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SEC pushes urgent plan that could delist Chinese companies

InternationalNov 19. 2020Transaction figures are displayed on a screen at the gala event for Alibaba’s annual November 11 Singles’ Day online shopping event in Hangzhou, China, on Nov. 12, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Qilai Shen 

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Robert Schmidt, Ben Bain · NATIONAL, BUSINESS

The Securities and Exchange Commission is pushing ahead with a plan that threatens to kick Chinese companies off U.S. stock exchanges, setting up a late clash between Washington and Beijing as the Trump administration winds down.

By the end of this year, the SEC intends to propose a regulation that would lead to the delisting of companies for not complying with U.S. auditing rules, according to people familiar with the matter.

Agency officials have been moving quickly on a rule since August, when the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets — a regulatory council whose members include SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin — urged the regulator to pass restrictions that could take effect as soon as 2022, said the people who asked not to be named in discussing private deliberations.

The move is unusual because most agencies stop issuing major new policies after a presidential election, especially when a new party is taking power. It’s unlikely the rule will be finalized before President Donald Trump’s term ends on Jan. 20. Clayton, who plans to step down by the end of the year, will also be gone before any regulation is finished. That would leave completing it to an SEC chief picked by President-elect Joe Biden.

The Nasdaq Golden Dragon China Index fell 0.9% Tuesday, compared with a 0.5% drop for the benchmark S&P 500 index. The gauge, which tracks Chinese companies listed in the U.S., closed at a record high at the end of last week. China’s main stock index was little changed on Wednesday.

At issue is the problem that has vexed U.S. regulators for more than a decade: China’s refusal to let inspectors from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board review audits of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., Baidu Inc. and other firms that trade on American markets. It has gained added urgency due to rising tensions between the two countries and following this year’s high-profile accounting scandal at Luckin Coffee Inc.

By pushing through a vote, Clayton would force the SEC’s Republican and Democratic commissioners — all of whom have years left on their terms — to go on record in stating whether they support tougher rules for Chinese companies. Issuing a proposal also requires the SEC to seek public comment and investor advocates would be expected to flood the agency with letters backing Clayton’s plan.

Plus, unlike many policies in this era of heightened partisanship, cracking down on China appeals to both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill. In May, the U.S. Senate approved a bill without opposition that directs the SEC to start the process of delisting Chinese companies whose audits aren’t inspected by American regulators. All of these factors could put pressure on Clayton’s Democratic successor.

The SEC declined to comment on the rulemaking plan.

Fang Xinghai, the vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, sounded a positive note on resolving the issue at a panel discussion earlier this week, saying it’s important to ensure that Chinese companies have access to international capital markets.

“I think during the Biden administration we should be able to resolve that problem because it’s not an intractable problem,” Fang said at the New Economy Forum. “All it takes is good will on both sides and a willingness on both sides.”

At a briefing on Wednesday in Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said China believes that it’s “important to improve” the qualities of the securities market and regulators and that cross-border regulatory mechanisms are “essential.”

He added that China has in the past reached out to the SEC and other authorities and has never prevented any auditing because it’s committed to building a sound environment.

Chinese stock listings have attracted Trump’s attention, as he ratchets up his attacks on China over the coronavirus pandemic and other grievances. Last week, he signed an order barring American investments in Chinese firms owned or controlled by the military. The SEC’s work on a proposal was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

The fight over audit inspections dates back to the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which overhauled regulation of public company audits after the collapses of Enron Corp. and WorldCom Inc. The law set up the PCAOB and required it to conduct regular inspections of the firms that review companies’ books. Though it applies to businesses across the world if they tap the U.S. markets — and more than 50 foreign jurisdictions permit the reviews — China has refused to comply, citing strict confidentiality rules.

U.S. and Chinese officials have repeatedly failed to come up with a compromise. In the meantime, Chinese companies have continued to go public via U.S. stock exchanges even though American law is being ignored. They’ve raised about $12 billion in IPOs this year, the highest since 2014 when Alibaba debuted.

The President’s Working Group report that’s driving SEC action recommended that exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq establish enhanced standards to prevent the listing of companies that don’t adhere to U.S. rules. The report called on the SEC to pass new rules, but said they shouldn’t take effect until January 2022 to prevent market disruptions.

U.S. investors’ exposure to Chinese stocks is growing, according to the SEC. More than 150 of the country’s companies, with a combined value of $1.2 trillion, traded on American exchanges as of 2019.

A further clampdown by the U.S. could provide a boost to China’s stock exchanges and the one in Hong Kong. The financial hub has already seen a spate of homecomings from Chinese juggernauts such as NetEase Inc. and JD.com., which have sought secondary listings in the city amid increased tension.

Companies looking to tap the U.S. for customers or added visibility are likely to want to comply, but those who don’t consider America to be a target market could move listings to places like Hong Kong, said Benjamin Quinlan, chief executive officer of Quinlan & Associates, a strategy consultant in Hong Kong.

“I do think Hong Kong exchange in particular as well as some of the local and domestic exchanges in China will be key beneficiaries,” said Quinlan.

Analysts also say there’s plenty of cash in Asia to back listings, both in the region and from abroad.

“Some of these Chinese companies are highly competitive, have been growing strongly and leveraged to some very exciting themes of the future,” said Chetan Seth, Asia-Pacific equity strategist at Nomura Holdings Inc. “I expect that there will always be interest from global investors in some of these names. Potential delistings from U.S. exchanges shouldn’t materially impact the fundamentals of the companies.”

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Japan cases hit record as Tokyo plans to raise virus alert

InternationalNov 19. 2020The Sapporo TV Tower is illuminated in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, on Nov. 4, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Kentaro Takahashi. 

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Lisa Du, Go Onomitsu, Rie Morita · BUSINESS, WORLD, HEALTH, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS, ASIA-PACIFIC, HEALTH-NEWS

Japan’s daily Covid-19 cases rose to a record of more than 2,000, according to local media tallies, as the nation that had previously shown success in containing the virus now faces a rapid spread of the pathogen.

Infections in Tokyo jumped by 493 — surpassing a previous daily high set in August — while other regions in Japan including Kanagawa and Shizuoka prefectures also reported records.

The capital is making arrangements to raise the city’s Covid-19 alert to the highest level, the Nikkei newspaper reported. Officials are expected to make the decision on Thursday at a meeting of experts. Among the measures considered is requesting businesses to close early, the paper reported, citing several unidentified people.

Tokyo and its neighboring prefectures account for about a third of the nation’s gross domestic product, so any increased spread in the region could deal an additional blow to the Japanese economy, especially if officials take more stringent policy measures.

Investors sent Japanese shares lower as the deteriorating virus situation overshadowed optimism that Covid-19 vaccines are near.

Virus cases have been picking up rapidly over the past weeks. NHK reported Wednesday’s nationwide count as 2,189, topping the previous record on Saturday.

The rise in cases comes as the virus is surging globally with the onset of colder weather in the northern parts of the world. While Japan’s numbers are low compared with other countries, the increase is a reminder that, in the absence of an effective vaccine, even the most successful countries at containing the virus are vulnerable to resurgences. South Korea, whose strategy has also been admired across the world, on Wednesday reported the highest number of cases since August.

Japan has drawn attention for its ability to control the spread of the virus without mass-testing or enforced lockdowns. Despite two previous flareups, deaths and serious cases remain low, and hospitals haven’t been pushed to capacity. Life had been returning to normal, with sporting matches resuming and workers returning to offices.

But in recent weeks, officials have expressed concern over the increasing variance of infection clusters, with cases rising in nursing homes, hospitals and schools. Experts have pointed to a rising spread among younger adults tired of social distancing, as well as within foreign communities, which may struggle due to language barriers and more limited access to health services.

Officials appear to be acting with greater urgency than during Japan’s earlier Covid-19 waves this year. In the government’s strongest warning yet, Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister overseeing the country’s coronavirus response, said last week that more stringent steps would be needed if infections continued to rise.

A raised alert level isn’t expected to lead to harsh lockdown measures, however. The government lacks the legal means in Japan, and is anxious to get the country’s recessionary economy back on track. When the country declared a state of emergency in April to contain the first wave of the virus, it didn’t compel people to stay home or businesses to shut. Businesses nonetheless complied to government requests to close or shorten hours, while many citizens refrained from going out.

This time around, government officials so far have taken incremental steps toward restrictions. As cases have picked up on Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido, the city of Sapporo is requesting that residents stay home as much as possible.

Regions including Aichi and Osaka are planning to limit eligibility of the nation’s “Go To” eat campaign — aimed at getting residents to dine out — to parties of four or less. And the Japan Tourism Agency is asking travel agencies to implement measures such as prohibiting eating and drinking on buses, NHK reported. Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato said Wednesday however that there is no need to stop travel between regions across the board.

Japan is also looking at infection controls for next year, in anticipation of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which were delayed from this summer. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach met this week with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, saying the two sides were compiling a “huge toolbox” to counter the pandemic and possibly allow spectators to attend.

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Biden warns that ‘tough guy’ approach to the coronavirus leads to deaths

InternationalNov 19. 2020President-elect Joe Biden departs a virtual roundtable with front-line health-care workers Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020, in Wilmington, Del. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Salwan Georges 

By The Washington Post · Anne Gearan · NATIONAL, HEALTH, POLITICS, SCIENCE-ENVIRONMENT

WILMINGTON, Del. – An emotional President-elect Joe Biden praised Republican governors and others who have bucked President Donald Trump to endorse more-stringent measures to control the spread of the coronavirus, while warning Wednesday that a “tough guy” approach contributes to preventable deaths.

Biden contrasted restrictions imposed by Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, and a growing number of other Republican leaders with what he suggested is Trump’s negligence.

“Now you have the governor of North Dakota, you have others figuring it out, that this is real. We’ve got to do something,” Biden said as he led an on-screen briefing with nurses, a firefighter, a home health aide and others with firsthand experience dealing with the pandemic.

“And it’s not a political statement. It’s not about, you know, whether you’re a tough guy or not a tough guy,” Biden said, breaking off. “. . . It’s about patriotism. If you really care about your country, what you want to do is keep your neighbors and your family safe.”

Sounding frustrated, Biden said that tens of thousands more Americans could die before he takes office in January, and that some of those deaths could have been prevented.

More Republican governors are now requiring people to wear masks, including some who had earlier said it was futile or unacceptable to require people to do so.

They include Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who for months dismissed mask mandates as “feel good” measures and appeared at indoor Trump events unmasked. On Monday, she ordered Iowans to wear masks indoors for at least three weeks. The state’s senior U.S. senator, 87-year-old Charles Grassley, a Republican, said Tuesday he had tested positive for the virus.

Rules about mask use have been tightened elsewhere in the Midwest, as well as in Utah, North Dakota and West Virginia.

Biden plans to meet by video with some of the nation’s governors Thursday.

On Wednesday, Biden choked up as Mary Turner, an intensive care nurse from Minnesota, described having to reuse protective masks and told Biden she had not yet been tested for the coronavirus, despite potential exposure since February.

“You’re kidding me,” Biden said, before musing about his experience in intensive care when he had two life-threatening brain aneurysms in 1988 and the challenges faced by doctors and nurses caring for the sickest patients.

“You’re heroes,” he said with a catch in his voice.

Biden has focused on the pandemic as the greatest challenge facing the country, a campaign message made more urgent as the nation suffers a wide surge in cases and hospitalizations that began before the election.

“The words of a president matter,” Biden said as he promised to prioritize the needs of workers like those who spoke with him Wednesday. He reiterated that he will urge mandatory mask-wearing and wider use of testing and tracing to control the spread of the virus.

Biden’s message of alarm has become more complicated, however, amid promising news of coronavirus vaccines and as many Americans appear ready to flout public health guidance to gather for Thanksgiving.

About 40% of Americans plan to attend a large Thanksgiving gathering, despite the warnings from public health officials. Biden said he had decided to limit his own family gathering to three people this year.

Public health experts predict another surge in infections after the holiday next week, propelled by the larger gatherings and the travel involved in convening them.

Roughly 1 in 100 Americans are contagious with the coronavirus now, a level not seen since the initial peak in the United States in the spring, according to estimates by separate research teams at Columbia University and the University of Washington.

Experts have warned that the advent of a vaccine may make some people complacent, just as cases are spiking.

Vaccines will not be widely available at least until the first months of Biden’s presidency next year, and then they will be in limited supply. Biden has been unable to plan fully for that rollout because Trump refuses to concede the election and begin the normal process of handing over power.

On Tuesday, Biden’s lead advisers on the pandemic told reporters that the vaccine rollout faces huge hurdles aside from Trump’s refusal to cooperate now.

“For the first time we can see an end to this pandemic,” former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler said as he congratulated those involved in the massive public-private effort that has sped two vaccine candidates to the brink of distribution in record time.

But Kessler echoed Biden in warning that “there is all the difference in the world between a vaccine and a vaccination.”

“Getting everyone vaccinated who wants to be vaccinated is a daunting challenge under the best of circumstances,” Kessler said, noting that there is no universal national system for vaccinating adults.

In an interview Wednesday, Kessler expanded on those challenges, including overcoming skepticism from a variety of constituencies about taking a vaccine when one is available.

“Effectively executing the administration of a vaccine can change the course of this pandemic, but it will be the most complicated undertaking in recent history in the federal government,” Kessler said, noting that full protection will require two spaced injections.

“Getting 300 million people vaccinated with two injections is a huge mission, and we have no time to waste,” he said.

And the lack of visibility into current federal efforts means that for now, Kessler and his colleagues advising Biden cannot reliably predict when the pandemic will turn the corner because enough Americans are vaccinated or immune, Kessler said.

“We have to have a very transparent process both to keep the medical community informed as the vaccine becomes widely available and to boost public trust that the vaccine is safe and will work,” he said.

Trump has both welcomed the vaccine news and complained that it came too late to help him in the Nov. 3 election.

The likelihood of a near-term vaccine was the subject of the president’s lone public appearance at the White House since the election. On Wednesday, his reelection campaign cited the development as part of a political fundraising effort.

“This is UNPRECEDENTED success, and it’s all because of OUR President, who tore down bureaucracy, regulations and barriers to deliver a safe and effective vaccine for YOU,” an email appeal for donations to “defend the election” said.

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America’s ‘zombie’ companies have racked up $1.4 trillion of debt

InternationalNov 18. 2020Customers exit a Macy’s store at the Crystal Mall in Waterford, Conn., on Aug. 26, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Johnny Milano 

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Lisa Lee, Tom Contiliano · BUSINESS

They were once America’s corporate titans. Beloved household names. Case studies in success.

Signage at an Exxon Mobil gas station in Houston on Oct. 28, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by Callaghan O’Hare

But now, they’re increasingly looking like something else — zombies. And their numbers are swelling.

From Boeing, Carnival and Delta Air Lines to Exxon Mobil and Macy’s, many of the nation’s most iconic companies aren’t earning enough to cover their interest expenses (a key criterion, as most market experts define it, for zombie status).

Almost 200 corporations have joined the ranks of so-called zombie firms since the onset of the pandemic, according to a Bloomberg analysis of financial data from 3,000 of the country’s largest publicly traded companies. In fact, zombies now account for nearly 20% of those firms. Even more stark, they’ve added almost $1 trillion of debt to their balance sheets in the span, bringing total obligations to $1.36 trillion. That’s more than double the roughly $500 billion zombie companies owed at the peak of the financial crisis.

The consequences for America’s economic recovery are profound. The Federal Reserve’s effort to stave off a rash of bankruptcies by purchasing corporate bonds might very well have prevented another depression. But in helping hundreds of ailing companies gain virtually unfettered access to credit markets, policymakers may inadvertently be directing the flow of capital to unproductive firms, depressing employment and growth for years to come, according to economists.

“We have come to the point that we should ask, ‘what are the unintended consequences?'” said Torsten Slok, chief economist at Apollo Global Management Inc. “The Fed, for stability reasons, decided to step in. They knew they were going to create zombies. Now the question becomes, ‘what about the companies that have been kept alive that otherwise would have gone out of business?”‘

While zombie firms are more commonly associated with 1990s Japan, post-crisis Europe or even China in recent years, their ranks in the U.S. have been increasing for over a decade, fueled in part by years of ultraloose monetary policy.

Zombie companies get their nickname because of their tendency to limp along, unable to earn enough to dig out from under their obligations, but still with sufficient access to credit to roll over their debts. They’re a drag on the economy because they keep assets tied up in companies that can’t afford to invest and build their businesses.

Of course, not every company that becomes a zombie is destined to stay one forever. There are plenty of comeback stories, from Boston Scientific Corp. to Sprint Corp. Many firms that have seen earnings wiped out due to the coronavirus outbreak are likely to rebound once a vaccine allows the global economy to return to a more normal footing, and may ultimately not need all the debt they raised.

Yet the sheer amount of borrowing undertaken by struggling corporations in recent months will almost certainly limit the capacity of some to make capital expenditures and adapt to shifting consumer habits as covid-19 alters how Americans spend their money.

Bloomberg’s analysis looked at the trailing 12-month operating income of firms in the Russell 3000 index relative to their interest expenses over the same period.

