Week of Mar 18, 2021 Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
“How? Try to travel into the future and look back. In 2023, do you think you’re more likely to say, “Back in 2018, I wish I’d been more aggressive” or “Back in 2018, I wish I’d been more defensive”? And is there anything today about which you’d be likely to say, “In 2018, I missed the chance of a lifetime to buy xyz”? What you think you might say a few years down the road can help you figure out what you should do today. ― Howard Marks
1. Germany Suspends Use of AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine — Germany said it is temporarily stopping the administration of Covid-19 vaccines made by AstraZeneca. The Netherlands, Ireland and northern Italy became the latest places to temporarily halt the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine—which was developed with the University of Oxford and has been given to more than 17 million people in Europe—as concerns grow about its safety and effectiveness. Reports of blood clots in people who took the AstraZeneca vaccine have caused several countries—including the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark, Austria, Estonia, Lithuania, Norway, Iceland, Bulgaria, Thailand—to stop or suspend its use. South Africa switched to the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after trials showed the AstraZeneca formula was less effective there.
2. Biden Looks for Ways to Finance Infrastructure, Push Economic Growth — Growing concerns about the U.S.’s rising deficit mean President Joe Biden will need to consider other financing options for future economic proposals—including his infrastructure spending package—like raising taxes. Biden is planning a tax increase that could raise both the corporate tax rate and the individual tax rate for people earning more than $400,000 a year, Bloomberg News reported. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday that the administration “will be putting forth proposals to get deficits under control.”
3. Fed Holds Steady on Interest Rates and Bond Purchases — The Fed said Wednesday that it would keep current policy unchanged but increased its forecasts for economic growth, prompting more officials to predict rate increases in 2023. In response to a question about winding down the central bank’s bond-buying program, Powell said that it is “not yet” time to start considering tapering its purchases. The central bank said in its latest statement that it would keep rates steady near zero, and reiterated it would keep buying $120 billion of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities until “substantial further progress” is made toward the central bank’s goals of maximum employment
4. World-Wide Streaming Subscriptions Pass One Billion During Pandemic — The number of subscriptions to online video streaming services around the world reached 1.1 billion in 2020, according to data released by the Motion Picture Association. Meanwhile, global box-office revenues plunged by more than $30 billion in the year to $12 billion, as movie theaters were shut in the U.S. and in other parts of the world, according to the association. As new streaming services enter the U.S. market— Comcast Corp.and ViacomCBS Inc. have also launched platforms— Amazon. and AT&T Inc.’s HBO Max are following in Disney and Netflix’s footsteps by ramping up efforts to boost their share of international markets.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
