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The World
President-elect Joe Biden urged Congress to immediately pass an economic relief package, sending the clearest signal yet that he won’t put the country into another national shutdown, while the Business Roundtable announced it will push for more stimulus, tariff relief under Biden. Meanwhile, U.S. businesses are accused of pandemic profiteering, as authorities pursue thousands of actions over alleged ‘price gouging’ — while hundreds of companies that got stimulus aid have failed. U.S. industrial production jumped 1.1% in October, while retail sales grew a slower-than-expected 0.3%, and U.S. household debt rose in 3Q20 due to an increase in mortgage balances. (Washington Post, CNBC, Financial Times, Associated Press, Reuters)
More Americans are now willing to get a Covid-19 vaccine: 58% percent of Americans, up from a low of 50% in September, in a poll taken before the Pfizer and Moderna announcements. Meanwhile, more people are hospitalized with Covid-19 in the U.S. now than at any point during pandemic. California is pulling the "emergency brake" and tightening restrictions for 94% of the state's residents. CA Gov. Newsom: “We are sounding the alarm.” Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who previously belittled mask orders, implemented a statewide mask mandate. Philadelphia banned in-person college classes until 2021, while 800 Bucks County nurses went on strike over ‘dangerous’ staffing levels. Meanwhile, out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival dropped 17% during the pandemic. Texas sticks with its reopening plans. (Gallup, Los Angeles Times, Des Moines Register, Philadelphia Inquirer, JAMA, Houston Chronicle)
Significant storage and distribution differences between Pfizer and Moderna vaccines: Pfizer’s vaccine must be held at minus 75 degrees Celsius, or about minus 103 degrees Fahrenheit. No other vaccine in the U.S. needs to be stored at such low temperatures, and vaccine storage is a serious logistical concern for officials charged with vaccine distribution. Moderna’s vaccine, on the other hand, can be stored at minus 20 degrees Celsius, the temperature of a standard freezer, making it much easier for doctor’s offices and pharmacies to store the vaccine over time. Pfizer is starting a pilot delivery program in four U.S. states. Meanwhile, about a half-dozen states and the District of Columbia are adding committees to vet any vaccine reviewed by the F.D.A. in response to concerns that political considerations would influence vaccine approvals. (New America, Reuters, New York Times)
The coronavirus was circulating in Italy since September 2019, a new National Cancer Institute study shows, signaling that Covid-19 might have spread beyond China earlier than previously thought. Italy’s first patient was detected on Feb. 21 in a little town near Milan. But the Italian researchers’ findings show that 11.6% of 959 healthy volunteers enrolled in a lung cancer screening trial between September 2019 and March 2020, had developed coronavirus antibodies well before February. (Reuters)
The U.S. sent two long-range bombers into China’s air defense identification zone in an apparent show of force, as the Chinese navy conducted a series of simultaneous massive drills. European leaders call for unity with US against China, while for Russia, Biden's rise strengthens China's gravitational pull, as analysts in Moscow say Putin won't be counting on a 'reset' with U.S. (South China Morning Post, Nikkei Asian Review)
Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the military operation in the northern Tigray region is entering its "final phase,"as at least 27,000 people have fled the fighting into neighboring Sudan. The UN has said a "full-scale humanitarian crisis" is unfolding. Peru is swearing in a new president to calm anger. (BBC News, Reuters)
Europe’s economic recovery will be three times faster than after 2008 crisis, according to Morgan Stanley. Meanwhile, the UK and EU will likely reach a minimal trade deal in a best-case scenario which will cause significant disruption for Irish companies, a business group has warned. This as the UK has signed dozens of new trade agreements, allowing countries to boost trade with the UK even after its departure is finalized. (CNBC, The Times, GZERO)
The number of international students studying at U.S. universities decreased by 16% this fall, costing the U.S. $1.8 billion, while enrollments of new international students decreased by 43%. One in five international students are studying online from outside the U.S. The shift In the UK, a leading academic who fears China is using students to spy on citizens studying abroad has called on Edinburgh University to cut ties with the regime. (Inside Higher Ed, CNBC, The Times)
Economy
Companies returning to the office are encountering a legal minefield: White-collar workplaces face liability threats and complex compliance issues that until recently applied more to industrial settings. (Wall Street Journal)
TIAA CEO Roger Ferguson will retire in March. Mr. Ferguson, one of Wall Street’s most-prominent Black executives, is a former vice chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve and has emerged as a top contender for a cabinet role in the Biden administration. (Wall Street Journal)
Airbnb filed its IPO, and the home-sharing giant turned a profit in 3Q20 after the pandemic forced it to overhaul its business and shed costs. S-1 notes: The company's losing money, it's hard to keep employees, branding is everything. Also, the company says it's increasingly a place where professional property managers list rentals. (Wall Street Journal, Source Code)
Capital gains prospects have U.S. investors mulling next moves: A Biden proposal to hike long-term capital gains taxes has startup investors concerned about the impact on demand for the famously risky asset class. However, they’re also anticipating policies from the incoming administration for immigration, clean energy, and other areas that could boost entrepreneurial activity. (Crunchbase)
Tesla will join the Standard & Poor’s 500 index on Dec. 2, boosting Musk’s fortune by $15 billion. Meanwhile, Goldman’s top deal maker leaves to run Michael Dell’s investment firm. (Detroit News, Wall Street Journal)
How a Biden Administration will boost ESG and impact investing: Investors should pay close to attention to their plans to “Build Back Better.” In a clear endorsement of ESG and impact investing, a number of the President-elect’s policies are designed to accelerate the focus on ESG issues, which will have wide-ranging implications for private equity investors, even if the U.S. government remains divided. (Barron’s, Private Equity News)
Technology
Facebook knows fact-checking Trump doesn’t work: Internal data shows that labels on his posts only decrease shares by about 8%. Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey return to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee today. One big question: Did Facebook and Twitter’s election defenses work? Other issues: the Hunter Biden New York Post story, plus how does the content-labeling process work? Separately, Barack Obama wants tech companies to be more proactive in their decision making, and said democracy depends on it: "The degree to which these companies are insisting that they are more like a phone company than they are like The Atlantic, I do not think is tenable. They are making editorial choices, whether they've buried them in algorithms or not. The First Amendment doesn't require private companies to provide a platform for any view that is out there." (Buzzfeed News, Protocol, Source Code)
The race to out-Fox Fox News. In the days after the election, conservative favorites like Breitbart, Drudge Report and Real Clear Politics began to lose traffic share to Newsmax and Gateway Pundit. Last week, Newsmax overtook Breitbart to become the most visited right-leaning news site. Meanwhile, TV ratings for Newsmax have surged — marquee host Greg Kelly has recently drawn as many as 1 million viewers a night — as President Trump continues to urge followers to abandon Fox News. (Axios)
Amazon launches Key In-Garage Grocery Delivery. Beginning in five cities, this new service enables eligible Prime members to have their grocery orders from Whole Foods Market or Amazon Fresh delivered securely into their garage. The service will be available in select areas of Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle before expanding. (Specialty Food)
Twitter launches “Fleets,” a new feature that will allow users to post text, audio and video that disappears after 24 hours (like Snapchat’s Stories… but on Twitter), one of a number of steps the company is taking to increase engagement. (Wall Street Journal)
Smart Links
Working from abroad is the new working from home, as some escape Europe’s chilly north for the Mediterranean coast. (Wall Street Journal)
1% of people cause half of global aviation emissions. (The Guardian)
Pandemic forces many airlines to defend their turf; Southwest is using it to invade. (Wall Street Journal)
Walmart forecasts promising holiday season as online sales soar. (Reuters)
Public investing in secondary private equity funds grows. (Barron’s)
Amazon starts selling prescription drugs, with two-day delivery for Prime members. (Recode)
Goldman Sachs goes on AWS hiring binge to boost AI, cloud efforts. (The Information)
Mardi Gras 2021 parades canceled. (New Orleans Mayor’s Office)
NCAA to relocate March Madness to single bubble location (Indianapolis). (NCAA)
Learn More — Two opportunities today:
4 pm ET: Benefiting from the Human Genome, with 23andMe Cofounder & CEO Anne Wojcicki. (Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study)
4 pm ET: Q&A with Fmr. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. (Harvard Law School)