The results paint a grim picture. More than a sixth of the index, or 527 companies, haven’t earned enough to meet their interest payments. That compares with 335 firms at the end of last year. The $1.36 trillion they collectively now owe dwarfs the $378 billion of debt zombie firms reported before the pandemic laid waste to balance sheets.

Boeing 737 Max airplanes are parked at Boeing Field in Seattle on July 27, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by David Ryder

Boeing has seen its total obligations balloon by more than $32 billion this year, while Carnival’s debt burden has increased $14.8 billion, Delta has added $24.2 billion, Exxon $16.2 billion and Macy’s $1.2 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

A spokesperson for Boeing directed Bloomberg to the company’s third quarter earnings call, in which Chief Financial Officer Greg Smith said that managing liquidity and balance-sheet leverage are top priorities, and reducing debt will be a key focus once cash generation returns to more normal levels.

Representatives from Carnival and Delta declined to comment

Exxon referred Bloomberg to comments last month from Senior Vice President Andy Swiger during the company’s earnings call in which he highlighted the oil producer’s efforts to reduce operating expenses and increase divestments while keeping gross debt levels stable.

A spokesperson for Macy’s said that the company is confident in its financial position, and expects to have sufficient liquidity to fund operations and retire debt maturities due in the coming years.

Among new entrants, all four major U.S. airlines, with a combined $128 billion of debt, have become zombies in 2020. And movie theaters and other entertainment companies on the list grew from 2 last year to 10, accounting for nearly $28 billion of additional debt.

“We distinguish between the walking wounded and the walking dead,” said Ken Monaghan, a portfolio manager at Amundi Pioneer, which oversees about $85 billion. “The question is whether the business model has changed so significantly as a result of the pandemic that survival comes into question. Few sectors are likely to die, but some may require a radical transformation to survive and attract capital.”

Economists have long warned that zombies are less productive, spend less on physical and intangible capital and grow less in terms of employment and assets than their peers.

But new research from the Bank for International Settlements shows that zombies may be even more damaging to an economy than previously thought.

Not only are firms staying in a zombie state for longer than in years past, but of the roughly 60% of firms that do manage to ultimately exit zombie status, many nonetheless experience prolonged weakness in productivity, profitability and growth, leading to long-term underperformance.

Moreover, recovered firms are three-times more likely to become zombies again compared to firms that have never been one, according to the September study, which examined companies in 14 advanced economies over three decades.

“The zombie disease seems to cause long-term damage also on those that recover from it,” the BIS’s Ryan Banerjee and Boris Hofmann wrote in the report. Therefore, “a firm’s viability should be an important criterion for its eligibility for government and central bank support.”

A representative for the Fed declined to comment.

Passengers stand on their balconies of the Carnival Corp. Grand Princess cruise ship docked at the Port of Oakland in Oakland, California, U.S., on Monday, March 9, 2020. The cruise ship that spent days circling the waters off San Francisco with people sickened by the new coronavirus returned to land at an isolated dock, to begin the long process of offloading passengers into quarantine. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Some say the concern over the spread of zombie companies is being overhyped.

While they accounted for 41% of U.S. firms in a UBS Group AG analysis based on their interest-coverage ratios as of the second quarter, weighted by assets the percentage declined dramatically, to just 10%. And when using the bank’s preferred methodology, which looks at debt to enterprise value, the share fell to just 6%, close to average levels since the late 1990s.

“The zombie problem is fairly benign in the U.S.,” said Matthew Mish, a strategist at UBS. “I don’t think the problem looks any worse than the last two recessions.”

Others aren’t so sure.

“The zombie question is one of the great open issues regarding the legacy of the pandemic,” said Nathan Sheets, chief economist at PGIM Fixed Income. “Will our economy coming out of the pandemic be as dynamic and flexible as before? I’m cautiously optimistic because competition is deeply embedded in the U.S. system.”

Still, corporate deleveraging in the years ahead will result in slower growth, subdued inflation and low rates “for as long as the eye can see,” he added.

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Moderna vaccine offers possible antidote to deep-freeze problem

InternationalNov 18. 2020

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Chris Kay, Lisa Du · NATIONAL, BUSINESS, HEALTH, HEALTH-NEWS

One of the biggest challenges to delivering a promising coronavirus vaccine based on unprecedented technology to millions around the world just got easier.

When Pfizer Inc. announced effective preliminary results for its vaccine candidate last week, the downside was that it must be stored at ultracold temperatures, posing significant logistical issues. But Moderna Inc. on Monday one-upped its rival, offering a vaccine based on the same technology that appears to be equally effective, but which also can be stored at regular refrigerated temperatures for up to a month.

The difference is significant. Delivering normal vaccines to populations in the remotest regions from India to Africa is difficult enough just on supply and transport issues. The temperature factor introduces a more daunting hurdle, requiring countries to build storage and transportation networks that can maintain temperatures far colder than that required for frozen meat. The massive investment and coordination needed raised the likelihood that only rich nations would be guaranteed access.

“The Moderna vaccine is a much more viable option for low- and middle-income countries than the Pfizer vaccine,” said Rachel Silverman, a Washington-based policy fellow at the Center for Global Development. “Cold-storage needs are less extreme.”

Not only can Moderna’s vaccine remain stable in the fridge for 30 days, it can also be kept in ordinary freezers for long-term use. Pfizer’s vaccine has to be kept at negative 70 degrees and could only be refrigerated for up to five days — at least until its researchers are able to match Moderna’s breakthrough.

“The Moderna vaccine can be accommodated within the existing vaccine distribution networks,” said Ayfer Ali, an assistant professor and specialist in drug research at Warwick Business School in the U.K. “Even in remote and underdeveloped areas, fridges are available or can be supplied cheaply.”

Although Moderna has only cut deals with a handful of developed countries for its vaccine, it received funding from the nonprofit Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and may therefore be bound to help enable access in low-middle income countries, said Silverman.

The Boston-based biotech company’s vaccine uses the same new and experimental messenger RNA mechanism as Pfizer’s. The emergence of two promising candidates is helping ease concerns that a single vaccine won’t be nearly enough to meet global demand.

“We will need to use all of the capacity that we have and all of the vaccines that are effective as they come online,” Ali said.

Pfizer could also make its vaccine more viable by reformulating it — possibly to a freeze-dried form — to avoid the refrigeration issue, said Gillies O’Bryan-Tear, chair of policy and communications at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine in the U.K.

Meanwhile, hundreds of covid-19 vaccines are in the pipeline, and it’s possible that another, more cost-effective candidate will emerge that uses proven technology and is easier to manufacture and ship, experts said.

“I think it will become clear in the next couple of months, there are other vaccines that are in the pipeline that are in Phase III,” said Saad Omer, director of the Yale Institute for Global Health. “There will be decisions about costs of waiting versus acting. Some might decide to wait based on broader characteristics and the need for ultracold chain, I think that will be a big calculation.”

Other vaccine options may be essential, as not many existing drugmakers have production facilities for messenger RNA technology.

Adar Poonawalla, chief executive officer of the Serum Institute of India Ltd. — the world’s largest vaccine producer by volume — said he had no plans “to dabble with any messenger RNA candidates” for at least 2.5 years when a new facility the company is building has been completed.

“This kind of innovation is great for the long term,” Poonawalla said in an interview. But it remains a question how many of them are going to be “usable” in a practical sense, he said.

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U.S. retail sales rose in October at slowest pace in six months

InternationalNov 18. 2020

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Katia Dmitrieva · BUSINESS

U.S. retail sales rose in October at the slowest pace in six months, suggesting consumers are becoming more hesitant amid a surging pandemic and lack of fresh federal stimulus.

The value of total sales increased 0.3% from the prior month, when there was a downwardly revised 1.6% gain, Commerce Department figures showed Tuesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a 0.5% increase. Excluding autos and gasoline, sales rose 0.2%, compared with estimates for a 0.6% gain.

Weaker momentum in consumer spending — which accounts for two-thirds of the economy — indicates growth could slow more sharply following the third quarter’s record jump in gross domestic product. November and December could prove tougher with states and cities reimposing restrictions on indoor dining and nonessential business to contain a rampant coronavirus, while hopes for additional fiscal stimulus this year keep fading and political uncertainty hangs over government policy.

U.S. stock futures and 10-year Treasury yields extended declines after the data. Other data Tuesday morning are due to deliver additional readings on the U.S. economy, including industrial production for October and home builder sentiment for November.

The subdued government figures follow strong quarterly results earlier Tuesday from two large retailers — Home Depot Inc. and Walmart Inc. Home Depot’s comparable sales jumped 24.1% in the latest quarter from a year ago as the home-improvement retailer benefited from a surge in renovation activity, while Walmart’s sales also climbed more than projected as online demand soared at the world’s largest retailer.

The retail report provides a snapshot of activity in October: eight of the 13 major retail categories decreased, led by clothing and sporting goods and hobby stores. Nonstore retailers — which include online vendors like Amazon.com Inc. — recorded the biggest increase, at 3.1%.

Restaurants and bars recorded the first decline since the initial depths of the pandemic in April, a sign that colder weather is discouraging the outdoor dining that kept many businesses afloat during the summer.

So-called control group sales — often a more reliable gauge of underlying demand — increased 0.1% from the prior month, missing forecasts. That figure excludes food services, car dealers, building-materials stores and gasoline stations.

While overall retail sales rose 5.7% from a year earlier, several categories remain well below pre-pandemic levels, including gasoline stations, clothing stores and restaurants.

The data point to spending that’s moderating at the start of the fourth quarter as coronavirus cases rise in every U.S. state, prompting some, including California and New Jersey, to issue new restrictions. Other regions have paused full reopenings.

Early trials from companies including Moderna Inc. have proven effective, though a vaccine must be developed and deployed in scale before consumers feel comfortable enough to regain regular activity. In the meantime, an elevated savings rate is likely to continue supporting some spending.

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Amazon expands push into health care with online pharmacy

InternationalNov 18. 2020An Amazon.com delivery truck sits in Richmond, California, on Oct. 13, 2020. MUST CREDIT: Bloomberg photo by David Paul Morris. 

By Syndication Washington Post, Bloomberg · Angelica LaVito, Matt Day · BUSINESS, HEALTH, US-GLOBAL-MARKETS, HEALTH-NEWS

Amazon.com unveiled its biggest push into selling prescription drugs with the launch of a digital pharmacy and discounts for paying U.S. Prime members that sent shock waves through shares of drugstore chains and distributors.

The e-commerce giant on Tuesday unveiled Amazon Pharmacy, a section of its retail website and mobile application that lets people order medication. Shoppers can pay using their health insurance. Prime members who don’t use their insurance are eligible for discounts on generic and brand-name drugs on Amazon’s site or at about 50,000 participating pharmacies.

Amazon’s new offering comes more than two years after its $753 million acquisition of PillPack, an online pharmacy known for organizing prescriptions into packets. This expansion puts the Seattle-based e-commerce company into more direct competition with pharmacy giants CVS and Walgreens, the two largest chains in the U.S.

The move also helps Amazon compete with Walmart and other big-box stores that already sell prescription drugs.

Analysts have long expected Amazon to dive deeper into health care in a bet the company can bring its digital real estate and logistical prowess to bear on a roughly $4 trillion industry in the U.S. with a reputation for inefficiency. The company rattled drug retailers with its PillPack acquisition, but Amazon has been slow to integrate the online pharmacy startup into its offerings.

The announcement Tuesday marks the first time that shoppers can order prescription drugs directly on Amazon. Previously, they were redirected to PillPack’s website. An integrated pharmacy removes one of the few gaps in Amazon’s offerings compared with major big box and grocery rivals, some of whom have long filled shoppers’ prescriptions in the same stores where they sold flat-screen televisions or cans of soup.

The discounts are a clear play for people who pay for their medications with cash, whether they are uninsured or are looking to save money. Strong demand for transparency and better deals have helped fuel the rise of discount card programs like GoodRx. Amazon will display both the price when using insurance and the price without. Infusing transparency into a system that has been frustratingly opaque for consumers could alter the supply chain.

“We designed Amazon Pharmacy to put customers first — bringing Amazon’s customer obsession to an industry that can be inconvenient and confusing,” said TJ Parker, vice president of Amazon Pharmacy and co-founder of PillPack.

Amazon’s push comes as consumers are shunning stores and ordering more items online, a trend the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated. With consumer behavior shifting, chain drugstores have already started rethinking their strategies. CVS acquired health insurer Aetna for $68 billion in 2018 and is adding more health services to its stores. Walgreens is dabbling with numerous partnerships to add items like groceries and mobile phones to its stores.

Amazon could find it difficult to quickly pry away customers from pharmacy chains. For many consumers, asking doctors to steer recurring prescriptions elsewhere is cumbersome, especially for those who rely on insurance to pay for their medication.

In some cases, such a switch might also require an office visit — at a time when Americans have been steering clear of the doctor’s office out of concerns about the pandemic. And the ubiquity of the biggest pharmacy chains means most consumers have one nearby, and shopping at them is an ingrained habit.

Amazon’s entry into a market doesn’t guarantee its dominance. Drugstores have long insisted that patients prefer to talk to their pharmacist at the counter, an experience Amazon will try to recreate digitally.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has positioned Prime, Amazon’s paid membership program, at the center of the company’s efforts to create loyal customers. What was originally an unlimited shipping program has grown in recent years to include video streaming, games and digital storage, and discounts at Amazon-owned Whole Foods Market.

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Trump administration announces troop cuts in Afghanistan, Iraq amid concerns

InternationalNov 18. 2020Forward Operating Base Lightning, a U.S. Army base in eastern Afghanistan, has been abandoned. MUST CREDIT: Photo by Lorenzo Tugnoli for The Washington Post. 

By The Washington Post · Dan Lamothe · NATIONAL, WORLD, POLITICS, NATIONAL-SECURITY, MIDDLE-EAST

The U.S. military will halve the number of troops it has in Afghanistan within the next two months and cut a smaller number in Iraq, Pentagon officials said Tuesday, as President Donald Trump seeks to move closer to keeping a four-year-old campaign promise despite concerns that the decision in Afghanistan could undermine negotiations with the Taliban.

Acting defense secretary Christopher Miller announced the plan in a speech at the Pentagon, eight days after he took over for fired Defense Secretary Mark Esper, who submitted a classified memo to the White House recommending that the conditions on the ground in Afghanistan did not warrant such reductions.

Miller said the U.S. military will carry out Trump’s orders in both countries by Jan. 15, with the numbers reduced from about 5,000 to 2,500 in Afghanistan and from about 3,000 to 2,500 in Iraq. He took no questions from reporters but said he was celebrating the decision.

“We owe this moment to the many patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice and our comrades who carry forward their legacy,” Miller said. “Together, we have mourned the loss of more than 6,900 American troops who gave their lives in Afghanistan and Iraq, and we will never forget the more than 52,000 who bear the wounds of war, and all those who still carry its scars – visible and invisible.”

The decision in Afghanistan comes about nine months after the Trump administration and the Taliban reached a deal that will remove all U.S. troops there by next May if certain conditions are met.

Senior U.S. military officials have raised concerns about the Taliban’s commitment to meeting the terms of the deal, citing a spike in violence against Afghans since the agreement was signed and ongoing questions about whether the militant group will break with al-Qaida.

Miller said the troops cuts are consistent with the administration’s established plans and strategic objectives, and based on continuous conversations with national security advisers in his Cabinet.

During his remarks, Miller did not mention Esper’s dissent but said he had spoken with military commanders in recent days, “and we will all execute this repositioning in a way that protects our fighting men and women, our partners in the intelligence community, our diplomatic corps, and our superb allies.”

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Deadlocked board in key Michigan county fails to certify vote totals by deadline

InternationalNov 18. 2020Supporters of President Trump protest the vote count outside of TFC Center where absentee ballots were counted in Detroit following Election Day. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Salwan Georges 

By The Washington Post · Kayla Ruble, Tom Hamburger · NATIONAL, POLITICS

DETROIT – In a party line vote, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers failed on Tuesday to certify its ballot count, punting the question of who won the state’s most densely populated region to a state regulatory board that meets Nov. 23.

The four-member board’s two Republicans voted against certification, while its two Democrats voted to certify the results. Joe Biden holds a lead of nearly 148,000 votes in Michigan, and Democrats here believe the partisan split of the board in Wayne County – home to heavily Democratic Detroit – simply delays an inevitable official victory for Biden in the state.

But in the short term the standoff provides a public relations advantage to the Trump campaign and a group of Republican lawyers and activists who have questioned the legitimacy of the count in Detroit, which went overwhelmingly for Biden.

The head of the Michigan GOP congratulated the board in a statement.

“I am proud that, due to the efforts of the Michigan Republican Party, the Republican National Committee and the Trump Campaign, enough evidence of irregularities and potential voter fraud was uncovered resulting in the Wayne County Board of Canvassers refusing to certify their election results. This action will allow more time for us to get to the bottom of these deeply troubling irregularities,” said Laura Cox, the state party chair. “The people of Michigan deserve fair, open and transparent elections, and we will continue to fight for just that.”

The state board – also made up of two Republicans and two Democrats – has until Dec. 13 to reach a final decision certifying the winner of the election statewide.

Mark Brewer, a leading Democratic election lawyer in Michigan, called the vote “outrageous, unprecedented, and racist.”

