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Schumer, McConnell reach power-sharing Senate deal

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Wednesday he sealed a deal with GOP Leader Mitch McConnell on a new power-sharing agreement for Democrats to control the agenda in the Senate. The Senate is expected to vote on the final deal later Wednesday that would officially transfer the leadership gavels for Senate committees from Republicans to Democrats. The Senate is split evenly, 50-50, but Democrats hold the tie-breaking advantage with Vice President Kamala Harris able to cast the 51st vote. “The leadership of both parties have finalized the organizing resolution for the Senate,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said. “We will pass the resolution through the Senate today.” Schumer made it clear he’s prioritized climate change for Democrats’ turn at power for the next two years. “I’ve already instructed the incoming Democratic chairs of all relevant committees to begin holding hearings on the climate crisis in preparation for enacting President Biden’s ‘Build Back Better’ agenda,” Schumer said of Biden’s green jobs plan.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., stands with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as a joint session of the House and Senate convenes to confirm the Electoral College votes cast in November's election, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., stands with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., as a joint session of the House and Senate convenes to confirm the Electoral College votes cast in November’s election, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021. (Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP)

Schumer already announced the new Democratic committee chairs, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., as chair of the Budget Committee; Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., as Chair of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee; Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., as leader of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill, as the head of the Judiciary Committee.  “I’m confident that our members are ready to hit the ground running on the most important issues that face our country,” Schumer said. “Senate Democrats are not going to waste any time taking on the biggest challenges facing our country and our planet.” The new power-sharing agreement is modeled after the organizing resolution from 2001 — the last time there was a 50/50 Senate. There have been hiccups along the way in striking a deal because McConnell wanted written assurances from Schumer that Democrats would not due away with the legislative filibuster.  McConnell retracted his demand after two Democratic senators — Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema — said they would not vote to get rid of the provision that requires 60 votes for most major legislation to advance. “Basic arithmetic now ensures that there are not enough votes to change the rule,” McConnell said last week.

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Naked Short Selling: The Truth Is Much Worse Than You Have Been Told

There is a massive threat to our capital markets, the free market in general, and fair dealings overall. And no, it’s not China. It’s a homegrown threat that everyone has been afraid to talk about. Until now.  That fear has now turned into rage. Hordes of new retail investors are banding together to take on Wall Street.  They are not willing to sit back and watch naked short sellers, funded by big banks, manipulate stocks, harm companies, and fleece shareholders.  The battle that launched this week over GameStop between retail investors and Wall Street-backed naked short sellers is the beginning of a war that could change everything.  It’s a global problem, but it poses the greatest threat to Canadian capital markets, where naked short selling—the process of selling shares you don’t own, thereby creating counterfeit or ‘phantom’ shares—survives and remains under the regulatory radar because Broker-Dealers do not have to report failing trades until they exceed 10 days.  This is an egregious act against capital markets, and it’s caused billions of dollars in damage.  Make no mistake about the enormity of this threat: Both foreign and domestic schemers have attacked Canada in an effort to bring down the stock prices of its publicly listed companies.  In Canada alone, hundreds of billions of dollars have been vaporized from pension funds and regular, everyday Canadians because of this, according to Texas-based lawyer James W. Christian. Christian and his firm Christian Smith & Jewell LLP are heavy hitters in litigation related to stock manipulation and have prosecuted over 20 cases involving naked short selling and spoofing in the last 20 years.   “Hundreds of billions have been stolen from everyday Canadians and Americans and pension funds alike, and this has jeopardized the integrity of Canada’s capital markets and the integral process of capital creation for entrepreneurs and job creation for the economy,” Christian told Oilprice.com.

