“Achieving gains usually has something to do with being right about events that are on the come, whereas losses can be minimized by ascertaining that tangible value is present, the herd’s expectations are moderate and prices are low. My experience tells me the latter can be done with greater consistency. ― Howard Marks

1. Omicron Sub-Variant May Cause New Surge of Infections in Current Wave – a sub-variant of the omicron coronavirus strain, known as BA.2, is spreading rapidly in South Africa and may cause a second surge of infections in the current wave, one of the country’s top scientists said. BA.2 is causing concern as studies show that it appears to be more transmissible than the original omicron strain, the discovery of which was announced by South Africa and Botswana in November.
Research also shows that getting a mild infection with either of the two strains may not give a robust enough immune response to protect against another omicron infection. There’s no indication that the sub-variant causes more severe disease from infection surges seen in Denmark and the U.K.
2. Meta Faces Historic Stock Rout After Facebook Growth Stalled — the catalyst was startling news that for the first time ever, Facebook’s user growth seems to have hit a ceiling and its momentum is stalling. Thursday’s collapse wiped out more than $230 billion of market value in an instant — a figure unprecedented in stock-market history. Zuckerberg acknowledged that Meta is facing serious competition for user time and attention, particularly from viral video-sharing app TikTok. The report marks a dramatic turnaround for a company that has posted share gains in every year but one since its 2012 initial public offering, stoking concern that Meta Platforms’ flagship product and core advertising moneymaker has plateaued after years of consistent gains.
3. U.S. Covid-19 Hospitalizations Continue Tracking Downward — Hospitalizations for Covid-19 in the U.S. continued to fall, with the seven-day average of patients with confirmed or suspected cases easing to 134,000 last Wednesday, down 16% from a Jan. 20 high, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Deaths, a lagging indicator, are ticking upward, reaching a seven-day average of 2,530, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, though they are off the highs recorded in January last year. Public health experts say that while the more contagious Omicron variant of the virus is less likely to cause severe illness than previous variants, the large number of infections this winter means it is continuing to cause a large and growing number of fatalities.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com: