Week of Dec 25, 2021 Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
“You only learn who has been swimming naked when the tide goes out.” — Warren Buffett
1. Turkey Rolls Out Economic Rescue Plan, Reversing Lira’s Spiral — Turkey’s currency mounted a dramatic, partial reversal from a monthslong collapse after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a rescue plan to encourage Turks to put their money back into the lira. Economists and investors said the plan was a risky strategy to stabilize the currency, one that will use government funds to motivate investments in the lira. The government also hasn’t specified how it will pay for the new policy over the long term and some fear the effort will require heavy government borrowing or de facto money printing from the central bank.
2. Biden Administration to Combat Omicron By Distributing 500 Million At-Home Covid-19 Test Kits — The Biden administration is preparing to distribute 500 million free at-home Covid-19 testing kits to Americans and deploy military doctors and nurses to overburdened hospitals this winter, as the Omicron variant becomes the dominant form of the virus in the U.S. His remarks came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Omicron had overtaken the Delta variant of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for an estimated 73% of infections for the week ending Dec. 18.
3. FDA Authorizes Pfizer Antiviral Pill to Fight Covid — The Food and Drug Administration authorized the Covid-19 antiviral pill from Pfizer , adding a new weapon against the pandemic as the Omicron wave crashes into the U.S. Pfizer ‘s (ticker: PFE) drug, called Paxlovid, decreased the risk of hospitalization and death in a trial of unvaccinated, high-risk adults by 89% when taken within three days of when symptoms began. The FDA said that the pill was authorized for treatment of mild-to-moderate Covid-19 in adults and children aged 12 and up at high risk for progressing to severe Covid-19. The drug is not authorized for post-exposure prevention, or in people who are hospitalized, and treatment must be started within five days of when symptoms begin.
4. Omicron Starts to Slow U.S. Economy as Consumer Spending Flags — signs are mounting that the U.S. economy is losing some steam as the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 virus spreads rapidly through parts of the country. The number of diners seated at restaurants nationwide was down 15% in the week ended Dec. 22 from the same period in 2019, a steeper decline than in late November, data from reservations site OpenTable show. U.S. hotel occupancy was at 53.8% for the week ended Dec. 18, slightly below the previous week’s level, according to STR, a global hospitality data and analytics company.
Rising case numbers are leading many businesses to close for a short period, entertainment venues to cancel shows, universities to shift classes online and offices to delay or reverse reopening plans.