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A deadly virus is spreading from state to state and has infected 26 million Americans so far. It's the flu |
The
novel coronavirus
that's sickening thousands globally -- and
at least 15 people in the US
-- is inspiring countries to close their borders and Americans to
buy up surgical masks
quicker than major retailers can restock them.
There's another virus that has infected at least 26 million Americans across the country and killed at least 14,000 people this season alone. It's not a new pandemic -- it's influenza.
The 2019-2020 flu season, which began September 29, is projected to be
one of the worst in a decade
, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. At least 250,000 people have been hospitalized with complications from the flu, and that number is predicted to climb as flu activity swirls.
The flu is a constant in Americans ' lives. It's that familiarity that makes it more dangerous to underestimate, said Dr. Margot Savoy, chair of Family and Community Medicine at Temple University's Lewis Katz School of Medicine.
`` Lumping all the viral illness we tend to catch in the winter sometimes makes us too comfortable thinking everything is 'just a bad cold, ' '' she said. `` We underestimate how deadly influenza really is. ''
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Even the low-end estimate of deaths each year is startling, Savoy said: The Centers for Disease Control predicts
at least 12,000 people will die from the flu
in the US every year. In the 2017-2018 flu season, as many as 61,000 people died, and 45 million were sickened.
In the 2019-2020 season so far, at least 26 million people in the US have gotten the flu and at least 14,000 people have died from it, including at least 92 children. Flu activity has been widespread in nearly every region, with high levels of activity in 48 states and Puerto Rico,
the CDC reported this week
.
Savoy, who also serves on the American Academy of Family Physician's board of directors, said the novelty of emerging infections can overshadow the flu. People are less panicked about the flu because healthcare providers `` appear to have control '' over the infection.
`` We fear the unknown and we crave information about new and emerging infections, '' she said. `` We can't quickly tell what is truly a threat and what isn't, so we begin to panic -- often when we don't need to. ''
The flu can be fatal
Dr. Nathan Chomilo, an adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics at University of Minnesota Medical School, said that the commonness of the flu often underplays its severity, but people should take it seriously.
`` Severe cases of the flu are not mild illnesses, '' Chomilo said. `` Getting the actual flu, you are miserable. ''
A teen's final days with the flu
The flu becomes dangerous when secondary infections emerge, the result of an already weakened immune system. Bacterial and viral infections compound the flu's symptoms. People with chronic illnesses are also at a heightened risk for flu complications.
Those complications include pneumonia, inflammation in the heart and brain and organ failure -- which, in some cases, can be fatal.
Chomilo, an internist and pediatrician for Park Nicollet Health Services, said this flu season has been one of the worst his Minnesota practice has seen since the H1N1 virus outbreak in 2009. Some of his patients, healthy adults in their 30s, have been sent to the Intensive Care Unit, relying on ventilators, due to flu complications.
The virus is always changing
Influenza is tricky because the virus changes every year. Sometimes, the dominant strain in a flu season will be more virulent than in previous years, which can impact the number of people infected and the severity of their symptoms.
Most of these changes in the virus are small and insignificant, a process called antigenic drift. That year's flu vaccine is mostly effective in protecting patients in spite of these small changes, said Melissa Nolan, an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina's School of Public Health.
US on track for one of the worst flu seasons in decades
Occasionally, the flu undergoes a rare antigenic shift, which results when a completely new strain of virus emerges that human bodies haven't experienced before, she said.
Savoy compares it to a block party: The body thinks it knows who -- or in this case, which virus -- will show up, and therefore, which virus it needs to keep out. But if a virus shows up in a completely new getup, it becomes difficult for the body's `` bouncers '' -- that's the immune system -- to know who to look for and keep out. The stealthy virus can infiltrate easily when the body doesn't recognize it.
This flu season, there's no sign of antigenic shift, the most extreme change. But it's happened before, most recently in 2009 with the H1N1 virus. It became a pandemic because people had no immunity against it, the
CDC reported
.
Get your flu shot, experts say
To avoid complications from the flu, Savoy, Chomilo and Nolan have the same recommendation: Get vaccinated.
It's not easy to tell how flu vaccination rates impact the number of people infected, but Savoy said it seems that the years she struggles to get her patients vaccinated are the years when more patients end up hospitalized with the flu, even if the total number of infections doesn't budge.
The CDC reported at least
180 million flu vaccine doses
have been administered this flu season so far -- that's about 4 million more doses than the manufacturers who make the vaccines projected to provide this season.
Still, there are some who decide skipping the vaccine is worth the risk. A
2017 study
found that people decline the flu vaccine because they don't think it's effective or they're worried it's unsafe, even though CDC
research shows
the vaccine effectively reduces the risk of flu in up to 60% of the population.
Chomilo said some of his most frustrating cases of the flu are in patients who can't be vaccinated because of preexisting conditions or their age ( children under 6 months old can't be vaccinated).
There are two important reasons to get the flu vaccine, he said -- `` Protecting yourself and being a good community member. ''
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Dr. Margot Savoy's first name.
CNN's Jamie Gumbrecht and Jen Christensen contributed to this report. | general |
Russia reports first coronavirus cases, restricts China air travel | The two infected people, both Chinese nationals, are in a stable condition and have been quarantined, officials said.
One of the cases was identified in the Siberian region of Tyumen and the other in the far eastern Zabaykalsky region, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said.
`` They are under strict supervision, isolated and are receiving the necessary treatment, '' she told reporters.
The outbreak has infected more than 9,800 people globally, almost all of them in China, and has killed 213 people in China. There are more than 130 confirmed cases in 24 countries and regions outside mainland China.
Russia will halt all direct flights to China from 2100 GMT on Friday, with the exception of those operated by its national airline, Aeroflot, Golikova said.
Four Chinese airlines - China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines, Air China, China Eastern - will still be able to fly to Moscow, Golikova and Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport said.
All China-related flights will be routed through a separate terminal at the Sheremetyevo Airport, Aeroflot said, to minimize contact between those flights and other passengers.
Russia’ s minor Ikar airline will also continue its flights between Moscow and China, the airport said.
Russia has already closed its 4,300 km-long ( 2,670 mile) land border with China to pedestrians and vehicles in an effort to protect its population, although rail freight continues as does a passenger train service from Moscow to Beijing.
Russia has no plans to limit freight traffic between Russia and China but will restrict Chinese citizens traveling to Russia from Mongolia, Golikova said.
Moscow is also drawing up a government resolution that would suspend the issuance of work visas for Chinese nationals, Golikova said.
Russia plans to evacuate more than 600 Russian citizens now in Wuhan and Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak in China, and they will be quarantined for 14 days, she added.
The national anti-monopoly watchdog said it was looking into public complaints it had received about rising prices for medical masks and anti-virus medicine.
The Russian rouble hit seven-week lows against the dollar as coronavirus fears reduced global risk appetite.
By Olesya Astakhova and Tom Balmforth | business |
Electrolux shares slump after warning of coronavirus impact | The cautionary near-term guidance from the home appliances maker eclipsed a smaller-than-expected fall in fourth-quarter earnings, sending its shares down 4.5% by 1014 GMT to trade around a near four-month low.
The Swedish maker of brands such as Electrolux, Frigidaire and AEG said the fast-spreading virus could have a `` material financial impact '' if its Chinese suppliers were further affected.
`` As we are sourcing significant volumes of finished products and components from China to all our business areas, we are now implementing contingency plans to mitigate a potential extended period of supply disruptions, '' CEO Jonas Samuelson said.
China is Electrolux ' single biggest sourcing hub, supplying not only components but complete products.
Samuelson said a dedicated team was working to secure alternative suppliers and shipping routes, an easier task with parts than finished goods.
In some categories, such as vacuum cleaners, air conditioners and small home appliances, China accounts for nearly the entire global supply for the industry, leaving alternatives scarce if not non-existent, Samuelson told Reuters.
`` One week is manageable, we can make up for that. But if the closures are extended, then we face a bigger challenge. ''
Along with the prospect of a loss in North America and a gloomier outlook for efficiency gains this year, the supply chain uncertainty was likely to lead to lowered profit expectations for the group, Citi said in a research note.
U.S. LOSS
The rival of U.S.-based Whirlpool said adjusted operating earnings fell to 960 million Swedish crowns ( $ 101 million) from 1.67 billion, but that beat the 903 million on average expected by analysts, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
The results excluded its Professional Products business which is due to be spun out to shareholders and listed separately in the first quarter.
The company warned in December that earnings in North America would be hit to the tune of $ 70 million in the fourth quarter, mainly due to the slower-than-anticipated start-up of a new refrigerator and freezer plant in Anderson, South Carolina.
`` Given this situation, lower volumes and higher costs will impact earnings for the first quarter 2020 resulting in a loss for business area North America, '' Samuelson said.
Electrolux's North American arm accounted for just over a quarter of group sales in the final three months of last year.
During his years at the helm Samuelson has led a push towards greater efficiency and nimbler and more automated production to boost margins, and the December warning led to Electrolux shares losing a tenth of their value in a single day.
Against the backdrop of its lingering North American production issues, the company on Friday forecast roughly flat demand in the region this year, while seeing slightly firmer demand in both Europe and Asia.
Looking at 2020, Electrolux also said it expected little year-on-year impact from the combination of tariffs, material prices and currency swings that yielded a roughly 1.6 billion crown headwind last year.
By Niklas Pollard and Johannes Hellstrom | business |
Turkish Airlines says it suspends flights to China until February 9 | Bilal Eksi said on Twitter that flights scheduled for four destinations in China - Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Xian - had been cancelled until Feb. 9, taking into the account the latest decision by the WHO.
Several airlines have suspended flights to China in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, which as of Thursday had killed 170 people and infected almost 8,000.
( Reporting by Ceyda Caglayan; Writing by Ali Kucukgocmen; Editing by Alistair Bell) | business |
AVIC International: JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT VOLUNTARY ANNOUNCEMENT IN RELATION TO THE LATEST ARRANGEMENT OF THE INTRODUCTION MEETINGS FOR SHAREHOLDERS ( 1) VOLUNTARY CONDITIONAL OFFER BY CHINA INTERNATIONAL CAPITAL CORPORATION HONG KONG SECURITIES LIMITED ON BEHALF OF AVIC INTERNATIONAL TO ACQUIRE ALL OF THE ISSUED H SHARES IN THE COMPANY; ( 2) PROPOSED VOLUNTARY WITHDRAWAL OF LISTING OF THE H SHARES OF THE COMPANY; AND ( 3) PROPOSED MERGER BY ABSORPTION OF THE COMPANY BY AVIC INTERNATIONAL | Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited take no responsibility for the contents of this announcement, make no representation as to its accuracy or completeness and expressly disclaim any liability whatsoever for any loss howsoever arising from or in reliance upon the whole or any part of the contents of this announcement.
This joint announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute an invitation or offer to acquire, purchase or subscribe for securities of the Company nor shall there be any sale, purchase or subscription for securities of the Company in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful absent the filing of a registration statement or the availability of an applicable exemption from registration or other waiver.
This joint announcement is not for release, publication or distribution in or into any jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the relevant laws of such jurisdiction.
中國航空技術國際控股有限公司
AVIC International Holding
AVIC International Holdings Limited
Corporation
( a limited liability company incorporated in
( formerly known as CATIC Shenzhen Holdings Limited
the People's Republic of China)
( 深圳中航集團股份有限公司))
( a joint stock company incorporated in
the People's Republic of China with limited liability)
( Stock Code: 00161)
JOINT ANNOUNCEMENT
VOLUNTARY ANNOUNCEMENT IN RELATION TO THE LATEST
ARRANGEMENT OF THE INTRODUCTION MEETINGS FOR
SHAREHOLDERS
ISSUED H SHARES IN THE COMPANY;
EXCLUSIVE FINANCIAL ADVISER TO AVIC INTERNATIONAL
- 1 -
Reference is made to ( i) the composite document jointly issued by the Company and AVIC International Holding Corporation ( `` AVIC International '') dated 8 January 2020 ( the `` Composite Document '') in relation to, among other things, the H Share Offer, the Delisting and the Merger; and ( ii) the announcement ( the `` Announcement '') jointly issued by the Company and AVIC International dated 20 January 2020 in relation to the two introduction meetings ( the `` Introduction Meetings '') to be held on 7 February 2020 ( the `` First Introduction Meeting '') and 21 February 2020 ( the `` Second Introduction Meeting '') for introducing and explaining the administrative and procedural matters in relation to the H Share Offer, the Delisting and the Merger to the Shareholders. Unless otherwise defined, capitalised terms used in this joint announcement shall have the same meanings as those defined in the Composite Document.
As set out in the Announcement, the First Introduction Meeting is proposed to be held by way of physical meeting with telephone dial-in at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, 7 February 2020 at Taishan Room of Island Shangri-La, Pacific Place, Supreme Court Road, Central, Hong Kong SAR.
Taking into account the outbreak of the coronavirus and the health concerns of the Shareholders, the Company and AVIC International have jointly determined that the First Introduction Meeting will only be held by way of telephone conference in lieu of physical meeting with telephone dial-in.
The date, time and dial-in details of the First Introduction Meeting shall remain unchanged and hereby restate as follows:
Date and time:
Friday, 7 February 2020 at 4:00 p.m.
Dial-in details:
Hong Kong: 852 3027 6500
Mainland China: 400 821 0623
Conference Code: 43120748 #
Shareholders are welcome to attend the First Introduction Meeting at the prescribed date and time by telephone conference.
The arrangement of the Second Introduction Meeting currently remains the same as set out in the Announcement. The Company and AVIC International will keep the Shareholders update of any change to the arrangement of the Second Introduction Meeting by way of announcement subject to the latest development of the coronavirus.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Introduction Meetings can not and will not provide any advice on the merits or risks of the H Share Offer, the Delisting and/or the Merger or give any financial or legal advice. If you are in doubt as to any aspect of this joint announcement or action to be taken, you should consult a licensed securities dealer or registered institution in securities, bank manager, solicitor, professional accountant or other professional adviser.
- 2 -
WARNING
The H Share Offer is conditional upon the fulfilment of the Conditions and the Merger is conditional upon the fulfilment or waiver ( where applicable) of the Merger Conditions, in each case as described in the Composite Document in all aspects. Accordingly, the H Share Offer may or may not become unconditional and the issue of this joint announcement does not imply that the H Share Offer or the Delisting will be completed. As the Merger Conditions ( in respect of the Merger) are different from the Conditions ( in respect of the H Share Offer), Shareholders and potential investors of the Company should be aware that even following the successful completion of the H Share Offer and the Delisting, there is no certainty that the Merger will proceed. Shareholders and/or potential investors of the Company should therefore exercise caution when dealing in the securities of the Company ( including the H Shares and any options or rights in respect of them). Persons who are in doubt as to the action they should take should consult their licensed securities dealers or registered institutions in securities, bank managers, solicitors, professional accountants or other professional advisers.
On behalf of the Board of
On behalf of the Board of
AVIC International Holding Corporation
AVIC International Holdings Limited
( 中國航空技術國際控股有限公司)
( 中航國際控股股份有限公司)
Liu Hong De
Liu Hong De
Chairman
Chairman
Shenzhen, the PRC, 31 January 2020
As at the date of this joint announcement, AVIC International Board comprises: Mr. Liu Hong De, Mr. Li Zong Shun, Mr. Yan Dong, Mr. Xiao Zhi Yuan, Mr. Lai Wei Xuan, Mr. Li Qi Feng, Mr. Fu Fang Xing, Ms. Kong Ling Fen and Mr. You Lei.
The directors of AVIC International jointly and severally accept full responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained in this joint announcement ( other than that relating to the Group) and confirm, having made all reasonable enquiries, that to the best of their knowledge, opinions expressed in this joint announcement ( other than that expressed by the Company's Board) have been arrived at after due and careful consideration and there are no other facts not contained in this joint announcement, the omission of which would make any statement in this joint announcement misleading.
As at the date of this joint announcement, the Company's Board comprises: Mr. Liu Hong De, Mr. Lai Wei Xuan, Mr. You Lei, Mr. Liu Jun, Mr. Fu Fang Xing and Mr. Chen Hong Liang as executive directors; and Ms. Wong Wai Ling, Mr. Wu Wei and Mr. Wei Wei as independent non-executive directors.
The directors of the Company jointly and severally accept full responsibility for the accuracy of the information contained in this joint announcement ( other than that relating to AVIC International and parties acting in concert with it ( except for the Group)) and confirm, having made all reasonable enquiries, that to the best of their knowledge, opinions expressed in this joint announcement ( other than that expressed by the AVIC International Board and parties acting in concert with AVIC International ( except for the Company's Board)) have been arrived at after due and careful consideration and there are no other facts not contained in this joint announcement, the omission of which would make any statement in this joint announcement misleading.
- 3 -
Attachments
Disclaimer
AVIC International Holdings Limited published this content on 31 January 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 31 January 2020 08:44:02 UTC | business |
Asian LNG prices fall as coronavirus concerns rise | The average LNG price for March delivery into northeast Asia < LNG-AS > was estimated at around $ 3.80 per million British thermal units ( mmBtu), down $ 0.20 per mmBtu from the previous week.
With demand across Asia subdued this winter due to warmer-than-usual weather, concerns are growing that the coronavirus may further taper off gas consumption.
`` Any slowdown in Chinese GDP growth as a result of the coronavirus will feed directly into gas consumption and through to LNG imports, '' Michael Stoppard, chief strategist for global gas at IHS Markit said.
`` This will hurt a global market already in search of demand support. ''
China Council for The Promotion of International Trade ( CCPIT) has said it will offer force majeure certificates to companies struggling to cope with the impact of the virus on their business with overseas partners.
`` We are more concerned about the Wuhan virus than the spot market right now, '' a source in China said earlier this month.
With warm weather keeping storage levels high, a fall in downstream demand would easily lead to a so called tank-top situation at Chinese ports, an LNG analyst said.
As the Lunar New Year holidays in China were extended until the end of this week due to the virus outbreak, market activity was quiet across the whole of Asia, LNG market sources said.
On the supply side, there was a tender from Indonesia's Donggi-Senoro plant that offered an LNG cargo for loading or delivery in March.
In the Atlantic basin, Angola LNG project is selling a cargo for delivery between the end of February and mid-March.
Russian producer Novatek has sold a cargo for late March in Europe, while Nigeria LNG awarded its tender for two February loading cargoes, industry sources said.
India's demand is growing due to the low prices, a buyer in India said.
Gail India and Torrent Power awarded their tenders this week at below $ 4 per mmBtu, he added.
The increase in spot cargo purchases in India has led to a rare premium of Indian prices to those in northeast Asia, Energy Aspects said this week in a report.
Demand also came from Greece where state-owned utility Public Power Corp ( PPC) is looking for three cargoes to be delivered between March and May.
Falling LNG prices in Asia were impacting curve contracts on European hubs, a gas trader in Europe said.
The summer price on the Dutch gas hub fell to $ 3.28 per mmBtu, while the front-month February contract traded around $ 3.15 per mmBtu on Friday, the lowest level for this period since at least 2005 when Refinitiv started to publish Dutch price data.
By Ekaterina Kravtsova | business |
Asian markets close the week with losses amid coronavirus fears |
Hong Kong stocks plunged nearly 6% this week as the
the spread of the coronavirus
took its toll on markets.
The
Hang Seng Index
(
HSI
)
closed Friday 0.5% lower to finish down for a third straight session. It was closed the first two days of this week for the Lunar New Year holiday.
Elsewhere, South Korea's
Kospi
(
KOSPI
)
dropped 1.4% on Friday, pushing its weekly loss to 5.7%. Japan's
Nikkei 225
(
N225
)
ended Friday 1% higher, but is also down for the week.
The coronavirus, which originated in central China, has now spread around the world. More than 200 people are dead and more than 9,600 people have been infected in mainland China. There have also been dozens of confirmed cases elsewhere, including India, the Philippines and the United States.
The World Health Organization has
declared
coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern.
Read More
Separately, China's factory activity weakened ahead of the coronavirus outbreak, according to official data released Friday. The purchasing managers index for manufacturing reached 50 this month, lower than
last month's 50.2
but in line with what analysts polled by Reuters expected.
Non-manufacturing PMI, a key indicator for the services sector, rose to 54.1, which was above December's 53.5.
A reading above 50 indicates growth from the previous month.
`` The PMIs are usually valued as being among the first pieces of data released for an economy each month. But China's January PMI surveys have been overtaken by subsequent events, '' wrote Martin Lynge Rasmussen, China economist for Capital Economics, in a research note. `` The following months ' PMIs will give insight into how damaging the virus is. ''
He noted that the PMI surveys ended January 20, the same day Chinese President Xi Jinping publicly stated that the outbreak was serious.
Elsewhere, South Korean electronics maker LG reported sales of 62.3 trillion won ( $ 52.5 billion) in 2019, a rise of 1% compared to 2018. Operating income fell about 1% to 2.4 trillion won ( $ 2 billion).
Earnings were dragged down by the poor performance of LG's smartphone division. Sales of LG phones for 2019 plummeted 21% to 1.3 trillion won ( $ 1.1 billion).
Shares in LG dropped 1.9% in Seoul on Friday.
SK Hynix, which supplies chips to smartphone maker Apple and others, saw profits collapse in the fourth quarter and miss analysts ' estimates by a wide mark.
Operating profit plummeted 95% to 236 billion won ( $ 199 million), the company's worst quarterly profit in seven years and far below what analysts expected, according to Refinitiv.
SK Hynix stock fell 0.5% in Seoul.
--
Sherisse Pham contributed to this report. | general |
Travel ban expanded to six new countries |
The Trump administration on Friday announced an expansion of the travel ban -- one of the President's signature policies, which has been derided by critics as an attempt to ban Muslims from the US -- to include six new countries.
Immigration restrictions will be imposed on: Nigeria, Eritrea, Tanzania, Sudan, Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar ( known as Burma), with exceptions for immigrants who have helped the US.
The latest iteration comes three years after President Donald Trump -- in one of his first moves in office -- signed the first travel ban, which caused chaos at airports and eventually landed at the Supreme Court. The announcement also comes at the end of a major week for Trump with the signing of the
USMCA
trade deal and expected acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial.
The updated ban has already sparked controversy over its targeting of African countries with lawmakers and advocates calling the changes discriminatory and without merit.
The administration has argued that the travel ban is vital to national security and ensures countries meet US security needs, by requiring a certain level of identity management and information sharing requirements.
Read More
In 2018, the Supreme Court upheld the third version of the travel ban after the previous iterations were challenged in court. The current policy restricts entry from seven countries to varying degrees: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen, along with Venezuela and North Korea.
Restrictions on those countries will remain in place, the official said. Chad was removed from the list last April after the White House said the country improved security measures.
Unlike the original ban, the new restrictions only include categories of immigration visa applicants. Specifically, all immigrants from Burma, Eritrea, Kyrgyzstan and Nigeria will be banned from the US. However, only green card lotteries will be restricted from Sudan and Tanzania, said a DHS official Friday.
Based on 2018 data, an estimated 12,398 people could be impacted by the new ban, according to the official. The restrictions apply to immigrant visas, but not students, other temporary visitors or refugee processing.
The proclamation, signed by President Donald Trump Friday, is expected to take effect on February 21.
`` Travelers on their way to the United States will not be denied entry as a result of this proclamation, '' said the official. Nationals of the six countries already in the US or those with a valid visa to come to the US will `` not be impacted, '' the official added.
According to the administration, the US decided to focus on immigrant visas for two reasons: these six countries have a `` greater prospect '' for improvement, additionally it is more challenging to deport someone who has emigrated to the US, rather than a tourist or visitor.
The official acknowledged that gaps and vulnerabilities could have an impact on all travelers to the US, but said that `` we prioritized the initial focus on those categories that could have the greatest long term challenge. '' The administration did `` not feel it would be proportionate to impose travel restrictions '' on all travelers, the official said.
Immigrant groups derided the expansion of the program.
`` The ban should be ended, not expanded. President Trump is doubling down on his signature anti-Muslim policy -- and using the ban as a way to put even more of his prejudices into practice by excluding more communities of color, '' ACLU's director of its Immigrants ' Rights Project, Omar Jadwat, responded in a statement.
On a call with reporters Friday afternoon, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, and Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Colorado, criticized the latest incarnation of the ban in anticipation of its expansion. `` It's pure discrimination and racism, '' Jackson Lee said.
Neguse said he has a personal connection with the news.
`` I 'm the son of immigrants. My parents are Eritrean Americans. They were born in Eritrea. They came to the United States as refugees nearly 40 years ago. Their ability to do that offered me and family tremendous freedoms and opportunities, '' he said.
Director of Immigration Studies Alex Nowrasteh at the libertarian Cato Institute said there is no national security justification for banning immigrants from these countries.
`` The annual chance of being murdered by a foreign‐born terrorist from those six countries on US soil is about 1 in 1.9 billion per year, '' he said in a statement.
The revisions also come as the US is grappling with how to handle the
coronavirus outbreak
. On Friday, the administration also announced it will deny entry to foreign nationals who have traveled in China in the last 14 days -- unrelated to the immigration restrictions.
DHS and other departments evaluate each countries compliance with the criteria, as well as risk of travel to the US from terrorists and criminals. `` We are intrinsically more concerned '' about the risk of terrorists traveling to the US, said the official.
The criteria desired by the US includes, electronic passports, reporting of loss or thefts of passports, sharing information to validate travelers and sharing share information on known or suspected terrorists and criminals, the official said.
For example, Burma's tracking of lost and stolen passports is `` behind most of the world '' and Eritrea doesn't meet the threshold for criminal and terrorist information sharing, said the official regarding examples of specific country issues. Although Nigeria does work with the US on counter terrorism issues, said the official, its identity management capabilities and reporting to Interpol could use `` quite a bit of improvement. ''
Any country on either ban can have their restrictions removed at anytime by fixing the deficiencies, according to the DHS official, pointing to Chad being removed from the list for making improvements on lost and stolen passport reporting and deepened exchange of terrorist information.
Everything travelers need to know about Wuhan coronavirus
In October, CNN reported that
Trump administration officials were discussing
adding more countries to the travel ban list, two sources said. At the time, fewer than five countries were under consideration, an official said. At one point,
seven countries were under
consideration. The goal, the official said, is to `` bring governments into compliance by using the power of access to the United States. ''
Democratic lawmakers have continued to denounce the ban and pushed back against the administration's argument that the ban was for national security purposes.
Last year, Democrats introduced a bill known as the `` No Ban Act '' in the House and Senate to overturn the ban, but the measure is not expected to pass the GOP-controlled Senate.
This story has been updated with additional details of the travel ban.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the date that the travel ban goes into effect.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez and Catherine Shoichet contributed to this report. | general |
Deere temporarily closes facilities in China due to coronavirus | The Moline, Illinois-based farm equipment maker has eight facilities in the world's second-largest economy but none are located in China's city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak.
It was one of the most drastic steps taken by a U.S. company in response to the outbreak. American manufacturers have been mostly following the guidelines issued by Beijing - delaying reopening of their factories after the Lunar New Year.
Deere shares closed down 1.6% at $ 158.58 on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.
The flu-like virus has resulted in 213 deaths in China and more than 130 cases have been reported in at least 25 other countries and regions. Wuhan, where it originated, and the surrounding region are in virtual quarantine.
The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a global emergency. The United States has decided to halt entry to the country of foreign nationals who had been to China within the 14-day incubation period, a day after issuing a `` do not travel '' advisory for the country..
Deere said it also has decided to restrict travel by its employees to and from China until a later time. Many of its employees in China will work remotely, it added.
The epidemic has cast a shadow on broader economic activity, hammering global equity markets, which on Friday posted their biggest weekly and monthly loss since August. Mounting worries about the economic impact of the virus are also driving down oil prices.
Caterpillar Inc, Deere's rival, said earlier it was monitoring the situation in China closely and travel to and from the country is `` business critical only. ''
While none of the heavy equipment maker's manufacturing facilities is in the worst-affected province, the outbreak has delayed the reopening of many of its facilities after the Lunar New Year by a week.
General Motors Co, the No. 1 U.S. automaker, also has placed a temporary restriction on travel to Wuhan, where the company has a manufacturing base as part of a joint venture with China's SAIC Motor.
Several companies, including Tesla Inc, Apple Inc and Starbucks Corp have warned of a possible impact from the outbreak.
By Rajesh Kumar Singh | business |
Fake coronavirus cures and other misinformation taken down by Facebook, Google and Twitter |
Facebook
(
FB
)
says it will start taking down bogus claims about purported `` cures '' and other unproven theories surrounding the coronavirus, as the deadly outbreak
continues to spread
globally, sparking a surge in online chatter
and misinformation
.
The company will `` remove content with false claims or conspiracy theories that have been flagged by leading global health organizations and local health authorities that could cause harm to people who believe them, '' according to a
blog post
published Thursday by Kang-Xing Jin, Facebook's head of health.
Jin said that includes claims `` related to false cures or prevention methods '' or `` that create confusion about health resources that are available. ''
The company also plans to increase its fact-checking and monitoring efforts on Instagram, which it also owns. Jin said users who click on a hashtag related to the coronavirus will now be served with a `` pop-up with credible information. ''
As coronavirus spreads, so does online misinformation
The social network wants to prioritize legitimate sources of information, Jin said, by letting select organizations run free ads that help educate people about the virus and also boosting posts that fall in line with health experts ' guidance to the top of users ' Facebook feeds. It did not specify which organizations would be included.
Read More
Jin noted in the Thursday blog post that not all the new measures were `` fully in place '' yet.
`` It will take some time to roll them out across our platforms and step up our enforcement methods, '' he wrote. `` We're focusing on claims that are designed to discourage treatment or taking appropriate precautions. ''
The move is Silicon Valley's latest attempt to combat misinformation about the outbreak, which has infected
more than 9,800 people
around the world and killed more than 200 in mainland China. The World Health Organization ( WHO) on Thursday
declared
the outbreak `` a public health emergency of international concern. ''
Facebook debuts vaccine pop-up windows to stop the spread of misinformation
Twitter and Google have also
stepped up efforts
this week to guide their users to verified sources on the subject.
Google
(
GOOGL
)
announced Thursday that when people search for information about the coronavirus, it will pull up a special notice with updates from the WHO.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, said it will promote videos from credible sources when people search for clips about the virus. The company said it specifically points to content from trusted users, such as public health experts or news outlets, in search results or panels that suggest which videos to watch next.
Twitter
(
TWTR
)
said Wednesday that it would
begin prompting users
who search for the coronavirus to first visit official channels of information about the illness. In the United States, for example, Twitter directs users to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, beneath a bold headline that reads: `` Know the facts. ''
The campaign is running in 15 locations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia, and `` will continue to expand as the need arises, '' the company said in a
blog post
.
Looking for the latest information about the novel
# coronavirus
?
We 've recently adjusted our search prompt to ensure authoritative health sources appear upfront when you search on Twitter👇
# knowthefacts
pic.twitter.com/LlYUAdLSBy
— Twitter Singapore ( @ TwitterSG)
January 29, 2020
As of Wednesday, Twitter said that it had already seen more than 15 million tweets about the coronavirus in four weeks, `` and that trend looks set to continue. ''
A company spokesperson told CNN Business earlier this week that it had not seen a coordinated increase in disinformation related to the virus, but would `` remain vigilant '' on the issue.
The moves this week are notable, particularly since social networks have long been criticized for allowing the spread of misinformation.
Facebook, which now claims about
2.5 billion monthly users
on its flagship network and a
combined 2.9 billion monthly active users
across its other apps like WhatsApp and Instagram, has had major problems restricting hoaxes about vaccines,
for example.
Instagram
last year vowed
to block more hashtags that surfaced vaccine misinformation after
a CNN Business report
found that content promoted by anti-vaccination accounts were still thriving on the platform.
While the company frequently touts its army of fact-checkers and reviewers who are paid to debunk false claims, the effectiveness of its policies remain in question.
On Thursday, some people pointed out that a search for `` vaccines '' on Instagram still brought up several pages linked to dangerous misinformation.
Yikes. Just checked Instagram and got same results.
https: //t.co/Qwr812xknV
— Amanda Katz ( @ katzish)
January 30, 2020
When asked about those searches, Facebook said its work to identify and combat the spread of disinformation was ongoing.
`` We are fully committed to the safety of our community and are working with external health experts to make sure we get this right, '' a company spokesperson told CNN Business.
