Author: BigGuy

* Eli Lily drops after ‘mixed’ data from mid-stage trial

* Southwest, JetBlue signal recovery in leisure bookings

* Indexes: Dow up 0.1%, S&P flat, Nasdaq dips 0.1% (Updates to market open)

March 15 (Reuters) – The S&P 500 paused on Monday below an all-time high as investors awaited cues from the Federal Reserve’s meeting this week amid caution over rising borrowing costs spurred by massive fiscal stimulus. Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways said leisure bookings are rising and offered some of the first concrete signs that the worst may be over for the airline industry. The S&P 1500 airlines index jumped about 3.8% to a one-year high, while planemaker Boeing Co added about 2%. Other travel-related stocks including Carnival Corp, Wynn Resorts and MGM Resorts gained between 3% and 5%. Wall Street’s main indexes on Friday logged their best week in six as approval of a $1.9 trillion relief package and mass vaccinations fueled demand for economy-linked stocks such as banks, energy, materials at the cost of high-growth tech names. The major U.S. stock indexes were roiled in recent weeks as a spike in longer-dated U.S. bond yields due to fears of an increase in inflation and, in response, a tapering of the Fed’s easy monetary policy worried investors. “The U.S. economy looks in a better shape than most other developed economies,” said Hussein Sayed, chief market strategist at FXTM. “Despite the rosier economic outlook, this week’s Fed meeting is expected to be absent of major policy changes.” At the end of Fed’s two-day meeting on Wednesday, policymakers are expected to forecast that the U.S. economy will grow in 2021 at the fastest rate in decades while reiterating their dovish stance for the foreseeable future. The yields on benchmark 10-year Treasuries hovered near their 13-month high at 1.61%, slightly lower than its peak of 1.64% hit on Friday. At 9:47 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 87.51 points, or 0.27%, to 32,866.15, the S&P 500 gained 0.29 points, or 0.01%, to 3,943.63 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 6.81 points, or 0.05%, to 13,313.11. Five of the major S&P sectors were lower, with financials and energy leading losses. Tesla Inc added “Technoking of Tesla” to billionaire Chief Executive Elon Musk’s list of official titles in a formal regulatory filing that also named finance chief Zachary Kirkhorn “Master of Coin”. Tesla’s shares were nearly flat. Eli Lilly and Co shares slumped about 8.5% after “mixed” results from the drugmaker’s mid-stage trial testing its experimental drug to treat Alzheimer’s cast a doubt on the chances for the drug’s accelerated approval, according to analysts. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.2-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P 500 posted 59 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 239 new highs and six new lows.

European countries – including Denmark, Norway, Austria, Italy and Iceland – have suspended use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab after reports of blood clots in vaccinated people. The European Medicines Agency is now launching an investigation but at present there is no firm evidence to suggest the two are linked and incidents of clotting have not been reported in the UK. Denmark, Norway and Iceland have suspended the rollout of the vaccine, while Italy and Austria have stopped using a certain batch as a precaution. The Danish Health and Medicines Authority said the rollout out of the jab would be paused for at least 14 days while investigations are carried out. They did not say how many reports of blood clots there had been. “It is currently not possible to conclude whether there is a link. We are acting early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated,” Danish health minister Magnus Heunicke said on Twitter.

News Flash

 

OSLO (Reuters) – Three health workers in Norway who recently received the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 are being treated in hospital for bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets, Norwegian health authorities said on Saturday. Norway halted on Thursday the rollout of that vaccine, following a similar move by Denmark. Iceland later followed suit. “We do not know if the cases are linked to the vaccine,” Sigurd Hortemo, a senior doctor at the Norwegian Medicines Agency told a news conference held jointly with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. All three individuals were under the age of 50.The European medicine regulator EMA would investigate the three incidents, Hortemo added. “They have very unusual symptoms: bleeding, blood clots and a low count of blood platelets,” Steinar Madsen, Medical Director at the Norwegian Medicines Agency told broadcaster NRK. “They are quite sick…We take this very seriously,” he said, adding authorities had received notification of the cases on Saturday. AstraZeneca was not immediately available for comment. Before Denmark’s and Norway’s move, Austria stopped using a batch of AstraZeneca shots while investigating a death from coagulation disorders and an illness from a pulmonary embolism. Still, EMA on Thursday said the vaccine’s benefits outweighed its risks and could continue to be administered. Europe is struggling to speed up a vaccine rollout after delivery delays from Pfizer and AstraZeneca, even as a spike in cases amid a more contagious virus variant has triggered fresh lockdowns in countries like Italy and France.

Nick Bit: Simon has bought over 50 loser retailers….. All that is going for them is they can borrow themselves broke. Many chains they have bought were broke before COVID. And to make matters worse we have learned how to shop online……..

