Week of Oct 9, 2020 Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
The degree of risk present in a market derives from the behavior of the participants, not from securities, strategies, and institutions. — Howard Marks
1. Trump Returns to White House — President Donald Trump left Walter Reed Medical Center early last week and returned to the White House, where he will continue to be attended by physicians around the clock. The president continues to receive dexamethasone, the steroid that has shown to provide significant benefit to patients with severe cases of Covid-19. Trump received his fourth dose of the antiviral remdesivir before leaving and will receive his fifth and final dose outside the hospital.
2. Schools in New York City Hot Spots Will Close — with Covid-19 infections rising in some New York City neighborhoods, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday that schools in several parts of Brooklyn and Queens would shutter in-person classes on Tuesday and move to fully remote instruction. The governor’s decision applies to nine of the city’s 146 ZIP Codes in parts of Far Rockaway and Kew Gardens in Queens, and Borough Park, Midwood, Gravesend, Bensonhurst, and Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn. Gov. Cuomo also said that the state would start enforcing mask orders with fines, one of a number of items where he and the mayor appear to disagree.
3. Apple Expected to Unveil 5G Phones Next Week — Apple said that it would host a virtual event live from its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters on Tuesday, Oct. 12. The company didn’t say what precisely the event would focus on, but it is widely expected to roll out new 5G phones. Some analysts are calling the soon-to-be unveiled generation of Apple phones the iPhone 12, but the company might not stick with its numbering system. The new iPhone lineup is expected to include a 5.4-inch iPhone, a 6.1-inch iPhone Max, a 6.1-inch iPhone Pro, and a 6.7-inch iPhone Pro Max.
4. Judges Rule That Manhattan D.A. Can Obtain Trump Tax Records — Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance can enforce a subpoena for President Donald Trump’s personal and business tax returns, according to a unanimous ruling from a three-judge appeal panel. The district attorney’s subpoena covers not just Trump’s personal and corporate tax records, but also communication he had with his accounting firm, Mazars. Early this summer, the Supreme Court rejected the president’s claim that he should have immunity from criminal investigation but left the door open for him to continue his fight against the wide scope and possible relevance of the documents covered by the subpoena.
5. Trump Raises Coronavirus Stimulus Offer to $1.8 Trillion — the White House will increase its coronavirus stimulus offer to $1.8 trillion, about $400 billion less than the $2.2 trillion bill Democrats previously passed. The plan would mark an increase from the $1.6 trillion the Trump administration previously proposed. House Democrats passed a $2.2 trillion bill earlier this month, and the sides have struggled to find a consensus in between those figures.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