He said the two white Republicans on the Wayne County board “have essentially disenfranchised black voters.”

He said the Republicans on the board failed the county, state and their legal obligation. “They had a legal duty to certify,” a vote that was fair he said.

The head of the Michigan GOP congratulated the board in a statement.

“I am proud that, due to the efforts of the Michigan Republican Party, the Republican National Committee and the Trump Campaign, enough evidence of irregularities and potential voter fraud was uncovered resulting in the Wayne County Board of Canvassers refusing to certify their election results. This action will allow more time for us to get to the bottom of these deeply troubling irregularities.” Said Laura Cox, the state party chair. “The people of Michigan deserve fair, open and transparent elections, and we will continue to fight for just that.”

Democrats expressed anxiety in recent weeks that Republican legislators will seek to use a quirk in state law to appoint their own electors.

“By indulging partisan conspiracy theories and debunked claims of fraud, legislative Republicans are eroding our citizens’ faith in our democratic institutions,” Christine Greig, the Michigan House Democratic leader, said in an interview Monday. “Stubborn refusal to acknowledge the election result flies in the face of the oath that each of us swore when we assumed our offices in the Michigan Legislature. It all needs to stop.”

Because electors must be chosen by Dec. 8 under federal law, some supporters of President Donald Trump have argued that if there is no winner by that date, the legislature should try to name its own representatives to the electoral college.

At a rally outside state Capitol in Lansing on Saturday, pro-Trump activists urged the legislature to take control of the situation and select Michigan electors committed to the president.

“You’d better, and I mean better, send electors for Donald Trump,” organizer Kevin Skinner shouted. “We’re not going to take a stolen election.”

Whether the legislature could pick its own electors is the subject of an ongoing debate among legal experts of both parties.

Last week, Republican legislative leaders in Lansing issued carefully worded statements saying that the legislature should honor the will of the voters and not play a role in selecting electors.

Key GOP leaders also backed away from a call to audit the results before certifying.

“I don’t believe that enough votes are in question in Michigan to change the outcome, so I think we need to move forward” with county and state canvassing board certification, Michigan’s Republican former secretary of state, Ruth Johnson, told The Washington Post in an interview.

Johnson, now a member of the state Senate and chair of its Elections Committee, said she still thought an audit was necessary – but that it did not need to be conducted until after the votes were certified.

But the Trump campaign is continuing to press its case to try to block certification of the vote, despite multiple legal setbacks. On Monday, Michigan’s Court of Appeals ruled against two Republican poll watchers, days after a lower court judge had rejected their request to halt certification, saying he saw no convincing evidence of election fraud at the center where workers tallied absentee ballots.

A similar suit filed by the Trump campaign in federal court Tuesday is still pending. As part of it, the campaign filed 238 pages of affidavits from Republican poll watchers across Michigan. They contained no evidence of significant fraud, but included complaints about rude behavior or unpleasant looks from poll workers or Democratic poll watchers.

Retired Democratic U.S. senator Carl Levin said the Republican complaints about the vote process recalled an ugly history of racist and anti-immigrant attitudes.

“The Republican complaints smacked, as they so often do, of an anti-big-city bias,” he said.

The NAACP went to court Friday to intervene in the Trump lawsuit, calling the legal complaint “an all-out attack on votes cast by Black voters.”

Trump’s campaign has said that their lawsuits in Michigan are aimed at ensuring equal protection under the law, alleging Republicans were denied their rights.

“In this country, voting is a fundamental right and that means that there has to be uniform standards,” said White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, speaking in a personal capacity at a briefing earlier this month about the legal challenge.

The focus on Wayne County’s vote – which effectively put Biden over the top in Michigan – has put a spotlight on the usually anonymous officials in charge of certifying votes.

The 83 county canvassing boards in the state are required by law to report certified numbers to the state canvassing board, which will meet Monday to begin its process.

Each county board is composed of two Democrats and two Republicans, appointed by their parties for staggered four-year terms. Before they certify the results, the boards spend two weeks reviewing poll books and vote totals and resolving any discrepancies that need to be corrected. The main task: to check whether the number of votes reported by the voting machines in each precinct match the number of voters recorded in poll books.

“We’re not here to talk about the van full of ballots that showed up at 3 a.m. or whatever people are alleging happened. That’s not why we’re here. We’re here to look at those poll books,” Voorheis said.

On Friday, inside a building near the riverfront on Detroit’s east side, a handful of sheriff’s deputies were posted at the entryway screening guests for coronavirus symptoms while guarding the Wayne County Board of Canvassers office, where about a dozen workers have been stationed nearly every day since Nov. 3 working to complete the certification process.

At least a half dozen observers from both political parties, as well as independent groups such as the League of Women Voters, sat quietly at their own tables on the edge of the room with a view of the process.

At one point in the evening, sheriff’s deputies had to mediate when a brief dispute broke out after two observers tied to conservative groups, who had been taking photos of the canvassing process, lodged a complaint about a Democratic observer taking a selfie with them in the background.

The flare-up was a sign of the unusual tension that has marked this year’s canvassing process.

“I’ve been doing voter protection since 2008. I’ve never, ever seen any of this. Ever,” said Alec Gibbs, a Flint attorney who does voter protection work for the Genesee County Democratic Party. “We had no reason to believe that county canvassing boards would become flash points.”

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Former Minneapolis police officer charged in George Floyd’s death seeks to bar evidence of past neck and body restraints

InternationalNov 18. 2020Flameless candles are illuminated after being placed at the memorial for George Floyd outside Cup Foods to celebrate what would have been Floyd’s 47th birthday on Oct. 14 in Minneapolis. MUST CREDIT: Washington Post photo by Joshua Lott. 