The Dangerous Naked Short-Selling MOIn order to [legally] sell a stock short, traders must first locate and secure a borrow against the shares they intend to sell. A broker who enters such a trade must have assurance that his client will make settlement.   While “long” sales mean the seller owns the stock, short sales can be either “covered” or “naked”. A covered short means that the short seller has already “borrowed” or has located or arranged to borrow the shares when the short sale is made. Whereas, a naked short means the short seller is selling shares it doesn’t own and has made no arrangements to buy. The seller cannot cover or “settle” in this instance, which means they are selling “ghost” or “phantom” shares that simply do not exist without their action. When you have the ability to sell an unlimited number of non-existent phantom shares in a publicly-traded company, you then have the power to destroy and manipulate the share price at your own will.  And big banks and financial institutions are turning a blind eye to some of the accounts that routinely participate in these illegal transactions because of the large fees they collect from them. These institutions are actively facilitating the destruction of shareholder value in return for short term windfalls in the form of trading fees. They are a major part of the problem and are complicit in aiding these accounts to create counterfeit shares.  The funds behind this are hyper sophisticated and know all the rules and tricks needed to exploit the regulators to buy themselves time to cover their short positions. According to multiple accounts from traders, lawyers, and businesses who have become victims of the worst of the worst in this game, short-sellers sometimes manage to stay naked for months on end, in clear violation of even the most relaxed securities laws.  The short-sellers and funds who participate in this manipulation almost always finance undisclosed “short reports” which they research & prepare in advance, before paying well-known short-selling groups to publish and market their reports (often without any form of disclosure) to broad audiences in order to further push the stock down artificially. There’s no doubt that these reports are intended to create maximum fear amongst retail investors and to push them to sell their shares as quickly as possible.

That is market manipulation. Plain and simple.

Continue reading “Naked Short Selling: The Truth Is Much Worse Than You Have Been Told”

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Two million Australians in lockdown after one coronavirus case found

CANBERRA (Reuters) – About 2 million Australians began their first full day of a strict coronavirus lockdown on Monday following the discovery of one case in the community in Perth, capital of Western Australia state, but no new cases have since been found. Authorities ordered a five-day lockdown of Perth after a security guard at a hotel used to quarantine people returning from overseas was found to have contracted the virus. The state government said 66 people have been deemed close contacts of the unidentified guard and none of those already tested were infected. “In total 13 close contacts have now tested negative and of those 11 high-risk contacts have been moved into hotel quarantine as an extra precaution,” Western Australia state Premier Mark McGowan told reporters in Perth. Tests on the rest of the close contacts were expected to be completed on Monday, McGowan said. Australia has managed to largely contain its novel coronavirus epidemic – limiting cases to nearly 29,000 and deaths to 909 – with the sort of decisive action seen in Perth, and tight border controls. A vaccine campaign is due to begin this month, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison said would cost at least A$6.3 billion ($4.8 billion). Australia had already pledged to spend A$4.4 billion to acquire enough doses for its 26 million population, but Morrison said his government had set aside a further A$1.9 billion to pay for the roll-out. “The strategy is backed by an initial allocation of around A$1.9 billion in new support for the vaccine roll-out. This is on top of more than $4.4 billion allocated for vaccines purchases,” Morrison said in a speech in Canberra. Classifying the inoculation programme as his “first priority”, Morrison said the economy must now begin to wean itself off government spending. Australia has pledged more than A$250 billion in stimulus, which has already begun to taper. But Morrison said there was a limit to the support government could afford. “We are not running a blank cheque budget,” Morrison said. Nick Note: Its a really simple problem to have. Find a infection and lock the place down including the dogs….. And after 2 weeks its GONE. That is why Australia and New Zealand have virtually no infections and a coronvirus death is very very rare.

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WH: Biden supports Dem efforts to pass $1.9T relief bill

https://youtu.be/QPXNJQ8cNXQ

Biden snubs Republicans’ $600 billion COVID relief plan after Oval Office meeting: President says he will ‘not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment’ as Democrats try to muscle their $1.9trillion bill through Congress
  • President Joe Biden held a two-hour meeting with Senate Republicans 
  • The two sides did not come together on a compromise COVID relief package 
  • Biden warned afterward he was willing to pass the measure without GOP help 
  • The White House said Biden would not ‘settle’ for less spending 
  • GOP proposed $600 billion but Biden wants $1.9 trillion 
  • Biden ‘will not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment,’ WH said 
  • Republican Senator Susan Collins said afterward it was a ‘cordial’ meeting 
  • ‘It was a very good exchange of the views, I wouldn’t say that we came together on a package tonight,’ she said 
  • Ahead of White House meeting, Dem leaders dropped plan to let Biden pass his $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan without any Republican support
  • Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer released their plan ahead of Biden’s meeting with Republican senators at the White House about their compromise proposal 
  • Dem plan would allow legislation to pass with simple majority in Senate
  • It would also allow the Senate to pass the budget and COVID relief before Donald Trump’s impeachment trial begins next week 
  • Republicans have protested, saying it goes against Biden’s call for unity

Joe Biden warned Senate Republicans he would not ‘settle’ for their smaller COVID proposal in a sign the president was willing to pass a relief package without their help. President Biden held a two-hour meeting with a group of 10 Republican senators in the Oval Office on Monday night but the two sides did not come together on a compromise measure. In a statement after the meeting, the White House indicated it was willing to move forward with a plan from Democratic congressional leaders to pass coronavirus relief without Republican support through a legislative process known as ‘reconciliation.’ And, the White House warned, Biden would not ‘settle’ for a measure that was not large enough – echoing talking points Democrats have pushed, saying more relief was needed for Americans suffered the economic fallout from the pandemic. The president ‘reiterated that while he is hopeful that the Rescue Plan can pass with bipartisan support, a reconciliation package is a path to achieve that end,’ White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. ‘The President also made clear that the American Rescue Plan was carefully designed to meet the stakes of this moment, and any changes in it cannot leave the nation short of its pressing needs.’ ‘He reiterated, however, that he will not slow down work on this urgent crisis response, and will not settle for a package that fails to meet the moment,’ she added. The 10 Republican senators proposed a compromise plan that is about one-third of what Biden wants to spend, clocking in at $600 billion for coronavirus relief. He wants a $1.9 trillion package.  Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who has taken the lead for Republicans on the COVID relief issue, called it a ‘productive cordial two-hour meeting’ with the president. But, she noted, there was no deal.  ‘It was a very good exchange of the views. I wouldn’t say that we came together on a package tonight. No one expected that in a two-hour meeting, but what we did agree to do is to follow up and talk further at the staff level and amongst ourselves, and with the president and vice president on how we can continue to work together on this very important issue,’ she told reporters after it ended.

The lack of an announcement of the deal is an indication Biden doesn’t need one – and he knows it. 

Shortly before his meeting with GOP senators began, Democratic Congressional leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer gave Biden an out. They introduced their budget proposal, which included a way for the president to pass his $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan without any Republican support.

Pelosi and Schumer’s resolution contains a provision for a process called ‘reconciliation’ – a legislative procedure that allows them to prevent the use of the filibuster in the Senate and lets the legislation pass with a simply majority of 51 votes.  With an even 50-50 split in the upper chamber and Vice President Kamala Harris the tie breaker,

Biden would be able to get his $1.9 trillion plan without any Republicans on board.  Republicans have protested such a move, saying it goes against Biden’s call for unity.  Allowing passage by a simple majority would also allow the Senate to deal with the federal budget and coronavirus relief before Donald Trump’s impeachment trial begins next week. Nick Note: 2 trillion in happy checks are on the way. And their will be a LOT of happiness to go around

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Dow jumps over 500 points on vaccine hopes

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose over 500 points on Tuesday after Pfizer Inc. announced the company plans to deliver 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to the United States by May, instead of an initial timeframe which suggested July as the end date. Also, investors are monitoring big companies to report their quarterly earnings later in the day. The Dow Jones rocketed 1.74% or 524 points at 10:50 am ET while the S&P 500 followed suit, gaining 1.51% at the same time. The Nasdaq 100 rose by 1.37% a minute later.

