, according to the International Air Transport Association. But Latin American governments, unlike their counterparts in the U.S. and Europe, have been reluctant to offer support for airlines. Aeromexico said it hasn’t initiated or made a decision to initiate restructuring under chapter 11. “At this moment, we’re identifying additional sources of financing to strengthen our operative flows,” the company said in a securities filing Friday. “We’re also analyzing different alternatives to successfully reach, in the medium and long term, an orderly restructure of our financial commitments without disrupting operations.” Aeromexico is coordinating with unions, creditors and lessors, it said.