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. Nick Note: Happy checks start hitting today. And the pump is primed to pour even more money into the economy….
Investors dump bonds and gold, pile into equities: BofA
LONDON (Reuters) – Investors piled into equities, while pulling money out of gold and bonds in the week up to March 10, data from BofA Global Research showed.
BofA’s weekly flows report showed investors put $31.5 billion into equities, while taking $1.8 billion out of gold and $15.4 billion out of bonds. Bond yields spiked higher last week on inflation fears, while high-flying tech stocks sold off as investors rotated into cheaper value stocks.
Citing data from EPFR Global, BofA said last week saw the third-largest flows into emerging market stocks ever, and second-largest into value stocks. . Nick Note: the NASDAQ is an aggressive buy. On pull backs double down. Vast sums of money and incredible stupid buyers are about to come into this market in mass. We want to ride the tsunami wave… And as it crashes ashore we want to short the shit out of stocks. Aggressive traders we will buy the rally and ride the wave. When the time comes this will be the greatest shorting opportunity ever. Risk Adverse ETF players go short stay short and WAIT… the big money will be made as the newest groups of suckers are cashed out.
Dow, S&P 500 close at all-time highs
Stocks on Wall Street ended the session on Thursday in the green with the Dow Jones and S&P 500 closing at all-time highs and tech shares sharply rebounding from a recent selloff. President Joe Biden signed into law the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package earlier, paving the way for direct payments for Americans, extended unemployment benefits and increased funding for vaccine distribution. The Dow Jones gained 0.58% or 32,485.59 points. Boeing was the top performer on the Dow, rising 2.71%. The S&P 500 jumped 1.04% to close at 3,939.34 points as mining company Freeport-McMoRan soared 8.73%. The Nasdaq 100 surged 2.36%; Pinduoduo leaped 9.63%.
Biden signs $1.9T coronavirus relief bill…..
United States President Joe Biden signed on Thursday the $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill dubbed the American Rescue Package after it was approved by Congress earlier this week.
“I believe this historic legislation is about rebuilding the backbone of this country,” Biden said as he prepared to sign the package.
The final bill includes $1,400 direct stimulus checks to Americans, extended unemployment benefits of $300 per week, as well as $350 billion in funding for state and local governments. A further $49 billion for the expansion of COVID-19 testing and research and $14 billion for vaccine distribution are also in the relief package. Nick Note: This is the most significant event of our life time. The greatest transfer of wealth to the masses. And it will bring us the greatest stock market rally ever. Unfortunately this will end and the greatest stock market wipe out EVER. For now lets ride the rocket. The trick will be to know when to bail! Remember the old story if you distribute the wealth of the world equally in a few year the poor would be poor again and the wealthy would have all the money back. That describes exactly what will happen. The masses won the lottery in this coming stock market rally… And they will give it all back
US markets rise further, S&P 500 at record high
Major stock indexes in the United States continued to rise on Thursday, propelled by COVID-19 vaccine-related optimism and better-than-expected economic data. The S&P 500 and the Dow indexes hit all-time highs as worries about rising inflation subsided, while a bigger-than-expected fall in weekly jobless claims reinforced expectations of a labor market recovery. Mega-cap stocks Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Facebook Inc and Tesla Inc gained between 2.2% and 3.6%, recouping losses from a recent pullback and helping the benchmark S&P 500 surpass its Feb. 16 peak of 3,950.43. The blue-chip Dow hit an all-time high for the fourth straight session, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq is now about 5% below its Feb. 12 record close after slumping as much as 12% from that level last week. Fewer than expected Americans filed new claims for unemployment benefits last week as an improving public health environment allows more segments of the economy to reopen. “The drop in jobless claims is another win for the week, and a solid sign that we’re making some strides toward pre-pandemic life,” said Mike Loewengart, managing director of investment strategy at E*TRADE Financial. The benchmark Treasury yields were at 1.53% but below 1.6% ahead of an auction of U.S. 30-year debt later in the day. A weak seven-year auction in … The Dow Jones Industrial Average traded 1.04% higher at 11:22 am ET, while the Nasdaq 100 surged 2.34% at the same time. The S&P 500 surpassed its previous peak, growing 1.39% Nick Note: You want to be in this game
Wharton’s Jeremy Siegel sees another 10% rise in stock prices this year
- Wharton School’s Jeremy Siegel said Thursday stocks have more room to run even with bond yields moving higher.
- The latest Covid relief bill will be a driving force pushing the market higher, Siegel told CNBC.
- Siegel said he sees stock prices rising an addition 10% to 12% this year.
Jeremy Siegel, finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” Thursday he expects a 10% rise in stocks this year and that value stocks to continue to outperform the market. Nick Note: We are gunning for this 10% upsurge AND THEN THE 30% CRASH…….
Britain set to keep door open for EU derivatives customers
https://youtu.be/MKBhsiIS_B8?t=28
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is set to allow banks to continue trading derivatives in the European Union after a review this month, given that pulling down the shutters would not bring back the trillions of euros in business lost since Brexit. Britain’s trade deal with the EU since January does not cover financial services, leaving the City of London largely cut off from the bloc, which had banned EU customers from using UK platforms for trading swaps. Hours before Britain’s full departure from the EU on Dec. 31, the Financial Conduct Authority announced that despite the EU refusing to budge on its curbs, it would allow banks in London, including subsidiaries of EU lenders, to trade euro swaps on platforms in the bloc to avoid a rupture with EU customers. As a result, Britain’s share of euro swaps trading has fallen from 40% to 10% since January as volumes moved to Amsterdam and the United States, according to data from IHS Markit. Market share in the EU rose from 10% to 25%, with the United States doubling its share to 20%. The total euro swaps market is around 135 trillion euros ($160.7 trillion), according to the Bank … The total euro swaps market is around 135 trillion euros ($160.7 trillion), according to the Bank for International Settlements. The FCA said in December it would consider by March 31 whether it needed to review its decision and ban banks in London from using EU swaps platforms, but industry officials say they are betting against a change of tack. “I think it is extremely unlikely they will create a cliff edge by withdrawing it at short notice,” said Kirston Winters, a managing director at IHS Markit “My feeling is they won’t modify the current approach, that the relief for EU firms is likely to continue in the medium term,” added Roger Cogan, head of European Public Policy at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, a global industry body. “It’s as much a philosophical thing as anything else – keeping markets open,” Cogan added. A person familiar with FCA thinking said the watchdog would in any case give several months’ notice to any changes it made. The FCA, which has repeatedly stressed the need for markets to remain open, had no immediate comment. Stopping UK banks from trading with EU clients on platforms in the bloc would make little difference in practice. It would force more EU clients to use platforms in the United States instead of the bloc for transacting with UK banks.”Unilateral action by the UK to end allowing UK investment firms to serve EU clients on EU trading venues would likely only change the division of euro swaps between the EU and the United States, it would not bring trading of those euro swaps back to London,” Winters said. Swaps trading platforms in the United States have “equivalence” or permission from Brussels to transact business with EU clients. Britain is waiting to see if the EU will grant equivalence for the UK as well, though market participants don’t expect this to happen anytime soon for swaps and share trading. The longer Britain waits, the more that new trading arrangements get “baked in” to devalue any equivalence and Brussels won’t want euro activity returning to the City in any case, industry officials have said. The relocation of swaps trading and 8 billion euros in daily share trading from London to the EU since January was smooth, emboldening Brussels to target the clearing of swaps next, industry officials say. The London Stock Exchange Group’s ( LDNXF) LCH arm clears about 90% of global euro swaps trades, and a quarter of LCH’s notional outstanding 83 trillion euros in euro swaps are held by counterparties from the bloc. EU policymakers want this portion shifted to rival clearer Eurex in Frankfurt and regulators like the EU’s European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) are studying how this could be done without destabilising markets or bumping up costs for users. Nick Note: I can tell you confusion abounds among English charter banks who have lost reciprocity and cannot operate in Europe any longer.
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Nasdaq up almost 250 pts premarket on relief hopes
House passes $1.9T coronavirus stimulus bill
The United States House of Representatives passed on Wednesday a $1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill proposed by the Democrats. A total of 220 US representatives voted in favor of the bill without a Republican vote, while 211 lawmakers voted against the legislation, including Democratic representative Jared Golden of Maine. The bill includes $1,400 direct stimulus payments to US citizens, an extension of $300 weekly jobless benefits for unemployed Americans through September 6, tax credit expansions, around $20 billion in vaccine development and distribution funds, as well as $350 billion in state and local aid. White House press secretary Jen Psaki unveiled that US President Joe Biden would sign the bill into law on Friday. Nick Note: Happy checks are on the way to save the day!