`` Leading global health authorities, such as the World Health Organization, have publicly identified verifiable vaccine hoaxes; if these vaccine hoaxes appear on our platforms, including Instagram, we will take action against them. ''
-- Donie O'Sullivan contributed to this report. | general |
Today's Logistics Report: Parceling Out Profits; Amazon's Shipping Prime; Flipping Reverse Logistics | By Paul Page
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United Parcel Service Inc.'s close work with Amazon.com Inc. is paying off for the package carrier. The package carrier's shipping volume and operating profit jumped sharply in the fourth quarter, the WSJ's Paul Ziobro reports, as UPS gets cozier than ever with the largest online retailer in the U.S. while rival FedEx Corp. focuses on retailers competing with the e-commerce behemoth. UPS Chief Executive David Abney says Amazon now makes up 11.6% of the company's annual revenue, but that other major retailers all are shipping more with the carrier. The company's pricier air express services grew at a double-digit pace during 2019, including a 25.9% year-over-year gain in next-day air shipments in the fourth quarter. FedEx's overnight air shipments have declined in three of the past four quarters and SJ Consulting says UPS now holds a bigger share of the next-day market than its Memphis-based rival.
E-COMMERCE
Amazon is getting its money's worth from its shipping spending. The company's fourth-quarter sales jumped 21% to $ 87.4 billion and its profit rose 8% to $ 3.3 billion, the WSJ's Dana Mattioli reports, capping a strong holiday quarter that saw the e-commerce giant outpace its retail competitors and helping boost Amazon's valuation in after-hours trading past $ 1 trillion. The company is paying heavily to deliver those goods, racking up nearly $ 12.9 billion in world-wide shipping costs in the quarter, 42.5% more than the year before. The spending has soared as Amazon has bulked up its network of warehouses and delivery drivers -- world-wide shipping costs have more than doubled in three years. But third-party sales are growing at double the rate of Amazon's own online sales, bringing better margins since the company doesn't necessarily handle the goods. And Amazon says the costs for serving its one-day Prime program also are stabilizing.
SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES
An online fashion startup hopes to make e-commerce smarter by building reverse logistics into the business model right up front. Flip Fit says it will ship customers clothes that they haven't paid for and then use a social network to help them decide what to keep and what to send back. The WSJ's Angus Loten writes the company uses artificial intelligence to push brands, styles and sizes to customers that they are likely to buy. Flip Fit also uses the data from customers to manage its supply chain through an Inglewood, Calif., warehouse, where it ships items from sellers and then handles returns that it hopes to turn around and sell to other users. Online fashion sales are growing rapidly, but the high costs of handling returns has hampered profitability in the sector. Flip Fit's leaders think building returns into the company's business model will give it an edge.
QUOTABLE
IN OTHER NEWS
The U.S. economy grew 2.1% in the fourth quarter, as exports rose at a 1.4% annual rate while imports fell 8.7%. ( WSJ)
The eurozone's economy slowed sharply in 2019 as its key automobile industry struggled. ( WSJ)
The truck unit of Volkswagen AG offered to take over Navistar International Corp. in an all-cash transaction valued at roughly $ 2.9 billion. ( WSJ)
Mexico's economy contracted 0.1% in 2019. ( WSJ)
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings reached a deal with Boeing to resume limited production of fuselages for the 737 MAX. ( WSJ)
A government report says Southwest Airlines suffered numerous safety lapses over two years under lax oversight from U.S. regulators. ( WSJ)
Unions representing mechanics at American Airlines Group reached tentative agreement on new contracts. ( WSJ)
Hershey's quarterly sales rose as the candy maker raised prices to offset higher raw materials and shipping costs. ( WSJ)
Coca-Cola says it will reopen some factories in China that have been closed this month amid the spread of the coronavirus. ( WSJ)
Unilever PLC, the world's largest tea maker, is exploring the sale of its tea business. ( WSJ)
Cargo ship calls at China's Yangtze River ports have declined sharply this month as the coronavirus outbreak has spread. ( Lloyd's List)
Honda Motor supplier Ftech is moving its brake pedal production from Wuhan to the Philippines amid the coronavirus outbreak. ( Nikkei Asian Review)
Local authorities approved zoning for a 3.8 million-square-foot distribution center north of Austin, Texas, dubbed `` Project Charm '' for an unnamed customer. ( KVUE)
Belgian tanker operator Euronav rode soaring freight rates to a $ 160 million fourth-quarter profit. ( ShippingWatch)
UPS is buying 10,000 parcel-delivery vans from Arrival and making a minority investment in the U.K. vehicle manufacturer. ( Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Swedish truck maker Volvo's quarterly profit fell a less-than-expected 13.2% to $ 969 million. ( Reuters)
Volvo-owned Mack Trucks is returning to production of medium-duty trucks with a new plant in Roanoke, Va. ( Allentown Morning Call)
Trucker ABF Freight's parent ArcBest swung to a $ 5.5 million net loss in the fourth quarter as revenue fell 7.3%. ( Talk Business)
Kenyan delivery logistics startup Sendy raised $ 20 million in a Series B funding round. ( TechCrunch) | business |
Industrials Down After Caterpillar, Honeywell Earnings -- Industrials Roundup | Shares of industrial and transportation companies fell after some major factory operators raised concerns about the outlook for global growth.
Caterpillar shares fell after the maker of construction and mining machinery said it expects demand for its machinery to fall again this year, alongside revenue, underscoring the vulnerability of the global economy even before the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
Similarly, Honeywell International warned that economic uncertainty and the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX clouded its view of 2020 growth prospects.
The U.S. Treasury Department on Friday removed from its sanction lists several Chinese shipping companies, including units of shipping line Cosco Group, that were blacklisted last year for allegedly shipping Iranian oil in violation of U.S. prohibitions. The sanctions against those units in September triggered a spike in shipping costs, as reported earlier.
Volkswagen's truck unit has offered to buy rival Navistar International in an all-cash transaction valued at roughly $ 2.9 billion.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran @ dowjones.com
| business |
SAIC Motor: Chinese carmaker SAIC's India unit warns of sales hit due to coronavirus outbreak | MG Motors, SAIC's India unit, expects significant disruption in supply chain from European, Chinese and other Asian suppliers, the spokesman said.
The new coronavirus epidemic has killed more than 200 people, forcing Chinese authorities to extend the ongoing Lunar New Year holidays by three days to Feb. 2, with workers asked not to come back before Feb. 10 in some areas.
( Reporting by Aditi Shah; Editing by Euan rocha) | business |
Dow Drops 650 Points Because the Stock Market Finally Cares About Coronavirus | The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down more than 600 points as investors finally decide to start worrying about the spread of China’ s coronavirus and the implications for the global economy.
The Dow has dropped 655.08 points, or 2.3%, to 28,204.36, while the S & P 500 has fallen 1.8% to 3222.31. The Nasdaq Composite is off 1.8% at 9131.64.
The coronavirus is spreading. According to Johns Hopkins, which has a website dedicate to the virus, 9,776 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed, with 213 total deaths. Most of the cases are still in China, but it has spread to 22 other countries, and there’ s no telling whether the number of cases outside China will explode. The market is clearly saying that the risks posed by the virus aren’ t in the past just yet.
The market knows that growth in China and Asia will be hit. Markets in China are closed for the Lunar New Year, but trading in ETFs dedicated to the country continues, and they’ re getting hit hard. The iShares China Large-Cap ETF ( FXI) has dropped 6.5% this week, while the iShares MSCI China ETF ( MCHI) is off 5.6%.
U.S. stocks, however, have been a calm in the storm, and it’ s no longer clear that’ s deserved. Yet even with today’ s losses the Dow is down just 2.8% this week, while the S & P 500 is off 2.2%. Both probably need to get bigger before they can get smaller.
Still, some observers see just another buying opportunity, as so many pullbacks have been during this bull market. “ One month after the WHO has announced a global health crisis, the S & P 500 has traded higher seven out of eleven times and higher eleven out of eleven times three months later, ” writes Tigress Financial’ s Ivan Feinseth. “ I continue to say that the current coronavirus related selloff is a buying opportunity. ” | business |
Ray Dalio explains how to hedge risk amid coronavirus fears | Powering European private equity
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“ When you don’ t know, the best investment strategy is to be smartly diversified across geographic locations, across asset classes, and across currencies. ”
That’ s how Ray Dalio, founder of hedge fund behemoth Bridgewater Associates, said he is approaching the stock market in light of the coronavirus outbreak, according to his latest LinkedIn post.
Dalio... | general |
Why Honeywell Stock Is Falling After an Earnings Beat | Honeywell reported fourth-quarter earnings Friday morning that outstripped Wall Street’ s expectations, but that is what investors have come to count on with the industrial giant. The company, after all, beat analysts’ estimates each of the past four quarters reported.
Honeywell ( ticker: HON) stock fell about 3.5% in premarket trading.
Still, Friday’ s release is another solid earnings report. Sales rose in the company’ s aerospace, building controls, and materials divisions, but fell in its safety and productivity-solutions operation. The drop in that business reflects, in part, the slowing industrial economy. Manufacturing growth around the globe has decelerated for the past 12 to 18 months.
More important than the current quarter, however, is the 2020 outlook. Honeywell expects to earn about $ 8.80 a share in this coming year. That matches Wall Street’ s financial models.
Honeywell has a history of conservative forecasts. The company exceeded its original 2019 guidance by more than 20 cents a share, or about 3%.
“ We finished 2019 with a strong fourth quarter, ” said CEO Darius Adamczyk in the company’ s news release. “ We have continued to meet or exceed our guidance and the long-term targets we set forth in 2017, while further strengthening our balance sheet. ” The company generated more than $ 6 billion in free cash flow in 2019.
Adamczyk sounds confident about 2020, predicting more growth and profit-margin expansion driven by Honeywell Connected Enterprise. That’ s the division, started a couple of years back, that focused on selling software and connectivity solutions in Honeywell’ s existing end markets.
Honeywell reported “ double-digit ” software sales growth throughout 2019.
Management hosts a conference call at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time to discuss results and the outlook. Software sales in the fourth quarter and the coming year will be one topic for analysts to probe. They will also be interested in the state of the industrial economy as well as narrower, yet critical, topics such as the coronavirus outbreak in China and the Boeing ( BA) 737 MAX jet.
The MAX has been grounded world-wide since mid-March following two deadly crashes inside of five month. Boeing temporarily stopped making the plane in January creating a new, difficult situation for aerospace suppliers such as Honeywell. Aerospace is Honeywell’ s largest division.
Honeywell shares are up about 26% over the past 12 months, closely tracking gains of the S & P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average over that span. | business |
Wars and viruses: Are robots less prone to market panic? | Whether stocks, bonds, currencies or commodities, asset prices seem less prone to any selloff for very long; the U.S. killing of an Iranian general and Iran's retaliatory missile attack are among potential catastrophes that triggered violent but surprisingly shortlived reactions just since the start of 2020.
In both cases, knee-jerk yen-buying and selling of equities faded within hours, allowing stocks to scale new record peaks.
Now even as China's coronavirus threatens to throttle economic growth, global stocks are not far off all-time highs.
Certainly, many factors are shaping the resilience, not least central bank money printing and rising global savings which boosted the value of world stocks by $ 25 trillion in the past decade.
Yet it is hard not to link the shift in reaction by financial markets to the rise of automated trading strategies. In the past six years, the share of algo-trading in the $ 6.6 trillion-a-day FX market has more than doubled to 27% among fund managers, a survey by Greenwich Associates found.
There is some reason to believe algos cause volatility, especially when trading thins and the humans overseeing them vanish, for instance during public holidays. That's what likely happened during the Wall Street flash crash of 2010 and dramatic but fleeting yen moves in Jan 2019.
But they also offer the advantage of being able to transact at lightening speed at any hour of the day or night, with razor-sharp accuracy and lower overall costs. Being machines, they are also alien to the common human impulses of fear and greed that tend to take over.
Algorithmic trading is dispassionate, said Scott Wacker, global head of fixed income, currency and commodity e-sales at JPMorgan, one bank at the forefront of the algo revolution.
`` As a result, the reaction function in currency markets to even major geopolitical news has considerably shortened which enables stability to return more quickly. ''
In short, when left-field events hit, not only can algos scan and react swiftly to newsfeed, many now can gauge the potential asset price impact. The most sophisticated can be `` trained '' to learn from the experience before the next shock.
One currency trader familiar with algo use said a machine reading coronavirus cases would typically buy stocks if informed of `` 500 new cases, 10 deaths ''. `` If it's '3000 new cases, 200 deaths ' they might sell.
`` The point being that as soon as a headline is out, the machine-led market is trading on it, '' the trader said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
But the machines had 'vol triggers ', he said, meaning they can stop trading when the market moves beyond specified limits.
Graphic, Market value wipe off on Jan 27 after coronavirus outbreak:
HOW IT WORKS
Simple first- and second-generation programmes merely broke down large buy/sell orders into chunks to minimise market impact. Now algos can be hooked up to sophisticated language processing technology, to `` read and analyse '' news feeds, then react accordingly, all in the space of seconds, said Antony Foster, head of G10 FX trading at Nomura.
However this can `` lead to overreaction in the first instance '', Foster warned.
The impact in fast-moving markets can be outsized if the models rapidly push prices towards existing buy/sell order levels, trip them and trigger other orders.
That's what happened when news broke of Iran's Jan. 8 attack, according to a quant fund manager, who said algos had bought yen with the aim of triggering larger buy orders once a key option barrier was tripped.
A plausible comparison may be the 0.6% plunge in the S & P 500 within the space of half an hour on Jan. 29. The move came after American Airlines and Lufthansa said they were suspending their China flights, but an hour later, the losses had been recouped.
Graphic, S & P 500 crash after airlines suspend flights to China:
Stephane Malrait, ING Bank's head of market structure and innovation, says in such instances algos are programmed to check if moves are in line with price trends.
If the swings are in response to the an incident, human traders can step in to smooth out the trade, Malrait added.
Next, the algos may gauge the seriousness of the incident based on patterns of investor behaviour and economic consequences that followed previous such episodes.
After the Iran missile attacks, the message from the specialised data-crunchers to the algos was: stand down.
One was Geoquant, a U.S. firm which monitors geopolitical events and models the asset price impact.
`` We modelled our Iranian geopolitical indicator back to seven years... and put the current tensions against that backdrop, '' said Geoquant CEO Mark Rosenberg, who concluded the risk would subside, with minimal oil price impact.
Another firm, Predata, applied its machine-reading algorithm to last September's attacks on Saudi oil facilities, which had raised fears of a regional war.
To predict what might happen next, the programme compares interested parties ' online attention to a subject, with the media coverage it receives, Predata CEO Hazem Dawani said. The Saudi event elicited little reaction from military officials and policymakers.
`` The amount of news was far more than the amount of attention being devoted on the particular subject by investors, politicians, companies directly impacted by them, '' Dawani said.
He concluded - rightly - that there would be no escalation.
VIRUS UNKNOWNS
Executives at half a dozen firms providing risk analysis for algo strategies told Reuters their services were increasingly in demand, but declined to give figures.
But they acknowledged limitations.
Reactions to the coronavirus for instance could be hobbled because the only meaningful precedent is the 2003 SARS epidemic which also coincided with the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Second, the pathogen and its dangers are relatively unknown.
Rosenberg said Geoquant's China Health Risk index was at record highs. That has pushed up the firm's Social Instability Risk index for China, pressuring Chinese markets.
However, he said this correlation breaks down beyond short periods.
`` The longer-term relationship between Chinese Health Risk and equities, Chinese or global, is basically zero, '' he said.
By Saikat Chatterjee | business |
Why A Real Fracking Ban Won’ t Happen | Friday January 31, 2020 In the latest edition of the Numbers Report, we & rsquo; ll take a look at some of the most interesting figures put out this week in the energy and metals sectors. Each week we & rsquo; ll dig into some data and provide a bit of explanation on what drives the numbers. Let & rsquo; s take a look. 1. Fracking ban of little consequence & bull; Several candidates for president have called for a ban on fracking. In practice, the president can only try to ban fracking on federal lands, and even that might be subject to litigation. & bull; Even if a ban succeeded, capital would flow from federal to private lands. & ldquo; Even in the long-term, the impact might be quite negligible as seen from the greater industry perspective, & rdquo; says Artem Abramov, Head of Shale Research at Rystad Energy. & ldquo; However, the effects of such a ban could have stronger negative effects on one key shale producing region in particular & ndash; the New Mexico portion of the prolific Permian Delaware Basin. & rdquo; & bull; New Mexico and North Dakota would be most affected by the ban, each producing several hundred thousand barrels of oil per day from federal lands. As for gas, Wyoming is the largest contributor from federal lands, followed by New Mexico. & bull; Some of the companies most affected in the Delaware basin would be Occidental NYSE OXY, Devon Energy NYSE DVN and Concho Resources NYSE CXO, with their Delaware holdings on federal lands between 63 and 82 percent of their totals, according to Rystad. & bull; Still, the ban might not be consequential. & ldquo; A majority of significant Delaware New Mexico operators can maintain activity levels at the current pace average of 2018-2019 for more than 20 years, & rdquo; Rystad said. & ldquo; If federal acreage is no longer accessible, the inventory size would decrease, but we would still see 10 years & rsquo; inventory at the current pace for most operators, and as much as 19 years for about half of the group. & rdquo; 2. The case for Hess & bull; Morgan Stanley put out an investment note for Hess NYSE HES, going Overweight with a price target of $ 82 per share. Hess currently trades at around $ 58, after a steep drop this week. & bull; Hess fell 7 percent after it reported its fourth quarter earnings. & ldquo; We view yesterday & rsquo; s sell-off as overdone and our thesis remains the same, & rdquo; Morgan Stanley wrote. & bull; The bank says that Hess & rsquo; breakeven price will fall from $ 70 per barrel in 2019 to $ 40 per barrel by 2025 as it becomes increasingly concentrated in offshore Guyana. & ldquo; This change will structurally shift the company toward the lower end of the cost curve, supporting free cash flow that is resilient through the cycle, & rdquo; Morgan Stanley said. & bull; The bank says that excluding Hess & rsquo; midstream and Guyana units, it trades at 1.2 times EV/EBITDAX for 2020, & ldquo; implying minimal value for the remaining business. & rdquo; As Guyana ramps up, Hess will increasingly reflect the strongest part of its portfolio. 3. Natural gas squeezed by rising renewables & bull; Warm weather this winter brought on a & ldquo; gasmaggedon, & rdquo; Bank of America Merrill Lynch wrote in a note. & bull; U.S. LNG exports have climbed over the past four years from nothing to 8 billion cubic feet per day Bcf/d. But drillers have added 22 Bcf/d of new supply over the same timeframe. & bull; & ldquo; We believe domestic natural gas prices will have a difficult time sustaining higher prices until the risk of US LNG curtailments has passed, & rdquo; Bank of America said. & ldquo; Unfortunately, we estimate the global gas glut will persist through at least 2021. & rdquo; Production must decline in order for the market to balance, the bank added. & bull; But the rise of renewables complicates the demand equation. Solar peaks in the summer, but wind peaks in spring and fall. The base of renewables grows with each passing year. & bull; & ldquo; High renewable output combined with high [ gas inventories ] would be a difficult problem for the market to solve this spring, & rdquo; the bank said. 4. Oil demand peaks in 2030 & bull; The decline in oil prices over the past few years has led to ongoing increases in emissions. & ldquo; The shale revolution in America has further exacerbated the problem, as global Green House Gas GHG emissions growth has partly accelerated on the back of the rising US oil supplies and falling global energy prices, & rdquo; Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note. & bull; Still, global oil demand could peak by 2030, the bank said. & bull; By that year, EVs will capture 40 percent of the global car market. & bull; EV sales will begin accelerating in the early 2020s as costs reach parity with the internal combustion engine. 5. Copper prices fall as supply rises and economy falters & bull; China & rsquo; s & ldquo; refined copper output stood at 930 thousand tonnes kt in December, an all-time high and marked a third successive month of fresh highs, & rdquo; Standard Chartered wrote in a report. & bull; For 2019, China & rsquo; s copper output stood at a record 9.8 million tonnes. & bull; But a Reuters poll finds that analysts see a rebound in prices this year on the back of supply problems. & ldquo; A modest revival in global economic growth coupled with a less seamless return of supply than most expect following major disruptions last year should be positive for the price of copper, & rdquo; Caroline Bain, chief commodities economist at Capital Economics in London, told Reuters. & bull; Nevertheless, copper prices fell to a five-month low this week, due to weaker demand in China and fears over the coronavirus slowing economic growth. 6. Gas glut is global & bull; The gas glut is not concentrated just in the U.S. Instead, the surplus is global. LNG prices in Asia & ndash; the Platts JKM price & ndash; fell below $ 4/MMBtu in recent days, a 10-year low. & bull; & ldquo; Specifically, we estimate that warmer-than-average temperatures have reduced aggregate gas demand in Japan, China and South Korea by approximately 5mtpa and 8 mtpa in December and January, respectively, increasing excess LNG in the spot market, & rdquo; Goldman Sachs said. & bull; Inventories in NW Europe & ndash; the TTF hub & ndash; are unusually high. If mild weather persists, the threat is that U.S. LNG exports could be curtailed, according to Goldman Sachs. & bull; & ldquo; At current forward prices, we estimate testing such a process would require summer TTF and JKM to move $ 0.60/mmBtu and $ 0.80/mmBtu lower, & rdquo; the investment bank concluded. 7. Water hauling a $ 20 billion business & bull; The Delaware Basin within the Permian has seen the most recent surge of shale activity. The basin has multiple layers stacked on top of it and tens of billions of barrels of estimated reserves. & bull; & ldquo; However, these resource plays hold much higher water cuts than other U.S. plays, & rdquo; Raymond James warned in a report. The ratio of water to oil runs at about 6x, the bank said. & bull; The bank said that the Delaware will reach peak production in the late 2020s at around 5 mb/d. But water production will reach 20 mb/d in that same timeframe. & bull; & ldquo; If all of this water were to be transported by truck, water hauling in the Delaware alone would be a $ 20 billion dollar industry annually and require 150,000 trips per day to move these volumes, & rdquo; Raymond James wrote [ emphasis in original ]. & ldquo; At this rate, every man woman and child in Reeves County, Texas, would be behind the wheel of a truck 60 hours a week. & rdquo; | business |
There's One Hurdle Between Tesla ( TSLA) and the S & P 500 | Tesla ( NASDAQ: TSLA) has been having an amazing run of things lately. If the stock were colored orange and had a musical horn you could swear it made a guest appearance or two on “ The Dukes of Hazzard. ” In fact, new reports suggest that the electric car maker could be poised to join the S & P 500 by the end of this year. There's just one more obstacle for Tesla to beat to hit this goal: profitability.
Start Your Tesla Engines for the S & P 500
How exactly does a stock get into the S & P 500? As it turns out, there are several criteria that need to be met. A company looking to join the S & P 500 needs to have a headquarters in the United States, a total market cap of at least $ 6.1 billion, the stock price must be at least $ 1 per share, the company needs to file a 10-K annual report every year, at least half of its stock has to be available for purchase on one of several exchanges, and at least half of both its revenues and its fixed assets must be found in the United States.
Tesla actually meets or exceeds each of those requirements. There's one point, however, that's still outstanding. A company that wants to join the S & P 500 needs to have four quarters of positive earnings, and those quarters need to happen consecutively.
Tesla Objects in the S & P 500 Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear
That last point, as it turns out, is closer to realization than some expected. Just Wednesday, Tesla posted positive earnings for the preceding quarter thanks to a slightly upward goose in revenue. That's the second time Tesla has returned in such fashion, after posting gains with the October earnings report. Now, Tesla need only post two-quarters of such growth to make it eligible, which means before 2020 closes, Tesla could be a part of one of the US ' great economic bellwethers.
document.write ( ' < a style= '' text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal; color: # 696969; '' target= '' blank '' rel= '' nofollow '' href= '' https: //www.ame ' + 'ricanconsumernews.net/scripts/click.aspx? NativeDisplayAdID=587 & ImpressionID=0 & UserID=0 & Placement=PlaceOnArticlePage '' > '); A Wall Street legend who picked Apple in 2003 — and Bitcoin in 2016 — shares his # 1 pick for 2020s.
That may prove easier said than done, however. Analysts are already expecting a small loss per share with the next earnings release in a few months. Naturally, these being forecasts, they could end up as wrong as quickly as they could right, but that's a bit of a drag on Tesla's overall outlook.
A Less Than Stellar Track Record
So all Tesla needs to step into the S & P 500 is two profitable quarters. The question on many lips, therefore, is can the job be done? We know from past experience—which doesn't always predict future performance, but still—that Tesla has had some trouble keeping profitability going for any length of time. Remember back in 2018, when Tesla put up two repeating profitable quarters as well before losing ground. It lost that chance as well.
There's also a lot less mystique around Tesla than there once was. Sure, Tesla has made some impressive gains since 2018, but it's also a stock that a lot of people are already watching. This isn't some out-of-nowhere story here; it's already got investors and analysts watching it closely. That's going to make continuous profitability a little tougher to pull off.
Also consider some of the events going on on the wider stage. Tesla's biggest chance at expansion is the Chinese market, but look what's going on in the Chinese market right now. Yes, that little thing called “ coronavirus, ” which is starting to make China look like a Stephen King novel, and not one involving a clown, either. Selling electric cars into an environment that might be on the verge of a financial downturn as people can't show up for work at closed factories could be a challenge too great for Tesla to overcome.
Yet we can't forget the value of Tesla's side businesses, like its work to improve batteries. The Tesla Powerwall already represents one of the greatest advances in home backup power, and with a new drive toward backup power in California after all the power outages, it could open up a new market Tesla could certainly use.
Never Count Tesla Out
However, there's one important point to consider. Tesla is currently, at last report, the most shorted stock around. There are about $ 15 billion in bets against it. Yet it's also the stock that's done a lot of damage to short sellers. Back in October, when that first profitable forecast came out, it cost short sellers about $ 1.5 billion. With this latest win, Tesla smacked its short-sellers for another $ 1.5 billion in paper losses, and some reports say this short squeeze will only continue.
So what will it be? Will Tesla race ahead into a bright new future with the S & P 500? Or will it spin out in the midfield like it did last time? Only time will tell, but there are factors working in each direction that will make this one great race to watch.
5 Stocks That Will Benefit From the Coronavirus
Investors are digesting the damage done to their portfolios in last week’ s coronavirus-induced correction. There was no place to hide from the bears who bore their claws and shredded the market from its record highs. And the reality is there is probably more volatility to come. Many companies had reported earnings before the depth and breadth of this outbreak became apparent. And that means that it will be months before investors get a chance to see how the true impact that Covid-19 virus will have on 2020 revenue and earnings. For risk-averse investors, it may be tempting to take a breather from the volatility. But, as the market showed yesterday, the reward is there for those willing to take the risk. Still, for the next few months – and maybe longer – this will not be like fishing in a barrel. Investors will have to take a targeted look at which companies are well-positioned in this environment. In this special presentation, we’ ll show you five companies that address one of three areas that may benefit from the coronavirus. First, there are companies whose supply chains do not involve China. In theory this means their manufacturing should be less impacted from the virus. Second, there are companies that are in the front lines of battling the virus. This can lead you into the biotech sector. And finally, there are stocks you can look at that can benefit from consumers taking safety measures to avoid getting the virus.
View the `` 5 Stocks That Will Benefit From the Coronavirus ''.
Complete the form below to receive the latest headlines and analysts ' recommendations for your stocks with our free daily email newsletter: | business |
Oil Prices See Biggest January Loss In 30 Years | Crude oil prices slid a painful 15% in January & mdash; the biggest January slide since 1991 & mdash; as the coronavirus claims the death of 213 souls and counting. After a couple weeks of continued slippage, the price of the Brent and WTI benchmarks were trading down 0.98% and 0.73% on the day, respectively, at 951 am as the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency. While the WHO did not recommend any travel restrictions to China, the US State Department recommended no travel to China, and airlines have stopped flying to China, including Air France, British Airways, Lufthansa, Virgin Atlantic, Lion Air, and Seoul Air. Other airlines had reduced their flight schedules to China, including American, Delta, United, Finnair, Cathay Pacific, and Jetstar Asia. In addition to airline stoppages, the Philippines halted visas on arrival to Chinese nationals, Hong Kong has stopped trains from China, Singapore has closed its borders to Chinese guests, Russia has closed its border with China & mdash; for people at least, Italy has halted all air traffic to and from China, Kazakhstan has halted bus service and passenger trains to China, North Korea has closed its borders to all foreign tourists & mdash; and these are just some of the travel restrictions in place, indicating that the world is proceeding with an abundance of caution despite the WHO stance that travel and trade should continue as usual. It is these travel restrictions that are, in part, denting fuel demand, and OPEC is standing up and taking notice, and is considering moving up its March meeting in order to discuss how to respond to the viral emergency. & nbsp; Brent was trading at $ 58.24 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange on Friday, and is down around 12% in January, according to Bloomberg. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com | business |
U.S. Rig Count Drops As Oil Price Slide Accelerates | After another week of faltering oil prices as the coronavirus outbreak continues to spook the market, Baker Hughes reported that the number of oil and gas rigs in the US decreased this week, to 790 & mdash; a decrease of 4 rigs. The total oil and gas rig count is now 265 down from this time last year. The number of oil rigs decreased for the week, by 1 rigs, according to Baker Hughes data, bringing the total to 675 & mdash; a 172-rig loss year over year. The total number of active gas rigs in the United States fell by 3 according to the report, to 112. This compares to 198 a year ago. & nbsp; Meanwhile, oil production has hovered at 13 million bpd for three weeks now, according to data provided by the Energy Information Administration & mdash; a high for the United States. By basin, oil rigs have slumped the most over the last 52 weeks in the Mississippian and Granite Wash basins -80%, followed by Cana Woodford -69%. By sheer numbers, the Permian basin saw the most declines at 75 over that same period, but that figure represents only a 16% decline & mdash; making the Permian one of the least affected basins over the last year. The WTI benchmark at 1228pm was $ 51.65 -0.94% per barrel & mdash; nearly $ 3 per barrel below last week levels as travel restrictions within, to, and from China threatens to dent oil demand. The Brent benchmark was trading at $ 56.71-1.08% & mdash; more than $ 3 per barrel below last week & rsquo; s levels. Canada & rsquo; s overall rig count increased by 3 rigs this week, to a total of 247 rigs. Oil and gas rigs in Canada are now up 4 year on year. & nbsp; At 8 minutes past the hour, WTI was trading at $ 51.30, while Brent was trading at $ 56.41. By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com | business |
As the coronavirus spreads, fear is fueling racism and xenophobia |
On a French newspaper's front page last weekend, big block letters announced `` Yellow Alert '' next to an image of a Chinese woman wearing a face mask. Another
headline in the same paper
read `` New Yellow Peril? '' above an article about the ongoing
Wuhan coronavirus outbreak.
The headlines drew immediate outrage. Readers accused the paper of using ignorant and offensive language.
`` Yellow Peril '' was an old racist ideology that targeted East Asians in Western countries. The phrase embodies the worst of anti-Asian fears and stereotypes, which have plagued immigrant communities since the first waves of Chinese immigration to the United States began in the 19th century.
In the US, government propaganda and pop culture at the time spread wildly racist and inaccurate images of Chinese people as unclean, uncivilized, immoral, and a threat to society.
To invoke the term now, in a story about death and illness in Asia, seems thoughtless at best and blatantly racist at worst.
Read More
Cette leçon de racisme décomplexé vous est offerte par le
@ CourrierPicard
# coronavirus
pic.twitter.com/jhcoNmsmm5
— Madjid Messaoudene ( @ MadjidFalastine)
January 26, 2020
The newspaper
apologized quickly
and said they had no intention of perpetuating `` racist stereotypes of Asians. '' But the damage is not so easily undone, and the paper is not the sole culprit -- merely the latest in a wave of anti-Chinese sentiment as the coronavirus spreads worldwide.
The escalating global health crisis has claimed more than 200 lives -- all in China -- and infected close to 10,000 people worldwide. As they seek to contain the virus, authorities in multiple countries are balancing the need for warnings against the risk of creating global panic.
However, there are signs that's already happening, with face masks selling out in stores and people locking themselves at home. Some people in central China -- the epicenter of the outbreak -- are desperately taking any flight out, regardless of destination, as governments worldwide suspend flights from China and impose restrictions on travelers from the mainland.
But the panic has also taken another, more familiar form, with the re-emergence of old racist tropes that portray Asians, their food, and their customs as unsafe and unwelcome.
As panic spreads, so does racism
As news of the virus has spread, many people of Asian descent living abroad say they have been treated like walking pathogens.
Writing for the UK's Guardian newspaper,
one British-Chinese journalist
in London said a man quickly moved seats when he sat down on a bus.
A Malaysian-Chinese social worker experienced the same thing on a London bus this week. `` A couple of people at an East London school I work in have asked me why Chinese people eat weird food when they know it causes viruses, '' she told CNN.
In Canada, there have been reports of Chinese children being bullied or singled out at school. In New Zealand -- where there are no confirmed coronavirus cases -- a Singaporean woman
says she was confronted
and faced racist harassment in a mall.
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Medical staff wearing protective suits ride down an escalator at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport on Wednesday, March 18.
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Hasidic Jewish men take part in a
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A patient in a biocontainment unit is carried on a stretcher in Rome on March 17.
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People gather to collect free face masks in New Delhi on March 17.
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Dermot Hickey, left, and Phillip Vega ask a pedestrian in New York to take their picture on a thinly trafficked Fifth Avenue on March 17. Many streets across the world are much more bare as people distance themselves from others. In the United States, the White House has advised people
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Students at the Attarkiah Islamic School wear face masks during a ceremony in Thailand's southern province of Narathiwat on March 17.
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People wait outside a Woolworths store in Sunbury, Australia on March 17. Australian supermarket chains announced special shopping hours for the elderly and people with disabilities so that they can shop in less crowded aisles.
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A member of Spain's Military Emergencies Unit carries out a general disinfection at the Malaga airport on Monday, March 16.
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Displaced families near Atme, Syria, attend a workshop aimed at spreading awareness about the coronavirus.
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French President Emmanuel Macron is seen on a screen in Paris as he announces new coronavirus containment measures on March 16.
France has been put on lockdown,
and all nonessential outings are outlawed and can draw a fine of up to €135 ( $ 148). Macron also promised to support French businesses by guaranteeing €300 billion worth of loans and suspending rent and utility bills owed by small companies.
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A police officer checks the temperatures of bus passengers at a checkpoint in Manila, Philippines, on March 16.
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Flowers are stored prior to their destruction at a flower auction in Aalsmeer, Netherlands, on March 16. Lower demand due to the coronavirus outbreak is threatening the Dutch horticultural sector, forcing the destruction of products.
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Two nuns greet neighbors from their balcony in Turin, Italy, on Sunday, March 15.
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Pope Francis, inside the Church of San Marcello in Rome's city center,
prays at a famous crucifix
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Passengers wait for their flights at Marrakesh Airport in Morocco on March 15.
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US Vice President Mike Pence takes a question during a White House briefing about the coronavirus on March 15.
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A Sea World employee sprays disinfectant in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Saturday, March 14.
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People wait in line to go through customs at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on March 14. Travelers returning from Europe say they were
being made to wait for hours
at US airports, often in close quarters, as personnel screened them for the coronavirus.
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Hundreds of people lined up to enter a Costco in Novato, California, on March 14. Many people have been stocking up on food, toilet paper and other items. As a response to
panic buying,
retailers in the United States and Canada have started limiting the number of toilet paper that customers can buy in one trip.
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A member of the White House physician's office takes a media member's temperature in the White House briefing room on March 14. It was ahead of a news conference with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
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Reporters in Arlington, Virginia, sit approximately 4 feet apart during a briefing by Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie on Friday, March 13.
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People walk past a closed Broadway theater on March 13 after New York canceled all gatherings over 500 people.
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Body temperatures are scanned as people enter the Buddhist temple Wat Pho in Bangkok, Thailand, on March 13.
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A Costco customer stands by two shopping carts in Richmond, California, on March 13.
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A woman looks at an empty bread aisle in Antwerp, Belgium, on March 13.
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Employees of the Greek Parliament wear plastic gloves ahead of the swearing-in ceremony for Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
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A motorcyclist drives through disinfectant sprayed in Jammu, India, on March 13.
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Workers prepare to construct an additional building on a hospital on the outskirts of Moscow.
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Paul Boyer, head equipment manager of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings, wheels out equipment bags in Washington on Thursday, March 12. The NHL is among the sports leagues that have suspended their seasons.
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Students leave Glacier Peak High School in Snohomish, Washington, on March 12. Beginning the following day, schools in the Snohomish school district planned to be closed through April 24.
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An Uber Eats delivery biker stands at a deserted Piazza di Spagna in Rome.
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People at a railway station in Seoul, South Korea, watch a live broadcast of US President Donald Trump on March 12. Trump announced that, in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus, he would
sharply restrict travel
from more than two dozen European countries.
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Workers in protective suits disinfect Istanbul's Dolmabahce Palace on March 11.
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A person wearing a face mask walks outside of a shopping mall in Beijing on March 11.
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Police officers restrain the relative of an inmate outside the Sant'Anna jail in Modena, Italy, on March 9.
Riots broke out
in several Italian jails after visits were suspended to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
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Medical staff in Wuhan, China, celebrate after all coronavirus patients were discharged from a temporary hospital on March 9.
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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 9.
Stocks plummeted
as coronavirus worries and an oil price race to the bottom weighed on global financial markets.
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Rescuers search for victims at the site of a
collapsed hotel
in Quanzhou, China, on March 8. The hotel was being used as a coronavirus quarantine center.
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The Grand Princess cruise ship, carrying at least 21 people who tested positive for coronavirus, is seen off the coast of San Francisco on March 8.
The ship was being held at sea.
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Sumo wrestlers attend a tournament in Osaka, Japan, that was being held behind closed doors because of the coronavirus outbreak.
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A couple rides a bicycle at a park in Seoul, South Korea, on March 7.
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A volunteer from Blue Sky Rescue uses fumigation equipment to disinfect a residential compound in Beijing on March 5.
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Airmen from the California National Guard drop coronavirus testing kits down to the
Grand Princess cruise ship
off the coast of California on March 5.
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Municipal workers are seen at the Kaaba, inside Mecca's Grand Mosque. Saudi Arabia emptied Islam's holiest site for sterilization over coronavirus fears, an unprecedented move after the kingdom suspended the year-round Umrah pilgrimage.
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Passengers react as a worker wearing a protective suit disinfects the departure area of a railway station in Hefei, China, on March 4.
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Teachers at the Nagoya International School in Japan conduct an online class for students staying at home as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus.
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Soldiers spray disinfectant throughout a shopping street in Seoul.
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A Muslim worshipper attends a mass prayer against coronavirus in Dakar, Senegal, on March 4. It was after cases were confirmed in the country.
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People wear face masks in New York's Times Square on March 3. New York reported its first case of coronavirus two days earlier.
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A security guard stands on the Shibuya Sky observation deck in Tokyo on March 3.
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US President Donald Trump, flanked by Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, speaks during a meeting with pharmaceutical executives and the White House coronavirus task force on March 2. Throughout
the meeting,
Trump was hyperfocused on pressing industry leaders in the room for a timeline for a coronavirus vaccine and treatment. But experts at the table -- from the administration and the pharmaceutical industry -- repeatedly emphasized that a vaccine can't be rushed to market before it's been declared safe for the public.
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Medical staff stand outside a hospital in Daegu, South Korea, on March 1.
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Healthcare workers transfer a patient at the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Washington, on March 1. The long-term care facility is linked to confirmed coronavirus cases.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a London laboratory of the Public Health England National Infection Service.
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Tomoyuki Sugano, a professional baseball player on the Yomiuri Giants, throws a pitch in an empty Tokyo Dome during a preseason game on February 29. Fans have been barred from preseason games to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
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Commuters wearing masks make their way to work during morning rush hour at the Shinagawa train station in Tokyo on February 28.
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Medical staff transport a coronavirus patient within the Red Cross hospital in Wuhan on February 28.
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Inter Milan plays Ludogorets in an empty soccer stadium in Milan, Italy, on February 27. The match
was ordered to be played behind closed doors
as Italian authorities continue to grapple with the coronavirus outbreak.
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A bank clerk disinfects banknotes in China's Sichuan province on February 26.
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A child wearing a protective face mask rides on a scooter in an empty area in Beijing.
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A Catholic devotee wears a face mask as he is sprinkled with ash during Ash Wednesday services in Paranaque, Philippines, on February 26.
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People disinfect Qom's Masumeh shrine in Tehran, Iran, on February 25.
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A worker in Daegu stacks plastic buckets containing medical waste from coronavirus patients on February 24.
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Paramedics carry a stretcher off an ambulance in Hong Kong on February 23.
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People attend a professional soccer match in Kobe, Japan, on February 23. To help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus, the soccer club Vissel Kobe
told fans not to sing, chant or wave flags
in the season opener against Yokohama FC.
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A team of volunteers disinfects a pedestrian bridge in Bangkok, Thailand.
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A man rides his bike in Beijing on February 23.
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Hospital personnel in Codogno, Italy, carry new beds inside the hospital on February 21. The hospital is hosting some people who have been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus.
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Doctors look at a CT scan of a lung at a hospital in Xiaogan, China, on February 20.
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A sales clerk wears a mask as she waits for customers at a hat shop in Beijing on February 18.
Small companies that help drive China's economy
are worried about how much damage
the coronavirus outbreak will cause to business.
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Buses carrying American passengers arrive at the Haneda Airport in Tokyo on February 17. The passengers
were leaving the quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship
to be repatriated to the United States.
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A medical worker rests at the isolation ward of the Red Cross hospital in Wuhan on February 16.
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Authorities watch as the Westerdam cruise ship approaches a port in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, on February 13. Despite having no confirmed cases of coronavirus on board, the Westerdam was refused port by four other Asian countries before being allowed to dock in Cambodia.
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A worker has his temperature checked on a shuttered commercial street in Beijing on February 12.
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Beds are made in the Wuhan Sports Center, which has been converted into a temporary hospital.
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A child rides a scooter past a police officer wearing protective gear outside the Hong Mei House in Hong Kong on February 11. More than 100 people evacuated the housing block after four residents in two different apartments tested positive for the coronavirus.
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Relatives of quarantined passengers wave at the Diamond Princess cruise ship as it leaves a port in Yokohama, Japan, to dump wastewater and generate potable water. Dozens of people on the ship
were infected with coronavirus.
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The Deneway branch of the County Oak Medical Centre is closed amid coronavirus fears in Brighton, England, on February 11. Several locations in and around Brighton were quarantined after
a man linked to several coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom
came into contact with health-care workers and members of the public.
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A police officer, left, wears protective gear as he guards a cordon at the Hong Mei House in Hong Kong on February 11.
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A worker wears a protective suit as he waits to screen people entering an office building in Beijing on February 10. China's workforce is
slowly coming back to work
after the coronavirus outbreak forced many parts of the country to extend the Lunar New Year holiday by more than a week.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping has his temperature checked during an appearance in Beijing on February 10.
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Photojournalists wearing face masks take photos of a bus carrying passengers after they disembarked from the World Dream cruise ship in Hong Kong on February 9.
More than 5,300 people were quarantined on two cruise ships
off Hong Kong and Japan.
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People participating in a Lunar New Year Parade in New York City hold signs reading, `` Wuhan stay strong! '' on February 9.
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A shopper walks past empty shelves at a grocery store in Hong Kong on February 9. China's Ministry of Commerce
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to resume operations as the country's voluntary or mandatory quarantines began to take an economic toll.
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A worker wearing a protective suit uses a machine to disinfect a business establishment in Shanghai, China, on February 9.
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Workers in protective gear walk near the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Yokohama on February 7.
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People in Hong Kong attend a vigil February 7 for
whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang.
Li, 34, died in Wuhan after contracting the virus while treating a patient.
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A woman grieves while paying tribute to Li at Li's hospital in Wuhan on February 7.
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The Anthem of the Seas cruise ship is seen docked at the Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, New Jersey, on February 7. Passengers were to be screened for coronavirus as a precaution, an official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told CNN.
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A light installation is displayed by striking members of the Hospital Authority Employees Alliance and other activists at the Hospital Authority building in Hong Kong on February 7.
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Passengers are seen on the deck of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, docked at the Yokohama Port on February 7.
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Flight attendants wearing face masks make their way through Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok on February 7.
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Workers check sterile medical gloves at a latex-product manufacturer in Nanjing, China, on February 6.
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A woman wears a protective mask as she shops in a Beijing market on February 6.
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This aerial photo shows the Leishenshan Hospital that is being built in Wuhan to handle coronavirus patients.
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A passenger shows a note from the World Dream cruise ship docked at the Kai Tak cruise terminal in Hong Kong on February 5.
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A mask is seen on a statue in Beijing on February 5.
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An ambulance stops at a traffic light in front of the Grand Lisboa Hotel in Macao. The virus turned China's gambling mecca
into a ghost town.
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A dog in Beijing wears a makeshift mask constructed from a paper cup.
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Striking hospital workers in Hong Kong demand the closure of the border with mainland China on February 4.
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The Diamond Princess cruise ship sits anchored in quarantine off the port of Yokohama on February 4. It arrived a day earlier with passengers feeling ill.
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A medical worker wearing protective gear waits to take the temperature of people entering Princess Margaret Hospital in Hong Kong on February 4.
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Medical workers in protective suits help transfer patients to a newly completed field hospital in Wuhan.
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People wearing protective overalls talk outside a Wuhan hotel housing people in isolation on February 3.
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A man stands in front of TV screens broadcasting a speech by Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on February 3. Lam said the city would shut almost all border-control points to the mainland.
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A colleague sprays disinfectant on a doctor in Wuhan on February 3.
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Commuters in Tokyo walk past an electric board displaying dismal stock prices on February 3, the first business day after the Chinese New Year. Asia's markets recorded their
worst day in years
as investors finally got a chance to react to the worsening coronavirus outbreak.
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Medical workers move a coronavirus patient into an isolation ward at the Second People's Hospital in Fuyang, China, on February 1.
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Children wear plastic bottles as makeshift masks while waiting to check in to a flight at the Beijing Capital Airport on January 30.
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Passengers in Hong Kong wear protective masks as they wait to board a train at Lo Wu Station, near the mainland border, on January 30.
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A volunteer wearing protective clothing disinfects a street in Qingdao, China, on January 29.
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Nanning residents line up to buy face masks from a medical appliance store on January 29.
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Lyu Jun, left, a member of a medical team leaving for Wuhan, says goodbye to a loved one in Urumqi, China, on January 28.
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A charter flight from Wuhan arrives at an airport in Anchorage, Alaska, on January 28. The US government chartered the plane to bring home US citizens and diplomats from the American consulate in Wuhan.
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These instances echo a long history of racism in the West. During the Yellow Peril era, anti-Chinese fears led to lynchings of Chinese immigrants, racial violence, systemic discrimination -- even an outright ban on Chinese immigrants for 61 years in the US under the country's Exclusion Act.
That's why the term `` Yellow Peril, '' which contains centuries of trauma, is so charged -- and why the use of it in a contemporary headline was so stunning.
However, this time around anti-Chinese racism is spreading beyond the West. In Vietnam, signs have been seen outside restaurants declaring `` No Chinese. '' The tourist who took the photo told CNN the sign appeared in the past week. Similar signs were also posted outside
a Japanese shop,
turning away Chinese customers.
And people online from various different places are making racially driven jokes; when TV host James Corden posted a photo with Korean-pop band BTS, one person
tweeted
, `` BREAKING: James Corden dies of the coronavirus. '' The joke racked up nearly 25,000 likes on Twitter.
Signs outside restaurants in Hoi An, Vietnam, taken in January 2020.
Targeting Chinese food
Perhaps the most widespread form of xenophobia comes in fearmongering, sensationalist stereotypes about Chinese food.
The novel coronavirus is believed to have started in a Wuhan seafood and wildlife market, and scientists have pointed to
bats and snakes
as possible virus carriers. And while the wildlife trade poses legitimate problems, the outbreak has prompted a racially tinged wave of disgust toward Chinese food, and anger from many who accuse Chinese people of recklessly causing a potential global pandemic.
`` Because of some folks in China who eat weird ( foods) like bats, rats, and snakes, the entire world is about to suffer a plague, '' said
one popular tweet
.
This idea has been reinforced by recent media coverage of the coronavirus, some of which has featured misleading videos or photos.
One widely shared video,
of a Chinese travel blogger eating bat soup, was filmed three years ago in the Pacific island nation of Palau, and the dish has been sampled by Western TV hosts in the past.
The video and the blogger have no connection to Wuhan or the current outbreak -- but the video has gone viral nonetheless, with many Western viewers expressing horror on social media. There was such an uproar that the blogger
came forward to apologize
last week.
What viral misinformation and breathless media coverage often miss is that only a small minority of people in China actually eat wild animals. Most people eat much of the same things you would see in other cuisines, like pork or chicken. Ultimately, what people like to eat is culturally relative -- a lot of the Western disgust toward `` weird '' Chinese food is itself Eurocentric.
That's not to say all criticism of Chinese food is invalid; the country does have a problem with badly-regulated trade of wild animals, which has led to previous outbreaks.
Chinese officials crack down on wildlife markets as coronavirus outbreak nears 3,000 cases
The deadly 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS) was traced to the civet cat, considered a delicacy in southern China. And though the government has introduced some measures limiting wildlife trade, it has been reluctant to take more aggressive action, and illegal trade continues.
It's also difficult to end these practices because of the cultural significance and prevalence of traditional Chinese medicine. Many of these wild animals are thought to hold important medicinal properties -- for instance, people drink snake soup for arthritis and snake bile for a sore throat.
There is undoubtedly a larger issue that needs to be addressed -- how the government can balance tradition with safer regulations.
But the beliefs and customs that drive consumption of these foods are centuries old and interwoven in peoples ' lives -- they are not so easy to undo, even less so when they are dismissed as primitive and unclean by foreign countries.
'Standing with our Chinese community '
Right now, we are only seeing early signs of a xenophobic backlash against the East Asian diaspora -- tasteless jokes online, bad headlines, people acting fearfully in public. But if the 2003 SARS epidemic is any model to go by, these strands of xenophobia could potentially escalate into more dangerous, explicit forms of racism.
At the peak of the 2003 outbreak, people of Asian descent were treated like pariahs in the West.
There were reports
of white people covering their faces in the presence of Asian coworkers, and real estate agents who were told not to serve Asian clients.
Asian people suffered threats of eviction, had job offers rescinded with no explanation, and some
Asian Canadian organizations received outright hate messages.
Chinese and Asian businesses suffered heavy losses; in Boston, an April Fool's hoax falsely warned of infected employees at a Chinese restaurant, reportedly causing
a 70% drop in the restaurant's business.
An employee of an empty Chinatown restaurant in Chicago on April 24, 2003, as fears over the SARS epidemic kept customers away.
This all happened 17 years ago, when China was still slowly opening up. Now it's an emerging superpower, and its role in a range of recent conflicts -- the
ongoing US-China trade war
, security concerns surrounding
telecommunications company Huawei
, allegations of Chinese spies in
America
and
Australia
-- mean that many in the West already view China with greater suspicion and tension than they did before.
Add the threat of a global pandemic, and a wave of heightened discrimination could be even uglier this time around.
Diaspora communities and local authorities are preparing for this, with many trying to calm fear before it becomes hysteria. In France, the newspaper controversy sparked
a social media campaign
, with many French Chinese citizens using the hashtag # JeNeSuisPasUnVirus -- I am not a virus.
Je suis Chinois
Mais je ne suis pas un virus!!
Je sais que tout le monde a peur au virus, mais pas de préjugé, svp.
# JeNeSuisPasUnVirus
pic.twitter.com/38bUTNWj3t
— Lou Chengwang ( @ ChengwangL)
January 28, 2020
In a statement confirming the first case of coronavirus in Los Angeles this week, the local health department stressed that `` people should not be excluded from activities based on their race, country of origin, or recent travel if they do not have symptoms of respiratory illness. ''
The head of Toronto Public Health also warned that misinformation about the virus had created `` unnecessary stigma against members of our community. ''
`` I am deeply concerned and find it disappointing that this is happening, '' said the head, Eileen de Villa, in a statement Wednesday. `` Discrimination is not acceptable. It is not helpful and spreading misinformation does not offer anyone protection. ''
Toronto Mayor John Tory also spoke out this week about the coronavirus panic. `` Standing with our Chinese community against stigmatization and discrimination, '' he said. `` We must not allow fear to triumph over our values as a city. ''
CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report. | general |
Oil Market Falls Deeper Into Abyss | The oil market is & ldquo; troubled by both rising demand worries and rising fuel stocks, & rdquo; said Ole Sloth Hansen, head of commodities strategy at Saxo Bank A/S in Copenhagen. & ldquo; It & rsquo; s going to take a firm commitment by OPEC, or rising geopolitical tensions, to achieve a sustained recovery. & rdquo; Oil posted its largest monthly loss since May 2019, as fears of the coronavirus continue to rise. The 15 percent price decline is also the worst January performance since 1991, according to Bloomberg. & nbsp; Bernstein Chinese oil demand growth at just 100,000 bpd. China & rsquo; s oil demand could grow at just 100,000 bpd this year due to the coronavirus, according to Bernstein. That would make it the slowest expansion in consumption in nearly 20 years. The firm previously predicted 350,000 bpd of growth. U.S. GDP slowed to 2.1 percent in fourth quarter. U.S. GDP growth slowed to 2.1 percent in the fourth quarter, and 2.3 percent for the full-year in 2019. It was the slowest expansion in three years. Chemical margins shrink. Fourth quarter earnings from the oil majors deteriorated, in part because of narrower chemical margins. New Gulf Coast chemical capacity has dragged down profitability. Related Traders Increase Short Interest In Big Oil Stocks Weak earnings from Exxon and Chevron. ExxonMobil NYSE XOM and Chevron NYSE CVX both reportedly slightly disappointing earnings Friday morning. Exxon earned $ 5.69 billion in the fourth quarter, down from $ 6 billion a year earlier. But that number was made better by a one-time $ 3.7 billion divestment in Norway. Notably, Exxon & rsquo; s Permian production appears to have stalled at the end of the year, even as operations in Guyana started up. Meanwhile, Chevron reported its largest quarterly loss in a decade after writing down $ 10.4 billion, largely related to its Appalachian shale gas assets. Investors warn industry not to move on Trump & rsquo; s deregulation. A group of 58 companies, including institutional investors, representing around $ 113 billion in assets, warned the energy, timber and mining industries not to move aggressively to take advantage of the Trump administration & rsquo; s wide-ranging deregulatory campaign. The investors said that doing so would put investors at & ldquo; significant risk of public backlash and stranded assets, should these actions be legally challenged or protections be restored by the courts or by future administrations. & rdquo; Shell & rsquo; s earnings fall by half. Royal Dutch Shell NYSE RDS.A saw its fourth quarter earnings fall in half from a year earlier, weighed down by lower oil and gas prices, as well as weaker refining and chemical margins. & ldquo; All macroeconomic indicators are working against us, & rdquo; Shell CEO Ben van Beurden said. The disappointing results could slow the pace of share buybacks and result in more asset sales. Shell & rsquo; s reserve life declined for the sixth year in a row, now only sitting on eight years & rsquo; worth of reserves. Tesla & rsquo; s shares surge on earnings beat. Tesla NASDAQ TSLA saw its stock surge past $ 600 per share this week, having gained 80 percent in the last three months. Will Chesapeake Energy survive Natural gas prices are well below $ 2/MMBtu, putting Chesapeake Energy & rsquo; s NYSE CHK future in doubt. It & rsquo; s not clear that the company can financially engineer its way out of the mess. Meanwhile, a contractor was killed at a Chesapeake drilling site this week. Refiners cut back on insurance. Refiners and petrochemical facilities have cut back on insurance because it has become too costly, which is the result of a string of explosions and accidents in recent years. Running without insurance puts them at risk of tens of millions of dollars of liabilities. In some cases, insurance rates have increased 100 percent, according to Reuters. Texas and Iowa record wind installations in 2019. Texas and Iowa are the largest states in terms of wind power in the United States, and last year was a record year for installations in both. Texas added 4 GW and Iowa added 1.9 GW. Related 5 Niche Energy ETFs You & rsquo; ve Probably Never Heard Of Pemex lays claim to Talos discovery. Mexico & rsquo; s state-owned Pemex is laying claim to the country & rsquo; s largest private oil discovery, the Zama field. Pemex says the discovery, recorded by Talos Energy NYSE TALO is mostly the property of Pemex. & ldquo; In Pemex & rsquo; s analysis, we consider that we have the largest portion of the field, & rdquo; Pemex CEO Octavio Romero Oropeza said. & ldquo; Independently of who has what, Pemex will drill exploratory wells to confirm this information. & rdquo; UPS to buy 100,000 electric trucks. UPS NYSE UPS said it would purchase 100,000 electric trucks from UK-based Arrival. The deal would be worth $ 440 million over five years. Equinor, Shell buy Schlumberger & rsquo; s stake in Vaca Muerta. Equinor NYSE EQNR and its partner Royal Dutch Shell NYSE RDS.A each paid $ 177.5 million to jointly acquire Schlumberger & rsquo; s NYSE SLB 49 percent stake in a Vaca Muerta project in Argentina. China turns to Saudi Arabian oil. China & rsquo; s imports of oil from Saudi Arabia shot up by 47 percent in 2019, while imports from the U.S. fell in half. By Tom Kool for Oilprice.com & nbsp; | business |
Amazon Smashes Consensus And Breaks Out To A New High |
Amazon ( AMZN) is one of the most heavily watched and traded companies for a reason. Not only is it one of the world’ s largest companies it is still growing at an amazing pace despite increasing competition. The fourth-quarter results were released yesterday after the close of trading and highlight that growth. System-wide net consolidated revenue for the 4th quarter topped 21%. For a company with a market cap near $ 1 trillion and nearly $ 90 billion in annual sales that’ s quite a feat.
Headline revenue came in at $ 87.44 billion with EPS of $ 6.47. Revenue beat consensus by about 1.5% or $ 1.35 billion while EPS blew past the consensus figure. Analysts had been expecting about $ 4.00 per share, Amazon proved its earning power once again with GAAP EPS of $ 6.47. Although there is a buyback program in place, for now, cash is being funneled into the companies coffers for use on future growth projects.
Strength In All Segments, Guidance Is Raised
The company saw strength in all segments although there was some weakness in physical stores as a standalone business. Revenue in the physical stores business came in at $.40 billion versus the $ 4.1 billion expected by the analysts. Even so, operating income increased on a YOY basis to $ 3.88 billion and surpassed consensus by 43%.
Much of the strength is driven by Prime. The Prime Membership figures continue to grow and hit new records in the 4th quarter. Brazil, one of Prime’ s newest markets, has produced the fastest growth of any market in Prime’ s history.
“ Prime membership continues to get better for customers year after year. And customers are responding — more people joined Prime this quarter than ever before, and we now have over 150 million paid Prime members around the world, ” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon founder and CEO
document.write ( ' < a style= '' text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal; color: # 696969; '' target= '' blank '' rel= '' nofollow '' href= '' https: //www.ame ' + 'ricanconsumernews.net/scripts/click.aspx? NativeDisplayAdID=499 & ImpressionID=0 & UserID=0 & Placement=PlaceOnArticlePage '' > '); Eric Fry, one of America’ s top Investment Strategists, provides his latest report 5 Tech Stocks Set for 1,000% Gains after the Coronavirus Sell off. You can’ t afford to miss out on the once in a decade chance to buy after the recent 25% dip in the markets.
Amazon also issued its 1st quarter guidance with the 4th quarter report and it is favorable if not better than expected. The company is expecting consolidated revenue in a range between $ 69 and $ 73 billion and deliver $ 3 to $ 4.2 billion in operating income. The consensus revenue estimate is $ 71.6 billion in revenue and $ 4.05 billion in operating income.
Amazon Web Services Outperforms, Drives Beat
One of the biggest drivers of growth is Amazon Web Services. AWS revenue grew 34.5% over the last year and surpassed analysts estimates by 1.5%. At current levels, AWS is now about 10% of total revenue. The strength in AWS is not expected to relent as businesses turn more and more to the cloud. Later this year, when the 5G revolution hits full swing, the shift to the cloud will intensify and ensure solid revenue for this segment.
Barclay’ s analyst Ross Sandler says this quarter’ s print should put fears of AWS growth to rest. The segment only saw 100 basis points of deceleration and more add-ons YOY than Microsoft’ s ( MSFT) Azure and Google ( GOOG) Cloud combined. Sandler says Amazon has room to run and most investors are under-exposed. Other analysts including those at RBC, Morgan Stanley, Bernstein, and UBS upped their price targets after the report was released.
The Technical Outlook: Bullish With A Chance Of Hitting $ 3200
Shares of Amazon jumped more than 11% on the earnings news and broke to a new high. The early action shows profit takers are taking advantage of the surge but support is holding at the previous all-time high. Assuming the breakout holds price levels above the previous all-time high we can expect higher prices to follow over the next 12 months.
RBC Capital’ s Mark Mahanay is the most bullish on Amazon saying there is a case for $ 3200. That said, he raised his price target to $ 2,700 which is a more realistic target at this time. Looking at the weekly charts, today’ s surge confirms a bullish triangle that has been forming over the past two years. The baseline of the triangle is around $ 1400 which gives a magnitude in the $ 600 to $ 700 range. Projecting this from the now-broken all-time high gives a target of $ 2,600 to $ 2,700 or 35%.
10 Rock-Solid Dividend Paying Stocks to Own
Historically low interest rates have made it difficult over the last decade for income-oriented investors that want to generate safe cash flow for their retirements. Dividend-paying stocks have become more appealing to income investors because of their competitive yields, the favorite tax treatment that dividends receive and their ability to grow their payouts over time. While fixed interest rates from bond investments will lose purchasing power to inflation over time, the purchasing power of income from dividend growth stocks is more protected because companies tend raise their dividend payments every year. In this slideshow, we look at ten of the best high-dividend stocks that offer strong yields ( above 3.5%), have consistent cashflow and a strong track record of dividend growth. The companies in this slideshow have all raised their dividend every year for the last ten years. These companies also have low payout ratios ( below 75%), meaning that they will have the ability to continue to pay their dividend if their earnings have a temporary dip. Stock prices will always fluctuate, but the dividends paid by these rock-solid dividend payers should remain secure with moderate earnings growth.
View the `` 10 Rock-Solid Dividend Paying Stocks to Own ''.
Complete the form below to receive the latest headlines and analysts ' recommendations for your stocks with our free daily email newsletter: | business |
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31-Jan-2020 - Last updated on 03-Feb-2020 at 15:21 GMT
Related tags: NABLAB function sanitize gpt value2 ( gptValue) { var vOut= '' ''; var aTags = gptValue.split ( ', '); var reg = new RegExp ( '\\W+ ', `` g ''); for ( var i=0; i < aTags.length; i++) { vOut += aTags [ i ].trim ().replace ( reg, '- ').substring ( 0,40); if ( i! = ( aTags.length-1)) vOut += ', '; } vOut = vOut.toLowerCase (); return vOut; } $ ( document).ready ( function () { dataLayerNews = { }; dataLayerNews.related tags = sanitize gpt value2 ( `` NABLAB ''); dataLayer.push ( dataLayerNews); });
Heineken has launched an ‘ ultra-low alcohol’ variant for Strongbow Dark Fruit in the UK.
The 0.5% ABV drink is vegan and contains 73 calories per 330ml bottle.
Rachel Holms, marketing director for Strongbow said: “ Thousands of loyal Strongbow Dark Fruit fans will be rejoicing at this news — it’ s a game-changer for low and no alcohol. People can now stick to their New Year’ s resolutions and still enjoy the taste sensation of the nation’ s favourite fruit cider. ”
Strongbow Dark Fruit 0.5% launched exclusively in Tesco on January 2 with an RRP of £1.10 per bottle. Strongbow Dark Fruit 0.5% x4 330ml pack will be launched nationally across multiple retailers in March.
London start-up Kolibri Drinks has launched a CBD-infused, alcohol-free cocktail.
The fruit-flavoured spring water comes in a recyclable glass bottle: the cap of which contains 20mg of broad-spectrum cannabidiol suspended in flavoured syrup. This means consumers can customize the strength of CBD in their drink. A full dose of syrup provides 4.6g of sugar per 100ml.
Kolibri’ s CBD drinks come in two flavors: Dark Forest ( “ woody, smoky notes balanced by an intense profile of pine and black pepper ”), and Citrus Grove ( “ a zesty blend of sharp curaçao, dried fruits and rich goji berry with a long bitter and herbaceous finish ”).
The drinks hope to attract consumers who are cutting back on alcohol or those who want CBD in a format other than tinctures and pills.
The drinks launch on February 14 in Holland & Barrett.
Dublin-based drinks innovation company RTD Beverages has launched Noki & Co ‘ Juniper Edition’, a distilled non-alcoholic Irish spirit.
As the name suggests, the drink is distinctly juniper forward but also draws on angelica root, lemon, orange and grapefruit.
The 0.0% ABV drink is available in Ireland and the UK with a RRP of €24.99. It contains 60 calories per 275ml serve.
It’ s a new addition for the Noki & Co range, which launched in 2019 with a 275ml range of pre-mixed alcohol-free gin and tonic flavored drinks. RTD Beverages, which focuses on the no and low alcohol categories, also launched a low calorie 4% ABV hard seltzer in Europe last year under the Loki & Co brand ( 85 calories per 275ml).
UK brand humble warrior has launched a new range of sparkling botanical drinks with three flavors: tulsi & pomegranate; reishi & pineapple; and turmeric & mango.
The brand says the drinks offer ‘ complex, layered flavours that are perfect alongside food or as stand-alone aperitifs’. They have also been designed with branding and packaging that plays on cues from the world of alcohol – such as amber glass bottles and ring-pulls from craft beer – to add to the drinking experience.
The range of sparkling non-alcoholic drinks can be found in Selfridges and Redemption non-alcoholic bars and restaurants and London locations of the ACE Hotel from New York.
“ As more and more consumers opt to dial down their booze intake, top restaurants and bars are responding – curating exciting new non-alcoholic sections in their drinks menus, ” said Rosh Amarasekara, co-founder, humble warrior.
Non-alcoholic malt beverage brand Clausthaler has launched a non-alcoholic blended beer, Clasthaler Grapefruit, in the US.
The beer from The Radeberger Gruppe - Germany's largest brewing group - is brewed in Germany and imported into the US but Radeberger Gruppe USA.
The brew features Clausthaler's original beer blended with grapefruit drink with natural grapefruit juice. A patented process prevents the creation of alcohol and allows the full beer flavor to be maintained.
“ The non-alcoholic beverage category continues to see dramatic growth fueled by consumers who are seeking refreshing alternatives to traditional sodas and other beverages, particularly millennials, ” said David Deuser, CEO of sales and marketing at Radeberger Gruppe USA, the US importer of the leading German brewing group. “ Non-alcoholic beer has come a long way since the days of it being consumed only by those needing to abstain. ``
Carlsberg has launched a new alcohol-free beer in the UK: Carlsberg Nordic. The 0.0% beer replaces Carlsberg 0.0 in this market.
Carlsberg Nordic is “ specifically brewed as an alcohol-free beer, meaning it delivers the same refreshment that drinkers expect from regular beer, with a crisp, hoppy bit, ” according to the brand. It has launched in 170 Tesco stores with a wider rollout planned for later this year.
Carlsberg Nordic is already available in Denmark. In the UK, Carlsberg also sells San Miguel 0.0% and Brooklyn Brewery’ s non-alcoholic Special Effects.
Colorado's Beckenridge Brewery has released a 3.5% ABV Resolution Blueberry Acai Golden Ale this month: an isotonic, low ABV, electrolyte-infused blueberry acai superfruit golden ale.
The new ale from the brewery, which AB InBev acquired in 2016, is described as 'fruit-forward and slightly sweet with a light finish '.
The drink pairs with foods such as fish tacos; aruguloa salad with goat cheese and berries; and dried fruits.
Golden Road Brewing debuts its Mango Cart non-alcoholic wheat ale in California this month, with distribution to widen in March.
The drink is a non-alcoholic ( less than 0.5% ABV) version of the brewery's Mango Cart wheat ale.
It was inspired by the iconic fruit cart vendors of Los Angeles: and is a light beer 'bursting with lots of fresh mango flavor and aroma '.
The drink can be used as a substitute for Champagne in a mimosa/beermosa, suggests the AB InBev owned brewery.
Four Peaks Brewing Company, an Arizona brewery acquired by AB InBev in 2016, has launched the 3.4% Gilt Lifter.
Gilt Lifter contains the malty, toasted notes of the classic Kilt Lifter Scottish ale with half the calories and carbs.
It is brewed, however, to a different recipe to fit the Scottish Light Ale style.
`` Gilt Lifter is designed for drinkers looking for a healthier lifestyle option that doesn’ t sacrifice flavor, '' says the brewery. `` At only 99 calories per serving, it’ s a post-workout pint that won’ t ruin your diet, and with 7g of carbohydrates, it can easily be incorporated into a ketogenic lifestyle. ``
With falling alcohol consumption, more mindful drinking and a trend towards premiumization, the stage is set for a bright future for the low and no drinks sector. | general |
The coronavirus could cost China's economy $ 60 billion this quarter. | The economic impact of the virus is still impossible to determine, but one state media outlet and some economists have said that China's growth rate could drop two percentage points this quarter because of the outbreak, which has brought large parts of the country to a standstill. A decline on that scale could mean $ 62 billion in lost growth.
China can ill afford that kind of hit. Growth last year was already the country's weakest in nearly three decades, as China contended with rising debt and the fallout from its trade war with the United States.
The coronavirus, which first appeared in the central city of Wuhan, has already killed more than 200 people and infected more people than the SARS outbreak in 2003. A disease of this magnitude wasn't even on China's radar. Before the outbreak, the government was more worried that social unrest could be its `` black swan '' problem — an improbable but chaotic event officials feared could be spurred by rising unemployment.
Now Beijing is scrambling to stop the virus from cratering its economy. The ruling Communist Party recently put Premier Li Keqiang in charge of virus control. The decision was a clear signal that stopping the virus is `` the priority among priorities '' for the government right now, the official People's Daily newspaper wrote in a recent commentary.
So far, policymakers have taken some steps to help the businesses that are most affected by the rapid spread of the disease.
Central and local governments have allocated $ 12.6 billion so far to spend on medical treatment and equipment.
Major banks have cut interest rates for small businesses and individuals in the worst-hit areas. And the Bank of China said it would allow people in Wuhan and the rest of Hubei province to delay their loan payments for several months if they lose their source of income because of the disruption.
The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, has said that it will ensure there is enough liquidity in the financial markets when they reopen next Monday after a 10-day Lunar New Year holiday. When Hong Kong's markets reopened earlier this week, the Hang Seng index ( HSI) plunged nearly 6% in just a few days of trading.
Aggressive action
The government will likely have to be even more aggressive in the coming months to avert a more serious slowdown, according to Chinese economist Zhang Ming.
Zhang, who works at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote this week that he expects economic growth to slump by a percentage point to 5% in the first quarter, assuming the epidemic lasts until the end of March. He described that as his most optimistic scenario, but didn't give a specific forecast should the outbreak last even longer.
The government could cut taxes and boost spending on public healthcare and employment training, Zhang said. He also expects local governments to spend more on infrastructure. By boosting economic activity and creating jobs, he added, cities can offset any weakness in private investment in real estate and manufacturing.
The central bank is also likely to deliver more interest rate cuts to stabilize the economy, Zhang said. Altogether, he said such measures could help growth rebound next quarter and push annual GDP growth to around 5.7%. While that's lower than last year's 6.1% growth, it would be in line with many analyst expectations.
Others take a more pessimistic view.
Analysts at Nomura believe growth could drop by two percentage points or more in the first quarter. The Global Times, a state-run tabloid, wrote Friday that the outbreak could shave two percentage points off GDP growth this quarter, citing industry insiders. Government's efforts to contain the virus by extending Lunar New Year holidays and forcing factories to shut down could `` take a piece out of the nation's manufacturing industry and disrupt the global supply chain. ''
Measuring the fallout
It's too early to say whether that level of upheaval is on the horizon. Tesla ( TSLA) has been forced to close its new Shanghai-built factory temporarily. And Apple ( AAPL) has lost production from suppliers in Wuhan. The longer term impact on both companies is much less clear.
Other sectors might have more to lose right now. Tourism — a multibillion-dollar industry during the Lunar New Year — has been decimated as the government quarantines major population centers and people avoid traveling for fear of becoming infected. Major travel companies, hotels and airlines have offered refunds through most of February, while some airlines have suspended services to and from China.
Holiday celebrations have been canceled and major tourism spots have been closed off. China's massive box office will also likely take a hit after several blockbuster movies set to release during the holiday season were pulled.
Zhang and other analysts suggested that the fallout could even be more serious than after SARS, the respiratory disease that caused China's economic growth to briefly plunge before rebounding nearly two decades ago.
The spread of the coronavirus threatens to cause job losses and push consumer prices higher, compounding economic woes that already exist.
The employment market is already under stress this year. Industries that traditionally create a lot of jobs, like the technology sector, have been hurt by the economic slowdown. The coronavirus outbreak will make things worse, according to Zhang.
China's 290 million migrant workers are among those most exposed to a slump. Many of them travel from rural areas to the cities to take on construction and manufacturing jobs or perform low paying but vital work, such as waiting tables in restaurants, delivering packages or acting as janitors.
But because many factories and businesses remain shut down, millions of those workers might find it hard to land a job after the extended Lunar New Year holiday ends. More than 10 million migrant workers from Hubei province alone might also face discrimination from employers fearful that they may spread the virus.
Zhang warned that China's unemployment rate — already a concern for officials — could reach a record high in the coming months. The rate traditionally has hovered around 4% or 5%.
He added the virus could also make consumer goods more expensive. Budgets are already tight because of rising debt, and a pork crisis brought on by the outbreak of African swine fever among China's pigs last year has caused the price of meat to skyrocket. Now vegetable prices have risen as people rush to buy basic necessities during the virus outbreak, according to the state news agency Xinhua.
Other challenges
Dealing with the disease will make some of China's other problems that much tougher to solve — including its tricky trade relationship with the United States.
As part of a truce reached earlier in January, Beijing agreed to buy $ 200 billion worth of US products in the next two years. Analysts have already said that shrinking domestic demand in China will make it tough for the country to hit those targets. If the virus weakens the country's buying power even more, those goals could move even further out of reach.
Substantial tariffs totaling hundreds of billions of dollars also remain in place on many Chinese goods. And Washington has made it clear that those will remain a form of leverage as the two sides negotiate the next phase of their agreement.
Even so, at least one analyst finds it unlikely that the trade war will escalate just because China is `` temporarily '' unable to honor its trade commitments. The United States is in an election year, and such an action could jeopardize President Donald Trump's campaign, said Ken Cheung, chief Asian foreign exchange strategist at Mizuho Bank. | business |
How to Prepare for the Coronavirus ( Tips From a MERS Outbreak Survivor) | It was around midnight in Cairo, and I couldn't stop coughing. I had just flown back to Egypt from Dubai. I was having tea at my fashion designer friend's house with the rest of our entourage. It was about a year after the Egyptian revolution, and I was living in the Middle East, working as an international economist.
I looked down, and realized the tissue I had been using was covered in blood.
Inside there was a meaty piece of flesh that looked like a piece of a lung.
`` Omar, I think I need to go to the hospital, '' I said to my Egyptian friend.
`` Right now? '' asked Omar, who was hoping to go on a date with someone from the internet.
I held up the bloody tissue, and said, `` Yeah, right now. '' And so began our trip to the Cairo Emergency Room ( ER).
The second I saw the bloody tissue, I was sure I had `` consumption, '' also known as tuberculosis. I was so relieved when I learned I didn't have tuberculosis, but I was still really sick.
The X-ray of my lungs showed significant damage from whatever virus I had. I still keep my lung X-ray hanging in my living room to remind myself of my younger adventures and that `` every day above ground is a good day. ''
I was hallucinating with a high fever for at least a week before we learned that I was one of the early MERS ( Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) cases. MERS is caused by a coronavirus that originated in the Arabian Peninsula in 2012.
While research into the Wuhan Coronavirus is still early, the mortality rate of MERS patients seems to be about 7 times higher than the Wuhan Coronavirus. ( And the death rate for MERS was about 3 times greater than SARS.) While Wuhan Coronavirus appears to be far less deadly than MERS or SARS, it is much more contagious.
Prevention tips to protect yourself from the Coronavirus:
Drink lots of water, and avoid or limit drinks that will dehydrate you such as coffee, soft drinks and alcohol. Eating foods with high amounts of water, like fruits and vegetables, also helps.
There are plenty of foods that can help your immune system. Make sure to consult your doctor, but I personally consume large amounts of raw ginger and garlic whenever I am at risk for disease. Peppers and citrus fruits are also excellent disease fighters. Your colleagues might hate you for eating that big garlic clove, but if it keeps you from getting sick or helps you get better faster, it's worth it!
This was one of my biggest mistakes in my early twenties, and very likely compromised my immune system even further, making me especially susceptible to MERS. Whether you're a workaholic or a party animal ( or both), be sure to get enough sleep or your immune system will be weakened.
I personally carry hand sanitizer everywhere, but that doesn't catch everything, so be sure to frequently wash your hands with soap and warm water. Health professionals recommend singing `` the happy birthday song '' to yourself to make sure you 've washed your hands thoroughly for a sufficient amount of time. I have made it a habit to immediately wash my hands whenever I return home and before every meal, and it's dramatically cut down how often I 'm sick.
This is actually probably one of the best ways to prevent disease. A coworker could forward you a phishing email that compromises your accounts, but they can't give you Wuhan Coronavirus over Slack or email. I 've run a company with a distributed team for more than five years, and my newest software company, Endpass, continues to have a remote team across North America and Europe. Needless to say, we won't be sharing any germs unless we do a team retreat. If one positive thing came from the Coronavirus, it would be encouraging more companies to consider remote teams and work from home policies.
Besides wearing a surgical-grade or n95 masks if you think you're sick or potentially exposed to infected people, the next best thing you can do is use tissues when you sneeze. I always carry a disposable pack in my fanny pack ( since I stopped wearing purses) and travel bag.
Public places are filthy, especially airports and airplanes. My cousin who works in nursing turned me on to carrying disposable disinfectant wipes in my travel bag. Now I wipe down the plane seat and other especially germy places before coming in contact with them. There's also some great hand sanitizer out there. My favorite is the lavender vanilla scented stuff at Whole Foods, but it's probably in other stores and on Amazon.
I 'm a big fan of `` family style '' meals, but when any kind of disease is likely to be spreading you should limit your exposure to possible contamination as much as possible. So don't share drinks, and definitely don't share vapes, if you smoke. ( Obviously, smoking also weakens your immune system and can damage your lungs, making them easier to be infected.)
Traveling when you're sick is a terrible idea. Not only are you more likely to get even sicker if you're already feeling unwell, you're also spreading disease. I refuse to do it anymore after getting MERS. I personally fly Alaska because of their great customer service, and how easy it is for me to change my flights for free.
Finally, don't wait to seek medical attention. I probably should have gone to the hospital in Dubai when I first had symptoms, but I foolishly decided to wait until I returned to go to Cairo. If my symptoms had progressed slightly faster, I could have died. If you think you have contracted the Wuhan Coronavirus, seek medical treatment early. Make sure a loved one, close friend, or colleague also knows you're feeling unwell so they can check on you in case you become even sicker.
I hope this was helpful and that it keeps you and your loved ones healthy, and protected from the Wuhan Coronavirus and other diseases. | business |
Premarket stocks: The club of $ 1 trillion companies is about to gain a fifth member | And then there were five. After a blockbuster earnings report, Amazon is poised to reenter the growing club of $ 1 trillion public companies when US markets open on Friday — joining Apple ( AAPL), Microsoft ( MSFT), Saudi Aramco and Alphabet ( GOOGL) at the top of the heap.
Amazon's beat: Amazon ( AMZN) blew away Wall Street's expectations when it reported earnings for the holiday quarter on Thursday, my CNN Business colleague Clare Duffy reports. The company posted profits of $ 3.3 billion. Analysts had expected $ 2 billion. Revenue, meanwhile, jumped 21%.
Big number: A record 150 million people now subscribe to Amazon Prime. That's a positive sign for the company's expensive efforts to roll out one-day shipping in the United States.
Shares are up 8.5% in premarket trading. If that holds, Amazon will jump back above a $ 1 trillion valuation, a level it first surpassed in 2018.
The spike is a boon for CEO Jeff Bezos, who really needed a good week. Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, told me that he's impressed with Amazon's commitment to generating cash and adding `` more and more spokes '' to the wheel, a reference to the company's many revenue streams.
`` Every time you look at a new set of Amazon numbers there seems to be something new to get excited about, '' he said, pointing to growth in Amazon's fledging efforts to sell directly to businesses.
But the stock gain could trigger further conversations about consolidation in the stock market, considering a handful of tech companies now account for roughly a fifth of the S & P 500.
See here: If Amazon shares open up as much as expected, the company could soon approach the same value as Germany's entire benchmark stock index ( $ 1.15 trillion).
Hyett points out that these companies aren't as monolithic as they may seem at first blush. Amazon has the characteristics of a retailer, Google dominates in marketing and Microsoft makes software — all distinct parts of the tech universe, he notes.
Still, it means the US stock market is heavily exposed to a specific type of company: one with a marquee credit rating that is focused on high growth. `` Should we have a shift in the ratings environment, that's going to really hurt the whole market, just because of the percentage they contribute, '' Hyett said.
Ginni Rometty, a favorite of Corporate America, is retiring
It's the end of an era at IBM ( IBM). CEO Ginni Rometty, who has led the tech giant since 2012, is stepping down in April, the company announced Thursday.
Details, details: Rometty will be succeeded by Arvind Krishna, who is currently senior vice president for cloud and cognitive software. Jim Whitehurst, the Red Hat CEO who many thought would take Rometty's job, will become IBM's president. Rometty will remain executive chairman of IBM until her retirement at the end of the year.
Shares of IBM are up nearly 4% in premarket trading on the news.
No surprise: Rometty, who is 62, was expected to retire soon, since previous IBM chiefs had stepped down around the age of 60, my CNN Business colleague Paul R. La Monica reports. Krishna is 57 and Whitehurst is 52.
But her departure means that the ranks of women who run large companies will grow even smaller. There were only 33 women CEOs in charge of Fortune 500 firms as of last year, including Rometty.
`` Even though IBM's stock performance was more volatile than desired by Wall Street, she left a lasting mark on one of the cornerstone American companies, '' said Tim Hubbard, a professor at Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business and a former IBM consultant. He called Rometty `` one of the most prestigious female CEOs of the past decade. ''
Investor insight: IBM shares have dropped 26% since Rometty took the helm, even as the broader stock market shot up. Still, she's been applauded for pushing IBM into the lucrative world of cloud computing, particularly through the company's $ 34 billion acquisition of Red Hat in 2018.
The coronavirus outbreak is now an international emergency
Markets in Europe are falling Friday as the deadly coronavirus continues to spread globally — leading the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency of international concern.
The latest: At least 213 people are dead and more than 9,700 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in mainland China. There are now more than 150 confirmed cases of the virus outside mainland China, including six in the United States and two in the United Kingdom.
Investors initially took some comfort in the WHO declaration, since it could help mobilize resources to keep the virus contained. But the situation is clearly volatile.
Oil monitor: Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil prices, rose 0.6% to $ 58.61 per barrel on Friday. It's still on track for its worst month since May amid concerns about how coronavirus could knock economic growth, and therefore demand.
Up next
Caterpillar ( CAT), Chevron ( CVX), ExxonMobil ( XOM), Colgate-Palmolive ( CL) and Honeywell ( HON) report results before US markets open.
Also today:
US personal income and spending data for December arrives at 8:30 a.m. ET.Britain formally leaves the European Union at 6 p.m. ET.
Coming next week: China's stock markets reopen as coronavirus continues to batter the country's economy. | business |
Hong Kong doctors mull medical strike amid coronavirus outbreak — Quartz | Benjamin So is a 27-year-old doctor in Hong Kong. He usually works in the internal medicine department of Queen Mary Hospital, located on the southern coast of the city with sweeping views of the South China Sea. Right now, however, he’ s holed up in a hotel room nearby in self-imposed quarantine—and preparing for a strike.
The coronavirus epidemic is unfolding in Hong Kong at a volatile time. After months of large-scale protests, public trust in the government is at historic lows and societal divisions at record highs. Yet the current public health crisis may well transcend political divides and unite Hong Kongers in their shared anger at the perceived incompetence of the government.
Earlier this week, during his shift working in the isolation ward, So admitted two elderly patients who had travelled to Hong Kong from Wuhan. The couple were later confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus, which has now infected almost 10,000 people in China and killed 213. Hong Kong has 12 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
This left So with a question: should he be quarantined, given his direct contact with two confirmed cases, or was he expected to return to work the next day? Hospital management, So said, told him that he would not need to isolate himself, because he had been in protective gear when dealing with the patients. So found this decision “ bizarre, ” because there was no way of ruling out any chance of contamination. Returning to work as usual, he thought, would only put other patients and colleagues at risk.
That’ s how So decided to check himself into a hotel room for at least two weeks, paying out of his own pocket for accommodation. Though management later told him that the hospital can make available 21 isolation rooms on site for medical personnel, he felt that this would still be insufficient in the event of a full-blown outbreak in Hong Kong.
“ I would say the Hospital Authority has been quite slow in responding to this outbreak and they haven’ t had clear contingency plans…it shows how limited our resources are, ” said So, referring to the government body that manages the city’ s hospitals. “ If a full community outbreak does happen there’ s no way our medical system can deal with that. ”
Now he’ s spending his time in isolation, drafting statements and petitions calling for a medical strike. More than 6,500 nurses and doctors have already pledged to strike unless the government meets their demands, foremost of which is the complete closure of all 14 border control points with mainland China in order to stem the coronavirus outbreak. On Tuesday ( Jan. 28), Hong Kong chief executive Carrie Lam ordered a partial closure of the border, but the measure was widely panned as ineffective because only about 10% of mainland Chinese visitors come through the ports of entry being shut.
To many, the Hong Kong government appears unable to make its own decisions without first deferring to Beijing. When Lam announced travel restrictions for mainland Chinese visitors this week, it was presented not as Hong Kong barring entry to mainlanders, but as China suspending the issuance of individual tourist visas. When the chief secretary addressed concerns about the shortage of surgical masks, he said he had asked China to allow imports of masks into Hong Kong. And with the government’ s continued refusal to close the border with China despite polling showing overwhelming public support for the measure, people are again wondering whether officials truly have the public’ s interests at heart. Lam doubled down on her decision at another news conference today, arguing that measures to close the border would “ stigmatize ” mainland Chinese.
“ No one is asking for the border to be closed permanently, ” So said. “ What we’ re asking for is in the interim… there’ s a need to very firmly tighten up border controls so that we can limit the number of further imported cases. ” And while the government has already banned entry to Hong Kong for people from Hubei province, the outbreak’ s epicenter, So says this is “ nowhere near enough ” as the coronavirus has already spread throughout China.
Already, some 90 nurses at three hospitals called in sick earlier this week to sound the alarm ahead of the strike. “ They were very concerned about the quality of our facilities and that they wouldn’ t be able to protect themselves or our patients, ” he said of the nurses. But he also understands that calling for medical professionals to strike can be morally fraught. The Hong Kong Public Doctors’ Association, for one, has said it would not take part in the strike.
The Hospital Authority Employees’ Alliance, a newly formed union that grew out of the protest movement and that is organizing the industrial action, will vote tomorrow on whether to go on strike. The continuing resistance movement, So said, has galvanized support for protest actions like strikes.
“ The incentive for health care workers to go on strike is very low, there’ s a lot of moral baggage we’ re carrying, ” So said. “ But if this is the only way to force the government to take real policy action, then this is what we have to do. ” He said that friends and family are also supportive of the strike because “ they understand this is the last resort to force the government to take action to stop the outbreak from happening. ”
Update: Thousands of non-emergency medical staff are striking on Monday ( Feb. 3), after the union voted overwhelmingly on Saturday for a five-day strike following chief executive Carrie Lam’ s refusal to attend negotiations with them. Other medical personnel, including those offering emergency services, could join in from Tuesday. | tech |
Coca-Cola's Sales Beat Expectations -- WSJ | By Dave Sebastian
Coca-Cola Co. reported higher sales that beat analysts ' estimates, and said it was working with Chinese authorities to reopen factories that faced extended downtime amid the country's health crisis.
Fourth-quarter sales rose 16% from a year earlier to $ 9.07 billion. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected $ 8.88 billion.
The beverage giant on Thursday said organic revenue growth, which excludes the effect of currency swings, acquisitions and divestitures, was 7%. Unit case volume increased 3% for the quarter, led by growth in emerging markets.
Chief Executive James Quincey said the company, `` under the auspices of the Chinese government, '' is reopening some manufacturing facilities to distribute its product in a way that wouldn't contribute to the coronavirus outbreak in the country. The plants closed at the start of the Lunar New Year, and the government has asked businesses to remain closed as it extended the Lunar New Year holiday through Feb. 9.
`` While our business is closed for the extended holiday, we are able to continue some operations, where needed, with permission from local authorities, '' a Coke spokesman said in an email.
`` It's way too early to tell what the impact in the short term is, '' Mr. Quincey told analysts, adding that Coke's offices in the country remain closed. China accounts for about 10% of the Atlanta-based company's global sales volume, he said.
Coke shares rose 3.3% Thursday.
Unit case volume, or the number of 24 8-ounce servings of finished beverage sold, of the company's carbonated soft drinks, which include its namesake brands as well as Fanta and Sprite, grew 3% for the quarter, led by growth in China, Brazil and Southeast Asia.
Unit case volume of water, enhanced water and sports drinks were up 2%, while tea and coffee volume grew 4%.
Coke has pushed to roll out new flavors and diversify its offerings in recent years. Late last year it launched a new flavored seltzer brand, Aha, with caffeinated versions. The company was a late entrant to the category that includes market-leading bubbly water LaCroix. In 2018, PepsiCo Inc. l aunched a competitor called Bubly.
Unit case volume was flat in North America despite 3% growth for its water, enhanced water and sports drinks. Volume for Coca-Cola Zero Sugar grew by a double-digit percentage, the company said.
In Europe, the Middle East and Africa, unit case volume rose 4%, driven by growth in Nigeria, North Africa, Turkey and Central and Eastern Europe. But operating income in the marketing region fell due to reduced bottler-inventory levels, Coke said, as European bottlers stocked up last year in advance of Brexit, which is due to take place Friday.
In Coke's Asia Pacific segment, unit case volume grew 2% despite weakness in China, where growth in sparkling-soft-drink sales was offset by the downsizing of certain water and juice products.
For its latest quarter, the company recorded earnings of $ 2.04 billion, or 47 cents a share, compared with $ 870 million, or 20 cents a share, a year earlier.
Adjusted earnings were 44 cents a share, meeting analysts ' expectations.
For 2020, the company expects organic sales growth of about 5% and adjusted earnings of about $ 2.25 a share.
The current quarter will include the effect of the operational pause in China and also U.S. sales of Coca-Cola Energy, which became available this month after the company cleared a legal hurdle with Monster Beverage Corp. The beverage is available in about 45 markets, a spokesman said.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Nik Modi said Coke's management has been taking calculated risks and making quick decisions since Mr. Quincey became CEO in 2017, especially in making new products. The company grew sales in categories `` no one thought could grow, '' Mr. Modi told The Wall Street Journal.
But the energy-drink market could be a tough market for Coke, Mr. Modi said. `` It could be a nice niche, but I don't think this is going to be a really big part of the Coke franchise. ''
Mr. Modi said he doesn't expect the coronavirus outbreak to weigh on the company's earnings this quarter.
The outbreak of the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, nearly two decades ago didn't affect Coke that much `` from a business point of view, '' Mr. Quincey said, adding that China's economy has since grown.
Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian @ wsj.com
| business |
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31-Jan-2020 - Last updated on 03-Feb-2020 at 12:56 GMT
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An increasing number of on-trade operators are realising the potential of stocking a range of alcohol free and low alcohol products.
Kolibri Drinks – a UK brand that offers botanical soft drinks which can customize sweetness according to taste – says consumers want to see a range of options.
“ The on-trade now acknowledges that there is a need to cater for those who are not drinking, or are drinking less, and, whilst some believe that a handful of mocktails on their menus might be the solution, most are realising that the emerging category needs a range of solutions for all types of occasions and they must be as exciting as their choice of alcoholic beverages, ” says founder Kamilla Sitwell.
Mathilde Boulachin, CEO & Owner of Pierre Chavin, a French wine company specialising in alcohol-free, adds: “ You just have to look at consumer interest to know that things are starting to change. According to google trends, for example, online searches for the phrase “ non-alcoholic ” is up 81% across global searches over the past year.
“ This is an entirely new revenue stream for outlets which won’ t cannibalise their alcoholic drinks offer. It enables teetotal consumers to switch from water or soft drinks to a more sophisticated adult drink and alcohol-free wines offer a very interesting alternative to accompany gourmet meals. ”
Operators should offer inclusivity for all kinds of drinks - and will reap the benefits if they succeed in doing this.
“ There’ s an opportunity to trade up from sugary, calorific soft drinks and generate incremental revenue ” said James Pattison, Marketing Manager of zero-proof spirit Stryyk. “ Given the market trend for healthy choice, getting your offer right can put more money in the till, with 33% of consumers happy to pay £6 for a quality non-alcoholic drink. ”
These three brands are among more than 70 brands exhibiting at the Low 2 No Bev Show at The Old Truman Brewery in London on 17th and 18th June. The show has been created to enhance understanding of the emerging category for the licensed retail, hospitality, convenience and out of home sectors in on and off trade.
For 2020, trialling is key says James Pattison of Stryyk - “ but any brand can trial, so we have developed a revolutionary menu hack for our products to work in conjunction with any level of operator and actually save menu space.
“ By placing a S asterisk next to any vodka, gin or rum cocktail and swapping out the alcoholic spirit for a delicious Stryyk alternative, the operator can extend their alcoholic and non-alcoholic offerings at the same time. ”
Outlining plans for Pierre Chavin, Mathilde Boulachin added: “ We are planning a lot of activation in 2020 to stimulate our brands, including the launch of new formats and new grape varietals to develop our core range of drinks. We will also help people discover our beverages though events and festivals and will be inspiring new drinking occasions through the launch of mocktails. ”
The three brands all highlight the importance of training front of house staff to demonstrate their expertise across the entire range of drinks stocked, including low and no alcohol. This means ensuring the quality of serve or familiarising staff with the drinks on offer.
And drink familiarity is expected to be of the utmost importance when it comes to widening the consumer base within this category.
If a consumer already knows and loves a mojito – one of the most popular cocktails in the world – they’ ll be far more likely to purchase an alcohol free version than anything unique.
For further information and to register for tickets to Low 2 No Bev show, visit https: //www.low2nobev.com
More than 70 exhibitors are already confirmed for the Low 2 No Bev show! These include:
Highball Alcohol Free Cocktails; Gusto Organic; Wildlife Botanicals; Hayman’ s Gin; All Natural Drinks; Pierre Chavin; Britvic; Ikoyi Chapmans; Senser Spirits; Binary Botanical; Gen! us Brewing; NONSUCH; Amplify; Lyre’ s; LA Brewery Kombucha; Ceder’ s; Big Drop Brewing Co; 6 O’ clock Gin; ISH Spirits; Fentimans; Stryyk; Real Kombucha; Nine Elms; Drynks Unlimted; Small Beer; Campari; Lucky Saint; Kolibri Drinks; Linderman’ s; Diageo; Everleaf; Thomson & Scott; Lighthouse Brands; Caleno Drinks; Lautus De-Alcoholised Wines | general |
New Zealand carves out top position for low alcohol lighter wine | Or wait...
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31-Jan-2020 - Last updated on 03-Feb-2020 at 16:28 GMT
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The challenge is not just producing high quality lighter wines but also producing them naturally, giving New Zealand a point of difference and making it the “ go to ” country for lower alcohol wines.
And wineries believe they’ ve already cracked the case: taking home 47 medals from wine shows for their lighter wines over the last 12 months alone.
The Lighter Wines initiative is unique in its scale and scope: bringing together 18 wineries, industry body New Zealand Winegrowers, global wine companies and the government in a seven-year programme.
New Zealand already boasts a reputation for high-quality New World wines, thanks to its unique, cool, maritime climate and experience in wine making. But back in 2008, a group of wineries realised there was also an opportunity for premium wines with lower alcohol levels, based on the country’ s most popular wine styles.
They quickly learned, however, that there was a lot of work to be done: from overcoming taste challenges to finding the best winemaking approaches.
These challenges formed the framework for a $ 17m, seven-year R & D programme, which was officially launched in 2014 with the goal to ‘ achieve global leadership in the production and supply of premium quality, naturally lighter-in-alcohol wines’.
This represents not only the largest R & D project ever undertaken by the industry, but also a concerted collaborative effort from both government and the industry. The project is led by New Zealand Winegrowers and co-funded under the government's Ministry for Primary Industries ' Primary Growth Partnership ( PGP).
Accolade Wines, Allan Scott Wines, Constellation Brands, Forrest Estate, Giesen Wine Estate, Indevin, Kono, Lawson’ s Dry Hills, Marisco Vineyards, Mount Riley Wines, Mt Difficulty Wines, Pernod Ricard, Runner Duck Estate, Spy Valley Estate, Villa Maria, Whitehaven Wine Company, Wither Hills, and Yealands Family Wines.
Dr David Jordan, Programme Manager for NZ Lighter Wines, explains that the programme sought to respond both to consumer trends in reducing alcohol consumption; as well as proactively creating a point of difference for New Zealand’ s wine sector.
“ We recognised that other alcoholic beverages were 'going large ' with low and no alcohol products in their areas, but back in 2012/13, there was not a lot going on with wine – and what was available did not always offer a premium wine experience, ” he told BeverageDaily. “ So we saw an opportunity, but also a niche.
“ There were one or two pioneering wines from New Zealand that had gained a positive reception, but the opportunity was far from assured. Once the programme was under way, we were able to confirm a growing trend among premium wine consumers to moderate their alcohol consumption. This was very encouraging. ”
The crux of the lighter wine project is to produce high quality wines with a naturally lower alcohol content – without compromising on flavour and varietal expression.
Growing slow-ripening grapes in a cooler climate results in grapes with less natural sugar – it’ s the sugar which ferments into alcohol – meaning that New Zealand can create wines that are ‘ naturally lighter’ and yet still with the same full flavour as their traditional counterparts.
This means New Zealand’ s lighter wines have up to 30% less alcohol compared to an equivalent full strength wine.
“ Our participating companies appear to have cracked the wine quality and wine balance challenge, ” said Dr Jordan.
“ From the start, we believed that our lower-in-alcohol wines must offer a “ like-for-like ” experience that satisfies the flavour and quality expectations of premium wine drinkers – and NZ Lighter wines certainly do that.
`` Lower alcohol wines are not identical to their full-strength cousins, and it’ s taken a great deal of research in the vineyard, winery and sensory labs to naturally produce wines that deliver on expectations.
`` Some winemakers are finding that a whisper of sweetness better balances the fruity acidity and gives the lighter wine a delicious, refreshing flavour. ”
googletag.cmd.push ( function () { googletag.display ( 'text-ad1 '); });
But creating full-flavoured lighter wines has not happened overnight. It’ s taken great deal of research in vineyards, wineries and sensory labs.
“ There is no silver bullet, '' said Dr Jordan. `` Making a delicious NZ Lighter wine starts in the vineyard – often with site selection.
`` Participants are using a range of inputs, including early harvests, blending, canopy management, special yeasts and a raft of other techniques and processes. The research and development has been substantial, throughout the life of the programme.
“ Wine show results are giving us confidence in the quality of the NZ Lighter wines. Just in the last 12 months, 47 medals have been awarded to Lighter wines produced by wineries within the initiative.
“ Repeatedly, we are running what are called “ triangle tests ” with lighter and regular-strength wines – same producer, same vintage, same variety. The only difference is whether an offering is a lighter or regular-strength wine. Many experienced tasters struggle to tell which is the lighter wine, and what is very pleasing is that often the lighter format is preferred. ”
Marlborough winery Stoneleigh believes it has succeeded in creating wines that maintains the same quality as their traditional counterparts. “ Quite often, experienced wine tasters don’ t know it’ s a lighter wine until we tell them, ” says the winery.
Last year the Pernod Ricard brand launched Stoneleigh Bright Marlborough Pinot Gris 2018 and Stoneleigh Bright Marlborough Rose 2018 ( both 9.5% ABV). Wines were made using grapes that ripen earlier with a lower brix ( the sugar level in grapes, which thus can determine the potential alcohol content of a wine).
“ We’ ve done a lot of research to understand the science behind winemaking, and that’ s helped us understand how our grapes develop their flavour throughout the growing season, ” said Jamie Marfell, chief winemaker, Stoneleigh.
“ Once we understood that, it was relatively easy to identify blocks in our vineyards where the grapes develop their full flavour early in the ripening season when their sugar levels are low.
“ The alcohol content in wine is directly related to the amount of sugar in the grapes that we use. For Stoneleigh Bright, we are picking grapes at 17 brix, compared with around 22 brix for our full-strength wines.
“ That lower sugar level means that the wine is fermented with an alcohol content of less than 9.5%. We love this method because it means we can deliver wine that is full of all the flavours and vibrancy people expect from Stoneleigh, with the added advantage of being naturally lower in alcohol. ”
The ultimate goal of the seven-year programme is to make New Zealand’ s wine industry the number one in the world for premium lighter wines ( considered by the programme as those at 8.5% - 10% ABV).
This means addressing all areas of the industry: from the introduction of new winemaking techniques or vine management, to marketing strategies both at home and abroad. It also means ensuring consistency and control over the quality of lower alcohol wines.
At the moment, the lighter wines category is still small – around 3% of total New Zealand wine sales.
“ But when you think in terms of varieties that New Zealand dominates on the domestic market – for example, Sauvignon blanc, Pinot gris and Rosé – the NZ Lighter category already accounts for a 6% to 8% slice of the pie, ” notes Dr Jordan. Lighter wines, for example, take a 7% share of New Zealand’ s dominant Sauvingnon blanc variety.
Lighter wines have proved to be remarkably popular among New Zealanders – in early 2016 the Lighter Wines project eclipsed its 2024 sales target. In fact, domestic sales in New Zealand represent the highest proportion of lower alcohol wine sold anywhere in the world.
The initiative is now focusing on promoting lighter wines abroad – all the more important as exports power New Zealand’ s wine industry ( exports are set to hit $ 2bn this year, with the US and UK representing the largest markets).
In the UK – where the low and no alcohol movement is particularly pronounced – volumes of NZ Lighter Wines grew 20% in 2019 on the previous year. And more growth is expected in 2020 with new listings and more wines.
The Low 2 No Bev Show ( London, June 17-18) is a brand new - and unique - dedicated trade event to give the sector its own voice. Find out more here!
“ This growth in demand is supported by a wide range of in-market and online activities, including retail and media tastings, public relations campaigns in print and on social media, and sponsored events, '' said Dr Jordan.
`` Once people have an opportunity to taste lighter wines from New Zealand, they will often go on to purchase a bottle – and that goes for the retail gatekeepers, too. ”
The programme is on track to reach its target of $ 285m ( $ 190m USD) per annum in sales of lower alcohol wines by the end of 2023 ( the majority of which, like the overall wine category, would be from exports).
This is alongside further spin-off benefits: which, although hard to quantify, would include promoting wine tourism, applying new techniques to the wider industry, and contributing a greater understanding of the effects of climate change on grape and wine quality.
And the project hopes it can also further cultivate the image of New Zealand’ s wine industry as a whole as one that is health conscious, natural, sustainable and innovative.
Find out more about the programme here: https: //www.nzlighter.wine/
Pictures: getty/stewartwatson; getty/gprentice; stoneleigh | general |
US coronavirus outbreak: Five key developments this week |
The deadly coronavirus outbreak
is leaping across continents
after infecting thousands all over China --
and there's no end in sight.
The number
of cases skyrocketed this week,
and the US
warned its citizens
not to visit China as a wave of panic and infections increase. The World Health Organization
declared a global health emergency
Thursday, saying the virus is now a risk beyond China.
Here are the key developments in the US this week and what's next:
A woman infects her husband
in
Illinois
An Illinois woman
suffering from the respiratory virus
infected her husband, becoming the first case transmitted from person to person in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
Read More
The couple are in their 60s, and the husband has underlying medical issues, the CDC said. The husband's infection makes him the sixth person with coronavirus in the US, including patients in
Washington state
,
California
and Arizona.
`` We understand that this may be concerning, but based on what we know now, our assessment remains that the immediate risk to the American public is low, '' Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, told reporters.
Coronavirus has killed 213 people and infected nearly 10,000 others in China, most of them in the hardest-hit city of Wuhan. Outside mainland China, there are 108 confirmed cases,
including the six in the United States.
More Americans set to be evacuated from Wuhan
The State Department is planning more evacuation flights for US citizens in Wuhan leaving around Monday. No more details were immediately available.
An American who was evacuated from Wuhan tries to flee California base
Just days earlier, it evacuated nearly 200 Americans
Wednesday
from Wuhan. They are being monitored for symptoms for at least three days at the March Air Reserve Base near Riverside, California.
If health officials
determine they don't pose a danger and can go home
, they will be monitored by local officials for the 14-day incubation period. They can choose to remain at the base for the two weeks.
One unidentified person tried to leave the base, and was ordered to stay in quarantine for the entire incubation period or until otherwise cleared, Riverside County Public Health said Thursday.
US issues its highest-level warning for China
US officials are warning citizens not to travel to China after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a global health emergency.
State Department elevates China travel advisory
Those currently in China should consider leaving, the State Department said. Meanwhile, the White House announced a new task force that's meeting daily to discuss the threat of the coronavirus. The task force will help monitor and contain the spread of the virus, and ensure Americans have accurate and up-to-date health and travel information, it said.
The department has tried to dissuade Americans ' travel to China in recent weeks in response to the outbreak. It raised the travel advisory on Monday from Level 2 to Level 3. It's now at Level 4.
Hoaxes spread along with the panic
As the coronavirus outbreak grows,
officials in several US states are cracking down
on false information about the spread of the disease.
Coronavirus hoaxes are spreading in the US as the outbreak grows worldwide
Most of the false information is originating online, spreading fear about the virus that has sickened thousands worldwide.
In Los Angeles County, public health officials warned residents Thursday that a letter claiming a potential coronavirus outbreak in Carson City is fake. In a suburb north of Los Angeles, a high school in Santa Clarita also issued a statement warning against false social media reports on the coronavirus outbreak.
School districts in San Diego and Arizona are also warning residents about fake images of news stories claiming the coronavirus is spreading locally.
Faceook has said it's taking steps to prevent the spread of misinformation on the disease. It plans to remove content with false claims or conspiracy theories, and is urging leading global health organizations and local authorities to flag such information.
`` This includes claims related to false cures or prevention methods — like drinking bleach cures the coronavirus — or claims that create confusion about health resources that are available, '' Facebook
said in a statement.
Some states push for tougher measures
Some states are calling for tougher measures to help combat the virus.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee asked US federal health officials to expand screenings to passengers returning to the United States from China at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where the country's first confirmed case of the deadly virus entered. Inslee wants the CDC to collect passengers ' health history and temperature readings.
In Hawaii, the state closest to the coronavirus outbreak, officials are urging residents to avoid discretionary trips to China. There are currently no cases of coronavirus in Hawaii, and officials said there's minimal risk to people on the islands. | general |
The coronavirus could cost China's economy $ 60 billion this quarter. |
China may have to cut taxes, boost spending and slash interest rates to prevent the
coronavirus
outbreak wreaking havoc on an already
fragile economy
.
The economic impact of the virus is still impossible to determine, but one state media outlet and some economists have said that China's growth rate could drop two percentage points this quarter because of the outbreak, which has brought large parts of the country to a standstill. A decline on that scale could mean $ 62 billion in lost growth.
China can ill afford that kind of hit. Growth last year
was already the country's weakest
in nearly three decades, as China contended with rising debt and the fallout from its trade war with the United States.
US warns its citizens not to travel to China as coronavirus cases top 9,600
The coronavirus, which first appeared in the central city of Wuhan, has already killed more than 200 people and infected more people than the SARS outbreak in 2003. A disease of this magnitude wasn't even on China's radar. Before the outbreak, the government was more worried that social unrest could be its `` black swan '' problem — an improbable but chaotic event officials feared could be spurred by rising unemployment.
Now Beijing is scrambling to stop the virus from cratering its economy. The ruling Communist Party recently put Premier Li Keqiang in charge of virus control. The decision was a clear signal that stopping the virus is `` the priority among priorities '' for the government right now, the official People's Daily newspaper wrote in a recent commentary.
Read More
So far, policymakers have taken some steps to help the businesses that are most affected by the rapid spread of the disease.
Central and local governments have allocated $ 12.6 billion so far to spend on medical treatment and equipment.
Major banks have cut interest rates for small businesses and individuals in the worst-hit areas. And the Bank of China said it would allow people in Wuhan and the rest of Hubei province to delay their loan payments for several months if they lose their source of income because of the disruption.
The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, has said that it will ensure there is enough liquidity in the financial markets when they reopen next Monday after a 10-day Lunar New Year holiday. When Hong Kong's markets reopened earlier this week, the
Hang Seng index
(
HSI
)
plunged nearly 6%
in just a few days of trading.
A Chinese man wears a protective mask as he rides an escalator at a large empty shopping area that would usually be busy during the Chinese New Year and Spring Festival holiday on January 28, 2020 in Beijing, China.
Aggressive action
The government will likely have to be even more aggressive in the coming months to avert a more serious slowdown, according to Chinese economist Zhang Ming.
Zhang, who works at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, wrote this week that he expects economic growth to slump by a percentage point to 5% in the first quarter, assuming the epidemic lasts until the end of March. He described that as his most optimistic scenario, but didn't give a specific forecast should the outbreak last even longer.
China is really worried about unemployment. Here's what it's doing to avoid mass layoffs
The government could cut taxes and boost spending on public healthcare and employment training, Zhang said. He also expects local governments to spend more on infrastructure. By boosting economic activity and creating jobs, he added, cities can offset any weakness in private investment in real estate and manufacturing.
The central bank is also likely to deliver more interest rate cuts to stabilize the economy, Zhang said. Altogether, he said such measures could help growth rebound next quarter and push annual GDP growth to around 5.7%. While that's lower than last year's 6.1% growth, it would be in line with many analyst expectations.
Others take a more pessimistic view.
Analysts at Nomura believe growth could drop by two percentage points or more in the first quarter. The Global Times, a state-run tabloid, wrote Friday that the outbreak could shave two percentage points off GDP growth this quarter, citing industry insiders. Government's efforts to contain the virus by extending Lunar New Year holidays and forcing factories to shut down could `` take a piece out of the nation's manufacturing industry and disrupt the global supply chain. ''
Measuring the fallout
It's too early to say whether that level of upheaval is on the horizon.
Tesla
(
TSLA
)
has been forced to
close its new Shanghai-built factory
temporarily. And
Apple
(
AAPL
)
has lost production from suppliers in Wuhan
. The longer term impact on both companies is much less clear.
Apple, more than most companies, stands to lose from the coronavirus outbreak
Other sectors might have more to lose right now. Tourism — a multibillion-dollar industry during the Lunar New Year — has been decimated as the government quarantines major population centers and people avoid traveling for fear of becoming infected. Major travel companies, hotels and airlines have offered refunds through most of February, while some airlines have suspended services to and from China.
Holiday celebrations have been canceled and major tourism spots have been closed off. China's massive box office
will also likely take a hit
after several blockbuster movies set to release during the holiday season were pulled.
Zhang and other analysts suggested that the fallout could even be more serious than after SARS, the respiratory disease that caused China's economic growth to briefly plunge before rebounding nearly two decades ago.
The spread of the coronavirus threatens to cause job losses and push consumer prices higher, compounding economic woes that already exist.
The employment market is already under stress this year. Industries that traditionally create a lot of jobs, like the technology sector, have been hurt by the economic slowdown. The coronavirus outbreak will make things worse, according to Zhang.
China's 290 million migrant workers are among those most exposed to a slump. Many of them travel from rural areas to the cities to take on construction and manufacturing jobs or perform low paying but vital work, such as waiting tables in restaurants, delivering packages or acting as janitors.
But because many factories and businesses remain shut down, millions of those workers might find it hard to land a job after the extended Lunar New Year holiday ends. More than 10 million migrant workers from Hubei province alone might also face discrimination from employers fearful that they may spread the virus.
How the coronavirus is already hurting global business
Zhang warned that China's unemployment rate — already a concern for officials — could reach a record high in the coming months. The rate traditionally has hovered around 4% or 5%.
He added the virus could also make consumer goods more expensive. Budgets are already tight because of rising debt, and a pork crisis brought on by the
outbreak of African swine fever
among China's pigs last year has caused the price of meat to skyrocket. Now vegetable prices have risen as people rush to buy basic necessities during the virus outbreak, according to the state news agency Xinhua.
Other challenges
Dealing with the disease will make some of China's other problems that much tougher to solve — including its tricky trade relationship with the United States.
As part of a truce reached earlier in January, Beijing agreed to buy
$ 200 billion worth of US products
in the next two years. Analysts have already said that shrinking domestic demand in China will make it tough for the country to hit those targets. If the virus weakens the country's buying power even more, those goals could move even further out of reach.
The trade war is still on. Consider this a fragile truce
Substantial tariffs totaling
hundreds of billions of dollars
also remain in place on many Chinese goods. And Washington has
made it clear
that those will remain a form of leverage as the two sides negotiate the next phase of their agreement.
Even so, at least one analyst finds it unlikely that the trade war will escalate just because China is `` temporarily '' unable to honor its trade commitments. The United States is in an election year, and such an action could jeopardize President Donald Trump's campaign, said Ken Cheung, chief Asian foreign exchange strategist at Mizuho Bank. | general |
What next for Lipton and PG Tips? Unilever's strategic tea review | Or wait...
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By Rachel Arthur contact
31-Jan-2020 - Last updated on 31-Jan-2020 at 13:33 GMT
Related tags: Unilever, Tea function sanitize gpt value2 ( gptValue) { var vOut= '' ''; var aTags = gptValue.split ( ', '); var reg = new RegExp ( '\\W+ ', `` g ''); for ( var i=0; i < aTags.length; i++) { vOut += aTags [ i ].trim ().replace ( reg, '- ').substring ( 0,40); if ( i! = ( aTags.length-1)) vOut += ', '; } vOut = vOut.toLowerCase (); return vOut; } $ ( document).ready ( function () { dataLayerNews = { }; dataLayerNews.related tags = sanitize gpt value2 ( `` Unilever, Tea ''); dataLayer.push ( dataLayerNews); });
In developed markets, tea trends have been moving ‘ dramatically’ away from traditional black tea and towards herbal teas and infusions, notes the company.
Unilever CEO Alan Jupe says the company has done a lot of work in its €2.9bn ( $ 3.2bn USD) tea portfolio ( for example the acquisition of premium organic herbal tea business Pukka Herbs in 2017) but the ‘ harsh reality’ remains that its core tea business is in the declining black tea sector.
Unilever’ s tea brands include PG Tips, Lipton *, Pukka Herbs, specialty Australian tea shop chain T2 and Pure Leaf *.
Unilever – whose sales span food, beauty and personal care and home care – saw underlying sales growth rise 2.9% in 2019 with 1.2% underlying volume growth. In foods and refreshment underlying sales grew 1.5% with volumes down 0.2%.
While it hasn’ t provided a breakdown of how the tea category fared, it notes a division between the fortunes of the various tea categories. The growing segments include premium black tea, black tea in emerging markets and fruit and herbal variants, and premium herbal tea brand Pukka. Unilever’ s Indian tea business also continued to see ‘ strong growth’ in 2019.
Black tea in developed markets, however, has seen volumes decline due to subdued consumer demand.
The review, however, will cover its entire tea business: including premium teas. But the company says no decisions have been made and all options remain on the table.
Alan Jope, CEO, Unilever, says the review will see if there are ways to unlock value in the tea business: such as different ways of organising business partnerships or ownership structures.
“ In the tea market - and you're really talking here about consumer trends - there's a really quite dramatic shift from black tea to initially green tea and now we're seeing more and more herbal teas and infusions, '' he said, speaking in the company's earning's call.
“ And we 've done a lot of work to add that leg to the portfolio, both inorganically within the brands that we had, but also by building in some new brands that we 've acquired.
“ But the harsh reality is that two-thirds of our tea business remains core black tea, which is declining. And we have really seen this trend play out - it's not a short-term thing, it's a long-term trend, over a decade. We 've had a lot of good effort at getting the core black tea back to growth, but we just don't see it happening. ”
* Unilever offers Lipton and Pure Leaf as tea bags. Lipton and Pure Leaf RTD varieties come under a Unilever/PepsiCo joint venture, Pepsi Lipton International. | general |
Oil Major Earnings Disappoint | Market Movers The biggest thing moving the market this week continues to be the China-originating coronavirus as flight cancellations pick up momentum, cutting down massively on jet fuel demand, while some analysts have predicted oil could slip dangerously close to $ 50 a barrel before the crisis is over. Russia has now closed its 2,600-mile border in the Far East, and airlines are suspending China services. British Airways, United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta and others are all reducing the number of or suspending flights to China. Brazil is opting out of potential OPEC membership after all, deciding instead to go it alone in order to avoid production restrictions as it seeks to expand output. Oil traders in Europe are noting increasing pressure on sweet crude as 1 million bpd of Libyan production remains offline for two weeks now, particularly considering that this gap in supply represents more than 20% of the Mediterranean & rsquo; s refinery throughout. Earnings Shell & rsquo; s Q4 results were nothing shy of disastrous. Shell has done pretty well at beating analyst forecasts for its quarterlies, but this time it failed to live up to expectations. Its Q4 profits took a beating, falling by 48%, with earnings attributable to shareholders falling to $ 2.9 billion compared to $ 4.8 billion a year ago. Its balance sheet carried $ 1.6 billion in impairment charges. Full year earnings fell by 23% to $ 16.5 billion. Shell also announced it would be slowing the rate of its buyback program. Chevron reported its Q4 earnings before the bell on Friday, revealing a Q4 earnings loss of $ 6.6 billion, compared to Q4 2018 earnings of $ 3.7 billion. Full year 2019 earnings came in at $ 2.9 billion, compared with $ 14.8 billion in Q4. Prior to its Q4 report, Chevron announced it was hiking its dividend by 8%, to $ 1.29 per share, as it tries to return more cash to shareholders. This would be the 33rd straight year of dividend increases for the oil major. Hess Corp HES reported an increase in quarterly revenue, beating analyst expectations. Revenues were $ 1.699 billion, compared to $ 1.682 billion this time last year. Full-year revenues for last year is $ 6.51 billion, up slightly from 2018 revenues of $ 6.466 billion. Its E & amp; P arm suffered a quarterly adjusted net loss of $ 124 million, while crude production increased from 161,000 bpd in Q4 2018 to 183,000 bpd in Q4 2019. Tesla once again confounded short holders, reporting $ 105 million in profit for Q4 2019. For the last three months of 2019, Tesla took in $ 6.4 billion in automotive revenues, a 1% increase over 2018. Total revenue for Q4 was $ 7.4 billion, with full year revenue coming in at $ 24.6 billion -- a 14% increase year over year. But the $ 105 million quarterly profit was actually a 25% decrease from Q4 2018. Tesla stock jumped on the favorable report, jumping 10% on Thursday alone. GE Renewable Energy saw orders rise in 2019 but ended up posting a $ 666-million loss chalked up to tariffs and onshore wind market pressure. This compares to $ 292 million in profit in 2018. Orders for the year were $ 16.9 billion, up 10%, while revenues were up 7%, to $ 15.3 billion. Exxon & rsquo; s earnings, reported before the bell on Friday, was another example of another-day-another-depressing-earnings-report as low oil prices continue to batter the largest of the oil majors. Exxon reported a 5.2% drop in Q4 profits as weaker oil prices drug down its bottom line, as its spending was robust in an effort to keep production up. Refining and chemical businesses also tugged the bottom line downward. Permian basin production was up 54% year on year. Net income fell to $ 5.69 billion from $ 6 billion for the quarter. Discovery & amp; Development Guyana is the oil gift that keeps on giving, with Exxon this week upwardly revising its estimate of recoverable resources by 2 billion barrels of oil equivalent, to 8 billion boe total, while at the same time announced another discovery on the Stabroek Block -- it & rsquo; s 16th discovery. Senegal & rsquo; s state-run Petrosen has launched the country & rsquo; s first offshore licensing round for 12 blocks in the Mauritania-Senegal-Gambia-Bissau-Conakry MSGBC Basin. Known for recent natural gas discoveries offshore shared with Mauritania, Senegal saw BP and partners make a final investment decision in late 2018 for the cross-border LNG development, Greater Tortue Ahmeyim. Egypt has signed two deals with ExxonMobil for oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean Sea in a deal that involves a minimum investment of $ 332 million. Hess will increase capital spending to $ 3 billion, with more than 80% of that targeting offshore Guyana projects and the Bakken shale. Hess & rsquo; net production this year is expected to average between 330,000 and 335,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, excluding Libya. Russia & rsquo; s Gazprom has upwardly revised estimates for a new natural gas Kruzenshternskoye field on the Yamal Peninsula, now estimating that it holds up to 2 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, about 360 million cubic meters more than initially estimated. Production could start sometime this year, though Gazprom has not made any recent updates to its potential production schedule. Politics, Geopolitics & amp; Conflict Fighting has resumed in Libya, and the key to reversing the total shutdown of oil production and exports really lies in the hands of the government in Tripoli, which controls the banking system. The oil will likely start flowing again if Tripoli turns the interbank clearing system back on, reinstating access to the foreign exchange. Haftar & rsquo; s grievance at this point is really & ldquo; no dollars, no oil & rdquo;. Washington has slapped additional sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. The new sanctions target Moscow-based railway company Grand Service Express, which is now operating in the Crimea, as well as eight individuals, including the newly named & ldquo; prime minister & rsquo; of Crimea & rsquo; s pro-Russian regional government, Yuri Gotsanyuk. Yemen & rsquo; s Houthi rebels claimed that they launched attacks on Saudi Aramco in the country & rsquo; s southern Jazan region, targeting a 400,000 bpd refinery, with Saudi officials saying they thwarted the attack. For the second time in less than a year, the Algerian government has been forced to abandon shale gas exploration due to public protest over mismanagement of the country & rsquo; s hydrocarbon wealth. In March last year, Exxon & rsquo; s negotiations with Algeria for the development of local shale gas resources were delayed because of mass anti-government protests. Algeria is home to the world & rsquo; s third-largest shale gas reserves, estimated at some 2,000 trillion cu ft. Workers from Brazil & rsquo; s state-run Petrobras plan to launch a strike on Saturday in protest against the company & rsquo; s move to shutter a fertilizer plant and layoff nearly 400 workers. | business |
State Department elevates China travel advisory to 'Do Not Travel ' due to coronavirus |
The State Department announced a highest-level warning on Thursday not to travel to China due to the
recent coronavirus outbreak
.
`` Do not travel to China due to novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China, '' the Level 4
alert
states, noting that the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a public health emergency of international concern earlier that day.
`` Travelers should be prepared for travel restrictions to be put into effect with little or no advance notice. Commercial carriers have reduced or suspended routes to and from China, '' the alert notes stated. `` Those currently in China should consider departing using commercial means. ''
The news comes after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Thursday that the husband of an Illinois woman with Wuhan coronavirus is now infected with the illness --
the first confirmed case
of person-to-person transmission in the United States.
The number of cases of the virus, which has
killed at least 213 people
, shot up to more than 8,100 in mainland China alone by Thursday evening. While the virus originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, there are now more than 100 cases in 20 other countries and territories spanning Asia, North America, Europe and the Middle East. India and the Philippines were the latest countries to confirm the virus had reached their shores.
Read More
The department has
increasingly looked to dissuade American travel
to China in recent weeks in response to the outbreak. It raised the travel advisory on Monday from Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution to Level 3: Reconsider Travel due to the virus. Last week, the department raised the advisory to China's Hubei Province -- of which Wuhan is the provincial capital -- to Level 4.
The State Department has authorized the departure of non-emergency US government employees at its embassy in Beijing, as well as those working at consulates in Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenyang as concerns over the coronavirus continued to spread, a department spokesperson said.
The decision was made `` out of an abundance of caution related to logistical disruptions stemming from restricted transportation and availability of appropriate health care related to the novel coronavirus, '' the spokesperson said in the written statement. They added that consular services at both the US Embassy in Beijing as well as consulates across China will continue `` as resources allow. ''
The
virus ' spread
has placed nearly 60 million people under partial or full lockdown in Chinese cities for a week. The UK, US, Japan and several other countries are working to fly their citizens out of Wuhan, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak in Hubei province.
CNN's Jacqueline Howard, Tara John, Tatiana Arias, Helen Regan, Steve George, Angela Dewan, Ivana Kottasová, James Griffiths, Gianluca Mezzofiore and Livia Borghese contributed to this report. | general |
Wuhan coronavirus lockdown leaves African students without food — Quartz Africa | It’ s Day 7 of the government-imposed lockdown on the city of Wuhan, ground zero of the deadly coronavirus, and there’ s no sign of letting up. Since last week the quarantine of people and spaces has been expanded to universities across China, where over 60,000 African students call home.
From these quarantines have emerged dark accounts of potential food shortages, overcrowded hospitals, empty streets and dwindling supplies masks and hand sanitizers.
At Beijing’ s Peking University, a number of African students opted to stay in the country for the Lunar New Year break expecting travel and much needed rest. But they were unaware that they’ d be confined in dormitories lacking provisions necessary to protect themselves from contracting the deadly coronavirus.
“ Foodstuff is running out at the supermarket; you have to go very early to get vegetables and most canteens are closed, ” emailed a Nigerian student who asked not to be identified. “ The most annoying to me is that I can not seem to find where to buy hand sanitizers so I carry a small bottle of gin ( 65-75% alcohol vol) in my pocket [ to sanitize my hands ]. This is the same reality for some of my friends ”
Though Chinese citizens report that food supplies and sanitizer products are still available in areas around Beijing, African students are trying their hardest not to leave the campus, for fear they may not be allowed back in.
“ In my dormitory, starting from yesterday, once you come in, you would only be allowed to pick up stuff you need and leave the premises immediately, ” said the Nigerian student. There’ s a genuine fear among the students that Chinese authorities could change the current policy and no longer let the students back on campus if they were to leave.
Meanwhile, back in Wuhan, the situation continues to escalate. In a sign that things are getting worse, cars from Chongqing ( the municipality that neighbors Wuhan’ s Hubei province) are now subject to highway temperature checks.
Recognizing the increasingly dire situation, Australia, the European Union, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, India, New Zealand, Japan, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States are all in various states of preparation to evacuate their citizens from Hubei. But almost 5,000 African students remain without help.
There have been reports by foreign students in Wuhan of empty streets, scarce food supplies and an atmosphere of fear.
The World Health Organization has now declared the outbreak in China a “ public health emergency of international concern ” ( PHEIC). As of Thursday ( Jan. 30), the virus had sickened more than 8,000 people and killed at least 170.
Some African governments have made various efforts to contact citizens throughout China, but many think it’ s not enough.
In a press release “ on the fate of Kenyans in China ” from Kenya’ s ministry of foreign affairs ( issued four days after Wuhan’ s lockdown was announced), Kenyans were advised to “ protect themselves and comply with the measures put in place by the local authorities ”. To date, no statements have been made as to a possible evacuation of Kenyans from Wuhan.
In response to the ministry’ s innaction Wuhan’ s Kenyans have taken to Twitter with the hashtag # KenyansinWuhan to appeal to their government.
“ I am a Kenyan student in Wuhan at the epicenter of the coronavirus. Yet the Kenyan Embassy in Beijing has done or said nothing, ” wrote Brian Njoroge, a student from Eldoret, Kenya, on Twitter. ” Kenyan media has reported on the presence of 85 Kenyan students stuck in Wuhan. Nigeria’ s foreign ministry has failed to reach out altogether claimed the Nigerian student.
In hopes of containing the virus’ spread, nine international airlines have already suspended flights to China. If the situation in China worsens, African governments may find it even harder to get their students and citizens home safely.
After media reports suggesting it would suspend flights to China, Ethiopian Airlines issued a statement saying it would continue flying to the country. Ethiopian and Addis Ababa Bole international airport is Africa’ s main gateway to China and has already quarantined at least four people with suspected cases of coronavirus.
At press time Morocco’ s Royal Air Maroc said it is suspending flights to China due to the outbreak.
Sign up to the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief here for news and analysis on African business, tech and innovation in your inbox | tech |
U.S. stocks retreat on virus fears | Many worry that a potentially sizeable drop in Chinese markets -- due to open Monday after being shut since Jan 23 -- will weigh on stocks around the globe.
MARKET REACTION:
* STOCKS: Major indexes off sharply; Dow industrials down 1.9%, S & P 500 off 1.6%, Nasdaq down 1.3%
* BONDS: U.S. 10-yr Treasury yield falls to 1.532
* FOREX: Dollar index down 0.4% at 97.47, while dollar falls 0.5% against the Japanese yen.
COMMENTS:
RANDY FREDERICK, VICE PRESIDENT OF TRADING AND DERIVATIVES FOR CHARLES SCHWAB IN AUSTIN, TEXAS
`` Chinese markets are due to reopen on Monday after being closed for a week. They haven't had an opportunity to gap down. I think this is preemptive selling ahead of the downturn that we are going to see over in Asian markets. ''
`` Our markets have had the ability to react each day. The Chinese market is going to have a whole week's worth of reaction all at once. That's a pretty ominous thought. I think people are selling ahead of that. ''
`` We don't really know how this is going to play out. I certainly think it is a little bit too risky to be buying right now and trying to buy this dip. We have seen people dip-buy on Tuesday and yesterday afternoon. I think they are probably regretting it now. ''
SCOTT LADNER, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AT HORIZON INVESTMENTS, CHICAGO
“ The liquidity situation is certainly hampering stuff right now. Having China closed right now is not helpful and coming into the weekend people are certainly freaked out about the next couple of days. ”
“ We wouldn’ t think this would be terribly prolonged but certainly it matters today and the data outside of Amazon has been... on the soft side, so we don’ t have the buttress of super-strong data to kind of turn the narrative away from the obvious uncertainty that is out there with this virus. ”
MICHAEL JAMES, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF EQUITY TRADING, WEDBUSH SECURITIES, LOS ANGELES:
`` I don't think there's any one thing that's driving it. It's just a combination of the coronavirus continuing to weigh on sentiment, and the fact that it continues to worsen and not stabilize in terms of the number of victims, and today you had the story of somebody possibly in New York. So it's the combination of that cloud continuing to hang over the market.
`` ( With) a lot of uncertainty... from both China's market reopening and any new updates on the coronavirus and the potential impact, you're seeing multiple reductions and risk-off mentality today. ''
`` The magnitude of the decline this week is more than I personally had expected to see, but given the growing concerns, I don't think it's that dramatic. We basically returned to where the S & P is flat on the year. ''
PHIL ORLANDO, CHIEF EQUITY MARKET STRATEGIST AT FEDERATED INVESTORS
“ We’ re of the mind that stocks could fall 5 to 8 percent from their record highs, with maybe as much as a 10 percent correction. There’ s going to be a definite hit to earnings and GDP but we think that we will make that up in the second half of the year. We see taking profits from growth stocks that have had an absolutely fantastic run and moving into the safety trade of US dollar, Treasuries, and dividend paying sectors like REITs, healthcare and utilities. Treasuries are in a bubble and that bubble will only inflate higher the longer this goes on. We think the 10 year will test cycle lows and then climb back up to 2 percent once we’ re past it. ”
LOU BRIEN, MARKET STRATEGIST, DRW TRADING, CHICAGO
“ The real interesting thing has been the move in the long end ( in Treasuries). That’ s the combination of not only the ‘ risk off’ and I’ ve got to put my money somewhere safe haven sort of thing, but some of the data has been bad, so I think this is also a play that long end yields can go lower regardless of how the virus plays out. ”
JIM CARNEY, CEO, PARPLUS PARTNERS, NEW YORK
“ It's likely that over the next month we could do a lot of work and have some real moves back and forth as we find out what happens with the coronavirus. ”
“ There's several different numbers. One of the numbers is the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus. But there's a shadow number that they have of expected cases. There are expected cases that they won't know the results for some time. So I expect for the next week, every day, the headline number that people see to get worse. I expect a lot of volatility each day if those numbers get posted. It will take a while for the markets to digest it. ”
“ I 'm not taking a big view of ‘ buy the market’ or ‘ sell the market.’ We expect that the market will be somewhat volatile for the next two months, maybe the next three, so we're more likely to be long volatility out two months. ”
ELLIS PHIFER, MARKET STRATEGIST FOR RAYMOND JAMES, MEMPHIS, TN
“ It’ s going to be the weekend, and people don’ t like to be really long on risk assets going into the weekend. When we have these troubled times you’ ll see people de-risking ahead of the weekend. And part of that de-risking now is worries about what happens when ( markets in) China open. ”
“ The virus news is pushing what’ s happening. Not impeachment. I think ( markets) have priced in an acquittal. ”
“ I don’ t think people are surprised there are more virus cases. What it goes from here is going to be the real question. Last week as soon as this started getting news attention I suggested this could be something to push rates down quickly. ”
“ In the bond market we have seen implied volatility move up quite dramatically. ”
EDWARD MOYA, SENIOR MARKET STRATEGIST, OANDA, NEW YORK:
`` When we take a look at the overall picture heading into the week, there was some optimism that we could still see strong earnings. There's anticipation that eventually we're going to see a trickle-down effect of the Phase One trade deal with China. Right now, none of those matters. It's all about the virus and its impact on the Chinese economy and its trading partners. ''
`` The concern is that the virus is spreading and the death toll is rising. What's further concerning is that we probably haven't seen the peak just yet. It is spreading before having any containment efforts. The uncertainty with respect to the virus ' impact to China and the global economy is what's driving this move. ''
( Americas Economics and Markets Desk; +1-646 223-6300) | business |
Coronavirus Spreads Fear in Oil Markets | The Wuhan coronavirus in China's central Hubei province is spreading far and wide, causing havoc on world oil markets. The virus threatens to hit demand for jet fuel, one of the fastest-growing refined products in most regions, as China has banned domestic travel in and out of most of the big cities in Hubei, and international airlines are cutting flights to China. The outbreak is raising concerns of slower oil demand growth in China, the largest single driver of worldwide oil demand growth for the past 15 years, and has sent oil prices tumbling as investors start worrying about rising inventories and falling economic growth. While many in the industry look back to memories of the China-originated 2003 Sars outbreak -- which had a short-lived impact on oil demand -- for reassurance, China has changed a lot since then, and there is no telling how the virus will evolve, especially as it spreads to other countries. Maryelle Demongeot, Singapore | general |
Coronavirus hoaxes are spreading in the US as the outbreak grows worldwide |
As the coronavirus outbreak grows after killing hundreds in China, officials in several US states are
cracking down on
false information about the spread of the disease locally.
Most of the false information is originating online, spreading fear about the virus that has sickened thousands worldwide.
Coronavirus has killed
at least 213 people and infected nearly 10,000 others
in China, most of them in the hardest-hit city of Wuhan. Outside mainland China, there
are 108 confirmed cases,
including five in the United States.
In Los Angeles County, public health officials warned residents Thursday that a letter claiming a potential coronavirus outbreak in Carson City is fake.
The letter purports to be from the LA County Department of Public Health and features the logos of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization and Los Angeles County.
A letter purporting to be from Los Angeles County health officials is being distributed in Carson.
Read More
`` There is no immediate threat to the general public, no special precautions are required and people should not be excluded from activities based on their race, country of origin, or recent travel if they do not
have symptoms of respiratory illness, ''
the health department said.
In a suburb north of Los Angeles, a high school in Santa Clarita also issued a statement warning against false social media reports
on the coronavirus outbreak.
`` Those are just rumors. There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Santa Clarita. The sheriff's department is investigating those who have posted otherwise on social media, '' William S. Hart Union High School District said.
And in nearby Orange County, an online article purporting to be from a local newspaper claimed the coronavirus outbreak had spread into the Newport-Mesa Unified School District. The school district said it confirmed the newspaper article was fake.
`` We have no reported cases that link any of our students or school community to the coronavirus, '' the school district said in a statement.
A San Diego County school district also warned residents about fake images of news stories claiming the coronavirus is spreading locally. So did one in Arizona -- the Mesa Public Schools, one of the largest K-12 districts in the state. It told
CNN affiliate KGTV that a screenshot
appearing to be from a news report alleged students in the school district were diagnosed with the virus. The screenshots were created using a fake `` breaking news '' generator online, it said.
`` Please be assured there are no confirmed cases of coronavirus in Mesa Public Schools, '' the school district said.
Some of the disinformation is spreading on social media sites such as Facebook, and the company has said it's taking steps to prevent the spread of fake news on the disease.
It plans to remove content with false claims or conspiracy theories, and is urging leading global health organizations and local authorities to flag such information.
`` This includes claims related to false cures or prevention methods — like drinking bleach cures the coronavirus — or claims that create confusion about health resources that are available, '' Facebook
said in a statement. | general |
VietNam: Estimated Daily NAV - 31 January 2020 | 1/31/2020
Estimated Daily Net Asset Value - RNS - London Stock Exchange
Regulatory Story
Go to market news section
VietNam Holding Limited - VNH Estimated Daily Net Asset Value
Released 09:45 31-Jan-2020
RNS Number: 5664B
VietNam Holding Limited
31 January 2020
For immediate release
VietNam Holding Limited ( `` VNH '' or the `` Company '')
Estimated Daily Net Asset Value ( NAV)
Following some other Asian markets, Vietnam indices continued to tumble on Friday as worries about the effects of the fast-spreading coronavirus were mounting. VNAS Index dropped 3.0% while VNH's NAV per share declined 3.1% amid continuing selloffs in the market.
The Company announces that, at its close of business on 31 Jan 2020 its Estimated NAV was USD 133.2 million or USD 2.619 per share and GBP 101.4 million or GBP 1.994 per share ( GBP/USD = 1.3137).
Change in position as at 31 Jan 2020:
NAV per share ( USD)
Vietnam All Share Index ( USD)
Daily
-3.1%
-3.0%
Calendar month-to-date
-5.6%
-3.6%
Calendar year-to-date
-5.6%
-3.6%
5-year CAGR
5.1%
5.8%
10-year CAGR
5.8%
2.8%
https: //www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/news/market-news/market-news-detail/VNH/14405867.html
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1/31/2020
Estimated Daily Net Asset Value - RNS - London Stock Exchange
Daily performance is calculated by reference to the previous day NAV/share and VNAS ( Vietnam All Share Index). Calendar month-to-date performance is calculated by reference to NAV/share and VNAS as at 31 Dec 2019. Calendar year- to-date performance is calculated by reference to NAV/share and VNAS at the previous calendar year end ( 31 Dec 2019). 5-year CAGR ( compound annual growth rate) is calculated by reference to NAV/share and VNAS as at 31 Jan 2015. 10-year CAGR is calculated by reference to NAV/share and VNAS as at 31 Jan 2010. VNAS is sourced from Bloomberg, which uses back-tested positions for VNAS for before 27 Jan 2014 as released by HoSE ( Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange).
The Estimated Daily NAV stated in this announcement is based on estimated valuations and accordingly the Company accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of the Estimated Daily NAV figure given, and neither is any responsibility implied. The actual month end NAV in any month may vary from the Estimated Daily NAV provided in the relevant month. Accordingly, no reliance should be placed on the Estimated Daily NAV and it has been provided for indicative purposes only.
More information on the Company is available at www.vietnamholding.com
Craig Martin
craig @ dynamcapital.com
Tel.: +84 28 38277 590
Dynam Capital Limited https: //www.dynamcapital.com
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns @ lseg.comor visit www.rns.com.
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'Wuhan Jiayou! ' The People Most Threatened With Coronavirus Respond With Courage and Caring | On Tuesday night, six days into their lockdown, the people of Wuhan sought to boost each others ' spirits with a city-wide chant of `` Wuhan jiāyóu! '' It was an inspiring show of unity and resolve from people who have every right to feel like the rest of the world has abandoned them.
Are you worried about the coronavirus? If you're like most people, the answer is probably yes. The new 2019-nCoV virus is rapidly spreading to a growing list of locations and shows no signs of slowing down. Students are handing out face masks in Seattle, near where the first U.S. case was discovered. In Chicago, a new case was just confirmed, the first known human-to-human transmission in the U.S. More deaths are reported daily. There's no denying it's a scary time.
But there's one group of people with more reason to be afraid than the rest of us -- the roughly 12 million people who live in Wuhan, China, ground zero for the coronavirus epidemic. It's a terrifying place to be, but the people who live there can't leave. The city's been locked down, with public transportation stopped for more than a week as part of the Chinese government's ambitious effort to keep the virus from spreading even more.
Wuhan, sometimes called the Chicago of China, is a transportation hub and a manufacturing center, where many people from other countries have taken up residence as they oversee production at the city's many factories. Many of these foreign nationals have left or are now leaving Wuhan on planes sent by their nation's governments, eager to get them back home and out of harm's way. It must be tough for the Wuhan residents left behind to watch them go.
To make matters worse, hospitals in Wuhan are completely overburdened, and with all their beds full, have been forced to turn some patients away. The Chinese government has responded with a massive project to build two new large hospitals in about 10 days ' time. In the meantime, people in Wuhan are stuck in their homes, with nothing to do but wait and worry.
It's tough to imagine how such a situation would play out in different place. There might be a lot of disgruntlement and perhaps some violence. But in Wuhan, a call went out over social media, and these people who can't assemble or even travel from one place to another, stepped out on their balconies or opened their windows and began shouting `` Wuhan jiāyóu! '' Which literally means `` Wuhan, pour oil on! '' and translates roughly as `` Stay strong, Wuhan! '' Soon, the shout could be heard throughout the city.
I 've never been in a frightening situation like the one the people of Wuhan face. But if I ever am, I just hope I can handle it with the courage and grace that they are. They're an example for us all. | business |
Amazon Results Soar Past Forecasts -- WSJ | By Dana Mattioli
Amazon.com Inc.'s fourth-quarter sales blew past a previous record as robust holiday sales and profit from cloud and advertising businesses helped offset growing shipping costs for its one-day Prime program.
The Seattle company's shares jumped more than 10% in after-hours trading, adding about $ 100 billion to the company's market value. Should the stock keep the gains Friday, Amazon would be the fourth U.S. company to finish with a market cap above $ 1 trillion.
Profit rose 8% to $ 3.3 billion during the all-important holiday quarter, after sliding more than 25% from July to September due to its costly one-day shipping effort for Prime members. The company beat its quarterly profit estimate of between $ 1.2 billion and $ 2.9 billion. Earnings per share were $ 6.47, compared with analyst estimates of $ 4.04 a share, according to a survey by FactSet.
Amazon's fourth-quarter revenue rose 21% to $ 87.4 billion from a year earlier.
`` There was investor concern that one-day shipping would be a drag to margins, so the fact that they have been able to offer one-day shipping and also at the same time drive some efficiency has to please investors, `` Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler said.
The company's shipping costs rose to $ 12.88 billion, a 43% increase from a year earlier. Amazon's costs to build out one-day shipping capabilities have continued to surge as Amazon moves inventory closer to customers. One-day spending reached more than $ 800 million from April to June and was expected to nearly double in the fourth quarter to $ 1.5 billion.
Last month, Amazon said that it had its best holiday shopping season ever, with billions of orders received globally. The National Retail Federation reported that U.S. holiday sales grew by 4.1% in 2019, with online sales growing 15%.
Amazon said it has more than 150 million Prime members world-wide.
Members pay $ 119 a year to access free and fast shipping options, Amazon's streaming service, discounts at Whole Foods Market and other benefits.
The last time Amazon disclosed the number of Prime members was in April 2018, when the company said it had more than 100 million members.
Amazon's holiday results outperformed competitors, who reported weak results for the quarter. Target Corp.'s holiday sales missed its forecasts partly due to a slump in sales in the toy and electronics categories. Macy's Inc., J.C. Penney Co., Kohl's Corp. and Victoria's Secret parent L Brands Inc. all reported lower sales for November and December.
In the quarter, Amazon spent a little less than the $ 1.5 billion it projected for the quarter to fuel its one-day Prime shipping program, Brian Olsavsky, Amazon's chief financial officer, said during a call with media.
`` We are getting more efficient, '' he said.
The company expects an additional $ 1 billion in costs related to the program next quarter. As the company fulfills more one-day orders, it has added warehouse and delivery employees.
Amazon's head count grew by 23% to 798,000 from a year earlier.
Amazon Web Services, the company's cloud-computing operation and its main profit center, continued to show signs of slowing growth.
The unit delivered $ 10 billion in sales, rising 34% from a year earlier. The division had historically grown by more than 40% each quarter.
Operating income for AWS rose 19% to $ 2.6 billion. During the quarter, Amazon's cloud-computing business suffered a blow when the Pentagon chose competitor Microsoft Corp. as its vendor for a $ 10 billion government contract. Amazon is protesting the result.
By contrast, Microsoft posted record sales Wednesday buoyed by its cloud-computing business. The company's cloud-computing sales increased 62% in its fiscal second quarter from a year ago.
Amazon's advertising business posted $ 4.8 billion in sales, a 41% increase from the year-earlier period. The unit, which sells advertising space in the form of sponsored products in search and display ads, has become another cash cow for the company.
Amazon's international business posted another operating loss for the quarter, and profit declined 15.6% in its North American unit, which includes the bulk of its e-commerce operations.
The physical stores segment, which includes Whole Foods, had $ 4.4 billion in sales for the period, down 1% from a year ago.
Amazon said it expects first-quarter sales of between $ 69 billion and $ 73 billion.
It projected its operating income to fall to between $ 3 billion and $ 4.2 billion, compared with $ 4.4 billion in first quarter 2019.
`` We're watching it very carefully, '' Mr. Olsavsky said in response to a question on whether the coronavirus outbreak in China would affect business operations. Amazon doesn't have direct operations in Wuhan, China, but a large number of its third-party sellers are from China.
-- Sebastian Herrera contributed to this article.
Write to Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli @ wsj.com
| business |
Caterpillar Drives Down Expectations for 2020 -- Update | By Austen Hufford
Caterpillar Inc. said it expects demand for its machinery to fall this year, widening a performance gap between some manufacturers and an otherwise robust U.S. economy.
The maker of equipment for mining companies and builders around the world said Friday that global economic uncertainty crimped sales in the latest quarter as companies held off on big purchases. Revenue in 2019 was 1.7% lower than a year earlier, and Caterpillar said it expected another decline in 2020.
`` A lot of people have been deferring making capital decisions, '' Andrew Bonfield, Caterpillar's financial chief, said in an interview.
The company's shares fell 1% in premarket trading Friday.
Cost reductions helped offset lower demand in Caterpillar's latest quarter. Adjusted profit per share rose 3.1% as the company reduced production and hired fewer temporary workers.
Caterpillar joined a chorus of manufacturers saying they expect sluggish conditions to carry into 2020. Lingering trade tensions, Boeing Co.'s idled 737 MAX production lines and the coronavirus outbreak in China all threaten to extend a rough patch for U.S. factories.
3M Co.'s Chief Executive Mike Roman said this week that he expects the conglomerate's sales to other manufacturers to lag sales to consumers this year. The maker of an array of products from electrical tape to molar crowns is planning a second round of layoffs in less than a year as part of a global restructuring.
`` The industrial-production-related businesses are a little lower growth, `` Mr. Roman said in an interview.
DuPont de Nemours Inc., which makes nylon and other materials, and paint company PPG Industries Inc. both said lower industrial demand would weigh on business this year as well. Conglomerate Honeywell International Inc. on Friday reported lower-than-expected sales for the fourth quarter.
The U.S. manufacturing sector contracted for five straight months through December, according to the Institute for Supply Management. New orders for so-called core capital goods, which excludes aircraft and defense orders, were largely flat in 2019, according to the Commerce Department.
`` Customers up and down the supply chain remain hesitant to spend in the face of uncertainty, '' Andrew Silvernail, chief executive of pump-and-valve maker IDEX Corp., told investors on Thursday.
Still, manufacturing drives just about a 10th of the economy, and other sectors are performing better. Consumer confidence is strong, unemployment is at the lowest level in half a century and incomes are rising. Gross domestic product grew 2.3% last year, the Commerce Department said Thursday.
Caterpillar, which sells its construction and mining machines to customers in 193 countries, is widely viewed as a barometer for global industrial vigor.
The company, which makes its sales through a network of independent dealers, said it expects revenue to decline this year as demand from companies that buy its machines falls between 4% and 9%.
In North America, Caterpillar said it expects construction activity to decline and demand from oil-and-gas customers to remain weak.
The Deerfield, Ill.-based company said machinery sales fell 14% in North America, 16% in Latin America and 6% in its Europe, Africa and Middle East region for the fourth quarter from a year earlier. Sales in Asia were flat for the quarter.
The coronavirus outbreak in China poses a new threat to businesses operating in the country. Many factories have extended closures planned over the Lunar New Year holiday as people avoid travel.
Caterpillar said it is delaying opening some facilities in China by up to a week, and that its factories in China aren't in parts of the country most affected by the outbreak.
Caterpillar said total revenue, which includes financial services, declined 8.4% for the quarter to $ 13.14 billion as net income rose 4.8% to $ 1.1 billion. Adjusted profit per share rose 3.1% to $ 2.63 in the fourth quarter.
Amber Burton contributed to this article.
Write to Austen Hufford at austen.hufford @ wsj.com
| business |
UK Plc drops as coronavirus fears dominate Brexit day | The main index gave up 1.3%, capping off its worst weekly performance in over a year, while the FTSE 250 handed back earlier gains to close 0.7% lower.
After the World Health Organization ( WHO) declared a global emergency over the China-linked virus, news that two patients had tested positive for coronavirus kept investors firmly away from risky assets.
`` Dealers are dumping stocks for fear the health crisis will curtain economic activity in China, and to a lesser extent the rest of the world – should the situation keep spreading, '' CMC Markets analyst David Madden wrote.
Both British benchmark indexes shed more than 3% this month.
At home, the Bank of England's decision to keep interest rates unchanged supported sterling and hammered firms that earn largely in U.S. dollars.
HSBC, BP and Shell were among the biggest drags on the index.
Investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown was the biggest loser on the blue-chip bourse, dropping 8.2% as half-year results showed a slowdown in net new business growth.
A noteworthy gainer across the board was luxury carmaker Aston Martin, which soared 24% on its best ever day after Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll said he would take a stake in the company.
News-related moves spurred sharp declines among smaller stocks.
French Connection, the owner of Great Plains and YMC brands, tanked 31% - its steepest one-day drop on record - after it dropped plans to sell itself and said it would instead focus on a turnaround.
M & C Saatchi slid 10% as Britain's financial watchdog began a probe after the advertising agency revealed an accounting scandal last year, while fashion retailer Laura Ashley slumped 8% after its top boss stepped down.
AIM-listed Staffline stumbled 14% after the recruiter issued yet another profit warning.
`` Given the lack of asset backing in the business, we expect that the banks will seek ( Staffline) management to realise cash through disposals or find other sources of finance, '' Liberum analysts said.
By Shashwat Awasthi and Muvija M | business |
Gilead working with China to test Ebola drug as new coronavirus treatment | The announcement comes a day after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus epidemic a public health emergency of international concern.
The company said it was also expediting laboratory testing of the antiviral drug, remdesivir, against samples of the new coronavirus, which has infected nearly 10,000 globally.
Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday joined a growing list of drugmakers to begin work on developing a vaccine for the virus.
Co-Diagnostics Inc said on Friday initial verification of its screening test designed to identify the presence of the coronavirus was successful. Shares of the company closed up 20.7%.
Last week, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told Reuters his agency was working with Gilead to test remdesivir.
The drug had previously been tested in patients with Ebola but was found to be ineffective. Gilead told Reuters last week that the drug was shown to be active in animals with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, which are closely related to the current virus.
As health authorities race to contain the outbreak, U.S. health officials on Friday said nearly 200 Americans were placed under quarantine at a U.S. air base in California after being evacuated from Wuhan, China.
( Reporting by Saumya Sibi Joseph in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel) | business |
US bars foreign nationals who 've been in China as Wuhan virus spreads — Quartz | Today the Trump administration said it will bar entry to the US of foreign nationals who’ ve recently been to China. The temporary measure, which will throw many a travel plan into disarray, comes in response to a rapidly spreading coronavirus outbreak that has sickened thousands of people around the world and killed hundreds in China, where it originated in the central city of Wuhan.
The restriction will go into effect Sunday ( Feb. 2) at 5pm, applying to any foreign national who has been in China in the last 14 days, said Alex Azar, secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary, at a White House media briefing.
An exception will be made for immediate family of US citizens and permanent residents, he said, but a mandatory 14-day quarantine awaits US citizens who’ ve traveled to China’ s Hubei Province within the last two weeks. Before this a federal quarantine order hadn’ t been issued since the 1960s.
Azar added that Americans returning from other parts of China will face screening at select ports of entry and be asked to perform a 14-day “ self-isolation ” period at home, with local health officials monitoring their condition.
Azar also said the US was declaring a public health emergency over the virus.
All flights from China will be diverted to seven airports: San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Atlanta, O’ Hare in Chicago, and John F. Kennedy in New York.
Today the US State Department also warned Americans to avoid all travel to China due to the outbreak. | tech |
Southeast Asia stocks post heavy losses as virus toll passes 200, rattles sentiment | The World Health Organisation on Thursday declared the virus a global health emergency, as the death toll surpassed the 200-mark in China while at least 22 other countries reported infections.
Economists fear the hit to China's economy from the virus could result in a greater economic impact to the world's economy than that of the 2002/2003 Severe Acute Respiratory ( SARS) epidemic, since China's share of the global economy is now far greater.
Fears of the spreading coronavirus in China - the region's largest trading partner - have knocked global stock markets over the past week. Transport, tourism, retail and luxury stocks have been at the frontline.
The Philippine index tumbled for a fifth consecutive session to close at its lowest since Nov 2018, with financial and consumer sectors being the biggest drags. BDO Unibank shed about 4%, while conglomerate SM Investments lost 2.4%.
Malaysian shares extended their losing streak to nine sessions and closed at an eight-year low.
Thai stocks also ended weaker, with utilities and consumer sectors accounting for bulk of the losses, while the index posted its seventh monthly decline.
Thailand's economy is expected to grow less than forecast this year due to coronavirus ' impact on tourism, said a country official, after the trade-reliant economy reported a contraction in December exports earlier in the day.
The Singapore index posted its biggest monthly drop since August, and recorded a weekly decline of 2.7%.
Lender DBS Group Holdings ended 1.3% lower, while heavyweight Singapore Telecommunications shed 2.1%.
Vietnam stocks came under pressure by a drop in financial and consumer sectors. The bourse lost 5.5% this week.
Indonesia shares eased to an eight-month low, with Bank Central Asia and household goods maker Unilever Indonesia losing over 3% each.
( Reporting by Arpit Nayak in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
By Arpit Nayak | business |
China court says Wuhan coronavirus `` rumors '' might have helped — Quartz | China’ s Supreme People’ s Court has often been at the forefront of the country’ s crackdown on “ rumors. ” In 2013, it introduced sentences of three years for “ libelous ” posts, including those deemed to be “ damaging the national image. ” Now, in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak, it’ s sending a more tempered message.
Chinese newspaper Beijing Youth Daily this week ( link in Chinese) published the story of a local doctor who said he had been summoned by Wuhan police in the night because of information he shared in a medical school alumni group on Dec. 30. He had told the group there were seven cases of pneumonia in a hospital from SARS, a virus that caused an epidemic in China in 2003. He later clarified that the virus in question was still being identified, according to the South China Morning Post. Police made the doctor sign a letter promising not to disclose further information about the outbreak, the Post said, adding that the doctor later became infected himself. On Dec. 31, the city disclosed the presence of 27 pneumonia cases of unknown origin.
On Tuesday ( Jan. 28), an article by a judge published on the top court’ s social media account ( link in Chinese) noted that if law enforcement hadn’ t been so quick to take action to quell those rumors, China might be in a better position in its battle against the new virus. The virus has infected ( link in Chinese) more than 9,700 people in the country—more than SARS—and killed at least 213. The article said that while some of the information in the messages about the pneumonia cases was inaccurate, on the whole the information was not a fabrication:
If the public listened to this ‘ rumor’ at that time, and adopted measures such as wearing a mask, strict disinfection, and avoiding going to the wildlife market based on panic about SARS, this may have been a better way to prevent and control the new pneumonia … As long as the information is basically true, the publishers and disseminators are not intentionally malicious, and the behavior objectively has not caused serious harm, we should maintain a tolerant attitude towards such ‘ false information.’
While not a ruling or an official statement, the article offers clues to the court’ s thinking on the topic.
Before the court weighed in, Wuhan authorities hadn’ t disclosed what sort of rumors they had taken action against. But after the court’ s article, Wuhan police said on social network Weibo ( link in Chinese) on Wednesday ( Jan. 29) that they had received complaints about misinformation after the city announced the outbreak. Police said they summoned the people in the group because they referred to the cluster of pneumonia cases as being SARS, which was false, and discussed the matter with them but didn’ t punish or fine them. The current outbreak was identified on Jan. 7 as a new type of coronavirus, making it a member of the SARS family, but distinct from the strain that caused nearly 800 deaths in 2003.
On social media, many have noted with anger that the Wuhan police announced they had taken action against pneumonia rumors at a time when the city should have been entirely focused on warning and protecting residents. Earlier this month, a lawyer wrote on Weibo that it was “ chilling ” that “ the government now thinks citizens who exchange information that they can not necessarily verify are the same as those who intentionally spread rumors. ” The commentary was shared 5 million times before being deleted.
The top court said that information disclosure is the “ cure ” for dealing with the situations in which rumors arise, while law enforcement action just treats the “ symptoms. ” It also tacitly acknowledged what many in China believe—that so-called rumors are often quashed for being inconvenient or for touching on politically sensitive matters, rather than for being untrue:
Rumors are stopped by transparency. Based on their anxiety about their own safety, there is a certain degree of panic in the face of public health emergencies, which is normal and should be understood. If, at such a moment, relevant information is made public in a timely and comprehensive manner, people’ s doubts will naturally be reduced. However, if the information is not disclosed in a timely and transparent manner, it is often easy for the masses to listen to and spread various rumors based on their social interaction circles and their own life experiences… if the rumors are repeatedly confirmed by reality, the masses will naturally choose to believe the rumors in the face of emergencies.
Many have noted that the government in Beijing seems to be quite happy to direct rising public anger at local authorities in central Hubei province, who are seen as having delayed taking stringent measures to deal with the outbreak. Even after announcing the first pneumonia cases, local authorities didn’ t widely warn the public about the precautions to take, and allowed large public gatherings to take place. Wuhan mayor Zhou Xianwang said in a TV interview this week that that he didn’ t disclose information about the virus in a timely manner, adding that he needed authorization from higher up to do so. A health commission chief in another city in the province with a high number of infections was fired yesterday, after the state-run broadcaster aired footage of her stumbling over questions about availability of beds and test kits.
The court’ s criticism of the Wuhan police’ s handling of rumors may just be the latest example of deflecting anger. Meanwhile, it made it clear that the court still considers many kinds of rumors actionable. Deliberately sharing inflated numbers of deaths in order to sow panic, or “ recklessly ” casting aspersions on the national government’ s handling of epidemics, should be punished as criminal offenses, the judge wrote. | tech |
Seniors seem to have the highest risk of dying from coronavirus — Quartz | Close to 10,000 people have contracted the new coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China—more cases than SARS in 2003. So far, 213 people have died. The preliminary fatality rate for 2019-nCoV hovers around 3% —which is low, but still concerning because of the number of cases accumulating.
But that fatality rate is likely to be higher in older adults. Unofficial open-source data from researchers based in the UK and China show that out of 41 deaths, 39 were in people over 50. Bloomberg reports similar figures. While that’ s not unexpected, it indicates the need for effective therapies targeted at this population. And as the proportion of adults over 50 continues to increase globally, future pandemics could be deadlier than they’ ve been in the past.
“ During the original SARS outbreak, we found that the fatality rate was 10%, ” says Vineet Menachery, an immunologist at the University of Texas Medical Branch who studies how coronaviruses affect aging immune systems. “ But that jumped to 50% in people over the age of 50. ” There was a similar pattern of fatalities with MERS in 2015.
All three viruses—SARS, MERS, and now 2019-nCoV—fall within the category of coronaviruses, which get their names from the spiky crown of proteins on the viruses’ outer shell. So while we don’ t have a firm fatality rate for older adults with 2019-nCoV, it’ s likely that it’ ll also be higher than in younger adults.
There are two reasons older adults are more susceptible to infections. First, seniors are more likely to have other chronic health conditions, like diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, that make it harder for their bodies to cope with damage caused by a new pathogen. Every year, the majority of flu deaths are seen in people 65 or older.
Second, the immune system changes with age—particularly in its ability to respond to coronaviruses. Unlike the flu virus, which does most of the damage to your body on its own, most of the symptoms from coronavirus infections actually come from the body’ s immune response, Menachery says. Although he and his lab team are still characterizing these reactions, it seems like coronaviruses encourage older immune systems to kick in with extra inflammation, which can have a cascading effect.
These downstream effects can be particularly acute when the virus lives and reproduces exclusively in a vital organ like the lungs—which SARS, MERS, and 2019-nCoV all do. In an effort to control the infection, the body will wall off portions of the lung that are harboring most of the infection. These sections are then not available to take in oxygen. “ You can still breathe, but not with the same capacity. If you have COPD and heart disease, you have less capacity to begin with, ” Menachery says, which ultimately makes the infection more likely to be fatal.
Unlike the flu, which has higher fatality rates in both young children and older adults, coronaviruses tend to only be more dangerous for seniors. In a paper published on Jan. 29, scientists writing in the New England Journal of Medicine recorded 0 cases of 2019-nCoV in children 15 and under. This doesn’ t mean that children are immune to the virus, but they may be better at fighting it off if they’ re otherwise healthy.
As people live to older ages and constitute a bigger part of the global population, we’ ll need better health interventions to protect them specifically, Menachery says. This will be a unique challenge for scientists developing vaccines and treatments for 2019-nCoV; it’ s hard to model aging because animals like mice don’ t age the same way that humans do.
Right now, it’ s critical that scientists develop treatments appropriate for older adults affected by 2019-nCoV, who are at the highest risk of complications. But seniors will have to be at the front of public health officials’ minds as they prepare for future pandemics, too. The more humans press into animal territory through farming, urbanization, and deforestation, the more likely it is that a virus present in animals will mutate to be transmissible in humans, just like 2019-nCoV likely did. “ Will we have another coronavirus in the next 10 years? ” Menachery asked rhetorically. “ At this point, I’ d have to say yes. ”
Update: This story was updated on Jan. 31 with current infection and death figures. | tech |
Our face mask future: Do they really help beat flu, coronavirus and pollution? | As the death toll from coronavirus steadily rises, east Asian countries such as Taiwan have stepped up production of surgical face masks to meet demand. In the Chinese city of Wuhan, at the centre of the outbreak, it is mandatory to wear one in public places, and there have been reports of stores in Japan and South Korea selling out.
The hope is that wearing masks in high-risk areas will at least slow the spread of the disease, but just how helpful they are is moot. Raina MacIntyre, a professor of global biosecurity at the University of New South Wales, has been reviewing the literature on protocol for dealing with infectious diseases and finds it wanting.
“ There are two ways that a virus can be spread through the respiratory route of coughing or sneezing, ” says MacIntyre. “ One is through large droplets that you can see or feel when somebody sneezes or coughs in your face. They land very quickly and, if you are in their path, you can get contaminated. ”
In hospital infection control, she says, “ we are told that we can stand one to two metres from the patient, and we’ ll be fine ”. But this is based on data from the 1940s. “ It’ s a bit like believing the Earth is flat. ” More recent studies, she adds, “ suggest that the distance the large droplets can travel is further than two metres. One study showed up to six metres. ”
The second way that viruses spread through the respiratory route is via tiny airborne particles, also referred to as aerosols. “ They come from deep in the lungs, not from the throat and the nose, ” says MacIntyre, “ and those particles for some viruses can even come out with normal breathing. ”
They tend to stay hovering in the air for longer, you can’ t see or feel them and they travel further than the large droplets. “ There have been studies of influenza in emergency departments, ” says MacIntyre, “ and three hours after a patient with flu has left, the virus is still in the air. ”
“ A lot of viruses are shed in the faecal material, ” she adds, recalling a case in a Hong Kong apartment building during the severe acute respiratory syndrome ( Sars) outbreak in 2003. “ Because of malfunctions in the plumbing when the toilet was flushed, the virus aerosolised through the air-conditioning and an open window, and into other floors in the building as well as the building next door. ”
Even a larger droplet, she says, “ in its trajectory from the mouth starts decreasing in size because of evaporation, and it could end up an airborne particle ”. Surgical masks are only expected to help protect against larger droplets, and are designed not to protect the wearers themselves from germs but the open wounds of patients on operating tables. But even studies looking at whether they sufficiently protect patients in this way have not been able to prove their efficacy.
Furthermore, says MacIntyre, “ surgical masks are not regulated. Anyone can sell anything and call it a surgical mask. The filtration level of the material is not regulated. ”
There is some speculation over whether wearing basic fabric masks over a warm, wet mouth may breed infection rather than deter it, but Catherine Makison Booth, a microbiologist at the UK’ s Health and Safety Laboratory, says she wouldn’ t have thought so. The main issue, she says, is that “ they’ re not tightly fitting, and they’ re not necessarily filtering out aerosol [ airborne particles ] ”.
Makison Booth is best known for creating a dummy called “ Vomiting Larry ” during the norovirus outbreak of 2013. Larry could projectile-vomit liquid as impressively as a real human, and therefore provide data on the myriad contamination risks involved in attempting to clean up the mess.
In 2008, Makison Booth set out to discover to what extent surgical masks could protect wearers. She hooked up one of her dummies to a resuscitation machine, “ so it breathed ”, she says. She then sealed it in a cabinet and sprayed tiny airborne droplets – a simulated sneeze – containing influenza at it while it wore a series of protective masks.
Different designs of surgical mask were tested, including the standard strip of fabric, a duck-bill-shaped one and a 3D moulded one. “ They conferred a low level of protection to the wearer, ” she says, diplomatically. The virus was found inside all the masks, but they had provided something like a six-fold decrease in the amount of virus exposure.
Wearing a substandard mask may at least deter wearers from self-contaminating by putting their hands to their noses or mouths, but we can self-contaminate by touching our eyes, too. “ We know that in the markets in Wuhan, ” says MacIntyre, “ they found coronavirus all over the surfaces, so someone walking through could touch it and contaminate themselves. ”
Makison Booth also tested disposable filtering facepiece ( FFP) respirators. They are designed to filter tiny particulates, and are recommended in the UK for professionals working under possible exposure to airborne diseases. These provided 100 times more protection than going barefaced.
However, truly protecting yourself isn’ t as simple as buying any old FFP. There is a dizzying array on offer, with confusingly similar names, and in the west they are more likely to be marketed for pollution than disease. “ N95 ” types are heavily promoted online. Makison Booth says this is the US equivalent of the UK’ s second-most-effective model, imaginatively called the FFP2. However, she says, “ we recommend the use of an FFP3 [ the highest protection available ] because it will filter out more particles ”. The US versions are tested only for dry particulates, she says, but the UK FFPs are tested against liquid in aerosols, too. Before you buy any mask, make sure it has a CE certification mark, which indicates conformity with EU health, safety and environmental protection standards.
There is little point in wearing one without testing that it fits properly, and most manufacturers sell fit-testing kits. “ Areas such as the bridge of your nose to your cheek and under the chin are often places where air will leak through, rather than going through the filter material, ” says Makison Booth. A standard test involves wearing the respirator, placing a plastic hood around your head and spraying saccharin solution inside it. “ If you’ ve got a leak, then you will be able to taste the sweetness, ” she says.
Basic surgical-style masks are more popular than ever, and what was once a symbol of pandemic panic has become an everyday accessory. In December, before this latest global health emergency was declared, members of the K-pop group BTS were papped arriving in New York in their trademark off-duty look of expensive coats, immaculate hair and surgical masks.
For young people in east Asia, where wearing protective masks in public for a variety of reasons has been acceptable for a century, they have become cool. They accentuate the eyes, and add mystique to Instagram-filtered selfies – and the moulded versions, as opposed to the classic strip tied across the lower face, look pleasingly futuristic. They come in different colours and patterns, from camouflage to Hello Kitty. BTS merch stores sell branded masks.
Mitsutoshi Horii, a professor at Shumei University in Japan, now based at Chaucer College in Canterbury, wrote a sociology research paper in 2014 looking at the history of face-mask-wearing in Japan. He has never worn one, but his mother has taken to the custom in recent winters. This is not primarily for fear of infection, but because, he says, “ during the winter, her throat gets dry, and it keeps her face warm ”.
Their popularity is still growing in Japan, not least because there is a greater emphasis than ever before, from governments and medics, on taking responsibility for your own health.
Although the title of his paper is Why Do the Japanese Wear Masks?, Horii says an equally interesting question is why don’ t westerners? He discovered that masks were promoted by authorities across the world during the 1918 Spanish flu crisis that killed 50 million people. But in the west, particularly the US, “ there was a huge public rejection. It went against their ideology of liberalism, the belief in freedom of individuals. ”
In Japan, says Horii, people didn’ t mind wearing masks, and at the time, the Japanese government was encouraging more western behaviour, suppressing local flu prevention rituals involving things such as lucky charms, and pushing a more rational approach. Over time, the masks acquired other uses. From the 1960s, Japanese people started using them for hay fever, rather than deal with the unpleasant side-effects of antihistamines. Then, more recently, Sars, swine flu and urban pollution further increased demand.
Flu is a force of nature. You get it when you get it
In China, too, says MacIntyre, “ you see families going for their Sunday stroll wearing masks even without any pandemic being present, sometimes because of pollution. In western cultures, even in healthcare settings, there’ s very low compliance when it comes to mask-wearing. ”
It is pollution that has encouraged the slow trickle of mainstream mask-wearing in the west. In London the other day, Horii spotted a white man sporting one on the underground, although the look still has mildly apocalyptic associations in western countries.
Urban cyclists have been the biggest adopters, and companies such as Freka facewear offer ergonomic masks with replaceable particulate filters in jazzy designs. There’ s no evidence yet as to how much they help. It’ s unlikely that consumers are fit testing them before using them, and, even if the masks are catching some particulates, they can’ t stop noxious gases such as nitrogen dioxide, whereas there is good evidence for the benefits of sticking to quieter, less polluted side roads.
Horii says that a major motivating factor for mask use in Japan is being courteous towards other people. “ If you have a cold, you have to take care not to infect others, therefore you cover your mouth, ” he says.
Masks have also become what he calls a “ risk ritual ”, providing a sense of control over an uncontrollable situation. Just as we can’ t avoid being exposed to pollution in cities, he says, “ flu is a force of nature. You get it when you get it, but by doing something at least you feel you are taking control. ” | general |
Co-Diagnostics, Inc.: Announces Successful Initial Verification of Novel Coronavirus Test | Components of recently designed novel coronavirus assay have successfully passed initial verification
Co-Diagnostics, Inc. ( Nasdaq: CODX), a molecular diagnostics company with a unique, patented platform for the development of diagnostic tests, announced today the successful initial verification of its screening test designed to identify the presence of the novel coronavirus that originated in China before spreading across the world, and that the test will soon be ready for validation in and subsequent distribution to any appropriate venue across the globe.
Dwight Egan, Co-Diagnostics CEO remarked, “ After a concerted effort by Company scientists and laboratory technicians, I am pleased to report that our unique and rapid development process has culminated in a test with excellent characteristics.
“ Our dedicated team will continue to work to perform additional verifications and preparations to quickly make the test components available to laboratories around the world, for validation with human samples, ” Mr. Egan continued. “ We express our appreciation to LGC BioSearch for expediting the manufacturing process of the CoPrimer™ components of the test. Co-Diagnostics looks forward to providing updates on our test progress as we plan to make it available to affected markets. ” | business |
Coronavirus: Is The Worst Still To Come For Oil? | U.S. West Texas Intermediate and international-benchmark Brent crude oil futures are trading lower on Friday, however, momentum is clearly to the downside as traders continue to worry about the coronavirus & rsquo; impact on global demand. Both futures contracts are in a position to post their fourth consecutive weekly loss. Early in the session, the markets were boosted by comments from the World Health Organization WHO that seemed to calm tensions. On Thursday, the WHO declared the coronavirus a global emergency, but calmed the markets by opposing travel restrictions. It also said Chinese actions so far will & ldquo; reverse the tide & rdquo; of the spread and that it declared the emergency to help those countries with weak health systems. Coronavirus Update On Thursday, the WHO director-general said the greatest concern was the virus & rsquo; potential spread to countries with weaker healthcare systems, compounded by cases of person-to-person transfer of the virus outside China. Meanwhile, economists have signaled the impact of the new virus could be worse than that of the Severe Respiratory Syndrome SARS epidemic in 2002-2003, which took 800 lives and cost the global economy and estimated $ 33 billion. The death toll from the virus crossed the 200-mark in China with confirmed cases of infection reported in at least 22 other countries and regions. Major airlines across the globe are suspending direct flights to and from mainland China causing jet fuel demand to plunge. This is also hurting refiners & rsquo; profit margins. OPEC Wants to Extend Oil Production Cuts According to sources, OPEC and its allies including Russia want to extend oil production cuts until at least June from March, and may deepen the reductions, should demand for oil in China be significantly reduced by the spread of the virus. This story underpinned crude oil prices briefly early Friday. It & rsquo; s a story that should be watched over the near-term, but the move may not be enough to stabilize prices for a long-period of time. However, the announcement could trigger a short-covering rally. China Manufacturing Activity in Line with Expectations but Likely to Worsen Growth in China & rsquo; s factory activity faltered in January, an official survey showed, as export orders fell and an outbreak of a new virus added to risks facing the world & rsquo; s second-largest economy, Reuters reported. While the PMI showed activity in some parts of the sector holding up, economists are doubtful the survey provides a meaningful read on the economy given recent developments with the coronavirus and distortions from the Lunar New Year break. The numbers do not reflect the interruption due to the outbreak. This is another bearish development weighing on future demand for crude oil U.S. Energy Information Administration Weekly Inventories Report On Wednesday, the EIA said crude stocks rose by more than seven times market expectations, gaining 3.5 million barrels in the week to January 24. Gasoline stocks rose to a record high, increasing for a 12th consecutive week to 261.1 million barrels, the EIA said. Libya Supply Woes Offer Some Relief Although the focus is primarily on demand, traders are reminded that outages in Libya should be watched. & ldquo; While demand is a real concern, it & rsquo; s important not to forget about the supply disruptions from Libya & ndash; if these losses persist, it would be enough to swing the market into deficit this quarter, & rdquo; ING said in a note. Technical Analysis Weekly March West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil Technical Analysis Weekly Trend indicator The main trend is up according to the weekly swing chart, but momentum has been trending lower since the formation of the closing price reversal top at $ 65.40 the week-ending January 10. The main trend will change to down on a trade through the nearest main bottom at $ 50.18. Taking out the next main bottom at $ 50.08 could trigger an acceleration to the downside. The next target after that is the $ 45.76 main bottom from the week-ending December 28, 2018. The main range is $ 71.83 to $ 45.76. Its 50% to 61.8% retracement zone at $ 58.80 to $ 61.87 is major resistance. The short-term range is $ 45.76 to $ 65.40. Its retracement zone at $ 53.26 to $ 55.58 is new resistance. Trading below this area is also helping to generate the downside bias. Weekly Trend Indicator Forecast Based on this week & rsquo; s price action and the current price at $ 51.66, the direction of the March WTI crude oil market during the week-ending February 7 is likely to be determined by trader reaction to the short-term Fibonacci level at $ 53.26. Bearish Scenario A sustained move under $ 53.26 will indicate the presence of sellers. If this move generates enough downside momentum then look for the selling to possibly extend into the pair of main bottoms at $ 50.18 to $ 50.08. Taking out the bottoms will change the main trend to down on the weekly chart. This could trigger an acceleration to the downside with the next major target $ 45.76. Bullish Scenario Overcoming and sustaining a rally over $ 53.26 will signal the return of buyers. This could trigger a surge into $ 55.58. Taking out this level could trigger an acceleration to the upside. Conclusion Given the fear of the unknown, it & rsquo; s hard to find a reason to go long or cover short positions ahead of the weekend. | business |
What To Expect At Airport Screenings For Coronavirus | As the Wuhan coronavirus continues to spread, it's a good idea to take more precautions to protect against illness. If you are planning any business travel or perhaps already have travel arrangements coming up in the next few days or weeks, be aware that there are screenings at select U.S. airports. It's a good idea to give yourself extra time in order to avoid extra stress.
While Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says it's not a major threat at this point, there is still the possibility of it growing. Last week five airports began monitoring passengers. At the time of publication, 20 airports in the United States have begun screening passengers.
The 20 airports include:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC), these 20 airports are also Quarantine Stations. They are part of a system designed to combat and reduce the spread of disease. As you can see from the list, these stations are located around the country and are also where most international travelers arrive.
The US State Department and the CDC have both advised people to avoid non-essential travel to the country. And while there aren't any direct flights leaving or entering Wuhan, passengers that have traveled from China are being screened.
According to several representatives at the airports that are screening passengers, the screening process is handled in a separate room, usually in a customs facility. Additionally, those same representatives reported that there have not been any delays or impact of daily operations due to the screenings.
Still, it is recommended to allow for time to be screened as you deplane.
The CDC is checking temperatures of travelers through a handheld thermometer that requires no contact with skin. Travelers are also asked to fill out a short questionnaire that lists their travel history as well as if they have any symptoms of an illness and their contact information. Along with a fever, screeners will be looking for people who have a cough or are having trouble breathing.
If you are sick, you will be evaluated further. CDC officials will determine if hospitalization is necessary and whether or not you need further care.
If you aren't ill, you will be given a card that has important information about coronavirus and the steps you should take if you begin to feel ill. Contact a medical professional before heading to the doctor or an emergency room, especially if you begin to feel ill within two weeks of being back. Be sure to explain that you have been in China if that's the case.
Monitor your health, especially in those initial 14 days after leaving. If you do get ill with a cough, fever, and/or have difficulty breathing, avoid contact with other people. Contact your doctor, explain your symptoms, and alert them about your travel history.
They will then explain what to do next to avoid spreading the virus.
If you 've got a trip coming up, you may be able to cancel or postpone it without a penalty. Check with your airline and your accommodations. Some airlines have completely suspended routes in and out of China.
If you might have to travel later in the year, buy travel insurance, just in case. Also, always try to book your travel on a credit card with travel insurance to ensure you have some cushion when you travel.
The World Health Organization ( WHO) has determined that the coronavirus is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Therefore, the State Department has raised the Travel Advisory Level to a Level 4: Do Not Travel. | business |
Facebook fights spread of coronavirus misinformation | Hear from CIOs, CTOs, and other C-level and senior execs on data and AI strategies at the Future of Work Summit this January 12, 2022. Learn more
As the Wuhan coronavirus death toll rises to more than 200 people and the number of confirmed cases reaches nearly 10,000 across more than 15 countries, the World Health Organization ( WHO) yesterday declared a “ public health emergency of international concern. ”
But as the coronavirus continues to spread, so does misinformation around ways to prevent and treat it.
False claims of potential vaccines and preposterous prevention methods such as avoiding cold food or not eating spicy food have been shared widely across social media. “ Miracle cures ” such as rinsing your mouth with a saline solution or drinking bleach have also reared their heads.
Now Facebook has confirmed that it’ s looking to “ limit the spread ” of misinformation about the coronavirus while directing people toward helpful information. The company said it’ s fact-checking content and debunking false claims across its main Facebook property and Instagram, as well as surfacing accurate information. Facebook also said it’ s proactively sending notifications to people who have already shared — or are actively trying to share — falsehoods relating to the coronavirus.
Additionally, Facebook said it will begin removing content that involves false claims or far-fetched conspiracy theories around how the virus has spread while blocking or “ restricting ” hashtags that increase exposure to misinformation.
“ We’ re focusing on claims that are designed to discourage treatment or taking appropriate precautions, ” noted Facebook’ s head of health, Kang-Xing Jin. “ This includes claims related to false cures or prevention methods — like [ the claim that ] drinking bleach cures the coronavirus or claims that create confusion about health resources that are available. ”
Tellingly, Facebook said its efforts involve finding and removing “ as much of this content as we can, ” a tacit acknowledgement that it can’ t thwart every dubious piece of content on its platform. But that is the price of creating a gargantuan network of 2 billion people who are free to create and share whatever ludicrous theories and medical solutions they like.
On the flip side, social media can be used to share accurate information more quickly, including through partnerships with education and health organizations such as WHO. Moreover, Facebook’ s sheer scale also means it’ s well positioned to map and track diseases by combining satellite imagery, computer vision, census data, and proprietary data — all part of its Data for Good program.
“ We are empowering leading researchers at Harvard University’ s School of Public Health and National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan by sharing aggregated and anonymized mobility data and high-resolution population density maps to help inform their forecasting models for the spread of the virus as part of our broader Data for Good program, ” Kang-Xing Jin added. “ We may expand these efforts to a broader set of partners in the coming weeks. ”
But when fake news is thrown into the mix alongside all the good stuff, what we end up with is a cacophonous crackle that leaves millions of people unsure what to believe.
This is just a typical day on social media, of course, where fighting falsities and fake news has become the new reality.
Back in 2018, reports emerged that Facebook was featuring homemade cancer “ cures ” more prominently than genuine information from renowned organizations. To combat this, the company revealed that it would “ downgrade ” posts that promoted miracle cures — leaving them up but making them less visible. A separate report found that YouTube videos were promoting bleach as a cure for autism.
Countless other examples of user-generated nonsense ( UGN) permeate these platforms, such as conspiracy theories about mass shooting events being staged and far-fetched proclamations that the moon landing never happened or that the Earth is flat. Last year, YouTube promised to cull such videos from its recommendations engine.
The coronavirus outbreak is serious, and it could get a whole lot worse before it gets better. The spread of misinformation surrounding it only compounds matters, but it also serves to highlight the uphill battle Facebook and other social media platforms face across the entire “ fake ” spectrum — be that fake reviews, fake goods, or fake news. | tech |
AI Weekly: AI joins the fight against diseases like coronavirus | Hear from CIOs, CTOs, and other C-level and senior execs on data and AI strategies at the Future of Work Summit this January 12, 2022. Learn more
In light of the rising death toll from the coronavirus, which this week spread to the U.S. and was declared a health emergency by the World Health Organization ( WHO), it’ s worth looking at AI’ s role in curbing the spread of other diseases. Algorithms have not only informed superior intervention and prevention strategies, they’ ve helped optimize the allocation of resources to fight the spread of infection. Algorithms have even detected preliminary signs of an outbreak well before it came to human pathologists’ attention. In a study back in 2014, investigators used statistical modeling to evaluate the testing and treatment of HIV in the U.K. and locate people living with the virus who weren’ t aware of their disease status. The team found that — even without behavioral changes on the part of people living with HIV — their approach could reduce new infections by 5%. In 2016, AI developed by a team hailing from the University of Georgia, Massey University, and the University of California was used to anticipate the spread of filoviruses, which usually infect bats but can also be transmitted to humans. ( Ebola and Marburg are the two most commonly known strains.) A model using 57 different factors — from life history and ecology to biographical factors — predicted which types of bats were likely to harbor filoviruses with 87% accuracy.
In a study back in 2014, investigators used statistical modeling to evaluate the testing and treatment of HIV in the U.K. and locate people living with the virus who weren’ t aware of their disease status. The team found that — even without behavioral changes on the part of people living with HIV — their approach could reduce new infections by 5%. In 2016, AI developed by a team hailing from the University of Georgia, Massey University, and the University of California was used to anticipate the spread of filoviruses, which usually infect bats but can also be transmitted to humans. ( Ebola and Marburg are the two most commonly known strains.) A model using 57 different factors — from life history and ecology to biographical factors — predicted which types of bats were likely to harbor filoviruses with 87% accuracy.
In 2016, AI developed by a team hailing from the University of Georgia, Massey University, and the University of California was used to anticipate the spread of filoviruses, which usually infect bats but can also be transmitted to humans. ( Ebola and Marburg are the two most commonly known strains.) A model using 57 different factors — from life history and ecology to biographical factors — predicted which types of bats were likely to harbor filoviruses with 87% accuracy.
Subsequent research in 2017 tapped models to scale hepatitis C virus ( HCV) prevention efforts in accordance with available budgets. With a $ 1 billion budget, researchers found the best use of public health funding would be to focus entirely on treatment ( with an emphasis on early treatment). But if the budget were $ 5 billion, it would be better to spend 60% of the budget on screening and the rest on treatment, dropping the screening allocation to 20% in the third year. Also in 2017, scientists from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and the National Environment Agency’ s Environmental Health Institute in Singapore developed an algorithm to forecast dengue outbreaks, taking into account a decade of historical climate information and seasonal dengue patterns to predict outbreaks up to four months in advance. Not long after, startup Aime began offering a tool that predicts the locations and timing of dengue outbreaks with a claimed 84% accuracy, and Ehime University researchers architected a model that projects dengue cases in Manila using rainfall and temperature data. In 2018, University of South Carolina scientists developed an algorithm to help agencies tailor their outreach more cost-effectively. Tested using real-world data on tuberculosis prevention in India and gonorrhea prevention in the U.S., the results suggested the model could have prevented 8,000 cases of tuberculosis and 20,000 cases of gonorrhea if it were used instead of current strategies. Despite the promise of AI as a planning tool for global health epidemics, it’ s important to keep in mind that no disease-anticipating algorithm can avoid the pitfalls facing all predictive models. Google’ s infamous Flu Trends, a web service that launched in 2008 to provide estimates of influenza activity for more than 25 countries, monitored millions of users’ health tracking behaviors to reveal whether populations harbored any flulike illness. While the estimates were generally consistent with health agency surveillance data, researchers found that increases in searches due to the prominence of flu coverage in the news skewed results and that the way Flu Trends aggregated queries about health conditions might have inflated predicted rates. ( IBM’ s The Weather Company offers a comparable flu prediction tool in the Weather Channel mobile app, powered by its Watson AI platform, but it perhaps wisely limits forecast windows to 15 days.) In an effort to combat this distortion, some companies are developing new ways to combat bias within their systems and validate accuracy. Metabiota — whose platform estimates the risk of a disease spreading based on information like an illness’ symptoms and mortality rate and the availability of treatment — is working with the U.S. intelligence community and the Defense Department on issues related to the coronavirus. As for competitor BlueDot’ s system, it uses battle-tested natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to track over 100 infectious diseases by analyzing about 100,000 articles in 65 languages daily, accounting for traveler itinerary information and flight paths, as well as information about an area’ s climate, temperature, and local livestock. Validated or no, efforts to develop automated systems capable of tracking disease spread will likely only accelerate in the years to come. The digital pathology and epidemiology market is anticipated to reach $ 10.2 billion by 2023 ( up from $ 4.8 billion in 2018), according to analysts at BCC Research, largely driven by innovations in computational scalability and model feature engineering. For AI coverage, send news tips to Khari Johnson and Kyle Wiggers and AI editor Seth Colaner — and be sure to subscribe to the AI Weekly newsletter and bookmark our AI Channel. Thanks for reading, Kyle Wiggers AI Staff Writer
Also in 2017, scientists from the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health and the National Environment Agency’ s Environmental Health Institute in Singapore developed an algorithm to forecast dengue outbreaks, taking into account a decade of historical climate information and seasonal dengue patterns to predict outbreaks up to four months in advance. Not long after, startup Aime began offering a tool that predicts the locations and timing of dengue outbreaks with a claimed 84% accuracy, and Ehime University researchers architected a model that projects dengue cases in Manila using rainfall and temperature data. In 2018, University of South Carolina scientists developed an algorithm to help agencies tailor their outreach more cost-effectively. Tested using real-world data on tuberculosis prevention in India and gonorrhea prevention in the U.S., the results suggested the model could have prevented 8,000 cases of tuberculosis and 20,000 cases of gonorrhea if it were used instead of current strategies. Despite the promise of AI as a planning tool for global health epidemics, it’ s important to keep in mind that no disease-anticipating algorithm can avoid the pitfalls facing all predictive models. Google’ s infamous Flu Trends, a web service that launched in 2008 to provide estimates of influenza activity for more than 25 countries, monitored millions of users’ health tracking behaviors to reveal whether populations harbored any flulike illness. While the estimates were generally consistent with health agency surveillance data, researchers found that increases in searches due to the prominence of flu coverage in the news skewed results and that the way Flu Trends aggregated queries about health conditions might have inflated predicted rates. ( IBM’ s The Weather Company offers a comparable flu prediction tool in the Weather Channel mobile app, powered by its Watson AI platform, but it perhaps wisely limits forecast windows to 15 days.) In an effort to combat this distortion, some companies are developing new ways to combat bias within their systems and validate accuracy. Metabiota — whose platform estimates the risk of a disease spreading based on information like an illness’ symptoms and mortality rate and the availability of treatment — is working with the U.S. intelligence community and the Defense Department on issues related to the coronavirus. As for competitor BlueDot’ s system, it uses battle-tested natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to track over 100 infectious diseases by analyzing about 100,000 articles in 65 languages daily, accounting for traveler itinerary information and flight paths, as well as information about an area’ s climate, temperature, and local livestock. Validated or no, efforts to develop automated systems capable of tracking disease spread will likely only accelerate in the years to come. The digital pathology and epidemiology market is anticipated to reach $ 10.2 billion by 2023 ( up from $ 4.8 billion in 2018), according to analysts at BCC Research, largely driven by innovations in computational scalability and model feature engineering. For AI coverage, send news tips to Khari Johnson and Kyle Wiggers and AI editor Seth Colaner — and be sure to subscribe to the AI Weekly newsletter and bookmark our AI Channel. Thanks for reading, Kyle Wiggers AI Staff Writer
In 2018, University of South Carolina scientists developed an algorithm to help agencies tailor their outreach more cost-effectively. Tested using real-world data on tuberculosis prevention in India and gonorrhea prevention in the U.S., the results suggested the model could have prevented 8,000 cases of tuberculosis and 20,000 cases of gonorrhea if it were used instead of current strategies. Despite the promise of AI as a planning tool for global health epidemics, it’ s important to keep in mind that no disease-anticipating algorithm can avoid the pitfalls facing all predictive models. Google’ s infamous Flu Trends, a web service that launched in 2008 to provide estimates of influenza activity for more than 25 countries, monitored millions of users’ health tracking behaviors to reveal whether populations harbored any flulike illness. While the estimates were generally consistent with health agency surveillance data, researchers found that increases in searches due to the prominence of flu coverage in the news skewed results and that the way Flu Trends aggregated queries about health conditions might have inflated predicted rates. ( IBM’ s The Weather Company offers a comparable flu prediction tool in the Weather Channel mobile app, powered by its Watson AI platform, but it perhaps wisely limits forecast windows to 15 days.) In an effort to combat this distortion, some companies are developing new ways to combat bias within their systems and validate accuracy. Metabiota — whose platform estimates the risk of a disease spreading based on information like an illness’ symptoms and mortality rate and the availability of treatment — is working with the U.S. intelligence community and the Defense Department on issues related to the coronavirus. As for competitor BlueDot’ s system, it uses battle-tested natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to track over 100 infectious diseases by analyzing about 100,000 articles in 65 languages daily, accounting for traveler itinerary information and flight paths, as well as information about an area’ s climate, temperature, and local livestock. Validated or no, efforts to develop automated systems capable of tracking disease spread will likely only accelerate in the years to come. The digital pathology and epidemiology market is anticipated to reach $ 10.2 billion by 2023 ( up from $ 4.8 billion in 2018), according to analysts at BCC Research, largely driven by innovations in computational scalability and model feature engineering. For AI coverage, send news tips to Khari Johnson and Kyle Wiggers and AI editor Seth Colaner — and be sure to subscribe to the AI Weekly newsletter and bookmark our AI Channel. Thanks for reading, Kyle Wiggers AI Staff Writer
Despite the promise of AI as a planning tool for global health epidemics, it’ s important to keep in mind that no disease-anticipating algorithm can avoid the pitfalls facing all predictive models. Google’ s infamous Flu Trends, a web service that launched in 2008 to provide estimates of influenza activity for more than 25 countries, monitored millions of users’ health tracking behaviors to reveal whether populations harbored any flulike illness. While the estimates were generally consistent with health agency surveillance data, researchers found that increases in searches due to the prominence of flu coverage in the news skewed results and that the way Flu Trends aggregated queries about health conditions might have inflated predicted rates. ( IBM’ s The Weather Company offers a comparable flu prediction tool in the Weather Channel mobile app, powered by its Watson AI platform, but it perhaps wisely limits forecast windows to 15 days.) In an effort to combat this distortion, some companies are developing new ways to combat bias within their systems and validate accuracy. Metabiota — whose platform estimates the risk of a disease spreading based on information like an illness’ symptoms and mortality rate and the availability of treatment — is working with the U.S. intelligence community and the Defense Department on issues related to the coronavirus. As for competitor BlueDot’ s system, it uses battle-tested natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to track over 100 infectious diseases by analyzing about 100,000 articles in 65 languages daily, accounting for traveler itinerary information and flight paths, as well as information about an area’ s climate, temperature, and local livestock. Validated or no, efforts to develop automated systems capable of tracking disease spread will likely only accelerate in the years to come. The digital pathology and epidemiology market is anticipated to reach $ 10.2 billion by 2023 ( up from $ 4.8 billion in 2018), according to analysts at BCC Research, largely driven by innovations in computational scalability and model feature engineering. For AI coverage, send news tips to Khari Johnson and Kyle Wiggers and AI editor Seth Colaner — and be sure to subscribe to the AI Weekly newsletter and bookmark our AI Channel. Thanks for reading, Kyle Wiggers AI Staff Writer
Google’ s infamous Flu Trends, a web service that launched in 2008 to provide estimates of influenza activity for more than 25 countries, monitored millions of users’ health tracking behaviors to reveal whether populations harbored any flulike illness. While the estimates were generally consistent with health agency surveillance data, researchers found that increases in searches due to the prominence of flu coverage in the news skewed results and that the way Flu Trends aggregated queries about health conditions might have inflated predicted rates. ( IBM’ s The Weather Company offers a comparable flu prediction tool in the Weather Channel mobile app, powered by its Watson AI platform, but it perhaps wisely limits forecast windows to 15 days.) In an effort to combat this distortion, some companies are developing new ways to combat bias within their systems and validate accuracy. Metabiota — whose platform estimates the risk of a disease spreading based on information like an illness’ symptoms and mortality rate and the availability of treatment — is working with the U.S. intelligence community and the Defense Department on issues related to the coronavirus. As for competitor BlueDot’ s system, it uses battle-tested natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to track over 100 infectious diseases by analyzing about 100,000 articles in 65 languages daily, accounting for traveler itinerary information and flight paths, as well as information about an area’ s climate, temperature, and local livestock. Validated or no, efforts to develop automated systems capable of tracking disease spread will likely only accelerate in the years to come. The digital pathology and epidemiology market is anticipated to reach $ 10.2 billion by 2023 ( up from $ 4.8 billion in 2018), according to analysts at BCC Research, largely driven by innovations in computational scalability and model feature engineering. For AI coverage, send news tips to Khari Johnson and Kyle Wiggers and AI editor Seth Colaner — and be sure to subscribe to the AI Weekly newsletter and bookmark our AI Channel. Thanks for reading, Kyle Wiggers AI Staff Writer
In an effort to combat this distortion, some companies are developing new ways to combat bias within their systems and validate accuracy. Metabiota — whose platform estimates the risk of a disease spreading based on information like an illness’ symptoms and mortality rate and the availability of treatment — is working with the U.S. intelligence community and the Defense Department on issues related to the coronavirus. As for competitor BlueDot’ s system, it uses battle-tested natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to track over 100 infectious diseases by analyzing about 100,000 articles in 65 languages daily, accounting for traveler itinerary information and flight paths, as well as information about an area’ s climate, temperature, and local livestock. Validated or no, efforts to develop automated systems capable of tracking disease spread will likely only accelerate in the years to come. The digital pathology and epidemiology market is anticipated to reach $ 10.2 billion by 2023 ( up from $ 4.8 billion in 2018), according to analysts at BCC Research, largely driven by innovations in computational scalability and model feature engineering. For AI coverage, send news tips to Khari Johnson and Kyle Wiggers and AI editor Seth Colaner — and be sure to subscribe to the AI Weekly newsletter and bookmark our AI Channel. Thanks for reading, Kyle Wiggers AI Staff Writer
Metabiota — whose platform estimates the risk of a disease spreading based on information like an illness’ symptoms and mortality rate and the availability of treatment — is working with the U.S. intelligence community and the Defense Department on issues related to the coronavirus. As for competitor BlueDot’ s system, it uses battle-tested natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to track over 100 infectious diseases by analyzing about 100,000 articles in 65 languages daily, accounting for traveler itinerary information and flight paths, as well as information about an area’ s climate, temperature, and local livestock. Validated or no, efforts to develop automated systems capable of tracking disease spread will likely only accelerate in the years to come. The digital pathology and epidemiology market is anticipated to reach $ 10.2 billion by 2023 ( up from $ 4.8 billion in 2018), according to analysts at BCC Research, largely driven by innovations in computational scalability and model feature engineering. For AI coverage, send news tips to Khari Johnson and Kyle Wiggers and AI editor Seth Colaner — and be sure to subscribe to the AI Weekly newsletter and bookmark our AI Channel. Thanks for reading, Kyle Wiggers AI Staff Writer
Validated or no, efforts to develop automated systems capable of tracking disease spread will likely only accelerate in the years to come. The digital pathology and epidemiology market is anticipated to reach $ 10.2 billion by 2023 ( up from $ 4.8 billion in 2018), according to analysts at BCC Research, largely driven by innovations in computational scalability and model feature engineering. For AI coverage, send news tips to Khari Johnson and Kyle Wiggers and AI editor Seth Colaner — and be sure to subscribe to the AI Weekly newsletter and bookmark our AI Channel. Thanks for reading, Kyle Wiggers AI Staff Writer
For AI coverage, send news tips to Khari Johnson and Kyle Wiggers and AI editor Seth Colaner — and be sure to subscribe to the AI Weekly newsletter and bookmark our AI Channel. Thanks for reading, Kyle Wiggers AI Staff Writer
Thanks for reading, Kyle Wiggers AI Staff Writer
Kyle Wiggers AI Staff Writer
AI Staff Writer | tech |
Trade-linked currencies fall on worries about fallout from virus | The World Health Organisation said late on Thursday that the coronavirus outbreak was a global emergency, but opposed travel restrictions and said China's actions so far would `` reverse the tide '' of its spread, reassuring markets.