By The Washington Post · Holly Bailey · NATIONAL, COURTSLAW, RACE

MINNEAPOLIS – Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who held his knee at George Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes and is now charged with his murder, has asked the judge in his case to block prosecutors from introducing evidence of his allegedly having used similar neck and body restraints on other suspects. Chauvin’s lawyer argues in new court documents that his “use of force” in those cases was legal and cleared by police supervisors.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/c/embed/e89e2f90-fa7d-43ea-9cd4-f9c270e73bb9?ptvads=block&playthrough=false 

Prosecutors have said they want to cite eight incidents from Chauvin’s 19-year career as a Minneapolis police officer to show a pattern of excessive force and behavior similar to the Memorial Day encounter that left Floyd dead. Prosecutors want to include four cases from 2014 to 2019 in which they claim Chauvin restrained suspects “beyond the point when such force was needed.”

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In a court filing Monday, Eric Nelson, Chauvin’s attorney, asked Hennepin County District Judge Peter A. Cahill, who is overseeing the case, to block that proposed evidence, arguing that his client had used approved force and, after routine investigations, had been essentially “acquitted by MPD supervisors of applying force in a manner that was either unreasonable or unauthorized.”

“The state attempts to characterize Mr. Chauvin’s use of force as ‘unreasonable’ or ‘beyond what was needed,'” Nelson wrote, noting that Chauvin had reported his use of force in each of the incidents. “And in every single one, it was determined by a supervisor that Mr. Chauvin’s use of force was reasonable in the circumstances and authorized by law and MPD policy.”

Prosecutors have argued that Chauvin’s behavior while on the force is relevant because they could use it to rebut defense claims that he used “reasonable force” in restraining Floyd, who died May 25 while officers pinned him, face down and handcuffed, on a South Minneapolis street. Officers had been investigating a 911 call about a counterfeit $20 bill that had been passed at a local convenience store, and they were trying to interview Floyd and put him into a police vehicle, which Floyd resisted, saying he was afraid of being in a confined space.

During an ensuing struggle with police, Floyd was placed on the ground, where Chauvin pressed his knee into the man’s neck for more than nine minutes as Floyd repeatedly complained of struggling to breathe. Floyd ultimately lost consciousness and a pulse while restrained. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

One of the cases prosecutors have sought to mention at Chauvin’s trial is a July 2019 domestic disturbance incident in which a caller reported that a man had poured gasoline throughout a house and was armed with a knife. In seeking to subdue the suspect and keep him from reaching for scissors on a nearby table, Chauvin allegedly “delivered a single kick” to the man’s midsection and then applied a neck restraint, causing the man to lose consciousness.

Chauvin later told a supervisor that he realized the man had passed out and placed him in a “recovery position” until he “came to,” prosecutors said, something they say the officer did not do when Floyd complained of struggling to breathe.

In his motion to block the incident from being cited at trial, Nelson argued the case is not relevant or similar to Chauvin’s encounter with Floyd and should not be allowed as evidence.

In what appears to be a new defense argument, Nelson repeatedly claimed Chauvin did not use a neck restraint on Floyd but rather what he called “body weight control techniques.”

That is a shift from previous defense motions, in which Nelson defended how Chauvin handled Floyd by arguing that he used an approved neck restraint. In an August motion to dismiss charges, Nelson filed exhibits that included past department training materials with photos demonstrating the knee-on-neck hold similar to the one Chauvin used on Floyd and argued that his client “did exactly as he was trained to do.”

Prosecutors said in a filing Monday that they want to show the jury body-camera video of one of the incidents: a September 2017 encounter where Chauvin allegedly hit a 14-year-old boy in the head with a flashlight during a domestic assault investigation and then restrained him with a knee to the back for 17 minutes even though the child was handcuffed and complained of struggling to breathe. According to prosecutors, the boy’s mother, who had called police, repeatedly asked Chauvin to get off her son, who was bleeding from the ear and later received stitches. Prosecutors described Chauvin’s behavior as “far more violent and forceful” than his police report had implied.

Three of the incidents that prosecutors have sought to use as evidence include encounters in which Chauvin was working as an off-duty police security guard, including in February 2015, when he allegedly pushed a man against a wall and used a neck restraint before placing him in a prone position on the ground.

Prosecutors have said they want to cite that case, in part, because it “demonstrates the common method Chauvin employs when dealing with individuals larger than himself – Chauvin allegedly described the man in police records as “a large individual (with a) muscular type build.” They also said it shows Chauvin regularly used such techniques with “suspected intoxicated people who Chauvin believes are not perfectly complying with his demands.”

They wrote that the evidence shows “a repeating pattern of very similar conduct . . . and demonstrates that his use of force was not reasonable.”

Nelson defended his client’s behavior, arguing that Chauvin “was the only officer on the scene” in an incident that happened late at night and that he behaved “as his MPD training had taught him.” On this instance and the others, Nelson said prosecutors had offered no evidence that Chauvin’s actions violated department policy or the law.

Chauvin’s “modus operandi was simply that of a Minneapolis Police officer performing his duties and reacting to the circumstances,” Nelson wrote. “The state’s attempt to characterize these incidents as evidence of some kind of ill will intent or common scheme of violence that is somehow unique to Chauvin is specious, at best.”

He argued that allowing the incidents to be cited as evidence before a jury would violate Minnesota legal precedents on how past acts can and cannot be used in current cases. Nelson wrote that he believes prosecutors want to use past incidents to “illegally prove propensity,” which he argued is not allowed under state law and would be “unfairly prejudicial.”

Chauvin is facing second-degree unintentional murder and manslaughter charges, while three other officers at the scene – J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas K. Lane and Tou Thao – are charged with aiding and abetting. All four are set to be tried together in March.

In a separate motion, prosecutors asked Cahill to reconsider his recent decision to allow audio and visual coverage of the upcoming trial, which the judge said was necessary because of the anticipated need to accommodate social distancing requirements due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. Monday’s request did not specify a reason, but prosecutors have argued against such coverage in the past, citing concerns that it might impact court proceedings.