Pfizer Inc. will be able to supply the U.S. with 200 million Covid-19 vaccine doses by the end of May, two months sooner than previously expected, according to its top executive

Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said Tuesday that the drugmaker and its partner, BioNTech SE, will be able to deliver the doses to the U.S. well before an earlier July 31 deadline due to a change in the vaccine’s label that allows health-care providers to extract an additional dose from each vial. The six-dose-per-vial count became effective on Monday and applies to supply contracts going forward, according to a Pfizer representative. In the U.S., Pfizer and BioNTech will deliver 120 million doses in the first quarter, 20 million more than initially promised, Bourla said in an interview with Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at the Year Ahead Summit, held virtually this year. Bourla added that Pfizer and BioNTech would get more doses to the European Union before the end of the second quarter. The companies’ vaccine regimen requires two doses to provide full protection from symptomatic cases of Covid-19.

As two new stains of the virus spread globally, Pfizer and BioNTech are also developing booster shots that can protect against various mutations.

“Every time a new variant comes up we should be able to test whether or not [our vaccine] is effective,” Bourla said. “Once we discover something that it is not as effective, we will very, very quickly be able to produce a booster dose that will be a small variation to the current vaccine.”  Nick Note: party time. Golden shots back on track and BIGBIG stimulus on the way… And plenty of millennials getting ready to die rag….Let me rephrase … Stupid ass millennials flush with a pocket full of happy check money to LOSE!

 

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Dow jumps over 500 pts on vaccine and stimulashopes

U.S. stocks rose Tuesday, signaling that major indexes may extend this week’s gains ahead of earnings from technology giants Amazon.com and Google parent Alphabet. The S&P 500 rose a day after the broad stocks gauge posted its biggest one-day advance since November. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 600 points, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index climbed roughly 200 points Stock markets have steadied globally this week after a choppy January, when extreme moves in some individual stocks, signs of a slowdown in the U.S. economy, and concerns about the pace of the vaccine rollout and new coronavirus variants weighed on share prices. Investor sentiment has been lifted by robust earnings reports from large-cap companies, as well as a decline in coronavirus cases in the U.S. and several other major economies. Investors will parse quarterly earnings from Amazon.com and Alphabet after markets close. Shares of giant tech companies have continued to power the broader market in 2021, pushing the Nasdaq Composite up 4% so far this year. “The bar for tech was actually quite high” coming into earnings season, said Hani Redha, a multiasset portfolio manager at PineBridge Investments. “Overall, for the sector, we are still seeing very strong earnings delivered.” Earnings for the last quarter of 2020 have been better than analysts had anticipated. Of the 189 companies on the S&P 500 index that had reported results by late Monday, 81% have beaten expectations, according to FactSet. Some of the stocks that have been most popular among online day-traders plunged in premarket trading. Shares of GameStop continued to slump, dropping 40% ahead of the opening bell in New York. Headphones-maker Koss and AMC Entertainment Holdings each declined over 25%. Express, Naked Brand and BlackBerry also retreated. Investors are closely following discussions around another round of coronavirus relief in Washington. A group of Senate Republicans on Monday outlined their roughly $618 billion offer, including a round of $1,000 direct checks for many adults. The proposal omits measures favored by many Democrats, such as aid for state and local governments and a plan to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. “There is still hope of arriving at something bipartisan,” said Mr. Redha. Passing a smaller bill than President Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion package along bipartisan lines could be positive for stocks by opening the way to more stimulus spending later in his term, Mr. Redha added.

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Study suggests Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine less effective against S.African variant

LONDON, Feb 2 (Reuters) – The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine may be less able to protect against infection with a South African variant of the virus that has a worrying mutation, according to results of a British study released on Tuesday. The preliminary data, which have yet to be peer-reviewed and involve a small number of patients, also suggest a significant proportion of people aged over 80 may not be sufficiently protected against new variants of the virus until they have had two doses of the vaccine, researchers leading the study said. “Of particular concern … is the emergence of the E484K mutation (found in the South African variant), which so far has only been seen in a relatively small number of individuals,” said Ravi Gupta, a professor at Cambridge University’s Institute of Therapeutic Immunology & Infectious Disease, who co-led the study.

