“What the wise man does in the beginning, the fool does in the end.” ― Howard Marks

1. AWS Chief Andy Jassy Named New Amazon CEO — CEO Jeff Bezos will be succeeded by Andy Jassy, who heads Amazon Web Services, the cloud-computing business. The company said Jassy will take over as CEO in the third quarter of this year. Bezos will stay with the company he founded as the board’s executive chair. Bezos said in a letter to employees that following the transition, he will focus on new products and early initiatives. He will also have more time with his personal endeavors, such as the nonprofit Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, his aerospace firm Blue Origin, and The Washington Post.
2. Democrats Set Stage to Move Forward on Stimulus Package Without GOP — Congressional Democrats took the first step toward passing their $1.9 trillion plan after President Joe Biden made it clear that he won’t settle for what he views as an insufficient Covid-19 stimulus package proposed by a group of 10 Senate Republicans earlier in the week. Democrats are moving forward with plans to pass their stimulus package using a budgetary process called reconciliation. The Senate passed a budget resolution on morning for President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion aid package, setting up the bill to be passed by a simple majority in the upper chamber. The votes to advance the resolution were split along party lines, with Vice President Kamala Harris breaking the tie. The resolution now goes to the Democrat-controlled House. Separately, a group of Congressional Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, on Thursday called on President Biden to cancel up to $50,000 in student loan debt by executive order. Biden has said he does not support an executive order canceling student debt. Instead, the White House reiterated Thursday that the president supports eliminating up to $10,000 per borrower in student debt through legislation passed by Congress.
3. Johnson & Johnson Seeks Emergency Authorization for Covid Vaccine — Johnson & Johnson said Thursday it submitted its vaccine to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization. J&J said it plans to distribute the vaccine to the U.S. government following authorization. It expects to supply 100 million doses to the U.S. in the first half of the year. Paul Stoffels, the company’s chief scientist, said in a news release that the company is prepared to begin shipping upon authorization. Last week, the company said its single-dose vaccine was 66% effective in preventing moderate to severe Covid-19. A Phase 3 trial of more than 43,000 participants showed it was 85% effective at preventing severe disease. It also prevented hospitalization and death from Covid-19 completely at 28 days following vaccination.
The 85% effective rate was consistent even in South Africa, where a new strain of Covid-19 has worried experts.
4. Europe Moving Toward Vaccine Passport Scheme — a few European Union countries have taken steps to distribute special passes to allow citizens inoculated against the coronavirus to travel freely. Others, such as the U.K., are considering such a measure. Denmark said Wednesday it would go ahead and develop by the end of the month a digital Covid passport that would help its citizens travel to countries requiring a vaccination, and also allow them to visit restaurants or attend mass events. Sweden also announced this week that it would launch such a pass in time for the summer season, if some form of international standard is in place by then. According to the Times of London, the U.K.’s Foreign Office and the ministries of Transport and Health are preparing a certification system that would allow vaccinated British tourists to travel abroad this summer.
Other European countries such as France and Germany have voiced their concerns about the so-called vaccine passport, on the grounds that it would mean special treatment for a privileged class of citizens—notably to the detriment of the younger population.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: