Trump's 'Operation Warp Speed' Aims to Rush Coronavirus Vaccine

Comments of the Day 30 April 2020     Video commentary for April 29th 2020   Eoin Treacy's view A link to today's video commentary is posted in the Subcsriber's Area. Some of the topics discussed include: S&P500 approaching the psychological 3000 level. bitcoin breaks out, gold steady, oil firm, China's digital currency, renewables outperforming,      Trump's 'Operation Warp Speed' Aims to Rush Coronavirus Vaccine This article by Jennifer Jacobs and Drew Armstrong for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section: The Trump administration isn’t alone in trying to fast-track a vaccine. One of the world’s most promising vaccine candidates has been developed by a team at Oxford University in London. Last month, scientists at the U.S. National Institutes of Health innoculated six rhesus macaques with the Oxford vaccine and then exposed them to the coronavirus, the New York Times reported. All six were healthy more than four weeks later, according to the Times. The researchers are currently testing their vaccine in 1,000 patients and plan to expand to stage two and three clinical trials next month involving about 5,000 more people. The Oxford group told the Times they could have several million doses of their vaccine produced and approved by regulators as early as September. In the U.S., the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has meanwhile shifted much of its research effort to the coronavirus virus. One of the people familiar with Operation Warp Speed drew a distinction with the Oxford group, describing the U.S. effort as broader in scope. It’s unclear which vaccine candidates would be part of Operation Warp Speed, or whether it would include the Oxford vaccine.   Eoin Treacy's view A broadly held assumption is we are going to have a second wave of infections like in 1918 later this year. China’s statement yesterday that they believe it will become seasonal is also feeding the belief that a solution will not be forthcoming in the short term. However, in much the same way that war efforts accelerate the pace of innovation, on a needs-must basis, we are seeing the same thing with the development of treatments for COVID-19.     The Main Street Faces of the Fierce Rebound in Stocks This article by Sarah Ponczek for Bloomberg may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section: On their own, Kelleher’s purchases don’t amount to much. But combined with similar decisions by tiny investors around the country, the buying represents a formidable force that has helped the market claw back more than half the ground lost in its fastest bear-market drop. A trio of giant retail brokerages, E*Trade Financial Corp., TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., and Charles Schwab Corp., each saw record sign-ups in the three months ending in March, with much of it coming at the depths of the swoon. “I’m a complete noob when it comes to stocks,” the mother of high school senior twin boys said while sheltering at home. “It’s not thousands and thousands of dollars that I invested, but it’s a start. We’ll see what happens. I hate to say it, but it’s like gambling, isn’t it?” There may be something to that. “When the casinos/sport betting closed down, some of that action went to stock markets,” speculated Nicholas Colas, cofounder of DataTrek Research, in a note Wednesday. “Google Trends data supports that idea.”   Eoin Treacy's view When I started receiving stock tips from the twentysomething working at UPS a few weeks ago, my contrarian heckles rose. The trend of zero commissions, promise of massive quick profits and the confidence built up from a decade of watching buying the dip be successful has emboldened legions of new investors into the market.     China Rolls Out Pilot Test of Digital Currency This article by Jonathan Cheng for the Wall Street Journal may be of interest to subscribers. Here is a section: In Xiangcheng, a district in the eastern city of Suzhou, the government will start paying civil servants half of their transport subsidy in the digital currency next month as part of the city’s test run, according to a government worker with direct knowledge of the matter. Government workers were told to begin installing an app on their smartphones this month into which the digital currency would be transferred, the worker said. Civil servants were told that the new currency could be transferred into their existing bank accounts, or used directly for transactions at some designated merchants, the person said. China is ahead of many other countries in preparing the launch of an official digital currency. In recent years, the use of traditional paper bills and cash has declined sharply, and smartphone payments have become so ubiquitous that many Chinese people, particularly younger urban dwellers, no longer carry their wallets or cash for shopping. Instead, they use Tencent Holdings Ltd. ’s WeChat Pay and Alipay, operated by Ant Financial Services Group, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.   Eoin Treacy's view Parallel currencies are an oddity which highlight a government’s desire to fully control the ability of consumers to spend their own cash. The ultimate aim of these kinds of moves is to separate the use case for money so different units can be used for different purposes. The façade of wishing to curtail money laundering or terror financing is ubiquitous to all governments and this is a trend which has global appeal for heavily indebted countries.     Eoin's personal portfolio - Last updated March 27th   Eoin Treacy's view One of the most commonly asked questions by subscribers is how to find details of my open traders. In an effort to make it easier I will simply repost the latest summary daily until there is a change. I'll change the title to the date of publication of new details so you will know when the information was provided.