“Our work suggests the vaccine is likely to be less effective when dealing with this mutation.”

Britain and many other countries have begun rolling out the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to try to stem the spread of the pandemic disease. While the highly effective vaccine is designed to be given in two doses around three weeks apart, Britain’s government has opted to extend that time gap to up to 12 weeks to try to swiftly reach as many people as possible with a first dose. The study released on Tuesday used blood samples from 26 people who had received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine three weeks previously to test whether the shot would protect against two variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus – the UK variant, known as B1.1.7., and the South African variant, which has the E484K mutation. When testing the blood serum samples, all but seven of the participants had levels of antibodies sufficiently high to neutralise the virus – that is, to protect against infection, the researchers said.

When the scientists added all the key mutations found in B1.1.7 variant, however, they found the efficacy of the vaccine was affected, with, on average, two-fold higher concentrations of antibody required to neutralise the virus.

When the E484K mutation was added, even greater levels of antibody were required for the virus to be neutralised – with an average of a 10-fold increase needed, the researchers said. Dami Collier, who co-led the work, said the findings suggest “a significant proportion of people aged over 80 may not have developed protective neutralising antibodies against infection three weeks after their first dose of the vaccine.” Clinical trial data released last week on two other COVID-19 vaccines – from Novavax and Johnson & Johnson – also found the South African coronavirus reduced their ability to protect against the disease. (Reporting by Kate Kelland, editing by Timothy Heritage)

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Dow Jumps 250 Points, But GameStop Market Value Plunges $7 Billion As Shorts Cash Out

 

Despite a good start to Monday trading for both the broader market and recently booming meme stocks, shares of GameStop took a steep turn for the worst before the close after new data revealed the number of investors shorting the stock has fallen.

After posting their worst weekly performances since late October last week, the Dow Jones industrial average ended the day up 229 points, or 0.8%, while the S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped about 1.6% and 2.6%, respectively.

Meanwhile, shares of leading meme stock GameStop, which surged 400% last week, plunged 31% after market data firm S3 Partners said shorted shares of the stock fell by about 57% since Friday, with Managing Partner Ihor Dusaniwsky noting that short-sellers “have found opportunities and price exit points to trim their positions.” Other meme stocks also lost momentum: AMC Entertainment ticked up just 0.3% after skyrocketing about 275% last week as online brokerage Robinhood relaxed its trading restrictions on Reddit-fueled stocks. The softer gains come as Reddit traders turned attention to silver on Monday, pushing the commodity’s price up 11% to an eight-year high in an attempt to once again squeeze money out of Wall Street firms, but many on the discussion board warned the effort would only divert attention away from meme stocks. Heading up gains in the S&P, shares of International Flavors & Fragrances surged 14% after the firm announced it is set to complete its previously announced merger with DuPont’s nutrition and biosciences business, creating a combined company with annual revenues of more than $11 billion Global stocks also largely pushed higher after a lukewarm end to last week, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 closing up 1.6% Monday, while the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.9% and Germany’s DAX index 1.4%.

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Schumer, Pelosi take steps to enact $1.9T relief plan

https://youtu.be/GR78gm19CT4

Washington, DC – House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer today announced they have filed a joint budget resolution for Fiscal Year 2021 that gives Congress an additional legislative tool to pass the urgently-needed bipartisan COVID relief legislation that enacts President Biden’s comprehensive American Rescue Plan which helps defeat the virus and provide workers and families the resources they need to survive the pandemic while the vaccine is distributed to every American.

Introduction of a joint budget resolution is the first step to potentially enacting a Budget Reconciliation bill, one legislative tool available to Congress to quickly pass bipartisan COVID relief legislation.  The Resolution outlines the “reconciliation instructions” for each House and Senate committee, or how much funding can be spent in their jurisdiction.  If both the House and Senate pass identical Budget Resolutions (which do not require a Presidential signature), both chambers can begin work on the Reconciliation bill that is signed by the President.  According to an analysis of research from the Congressional Research Service, reconciliation bills has been passed by the Senate on a bipartisan basis 17 times in recent years, including to pass the bipartisan Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 1997.

