海匯國際-發布海匯國際及全球最新金融資迅
LONDON — Japan’s National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) on Sunday said it had detected a new variant of the coronavirus in four travelers arriving from Brazil.
The newly-discovered mutant strain of Covid-19 was found to share some of the mutations in common with those of concern for increased infectivity, the institute said, referring to highly infectious strains recently discovered in the U.K. and South Africa.
However, at this time any information about the new variant is limited to its genetic make-up, the NIID said. The institute added it is difficult to immediately determine how infectious the new strain is and the effectiveness of vaccines against it.
The World Health Organization has been contacted by CNBC to confirm whether it has been informed about the new mutant strain of the virus. The United Nations health agency was not immediately available to respond on Monday morning.
Japan’s identification of a new variant of the virus comes as countries scramble to contain two other contagious variants that have emerged in the U.K. and South Africa. Public health experts have expressed concern the new strains could pose a threat to inoculation efforts.
Four people died amid the riot at the U.S. Capitol building, Washington, D.C., Police Chief Robert Contee said Wednesday, after a horde of supporters of President Donald Trump sought to prevent the confirmation of Joe Biden’s electoral victory.
The deaths included a woman who was shot, as well as one other woman and two men who died from 「medical emergencies,」 said Contee, who spoke at a press conference Wednesday evening.
The chief said the internal affairs division is investigating the shooting. Contee said they are still determining exact details of the three other deaths.
At least fourteen police officers sustained injuries with multiple still in the hospital, Contee said. One officer had serious injuries from being pulled into a crowd where he was assaulted, he added.
「This is a tragic incident and I send my condolences to the victims』 family and friends,」 Contee said.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser announced a curfew of 6 p.m. Wednesday through 6 a.m. Thursday. The mayor also declared an extension of a 「public emergency」 for the next 15 days, which would go through inauguration day.
Viruses mutate all the time, so it’s no surprise that the coronavirus which emerged in China at the end of 2019 has undergone significant mutations as the virus replicates and spreads.
But a new strain that has emerged in South Africa is causing concern. Like a variant discovered in the U.K. in recent months, the one that in South Africa is proving to be far more transmissible.
While the two strains spread more easily, scientists do not believe they are deadlier. But being more transmissible means more people can get infected, and this could mean more serious infections and more fatalities.
Questions are now being raised over whether the coronavirus vaccines developed at breakneck speed in the last year, the Western frontrunners being those developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca will be effective against significant mutations of the virus, such as the one identified in South Africa.
While scientists believe the U.K. variant is not likely to affect the efficacy of the vaccines currently being rolled out in the West, there is more uncertainty regarding the other strain.
Experts are keen to point out that there’s still a lot we don’t know about the new strains, although they are being investigated, and they are urging people not to panic. Here’s what we know so far:
On Dec. 18, South Africa announced the detection of the mutation that was rapidly spreading in three provinces, becoming the dominant strain in Eastern Cape, Western Cape, and KwaZulu-Natal provinces.
South Africa named the variant 「501Y.V2」 because of the N501Y mutation they found in the spike protein that the virus uses to gain entry into cells within the body. This mutation, among others, was also found in the new strain that the U.K. identified in December (but estimated to have been in circulation since September) with both regarded as increasing the transmissibility of the virus, making it spread more efficiently.
With authorities in the U.K. and South Africa alerting the World Health Organization to the new mutations in December, the WHO noted that while both variants found in the U.K. and South Africa shared the N501Y mutation, they are different.
The variant in South Africa carries two other mutations in the spike protein (E484K and K417N, among others) which are not present in the U.K. strain, named 「VOC-202012/01,」 with VOC standing for 「Variant of Concern.」 Experts said the mutations could affect how vaccines against Covid work.
Some experts are worried about the South Africa variant, now more widely known as 「501.V2.」 So far, it has only been found in a handful of cases, WHO noted Tuesday, albeit in an increasing number of countries including the U.K., France, Switzerland, Japan, Austria and Zambia.
Multiple countries have banned flights from South Africa and the U.K. as a result of the new strains in a bid to stop their spread.
Earlier this week, U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the variant found in South Africa was especially concerning. 「I’m incredibly worried about the South African variant, and that’s why we took the action that we did to restrict all flights from South Africa,」 he told the BBC’s 「Today」 program Monday.
「This is a very, very significant problem, ... and it’s even more of a problem than the U.K. new variant,」 he said without explanation.
On Tuesday, former U.S. FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb warned that vaccinating Americans against Covid is more critical than ever, especially as the variant in South Africa appears to inhibit antibody drugs, and is spreading elsewhere.
「The South Africa variant is very concerning right now because it does appear that it may obviate some of our medical countermeasures, particularly the antibody drugs,」 Gottlieb told CNBC’s 「The News with Shepard Smith」 on Tuesday.
Wall Street on Monday labored through a tough day to open the new trading year, which prompted CNBC’s Jim Cramer to break down the top investing themes he』ll be watching in 2021.
Investors should keep secular trends in mind because they are the best ways to approach a marketwide sell-off, the 「Mad Money」 host said after the major averages all closed down more than 1%.
「I always fall back on themes. That’s the best way to approach a sell-off, like we had today,」 he said. 「Themes are very useful if you』ve got some cash stockpiled after last year’s remarkable run.」
After wrapping up 2020 at or near all-time highs, the three averages declined sharply to open 2021. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell almost 383 points, or 1.25%, to 30,223.89. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite both dropped almost 1.5%, settling at 3,700.65 and 12,698.45, respectively.
Cramer said a mixture of the looming federal elections in Georgia to decide power in the Senate, profit-taking, uncertainty in Washington and a troubled coronavirus vaccine rollout in the U.S. contributed to Monday’s marketwide decline.
The decline, he suggests, created discounts in some stocks that investors can take advantage of.
「It’s these long-term themes that work the best. You can buy them tomorrow and then you can buy some more if they get knocked around the next day, and the next,」 Cramer said. 「The great thing about these theme stocks is they all do get cheaper as they go lower.」
Below are 10 themes and companies Cramer recommended investors to watch:
Bitcoin is pulling back from its record highs. The cryptocurrency briefly dipped below $30,000 Monday, just two days after breaching that level for the first time.
The price of bitcoin rallied to a fresh all-time high over the weekend, topping the $34,000 mark. That move was followed by a surge in smaller cryptocurrencies such as ether, which passed the $1,000 mark for the first time since February 2018.
Bitcoin slumped as low as $29,316 at around 5:40 a.m. ET Monday, falling 12% in the last 24 hours. It later lifted back above the $30,000 level, paring losses to trade at around $31,861, but still down over 5%.
「The most likely explanation for a pullback is short term profit taking by traders, rather than long term investors,」 Jason Deane, an analyst at crypto advisory firm Quantum Economics, told CNBC by email. 「Given the current sentiment and appetite for Bitcoin, it seems likely that any correction will be short lived.」
(This story is for CNBC PRO subscribers only.)
Only one U.S. tech stock has outperformed Zoom this year, and there’s a good chance you』ve never heard of it.
Shares of Digital Turbine, a 22-year-old mobile phone software provider based in Austin, Texas, have climbed 573% in 2020, topping Zoom’s 487% gain, as of Tuesday’s close. The company’s market cap started the year at a little over $600 million. It’s now $4.3 billion.
Here’s how Digital Turbine’s business works. The company’s software gets pre-loaded onto Android phones sold by carriers like AT&T and Verizon. Developers such as game makers, digital music companies and even restaurants pay Digital Turbine for slots on the phone so their apps are automatically available to the consumer upon activation. Digital Turbine gets paid an average of about $3 per phone sold and remits $1.80, or 60% of the transaction, to the carrier.
Dozens of people in West Virginia were mistakenly given Regeneron’s Covid-19 antibody treatment instead of the Moderna vaccine, the West Virginia National Guard announced Thursday.
The state’s National Guard said 42 people received the treatment, which is given intravenously, at a vaccination clinic staffed by the Boone County Health Department. The National Guard said it learned of the error on Wednesday.
Everyone who received the antibody treatment instead of the vaccine, which is given via a shot in the arm, have been contacted, Julie Miller, an administrator for the Boone County Health Department, told CNBC by email. She added that 「we do not believe there is any risk of harm.」
Morgan Stanley will repay $1.7 million to customers who paid high costs on investments earmarked for education expenses like college tuition.
The brokerage firm is paying the sum, including nearly $1.5 million in restitution plus interest, to about 2,300 customers who are saving money in 529 plans, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced Wednesday.
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Savings is these tax-advantaged accounts can be used to pay for college, K-12 tuition and other expenses related to a beneficiary’s education.
FINRA, a private self-regulatory organization for the financial industry, has been cracking down on brokers for selling funds with excessive fees to those saving in 529 accounts, which can cost investors thousands of dollars over the long term.
The watchdog launched a 「share class initiative」 last year asking firms to self-report high fees and repay customers who』d been harmed. Those who voluntarily report a rule violation and repay harmed customers can escape a fine.
Morgan Stanley self-reported the error and neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing.
「We are pleased to have resolved this matter,」 said Susan Siering, a spokeswoman for the firm.
FINRA said that between 2013 and 2018, Morgan Stanley didn’t adequately supervise brokers』 529-plan recommendations. Some customers were placed in Class C investment funds, which often carry higher annual fees and cost more over the long term than Class A funds, the regulator said.
A $10,000 investment in Class C shares would be worth $1,500 less than the same investment in a Class A share after nearly two decades, according to FINRA.
「The purpose of the 529 initiative is to remedy potential supervisory and suitability violations related to 529 plan share-class recommendations, and to return money to harmed investors as quickly and efficiently as possible,」 said Jessica Hopper, head of the regulator’s enforcement department.
out bugs, including with the Apple Card, which was released last year. In the internal message, the bank warned employees against sharing details of its latest project, calling it confidential and voluntary.
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