These five other benefits are included in the new $1,400 stimulus check bill
The $1,400 stimulus checks will be accompanied by a host of other relief, according to Garrett Watson, a senior policy analyst for the Tax Foundation. Here are the other benefits you can expect. The legislation provides a rebate that amounts to $1,400 for a single taxpayer, or $2,800 for a married couple that files jointly, plus $1,400 per dependent. Individuals earning up to $75,000 would get the full amount as would married couples with incomes up to $150,000. The size of the check would shrink for those making slightly more with a hard cut-off at $100,000 for individuals and $200,000 for married couples. Some Republicans want to cut the size of the rebate as well as the pool of Americans eligible for it, but Biden has insisted on $1,400 checks, saying “that’s what the American people were promised.” The new round of checks will cost the government an estimated $422 billion. Under current law, most taxpayers can reduce their federal income tax bill by up to $2,000 per child. The package moving through the House would increase the tax break to $3,000 for every child age 6 to 17 and $3,600 for every child under the age of 6. The legislation also calls for the payments to be delivered monthly instead of in one lump sum. If the secretary of the Treasury determines that isn’t feasible, then the payments are to be made as frequently as possible. Also, families would get the full credit regardless of how little they make in a year, even just a few hundred dollars, leading to criticism that the changes would serve as a disincentive to work. Add in the $1,400 per individual checks and other items in the proposal, and the legislation would reduce the number of children living in poverty by more than half, according to an analysis from the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University. The legislation would send $350 billion to state and local governments and tribal governments. While Republicans in Congress have largely objected to this initiative, Biden’s push has some GOP support among governors and mayors. Many communities have taken hits to their tax base as millions of people have lost their jobs and as people stay home and avoid restaurants and stores to prevent getting COVID-19. Many areas have also seen expenses rise as they work to treat the sick and ramp up vaccinations. But the impact varies from state to state and from town to town. Critics say the funding is not appropriately targeted and is far more than necessary with billions of dollars allocated last spring to states and communities still unspent. The bill calls for $130 billion in additional help to schools for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The money would be used to reduce class sizes and modify classrooms to enhance social distancing, install ventilation systems and purchase personal protective equipment. The money could also be used to increase the hiring of nurses, counselors and to provide summer school. Spending for colleges and universities would be boosted by $40 billion, with the money used to defray an institution’s pandemic-related expenses and to provide emergency aid to students to cover expenses such as food and housing and computer equipment. The bill provides another round of relief for airlines and eligible contractors, $15 billion, so long as they refrain from furloughing workers or cutting pay through September. It’s the third round of support for airlines. A new program for restaurants and bars hurt by the pandemic would receive $25 billion. The grants provide up to $10 million per entity with a limit of $5 million per physical location. The grants can be used to cover payroll, rent, utilities and other operational expenses. The bill also provides another $7.25 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program, a tiny fraction of what was allocated in previous legislation. The loans are designed to help borrowers meet their payroll and operating costs and can potentially be forgiven. Expanded unemployment benefits from the federal government would be extended, with an increase from $300 a week to $400 a week. That’s on top of what beneficiaries are getting through their state unemployment insurance program. The bill provides money for key elements of the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response, while also trying to advance longstanding Democratic priorities like increasing coverage under the Obama-era Affordable Care Act. On “Obamacare,” it dangles a fiscal carrot in front of a dozen states, mainly in the South, that have not yet taken up the law’s Medicaid expansion to cover more low-income adults. Whether such a sweetener would be enough to start wearing down longstanding Republican opposition to Medicaid expansion is uncertain. The bill provides $46 billion to expand federal, state and local testing for COVID-19 and to enhance contract tracing capabilities with new investments to expand laboratory capacity and set up mobile testing units. It also contains about $14 billion to speed up the distribution and administration of COVID-19 vaccines across the country. The bill would gradually raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by June 2025 and then adjust it to increase at the same rate as median hourly wages. However, that provision is not expected to survive in the final bill. The Senate parliamentarian ruled that it cannot be included in the COVID-19 economic relief package under the process Democrats chose to undertake to get a bill passed with a simple majority. Biden had predicted such a result. Still, the ruling was a stinging setback for most Democratic lawmakers who had said the higher minimum wage would increase the pay for millions of Americans. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office had projected the new federal minimum wage would lift some 900,000 people out of poverty once it was fully in place. But Republicans said the mandatory wage hikes would make it harder for small businesses to survive and they pointed to the CBO’s projection that about 1.4 million jobs would be lost as employers looked for ways to offset their higher personnel costs.