“Congress has a responsibility to quickly deliver immediate comprehensive relief to the American people hurting from COVID-19,” said Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer.  “The cost of inaction is high and growing, and the time for decisive action is now.  With this budget resolution, the Democratic Congress is paving the way for the landmark Biden-Harris coronavirus package that will crush the virus and deliver real relief to families and communities in need.  We are hopeful that Republicans will work in a bipartisan manner to support assistance for their communities, but the American people cannot afford any more delays and the Congress must act to prevent more needless suffering.”

***

Specifically, the Joint Budget Resolution Speaker Pelosi and Leader Schumer filed offers instructions to the relevant Congressional Committees to provide relief including but not limited to:

  • Immediate relief for individuals and families throughout 2021 including $1,400 per-person and per-child direct payments, an extension of Unemployment Insurance programs through September 2021 with a $400/week federal enhancement and $350 billion in critical state, local, Tribal and territorial fiscal relief.  The resolution will also provide funds to greatly increase health care coverage to Americans that have lost it through no fault of their own during the pandemic.
  • Funding to help defeat the coronavirus including through support for vaccines, testing and public health programs.  It also includes funding to help K-12 schools safely re-open and provides crucial support for the child care system.
  • Relief funds for the millions of Americans struggling to make rent and mortgage payments, as well as those experiencing homelessness.  The resolution also includes funding for transit agencies deeply impacted by the pandemic and support for the use of the Defense Production Act to expand domestic production of supplies critical to beating the coronavirus.
  • Additional relief for our nation’s small businesses and hard-hit industries through increased funding for EIDL Advance grants, the creation of a dedicated grant relief program for restaurants, expanded PPP assistance for nonprofits and digital media services, more funds for Save Our Stages grants to independent live venues, independent movie theaters and cultural institutions and new community navigator technical assistance to help connect underserved communities with critical resources.
  • Funding for crucial investments in broadband and distance learning and relief for Amtrak and the aviation sector struggling with declining revenues and volumes due to COVID-19.
  • Funding for the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund to ramp up the President’s national vaccination program and provide flexible, targeted assistance to state, local, Tribal, territorial and the District of Columbia governments, as well as those individuals hit hardest by the pandemic.
  • Support for hungry families through programs like SNAP, WIC and Pandemic-EBT.  This also includes critical funding for the food supply chain and the Agriculture Department’s lending and financial assistance programs to support farmers across the country.
  • Health care and other support to meet the needs of veterans during the coronavirus pandemic.  These funds will support vaccine distribution, expanded mental health care, enhanced telehealth capabilities, extended support for veterans who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless, PPE and supplies for clinical employees, and improved supply chain management.
  • Critical funding for the Indian Health Service, Administration for Native Americans, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Indian Education and Native American housing programs to maintain essential health, education and social services and mitigate the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Native communities.
  • Funding to the Economic Development Administration and environmental justice grants to help low-income, minority communities who have been hardest hit by COVID.
  • Funding for critical programs to aid in the global response to and recovery from the pandemic.  These instructions include significant funding for humanitarian assistance and Global Health programs.

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Nasdaq soars as Apple, Microsoft lead gains

Shares on the major stock market indexes in the United States extended gains on Monday with Nasdaq 100 rising more than 340 points led mostly by strong performances of tech behemoths Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corporation. All eyes were still on the COVID-19 relief package talks scheduled between US President Joe Biden and the Republican senators, as White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki expressed optimism that the stimulus can be both large enough to help the economy exit the crisis, and accepted by both the Democratic party and the GOP. The Nasdaq 100 surged 2.66% or 343 points at 1:09 pm ET, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average concurrently jumped 0.81% or 239 points. A minute later, the S&P 500 soared 1.60%. The euro plunged 0.57% versus the dollar, selling for 1.20661 at 1:12 pm ET.