COVID-19 vaccination update The good news: COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have improved recently in the U.S. As of February 15, 2021, 54.6 million doses have been given. An average of 1.64 million doses per day are being administered. The bad news: Infections of the more contagious variant from the U.K. are doubling every 10 days in the U.S. This mutant strain may reverse the positive trends that have occurred since January 9, 2021. More infections would slow the reopening of the economy and be a headwind for job creation. Retail trading: Froth and frenzy Retail investors are bidding up so-called “meme” stocks…
Insights & Advice
Tag: COVID-19 vaccine
Build a house in China
Last week I made some changes to my moderate and aggressive portfolios. I’ll share those changes with you at the end of this column. But let’s not bury the lead — we are close to a COVID-19 vaccine! On Sept. 23 I gave a rundown of what I expected regarding the timing and distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. I stated, “Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla says that the ‘likely scenario’ is that the company will be able to distribute a vaccine by year’s end (pending FDA approval).” Further, I said: “The odds of a safe and effective vaccine being created relatively soon…
Vaccine hopes send stocks higher
The first real hope at ending the global coronavirus pandemic was announced on Monday. Drug company partners, Pfizer and BioNTech, announced their COVID-19 vaccine, which exceeded expectations. The news sent world stock markets screaming higher. Later in the week, some profit-taking developed, but overall, the news was met with relief and cautious excitement. Most investors expected the Pfizer drug would be, at best, 60-70% effective, so when the company announced it was more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19, stocks soared. While this was great news, there are a few drawbacks to the vaccine. For starters, Pfizer can manufacture only…