“One of the great sayings about poker is that “in every game there’s a fish. If you’ve played for 45 minutes and haven’t figured out who the fish is, then it’s you.” The same is certainly true of inefficient market investing.” ― Howard Marks

1. J&J Vaccine a Step Closer to Authorization — the FDA is currently considering the company’s application for emergency-use authorization for the vaccine, which would be the third Covid-19 vaccine to receive FDA authorization. Efficacy against moderate to severe Covid-19 was 66.1% after 28 days, but efficacy against severe Covid-19 was far better, at 85.4% after 28 days. What’s more, across the entire study, there were only two cases of Covid-19 hospitalization in the vaccine group, and none after 28 days, compared with 29 cases in the placebo group. There were no Covid-19-related deaths in the vaccine group, compared with seven in the placebo group.
2. Moderna Says Covid-19 Vaccine for South Africa Strain Is Ready for Human Testing — Moderna said it shipped the new shots to the National Institutes of Health to conduct the first human study of the variant vaccine, which could start within weeks. The new vaccine, code-named mRNA-1273.351, is designed to better match the virus variant that was first identified in South Africa but has since spread elsewhere. Other companies including Pfizer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson have said they are tweaking their vaccines or working on boosters that better match variants. Older vaccines don’t appear to work as well against the strain first identified in South Africa, and difficult new strains could also emerge.
3. Ten-year Treasury Yields Reach the Highest In a Year — ten-year Treasury yields spiked after tepid demand at an auction for government bonds, surging as much as 23 basis points to 1.6%, the highest since last February. The increase forced a crucial group of investors such as holders of mortgage securities to sell Treasuries, which in turn led to further increases in yields. The 10-year U.S. yield adjusted for inflation rose to its highest level since June, a warning sign for riskier assets that have benefited from exceptionally loose financial conditions amid the pandemic.
4. J&J’s One-Shot Covid Vaccine Receives FDA Advisers’ Backing — experts advising the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted 22-0, with no abstentions, that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh its risks in adults 18 and older, a decision that could help bolster the vaccine supply as new variants continue to spread. The J&J shot is highly anticipated because it can be kept in a refrigerator for three months, an advantage over the mRNA vaccines that must be frozen when stored for longer periods, and its single-shot regime. Overall, the rate of side effects was low. However, there were more cases of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in people who got the vaccine compared to the placebo group, said Yosefa Hefter, a medical officer in FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.
5. Senate Democrats to Drop Minimum Wage From Relief Package — Senate Democrats will drop a plan to introduce an amendment to the Senate stimulus bill that would have used tax penalties and incentives to raise wages for the lowest-paid workers at big companies. Lawmakers are aiming to the pass the relief package before federal unemployment benefits run out on March 14. That was too tight of a time frame to try to use the tax code to raise wages, according to sources The Wall Street Journal spoke with.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: