Tag: hints

Categories
Health

New Covid research hints at long-term lack of mind tissue, Dr. Scott Gottlieb warns

U.S. potentially facing ‘perpetual infection’ of Covid, says Gottlieb

Dr. Scott Gottlieb warned on Thursday of the potential for long-term brain loss related to Covid, citing a new study from the UK.

“In short, the study suggests that there could be long-term loss of brain tissue from Covid, and that would have some long-term consequences,” said the former FDA chief and CNBC employee.

“You could compensate for that over time, so the symptoms of it may go away, but you will never get the tissue back if the virus actually destroys it,” said Gottlieb, serving on the board of Covid vaccine maker Pfizer.

The UK study looked at brain imaging before and after coronavirus infection, specifically looking at the potential effects on the nervous system.

Gottlieb told CNBC’s “The News with Shepard Smith” that the destruction of brain tissue could explain why Covid patients have lost their sense of smell.

“The decrease in the amount of cortical tissue happened by chance in regions of the brain that are near the places responsible for the odor,” he said. “What it suggests is that the odor, the loss of smell, is just an effect of a more primary process that is going on, and that process is actually the shrinking of the cortical tissue.”

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC employee and a member of the board of directors of Pfizer, genetic testing startup Tempus, health technology company Aetion Inc., and biotechnology company Illumina.

Categories
Business

In Hong Kong, Brief-Lived Censorship Hints at a Deeper Standoff

In Hong Kong, Short-Lived Censorship Hints at a Deeper Standoff

The Mr. Law, 27, said he and other activists had set up the site from outside Hong Kong. A New York Times check on the digital route taken by traffic to the site showed that it was hosted by servers in the United States.

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Mr. Law said he had gone back and forth with a representative at Wix since Monday, when the site first disappeared. At the time, the company told him that there was a legal takedown request and that the site was in violation of the company’s terms of service. Later, the company sent Mr. Law the letter from the Hong Kong police, which said the site was a threat to national security.

The site contains a letter, addressed to Hong Kongers who have fled the city, that calls for them to unite in striving for democracy in the city. It also calls for the repeal of the national security law, urges the reform of policing in Hong Kong and criticizes the authoritarian rule of China by the Chinese Communist Party.

“We strive for Hong Kong’s democratic transformation, to realize the freedom, autonomy and democracy that were promised to Hong Kong,” reads a part of the letter. Visitors to the site can sign onto the document, called the “2021 Hong Kong Charter.”

Mr. Law said the website did not encourage violence. “It does not do anything that would be considered illegitimate in liberal countries, but the government can always quote the national security law” to rule that a site is illegal, he said.

“So yes indeed, we will face more similar events in the future,” he added.

In January, Hong Kong’s biggest mobile telecom companies severed access to a local Hong Kong website that listed the personal information of police officers. The move heightened long-held fears that censorship rules as strict as China’s could be ushered into Hong Kong in the coming years.

This week, authorities said they would soon require residents to use their real identity when purchasing cellular services. A similar system in China helped regulators end online anonymity and empowered a force of internet police officers who question and sometimes jail the most outspoken.

Categories
Health

A brand new research hints at a purpose the J.&J. and AstraZeneca vaccines could trigger blood clots in uncommon circumstances.

A new study hints at a reason the J.&J. and AstraZeneca vaccines may cause blood clots in rare cases.

An advisory group from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended that the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine hiatus be lifted for all adults while also putting up a warning sign about a rare but dangerous blood clot disorder. However, a central mystery remains: how could a vaccine given to nearly eight million people cause the side effect in just a few of them?

There’s no clear answer yet, but Dr. Andreas Greinacher, a researcher at the University Medical Center Greifswald in Germany, leads an attempt to find out. Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, he said he had an agreement with Johnson & Johnson to study the components of the vaccine to see if it could interfere with normal blood clotting under certain rare conditions.

“We just agreed that we’d like to work together,” he said.

It is possible, said Dr. Greinacher that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine can cause rare side effects through the same process that he suspects is responsible for similar side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The main component of both vaccines are harmless viruses called adenoviruses, which invade human cells and deliver a coronavirus gene that later triggers an immune response.

On Tuesday, Dr. Greinacher and his colleagues published a report on how the AstraZeneca vaccines can trigger the side effect. The study has not yet been published in a scientific journal.

The scientists found that components of the AstraZeneca vaccine can adhere to a protein that releases platelets when blood clots form. These lumps of molecules could be viewed by the body as foreign invaders, the scientists speculated, triggering a cascade of reactions that turn platelets into dangerous clots.

Dr. Paul A. Offit, a vaccines expert at Philadelphia Children’s Hospital who was not involved in the study, found Dr. Greinacher fascinating, but far from the final word. “It throws a lot of opportunities,” he said.

Dr. Offit said it was not clear which of the many factors the researchers looked at could explain the rare blood clots in people vaccinated with AstraZeneca’s doses. “It’s like taking a sip from a fire hose,” he said.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Dr. Greinacher said the research could reveal ways the AstraZeneca vaccine can lower the risk of blood clots or treat the side effects. However, he stressed that the small risk of these side effects was outweighed by the protection that vaccines like AstraZeneca offer against Covid-19.

“Not being vaccinated is far more dangerous than being vaccinated and at risk for this adverse drug reaction,” he said.

Categories
World News

Traders search for hints of inflation in earnings within the week forward

5 things to know before the stock market opens Thursday, April 1

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Source: CNBC

The outcome will be the focus of attention for investors in the week ahead as they know if rising costs are pushing margins and signaling an increase in inflationary pressures.

From Coca-Cola and IBM to Johnson & Johnson to Netflix, investors will hear about a wide range of companies in America.

After a week, companies have outperformed earnings estimates by more than 84%, according to Refinitiv.

This three-month period is the first to be compared to last year’s profits that were hit by the pandemic. Earnings growth for the S&P 500 is an impressive 30.2% this quarter based on actual reports and estimates.

According to FactSet, this is the best three-month period since the third quarter of 2010.

Signs of margin pressure?

Big banks like JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America reported better-than-expected earnings last week.

The S&P 500 ended the week at a record high of 4,185, up 1.4%. The Dow, which was up a fourth week, rose 1.2 to end the week on a record 34,200. Nasdaq was up 1.1% that week to hit 14,052.

Utilities were the top performing large S&P sector, up 3.7%, followed by materials, up 3.2%, and healthcare, up 2.9%. The technology gained 1%. Financials rose 0.7% while industrials rose 0.6%.

Lori Calvasina, head of US equity strategy at RBC, said she was watching next week’s earnings for signs of margin pressure from higher commodity prices, supply chain issues and other cost factors.

“These big forces that are currently threatening margins don’t really apply to financial stocks. They apply more to industrial companies, materials companies and consumer companies,” she said.

“In my opinion [sectors] How the industrials give you color on the edges, “added Calvasina.” Edges really are the big question mark for the future. I definitely watch and listen to what companies are going to say about taxes. “

President Joe Biden has proposed raising corporate taxes from 21% to 28% to help pay for his infrastructure plan.

While the fate of the tax hike is not yet clear, the rise in other costs is evident. Fuel costs have risen sharply since the beginning of the year, with oil prices up 30%. Sawn timber prices on the futures market are at an all-time high and copper futures have risen by around 17% since the beginning of the year.

According to Calvasina, companies face headwinds and tailwinds.

“Companies say we’ve found new ways to cut costs. When revenues come back, margins will skyrocket,” she said. “Some of the costs associated with Covid will come down. These are some of the positives.”

But not every company will see these benefits. “We could begin to see wage pressure again. Rising raw material costs – rise in the PPI and rise in the CPI – these are negative effects on margins,” said Calvasina, referring to the producer and consumer price indices.

Looking for evidence of inflation

Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, said he was also watching the margin comments carefully for effects on individual stocks, but also what they say in general about inflation infiltration into the economy.

“The most interesting thing about the result is the profit margins. Some companies will be under pressure because they will see price increases and others not because they can pass it on,” said Boockvar.

He said he would be very careful to see if the semiconductor shortage shows up in tech companies’ earnings. The automakers have already scored a hit and scaled back production due to the lack of chips.

The March CPI showed headline inflation rising to 2.6% yoy. A 9.1% increase in gasoline prices contributed to earnings.

Some of the inflation gains this spring are likely to be temporary as they have been compared to the very low levels seen last year when the economy closed.

Aside from the receipts, the week should be pretty quiet. Federal Reserve spokesmen have paused and are on a lockdown before the meeting in late April.

“It’s really going to be a shift in focus to earnings and the inflation story,” said Boockvar.

Economic recovery

Last week, economic reports underscored how strong economic momentum could be in the second quarter. Retail sales rose nearly 10% in March and jobless claims were the lowest of the recovery.

Aside from Friday’s manufacturing and services PMI data, little data is in for the coming week. However, following Thursday’s report of 576,000 new claims, markets will be keeping a close eye on unemployment – the lowest level since the pandemic began.

“The sharp decline in claims suggests that job separation rates may normalize, a good sign for April payroll,” say Barclays economists. Surprisingly, 916,000 jobs were created in March, and economists have announced that they are now expecting a series of reports that show the workforce has increased by 1 million or more.

However, Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont, says it may be too early to read too much into damage data, and next week’s report will be important.

He said the decline in claims was due to sharp declines in a number of states, including more than half in California and even larger percentage declines in Kentucky and Virginia.

“Unfortunately, I have no confidence that these steps will not be at least partially reversed next week,” he wrote. “The ongoing claims in the special pandemic programs continue to fluctuate up and down each week, with the most recent reading for the period ending March 27 being a down week.”

Watch bonds

Stock investors will also watch the bond market, where yields fell over the past week and then reversed. The 10-year treasury was at 1.59% on Friday after falling sharply on Thursday.

Returns move against price, and the 10-year maturity is the most commonly observed bond security because it affects mortgage rates and other loans.

“The 10-year mark is now trading in the 1.50% to 1.75% range,” said Boockvar.

“It will break under if inflation is temporary and it will break over if it turns out to be different,” he added. “I think we priced in the latest inflation statistics and then we’ll take into account what the real world is saying about corporations.”

Calendar for the week ahead

Monday

Merits: Coca-Cola, IBM, United Airlines, Zions Bancorp, FNB, Steel Dynamics

Tuesday

Merits: Johnson & Johnson, Travelers, Procter and Gamble, Netflix, Abbott Labs, CSX, Lockheed Martin, Intuitive Surgery, Tenet Healthcare, Philip Morris, Northern Trust, Fifth Third, KeyCorp, Comerica

Wednesday

Merits: Verizon, Chipotle, Whirlpool, Nasdaq, Baker Hughes, Anthem, Netgear, Spirit Airlines, Canadian Pacific Railway, Lam Research, Discover Financial, SLM, Halliburton, Knight-Swift Transportation

Thursday

Merits: AT&T, Intel, DR. Horton, American Airlines, Union Pacific, Alaska Air, Pentair, Tractor Supply, Celanese, Seagate Technology Biogen, Dow, Credit Suisse, SAP, Boston Beer, Mattel, Snap, Valero Energy, Freeport-McMoRan, Quest Diagnostics

7.45 a.m. Interest rate decision by the European Central Bank

8:30 am Initial jobless claims

10:00 am Existing home sales

Friday

Merits: American Express, Honeywell, Daimler, Financial Regions, Schlumberger, Kimberly-Clark

9:45 am Manufacturing PMI

9:45 a.m. Services PMI

11:00 am Sale of new houses

Categories
Politics

Biden hints at a more durable stance towards state sponsors of cyberattacks

Biden hints at a tougher stance against state sponsors of cyberattacks

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden speaks to reporters as he announces additional candidates and candidates during a press conference at his interim headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware on December 11, 2020.

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WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday that the United States, under his leadership, would join forces with allies to “incur” significant costs “to opponents of cyberattacks such as the massive breach of US government agencies and corporations revealed earlier this month to impose.

“A good defense is not enough. We must first stop our opponents from carrying out significant cyber attacks,” said Biden in a statement from his transition team.

“We will do this by, among other things, imposing substantial costs on those responsible for such malicious attacks, also in coordination with our allies and partners. Our opponents should know that I, as President, will not remain idle cyber attacks on our nation.”

The statement is Biden’s first formal response as President-elect to news of the month-long cyber attack, which experts say bears the hallmarks of a state-sponsored Russian operation.

It also signals a possible shift towards a tougher stance on Russian cyberwar tactics than that of the current Trump administration.

Biden noted that his in-depth national security team had been briefed on the attacks by career officials at relevant government agencies.

On Wednesday evening, the three lead agencies responsible for investigating the attack and protecting the nation from cyber threats, the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, announced the formation of a joint venture Command to respond to what is known as a “major and ongoing cybersecurity campaign” against the United States.

“This is an evolving situation, and as we continue to work to understand the full scope of this campaign, we know that this compromise has affected networks within the federal government,” the agencies said in a joint statement.

Both government agencies and private companies affected by the attack are striving to gain a clearer picture of the full extent of the breach and the potential damage to US cyber infrastructure and critical information systems.

The initial investigation revealed that the breach was malicious code hidden in a software update from widely used IT management company SolarWinds. Russia has denied any involvement in the attack.

In a briefing with Congress officials earlier this week, CISA officials warned that the perpetrator of this attack was sophisticated and that it would take weeks, if not months, to determine the total number of agencies affected by the attack and the extent of sensitive data and information possibly compromised. “

The CISA warning was revealed in a letter the Democratic Committee Chairs in the House of Representatives sent Thursday to senior officials at the FBI, CISA and ODNI for more details about the attack.

This timeline suggests that it will be Biden, not the outgoing President Donald Trump, who will ultimately be responsible for determining what retaliation, if any, is warranted against those behind the attacks. Biden will take office on January 20th.

Trump has yet to respond personally to the latest attack. White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said Tuesday that the government is “looking at this closely”.

But Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney, a frequent Trump critic, described the White House’s lukewarm response to the attack as “inexcusable.”

Trump has had an unusually cordial relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his four-year tenure, despite repeated attempts by the Kremlin to undermine US elections and democratic processes and its cyberwar campaign.