The American Dream mall is keeping up its reputation as an American nightmare. The owner of the 3.1 million-square-foot East Rutherford, N.J., mega-mall, Triple Five Group, could lose nearly half of its stakes in its Mall of America in Minnesota and West Edmonton Mall in Canada to its lenders because of American Dream’s struggles, Axios first reported. A spokesperson for Triple Five did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Triple Five could lose a 49 percent interest in the malls, because it used them as collateral for a $1.2 billion construction loan to build the long-delayed American Dream mall, which has faced cash problems due to the coronavirus pandemic. The $5 billion New Jersey mall — which includes retail, an indoor amusement park and water park, and a 16-story indoor ski slope — finally opened in 2019 after nearly two decades of construction and three developers, but COVID-19 threw yet another wrench into the project. Triple Five, owned by the Ghermezian family, was forced to close on March 16 as stay-at-home measures were put in place around New Jersey. It finally reopened in October but has faced cash flow problems, forcing it to miss payments. Kurt Hagen, an executive at Triple Five, told Bloomington, Minn., officials that Triple Five was “likely” to lose the stakes in the Mall of America and West Edmonton Mall, Bloomberg reported. “It would have been much better if American Dream would have burned down or a hurricane had hit it, financially, because we would have been covered by insurance,” Hagen said, according to Bloomberg. “This pandemic that we didn’t see coming has not been covered and was the worst scenario imaginable

And its not just the malls in America

Reuters) – Mall operator Hammerson posted a 1.7 billion pound ($2.37 billion) loss for 2020 and gave a formal warning about threats to its ability to continue as a going concern, as the value of properties sank in the COVID-19 crisis and it launched asset sales to bolster its finances. Shares in the company gained in initial deals after it said it had made 73 million pounds from the sale of the Brent South Shopping Park and its stakes in two French joint ventures. It also reported an almost halving of net rental revenue and said it had so far collected 76% of last year’s rents as the crisis battered its retail tenants. Hammerson said it would meet its liabilities at least for the next 12 months, but flagged that the impact of the virus on the retail sector and broader economy could cast significant doubt on its ability to carry on as a business. “More adverse outcomes relative to those assumed in the scenario modelling, could result in breaches in the Group’s unsecured gearing and interest cover ratio covenants,” the company said. British shopping centres are set to be fully operational only by mid May as per the phased exit plan from the latest round of restrictions which have kept shoppers at home and led to widespread rent deferrals by retailers. Hammerson’s total portfolio, including premium outlets, fell 24% in value to 6.34 billion pounds during 2020. “The portfolio is still in lockdown, tenant activity is on pause and we need to wait for the reopening to see how the rent roll performs through summer and into year end,” JP Morgan analysts wrote in a note. “2021 (is) all about disposals: Disposals will be necessary to lower its LTV of 46%.” The FTSE 250-listed company, which runs shopping malls such as the Bullring in Birmingham and Italie Deux in Paris, said the results represented its largest ever fall in net rental income and UK asset values. Adjusted profit sank to 36.5 million pounds for the full-year ended Dec. 31, compared with 214 million pounds a year earlier.

 

https://youtu.be/s5sZowlhU0I

WASHINGTON – The latest batch of COVID-19 relief checks will start arriving in a matter of days. The first checks of up to $1,400 will land in bank accounts this weekend via direct deposit, White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced Thursday. “This, of course, is just the first wave,” Psaki said. Payments to eligible Americans will continue over the next several weeks, she said. The checks are part of President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the first major initiative of his presidency. Biden signed the bill into law on Thursday. Under the new law, individuals with an adjusted gross income of $80,000 or less ($160,000 for joint filers) are eligible for a one-time payment of up to $1,400, plus an additional $1,400 for each dependent child. The payments start to phase out for individuals earning $75,000 and will cut off completely for anyone who makes more than $80,000. For couples filing jointly, the phaseout starts for those making $150,000 and cuts off at $160,000. For those filing as head of household, the phaseout begins at $112,500 and cuts off at $120,000. Most Americans will receive the payments via direct deposit. Those who don’t will receive a debit card or a paper check, which will take longer to distribute. The Internal Revenue Service will use tax returns on file to calculate how much money people will get. If recipients have already filed a return for 2020, their check will be based on their income from last year. If not, their 2019 returns will probably be used to determine how much they’ll get.

President Joe Biden delivers his first national prime-time address from the White House on the anniversary of the nationwide Covid-19 shutdown. one-year anniversary of the coronavirus-induced shutdowns by commemorating Americans’ sacrifices and looking ahead toward a post-pandemic world. “I’m going to talk about what comes next,” Biden said Wednesday in a preview of the speech, which will be his first prime-time address as president. “I’m going to launch the next phase of the Covid response and explain what we will do as a government and what we will ask of the American people.” “There is light at the end of this dark tunnel,” he said. Biden, on his 50th day as president, will also use the spotlight to kick off a victory lap following the final passage in Congress of his $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill. Biden signed the bill into law Thursday afternoon. He is set to embark on a nationwide tour next week to tout the first major legislative accomplishment of his administration. The president will depart Tuesday for Delaware County in Pennsylvania, an electoral swing state that was key to Biden’s victory over former President Donald Trump. Biden’s prime-time speech is scheduled for just after 8 p.m. ET on Thursday night, and will be broadcast from the East Room of the White House. The address is expected to last less than 20 minutes, an administration official said. The president will acknowledge the devastating death toll of the pandemic — at least 529,267 dead in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University data — as well as the life-altering challenges caused by sudden lockdowns around the country, the official said. Biden is also expected to emphasize his administration’s efforts to rapidly ramp up production, acquisition and distribution of Covid vaccines, an unprecedented operational endeavor, according to the official. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Biden will “lay out some more specifics” of how the administration will fight the virus moving forward. Biden on Wednesday, in remarks following a meeting with executives from Johnson & Johnson and Merck, hinted that he will deliver a message of hope and promise through his prime-time address. But the Democratic president, in sharp contrast with his predecessor, suggested that he will continue to temper that optimism with notes of caution. “We cannot let our guard down now, or assume that victory is inevitable,” Biden said Wednesday. “Together, we’re going to get through this pandemic and usher in a healthier, more hopeful future.” “So there is real reason for hope, folks,” he said.