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The World
Congress reached agreement on a $900 billion stimulus package that would send immediate aid to Americans and businesses and fund the vaccine distribution. The deal includes $600 stimulus checks and an extension of weekly jobless benefits of $300 for 11 weeks starting in late December, delivering the first significant infusion of federal dollars into the economy since April. While the plan is roughly half the size of the $2.2 trillion stimulus law enacted in March, it is one of the largest relief packages in modern history. (New York Times, Washington Post)
Language included in the spending deal will make surprise medical bills illegal. Instead of charging patients, health providers will now have to work with insurers to settle on a fair price. The new changes will take effect in 2022, and will apply to doctors, hospitals and air ambulances, though not ground ambulances. (New York Times)
Multiple EU countries — including Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Ireland and Belgium — as well as Canada, Argentina and Chile banned travel from the UK after the spread of a new viral strain. France blocked trucks arriving from the UK for 48 hours, which may have a “devastating effect” on the supply of food and other consumer goods. Eurotunnel said access to its Folkestone terminal would be suspended for passenger and freight traffic. Heathrow Airport became filled with EU citizens trying to beat the deadlines to leave. (Financial Times, Reuters, The Times, The Guardian)
The U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommended that people 75 and older and essential workers like firefighters, teachers and grocery store workers should be next in line for Covid-19 shots, while the Moderna vaccine began rolling out. The U.S. EEOC published guidelines: Employers can require workers to get a Covid-19 vaccine and bar them from the workplace if they refuse. (Associated Press, New York Times)
A side-by-side comparison of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines reviews: Target population; vaccine efficacy; number of doses/amounts of vaccine per dose; side-effect profile; safety for those who are pregnant or lactating; storage requirements; minimum purchase order; and durability of protection. (STAT News)
In L.A. county, supermarkets are seeing “unprecedented” infection rates, while Miami-Dade, with 8,400 new cases, had more than 2K for its 12th consecutive day. At least 95 Apple Stores across the globe have reclosed since December 14. (Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, 9to5Mac)
Beijing’s import restrictions on selected Australian products are intended as a warning to Canberra but may not have the desired effect. The trade dispute is part of China’s efforts to punish Australia and warn other countries against similar actions. Chinese state media reported that Beijing is planning to extend the import curbs to Australian coal. (South China Morning Post)
Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu instructed Likud’s Knesset representatives to present a bill that will extend Tuesday night's budget deadline and prevent an early election on March 23 — as Netanyahu is said to seek a third national lockdown within days. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s ruling princes are split over the country’s relationship with Israel, with a dispute over whether it should copy other Arab states’ “peace deals” breaking into the open. (Jerusalem Post, Times of Israel, The Times)
‘A moment of reckoning’: Microsoft President Brad Smith sounded a dire warning after the SolarWinds cyberattack, calling for a global response: “This is not ‘espionage as usual.’” President-elect Biden’s incoming chief of staff said the new administration’s response will go beyond “just sanctions.” (Fast Company, Microsoft, Reuters)
The Trump administration delivered a plan to split up Cyber Command and the NSA, putting an end to the “dual hat” arrangement has been debated for years — but the timing raises questions. (Defense One)
Recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on the election have reversed how Republicans and Democrats view the Court. Democrats now approve of the Supreme Court by about two to one (57% to 27%). Last week, Democratic opinion was more negative (41%) than positive (35%). Republicans moved in the other direction: their approval rating of the Court dropped 33-points after Friday’s decision (72% to 39%).
Economy
Tesla has surged 731% this year and reached a record high Friday. The rally has accelerated since S&P said it would add Tesla to the S&P 500 today, as shares are up 70% since Nov. 16. Tesla enters with 1.69% weighting in the benchmark, the fifth largest behind Apple (6.47%), Microsoft (5.29%), Amazon (4.37%), and Facebook (2.13%). (Wall Street Journal, CNBC)
Musk asked via Twitter about the possibility of converting “large transactions” of Tesla’s balance sheet into bitcoin. Michael Saylor, MicroStrategy CEO, in a tweet to Musk, suggested that the billionaire Tesla founder and head, make the move. Bitcoin rose to a high of $24,299.75 on Sunday, after passing the $20,000 milestone for the first time last week. (Reuters)
SoftBank will file today to raise between $500 million and $600 million via an IPO of its first SPAC. The investment giant is said to be prepping at least two additional SPACs. (Axios)
American and European institutional investors, including pension funds, are moving away from Japanese stocks and accelerating a shift into Chinese companies, as China stages a faster recovery than the rest of the world from the pandemic. CalSTRS says Alibaba and Tencent now among its top 10 equity holdings. (Nikkei Asian Review)
U.S. investor optimism remains a long way from pre-pandemic highs: The Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index stands at +42 in 4Q20, up from +18 in 3Q20 and +4 in 2Q20 — but well below the +138 recorded in 1Q20. Meanwhile, the FTSE 1000, Britain’s blue chip companies, are on track to produce the worst major share index performance in the world this year, even if a Brexit deal delivers a last-ditch mood booster. (Gallup, The Independent)
Technology
Salesforce’s Marc Benioff is betting $28 billion on Bret Taylor. So who is he? A year into his job as No. 2 to Salesforce’s ebullient founder, Bret Taylor has tens of thousands of jobs and billions of dollars on the line. The Slack deal is his latest bold move. (San Francisco Chronicle)
Cyberpunk 2077 was supposed to be the biggest video game of the year — what happened? Nearly a decade of hype led to a troubled release riddled with glitches, a livid fan base, refunds for potentially millions of players and a possible class-action lawsuit. (New York Times)
As Jack Ma was trying to salvage his relationship with Beijing in early November, the beleaguered Chinese billionaire offered to hand over parts of his financial-technology giant, Ant Group, to the Chinese government. The offer, not previously reported, appeared a mea culpa of sorts from Ma as he found himself face to face with officials from China’s central bank and agencies overseeing securities, banking and insurance. (Wall Street Journal)
Twitter to discontinue standalone Periscope apps in March. (Engadget, Periscope)
Smart Links
How Lenora Suki developed Bloomberg’s first ESG scores. (MIT Sloan Management)
Stanford again tops ranking of best MBAs (Poets & Quants)
50 notable works of nonfiction in 2020. (Washington Post)
The 5 best business books of 2020 (according to every other best-of-2020 list). (Marker)
Where tech workers are moving: New LinkedIn data vs. the narrative. (One Zero)
80% of Americans don’t answer cellphone calls from unknown numbers. (Pew Research Center)
Video replay decisions “kill the mood” for English Premier League soccer fans. (Technical University of Munich)
A reduced majority is critical of the U.S. healthcare system. (Gallup)