The United States and other countries, however, tightened travel curbs on Friday and businesses said they were facing supply problems because of the coronavirus in China.
The yen and Swiss franc, which tend to rally at times of nervousness, were little changed on Friday but moves in other currency pairs suggested caution remained high.
China's offshore yuan gave up earlier gains and was last down against the dollar. The U.S. currency added 0.1% to 6.9884 < CNH=EBS >, although that was some way off the 7.0038 level the yuan dropped to on Thursday.
The death toll in China has now reached 213 and the number of cases is 9,692 - up from 7,711 a day ago. It has spread to 18 countries. The United States and other countries have warned citizens against visiting China.
`` While the WHO does not recommend a travel and trade restriction, the impact on China's economy is likely to materialise gradually, which will yield an international impact as China plays an essential role in the global supply chain, '' Commerzbank economist Hao Zhou said.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars, both sensitive to sentiment in China, fell to new multi-month lows.
The New Zealand dollar < NZD=D3 > dropped 0.5% and touched a two-month low of $ 0.6454. The Australian dollar < AUD=D3 > lost 0.5% to $ 0.6683, a four-month low.
Both have shed more than 1.5% this week and the Aussie has dropped more than 4% this month, leaving it poised for its worst month since May 2016.
The euro slipped marginally after a first estimate showed that the euro zone economy grew less than expected in the last quarter of 2019, while core inflation slowed in January.
The common currency then recovered and was last up 0.1% at $ 1.1035 < EUR=EBS >.
`` We see support building around the $ 1.1000 level in EUR/USD. Measures to help contain the virus look to be helping ease fears of major global escalation which could help to slowly lift risk appetite, '' MUFG analysts said in a note sent to clients.
The dollar index, which measures the currency against a basket of rivals, was unchanged at 97.841.
Sterling extended its run after the Bank of England kept interest rates on hold, citing a relatively more upbeat economic outlook. The pound was last up 0.2% at $ 1.3122 < GBP=D3 >.
Versus the euro it rallied 0.2% to 84.07 pence < EURGBP=D3 >.
Sweden's crown, which is closely linked to sentiment towards global growth and trade, weakened. The euro rose 0.5% to 10.68 crowns < EURSEK=D3 >, leaving the Swedish currency at its weakest since late November.
The dollar also gained 0.5% versus the crown < SEK=D3 >.
( Reporting by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Gareth Jones) | business |
Most Consumer Cos Fall, But Amazon Lifts Sector -- Consumer Roundup | Shares of retailers and other consumer companies rose as strength in Amazon.com and in consumer-products companies offset a selloff for the airlines and luxury brands most exposed to the effects of the coronavirus on Chinese economic activity.
Amazon's market capitalization finished just below $ 1 trillion after its holiday-quarter sales topped Wall Street expectations.
Shares of Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and other evergreen consumer staples companies were down, but not by as much as retailers, hotel chains and other consumer-discretionary stocks.
American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and United Airlines Holdings all said Friday that they would suspend flights from the U.S. to China, and fears of a general slowdown in air travel as a result of the coronavirus scare weighed on their shares.
Shares of homebuilders fell, led by Beazer Homes after it reported quarterly earnings short of Wall Street targets. Investors in home building stocks also pointed to the dour perspective provided by machinery maker Caterpillar in its earnings report.
Among luxury brands, Swiss watchmakers are exposed to the effects of the coronavirus epidemic in China, warned one brokerage.
`` We see increasing risks of destocking due to mounting concerns over the coronavirus outbreak impacting consumer sentiment in China, and the continuing weak retail sales in Hong Kong, '' said analysts at brokerage Credit Suisse, in a research note, adding that Swatch Group is particularly dependent on the Chinese market and particularly vulnerable to competition from smart watches.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran @ dowjones.com
| business |
For one Chinese family in New York, it was simply time to go home, virus or not | His mother and father, both in their 70s, came to visit him in New York about five months ago, their first trip there in 20 years. In the interim, a new coronavirus has emerged in China and become a fast-spreading global health crisis, prompting foreign governments to fly their citizens out of the country.
Niu was among those who were traveling against the tide along with his parents, who missed their home after months away.
`` Now it's time to go back, '' said Niu, 44, who moved to the United States more than 20 years ago and lives in Manhattan, where he works in finance.
The family remembers past virus outbreaks, including severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and survived them, he said. He thought the U.S. State Department was wise to warn Americans against nonessential travel to China because of the epidemic, which has infected nearly 10,000 people. But he wanted to shepherd his parents home.
Delta Air Lines Inc and American Airlines Group Inc joined other airlines on Friday in suspending all remaining U.S.-China flights.
Even so, Niu's father seemed relaxed ahead of his flight on China Eastern Airlines from Terminal 1. He smiled broadly, urging a reporter to immediately book a flight to China as well.
His mother had been less sure. `` She was so nervous, she couldn't get any sleep, '' Niu said.
After arriving, Niu said he planned to make sure his parents ' home in Hefei, capital of the eastern province of Anhui, was well stocked with groceries and other supplies. He would then settle in and stay with them for a month or two in a sort of self-imposed quarantine before returning to New York.
`` It's like a zombie movie, '' Niu said, although he imagined he might venture outside to a nearby store if he really needed to. `` I 've downloaded a lot of movies on my iPad. ''
Niu figured he would cheer up his parents ' neighbors by sharing some of his supply of face masks and drop off some at a nearby hospital.
`` Everybody’ s panicking there, '' he said. `` People can't get the masks. '' The stash cost him about $ 400.
He had also packed five or so masks in his carry-on luggage, thinking he would hand them to his seatmates on the plane.
'WE NEED TO STAY HOME '
Almost everyone waiting on line to check in to flights to Shanghai and Beijing at Terminal 1 on Friday were Chinese citizens returning home after a U.S. vacation or work trip.
Linda Xu, 40, had visited New York with her young son and daughter and her husband, and was bracing to be mostly confined with them indoors in their home in Beijing.
`` We need to stay home, '' she said, her voice muffled by a mask.
`` No school, '' said Shawn Xu, her 11-year-old son, seeming pleased.
Two Americans in the line declined to answer questions about their trip. Four other Americans said they were connecting in Shanghai to other flights to Thailand or the Philippines and had no plans to leave the airport in China.
All the airline staff at check-in desks wore face masks, as did about half of the passengers waiting in line. An employee for China Eastern Airlines at one of the desks said the masks had become mandatory for staff members in the last couple of days.
After most passengers had checked in, two China Eastern flight attendants stood waiting on the terminal floor, their faces mostly hidden by masks. Another employee soon dashed over, bearing three boxes filled with another 150 face masks, which the attendants dropped in a plastic bag before turning to head toward the plane.
By Jonathan Allen | business |
Dividend Growth ETFs to Play as Coronavirus Wreaks Havoc | Coronavirus has grown into a global scare, with 5,974 confirmed cases in China along with 132 people dead as of Jan 28. The outbreak has also rattled markets, dragging all major U.S. indices down from record highs.
Going by past epidemics, analysts believe that markets will lose more. Per Citi’ s head of U.S. equity strategy, the S & P 500 lost between 6% and 13% during the severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS epidemic in 2003 to the Ebola scare six years back. Health experts have started comparing the coronavirus outbreak with SARS, which wreaked havoc for 38 trading days and led to a decline in all 11 S & P 500 sectors. Moreover, the number of cases registered during the SARS epidemic have been surpassed by the coronavirus eruption ( read: Global Low-Volatility ETFs for Turbulent Times).
The outbreak might have adverse impact on companies with huge exposure to China. For instance, technology giant Apple ( AAPL) is projecting a slowdown in iPhone production ( per a Nikkei Asian Review report). This is because China has been a major manufacturer and supplier for many technology companies in the United States. Meanwhile, major retailers, restaurants and hotels in the United States, which earn a large portion of revenues from operations in China, are expected to suffer huge blows. In fact, out of its 4300 outlets in China, Starbucks ( SBUX) has closed 2000 ( read: Will Consumer Discretionary ETFs Suffer the Coronavirus Blow?).
Dividend Growth ETFs for a Healthy Portfolio
The appeal of dividend ETFs has been rising in the face of waning yields, easing monetary policy on the global front and market uncertainty triggered by geopolitical worries and deceleration in global growth. This is because dividend-paying securities are major sources of consistent income for investors when returns from equity markets are uncertain.
Although there are plenty of options in the dividend ETF world, ‘ dividend aristocrats’ or ‘ dividend growers’ could be the smartest way to deal with the current market turmoil. Here are a few ETFs to consider:
Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF VIG
This is the largest and most popular ETF in the dividend space, with AUM of $ 42.57 billion. The fund follows the NASDAQ US Dividend Achievers Select Index, which is composed of high-quality stocks with a record of raising dividends every year. It holds 182 securities in the basket and charges 6 basis points ( bps) in annual fees. VIG has a Zacks ETF Rank # 1 ( Strong Buy) with a Medium risk outlook ( read: IMF Cuts Global Growth Outlook: 5 ETF Areas to Bet On).
ProShares S & P 500 Aristocrats ETF NOBL
This product provides exposure to high-quality companies that have not just paid dividends but have hiked the same for at least 25 consecutive years, with most doing so for 40 years or more. It follows the S & P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index, holding 57 securities in its basket. NOBL has amassed $ 6.57 billion in its asset base. It has an expense ratio of 0.35% and a Zacks ETF Rank # 3 ( Hold) with a Medium risk outlook ( read: 7 Dividend ETFs That Offer Growth in 2020).
iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF DGRO
This fund provides exposure to companies boasting a history of sustained dividend growth by tracking the Morningstar US Dividend Growth Index. Holding 478 stocks in its basket, the fund has AUM of $ 10.54 billion. It charges 8 bps in fees per year and has a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 ( Buy) with a Medium risk outlook ( read: Dividend Growth ETFs for Long Term Investors).
First Trust NASDAQ Rising Dividend Achievers ETF RDVY
This fund lends exposure to a diversified portfolio of 51 companies with a stellar dividend payout history. It tracks the NASDAQ US Rising Dividend Achievers Index, charging investors 50 bps in annual fees. The ETF has accumulated $ 1.19 billion in its asset base. It has a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 with a Medium risk outlook.
Invesco Dividend Achievers ETF PFM
With $ 320 million, this fund offers exposure to 258 companies that have raised dividends for 10 or more straight fiscal years. It has expense ratio of 0.54%. PFM is a Zacks # 3 Ranked ETF with a Medium risk outlook.
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Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report ProShares S & P 500 Dividend Aristocrats ETF ( NOBL): ETF Research Reports Invesco Dividend Achievers ETF ( PFM): ETF Research Reports Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF ( VIG): ETF Research Reports iShares Core Dividend Growth ETF ( DGRO): ETF Research Reports First Trust Rising Dividend Achievers ETF ( RDVY): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report | business |
The Earnings Season Is Better Than You Think | We’ re halfway through earnings season, and results are better than promised, otherwise known as just as expected.
Two-thirds of S & P 500 index companies that have reported results for the fourth-quarter tally have topped earnings estimates. That’ s because weeks before earnings seasons, companies and analysts perform a sultry tango of lowball guidance and estimate cuts, and the result is usually a rose-in-teeth CEO leaping over the consensus on reporting day.
Better to judge surprises by looking at price action rather than earnings. Slightly fewer companies have popped than flopped on quarterly reports. Not quite olé! but still OK.
With or without share price gains, all of those earnings beats have pulled the fourth-quarter growth projection predictably higher. At the end of last year, S & P 500 earnings were expected to decline 1% during the fourth quarter, but that has improved to a 0.3% decline. Keep an ice ax and crampons handy, because at this rate, summiting zero is not out of the question. And things will look easier after that.
Early forecasts for full-year 2020 have earnings growing by an ambitious 9%. Don’ t count on it, but the first-quarter prediction of 4% growth looks reasonable.
That’ s because last year’ s go-nowhere earnings weren’ t the result of economic weakness or trade tensions, says Credit Suisse analyst Jonathan Golub. They were mostly traceable to challenges across energy and in certain tech stocks, like Facebook ( ticker: FB), which is spending heavily to address user outrage over the way users outrage one another.
Golub expects economically sensitive industries, including energy and tech, to jump back to peppy growth in 2020, and for steadier industries to be not much worse off. If all goes smoothly—and if the coronavirus outbreak can be brought under control—rising earnings will help S & P 500 members grow into last year’ s price gains. The index, before a recent dip, briefly touched its highest forward price/earnings ratio since 2002.
There is a subtle but tasty piece of statistical support for improving growth. Fourth-quarter growth for the S & P 500 will be pulled lower by index members with heavy earnings weightings and sharp earnings declines. Boeing ( BA) and Exxon Mobil ( XOM) stand out. These are not quite offset by hefty growers like Apple ( AAPL) and Microsoft ( MSFT).
Ignore the gravitational pull of such titans. The median company in the S & P 500 is expected to report 4% earnings growth during the fourth quarter. If anyone knows the ticker for this Median Co., I recommend buying shares immediately.
Back to the fourth-quarter reports we’ ve seen so far. There have been thrills and spills. I’ ve been trying not to watch General Electric ( GE) stock, with its come-hither 53% gain last year, because I’ ve been heartbroken by complicated industrials before. But on Wednesday, it blew past free-cash-flow estimates and predicted more of the same. Shares jumped 10%.
Also on Wednesday, semiconductor specialist Xilinx ( XLNX) shed 10%, because the evening before it had beaten earnings estimates but issued weak guidance and announced staffing cuts. Management blamed sluggish spending by data center and 5G customers, but this was not the company’ s only post-earnings selloff over the past year. Its name might be fitting, beginning and ending as it does with the symbols for strike one and strike two.
On Wednesday afternoon, Tesla ( TSLA) beat earnings estimates, and the stock shot 10% higher the following day. One analyst said a blue-skies outcome for the stock could take it to $ 1,000 from a recent $ 635—and he has a Neutral rating. On the earnings call, CEO Elon Musk said he thinks that “ retail investors ” have “ better insight than many of the analysts. ” The bronze bull a few blocks from Wall Street hasn’ t spoken since.
Apple ( AAPL) and Amazon. com ( AMZN) trounced estimates and shares jumped. Facebook beat on earnings, but the stock slumped. A 25% rise in revenue was outpaced by a 34% climb in costs. “ My goal for this next decade isn’ t to be liked, but to be understood, ” co-founder Mark Zuckerberg said on the call. The not-liked part of his guidance seems achievable, maybe even conservative. | business |
Will Investors Get More Defensive After WHO Declares Coronavirus a Global Emergency? | This article was originally published on ETFTrends.com.
In an effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak, the World Health Organization deemed the virus a global health emergency, which comes after the U.S. confirmed its first case of human-to-human transmission. This virus has already killed as many as 170 people in China, and has spread to 18 countries.
“ Over the past few weeks we have witnessed the emergence of a previously unknown pathogen that has escalated into an unprecedented outbreak, ” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a press conference at the organization’ s Geneva headquarters on Thursday. “ We must act together now to limit the spread. ”
“ To the people of China and to all of those around the world who have been affected by this outbreak, we want you to know that the world stands with you, ” Tedros added. “ We must remember that these are people, not numbers.
As for the global effects the virus has had thus far, a CNBC report noted that “ since emerging less than a month ago in Wuhan, China, the coronavirus has infected more people than the 2003 SARS epidemic, which sickened roughly 8,100 people across the globe over nine months. As of Thursday, there are at least eight cases in four countries, outside of China, of human-to-human transmission of the new coronavirus. ”
The virus has already infected the capital markets with volatility since it first broke news. As more information regarding the virus makes headlines, the markets have been reacting as such, giving investors a rollercoaster ride.
Will the latest announcement by WHO spur a sustained move into defensive equities?
If investors believe that U.S. defensive sectors will outperform cyclical sectors, the Direxion MSCI Defensives Over Cyclicals ETF ( RWDC) provides a means to not only see defensive sectors perform well, but a way to capitalize on their outperformance compared to cyclical sectors.
RWDC seeks investment results that track the MSCI USA Defensive Sectors – USA Cyclical Sectors 150/50 Return Spread Index. The Index measures the performance of a portfolio that has 150% long exposure to the MSCI USA Defensive Sectors Index ( the “ Long Component ”) and 50% short exposure to the MSCI USA Cyclical Sectors Index ( the “ Short Component ”).
On the other side of the trade, for investors looking for continued upside in U.S. cyclical sectors over defensive sectors, the Direxion MSCI Cyclicals Over Defensives ETF ( RWCD) offers them the ability to benefit not only from cyclical sectors potentially performing well, but from their outperformance compared to defensive sectors.
For more market trends, visit ETF Trends.
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China banks borrow from SARS playbook in preparation for market reopening | Chinese financial firms will deploy measures used during the SARS outbreak nearly two decades ago to combat the new virus when markets reopen next week, with traders set to work shifts and sales staff restricted to online-only pitches, sources said.
Banks and brokers will also be paying double next week for the essential staff in financial capital Shanghai who will be working from Monday when markets reopen after the extended Lunar New Year holiday, they said.
China's stock and bond markets are the second-largest in the world, with equities trading in Shanghai averaging 222.9 billion yuan ( $ 32.29 billion) a day in 2019 and the interbank bond market averaging 836 billion yuan, according to the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the central bank, respectively.
Mainland markets were due to reopen on Friday following a week-long break but the holiday was extended to Monday by central government officials in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus that has so far killed more than 200.
Bank compliance rules mean that while staff such as analysts can work from home, traders must work from the office using secure internal systems.
The Shanghai government has told companies not to allow workers back before Feb. 9. Banks, however, are deemed to be providing an essential service and are required to re-open nationwide on Monday, and staff called to work must be paid double on holidays.
China Construction Bank ( CCB) < 601939.SS >, the country's second largest lender, and Hang Seng Bank < 0011.HK > are among those planning to split their trading teams and alternate their working days, according to three sources.
HSBC < HSBA.L > is also considering a shift system for trading teams that have to be in the office, according to one source.
CCB and HSBC did not respond to requests for comment specifically on their trading plans. Hang Seng bank confirmed it would arrange trading shifts and would tell other staff where possible to work from home.
The People's Bank of China and the Shanghai Stock Exchange did not respond immediately to a request for comment due to the holiday.
China's new virus belongs to the same coronavirus family as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS), which also originated in China, and killed nearly 800 people globally in 2002 and 2003.
A fund manager at the investment arm of the People's Insurance Company ( Group) of China < 601319.SS > said the virus wouldn't deter people from trading when the market opens.
`` People in the market are eager to trade, '' he said. `` It's about money. You're disadvantaged if others trade but you don't. ''
China Asset Management Co Ltd said its fund managers are required to work from the office to meet compliance rules. One member of its marketing team said the company would use online marketing rather than physical roadshows to promote new products in the near-term.
`` Even if you want to meet investors in flesh, they don't necessarily want to meet you, '' he said.
( Reporting by Cheng Leng, Samuel Shen and Winni Zhou; Additional reporting by Scott Murdoch; Writing by Jennifer Hughes; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) | business |
FiercePharmaAsia—Coronavirus drugs?; Sanofi Korea vaccine bribery probe; Novartis ' China plan | Amid an ongoing outbreak of a deadly new coronavirus in China, AbbVie's HIV drug ritonavir and Gilead Sciences ' remdesivir have emerged as possible treatments to fight it. A Sanofi executive in Korea was arrested as authorities dig into alleged vaccine procurement bid-rigging. Novartis is aiming to double its sales in China by 2024 from $ 2.2 billion in 2019.
In this Fierce Biotech webinar we will examine a number of the benefits of Lonza’ s, XS® Pichia 2.0 including: speed, simple fermentation regimes, robust and scalable processes that can be tuned according to the specific objectives of a program, helping to advance new drug candidates through the development pipeline. | tech |
Coronavirus conspiracy theories spread panic and dangerous misinformation | The deadly coronavirus has spawned dangerous, baffling conspiracy theories online as officials across the globe work to stop the virus ' spread.
As of Thursday afternoon, there had been more than 7,700 confirmed cases of the virus — which originated in Wuhan, China — and at least 170 deaths. Eighteen other countries, including the U.S., have confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization.
But as bad as the virus is, conspiracy theories and misinformation are making the situation worse. The internet is rife with misinformation about the origin of the virus and how to protect yourself from it. Some of it is dangerous, some strange, and some downright racist. All of it is seemingly designed to piggyback off the intense interest in the virus.
There has been so much bad information out there that Twitter has started tweaking search results to filter out non-credible coronavirus content and Google has launched `` SOS Alert '' to provide reliable resources for people searching for information about the virus.
Here are some of the most prominent hoaxes about coronavirus that are currently being spread across social media and resources debunking them.
The thrust of this theory is that the coronavirus is somehow owned by Bill Gates and was unleashed for nefarious purposes. One Twitter post, for instance, racked up 1,000 retweets by linking out to a strange website running a headline claiming the coronavirus was `` a patented virus '' and that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was `` one of the primary owners. '' The tweet then pivoted to wondering if the `` deep state '' spread the virus `` to create chaos since nothing [ is ] stopping Trump. ''
A similar conspiracy theory floated around TikTok last week, according to Forbes. But the Gates Foundation did not, of course, create a virus that the so-called deep state then used to infect an unsuspecting population.
As is often the case, there is a kernel of truth somewhere that was distorted well past the realm of reality. In this instance, the Gates Foundation helped fund the UK's Pirbright Institute, which holds a patent related to the development of a weakened strain of the coronavirus that could be used to vaccinate birds or other animals from respiratory diseases.
`` Pirbright does not currently work with human coronaviruses, '' the institute said in a statement.
Additionally, The Gates Foundation foundation announced on Sunday that it would donate $ 10 million to fight the outbreak.
As the Daily Beast reported, QAnon folks — a wholly false, yet incredibly popular conspiracy theory that claims President Donald Trump is dismantling a secret, vast deep-state cabal — have been promoting the use of `` Miracle Mineral Solution '' ( MMS) to protect yourself against the coronavirus.
“ I’ m going to have to get home, and MMS the whole state, ” QAnon promoter Jordan Sather said in a recent video, according to the Daily Beast. “ MMS the whole shit out of everything. ”
The thing is, MMS is basically bleach.
`` Miracle Mineral Solution and similar products are not FDA-approved, and ingesting these products is the same as drinking bleach, '' the FDA said in an August statement.
China expanded its lockdown against the deadly new virus to an unprecedented 36 million people. New followers protect yourself with the 20-20-20 spray. Watch this video It will kill the deadly virus. https: //t.co/cWfMQZHoY5
— chiefpolice ( @ chiefpolice2) January 25, 2020
SEE ALSO: Coronavirus might put a wrench in Apple's iPhone production plans
One U.S. nonprofit has apparently raised a fair bit of money for charity, in part, by posting sensationalistic Instagram posts about the coronavirus. NBC News reported the two most popular coronavirus Instagram posts were both from Karmagawa, a nonprofit that says it donates proceeds of its merchandise to charity.
`` Both posts feature a carousel of videos, some of which show people eating animals like bats and mice and put the blame for the outbreak on the eating habits of Asian people — claims that have been debunked, '' wrote NBC News.
Experts have warned these sorts of posts could help spread racist and xenophobic fears tied to the illness. The popular posts from Karmagawa, which has 1 million followers, have racked up tens of millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes.
As Mashable has reported, there's an error-riddled social media post going viral that espouses racist conspiracy theories about the coronavirus. The misspelling-filled post falsely connects some Asian foods to the spread of the disease and has been particularly popular in Australia, even after it's been repeatedly debunked.
Misleading videos of people eating bats are also being shared widely, in a racist and deeply flawed attempt to blame Chinese bat consumption for this outbreak.
1/2 @ NSWHealth has been made aware of a social media post that is being widely circulated warning people to not consume certain foods or visit certain locations in Sydney. This post has not originated from NSW Health or any related entity... pic.twitter.com/GcvM4aG4ga
— NSW Health ( @ NSWHealth) January 28, 2020
Another popular ( but debunked) theory involves a Winnipeg microbiology lab that handles dangerous pathogens.
Sans evidence, the theory posits that a Chinese scientist who was escorted out of the lab last summer sent the coronavirus back to China.
“ This is misinformation and there is no factual basis for claims being made on social media, ” The Public Health Agency of Canada told the National Post.
THREAD: Some of my stories about Canada’ s National Microbiology Lab ( NML) have been distorted to create a # coronavirus conspiracy theory. One of the 1st mentions was Saturday on Twitter. Businessman Kyle Bass claimed this involved “ a husband and wife Chinese spy team ”: ( 1/11) pic.twitter.com/GfcnlBJ9Fp
— Karen Pauls ( @ karenpaulscbc) January 28, 2020
A common thread for a number of conspiracy theories out there is that the Chinese government developed the virus as a weapon. As Poynter Institute fact-checking site Politifact noted, one such theory floated the idea that the aforementioned scientist in the Canadian lab took the coronavirus to a maximum security lab in Wuhan, where it eventually hit the public.
Prepare now I believe the coronavirus was bioengineered and accidentally released from the lab in Wuhan # coronavirus
— Nick Ricci ( @ NickRicci5) January 30, 2020
But Politifact said there just wasn't proof to back that up, `` Officials are still trying to determine the exact cause of the outbreak, but there’ s no evidence of it being created for use as a bioweapon. ''
SEE ALSO: The coronavirus has sent a video game about wiping out humanity to # 1
Debunked theories like these are a reminder that while the outbreak is concerning, you should still be careful about what you share and what you accept as fact. The coronavirus has the attention of the world, which all but guarantees people peddling disinformation will ride that wave.
This is a developing story... | tech |
Facebook will remove some coronavirus conspiracy theories | Facebook is cracking down on coronavirus rumors and conspiracy theories.
The company said that its fact checkers will debunk false claims about the coronavirus, and that it will remove some posts pushing conspiracy theories about it.
`` We will also start to remove content with false claims or conspiracy theories that have been flagged by leading global health organizations and local health authorities that could cause harm to people who believe them, '' the company wrote in a statement.
`` We are doing this as an extension of our existing policies to remove content that could cause physical harm. ''
The company will also be `` conducting proactive sweeps to find and remove as much of this content as we can '' on Instagram, where it will block hashtags associated with misinformation. Facebook didn't indicate exactly how much content it would be removing under its new rules, but conspiracy theories about the virus are rampant on social media.
SEE ALSO: Coronavirus conspiracy theories spread panic and dangerous misinformation
`` We’ re focusing on claims that are designed to discourage treatment or taking appropriate precautions, '' Facebook says. `` This includes claims related to false cures or prevention methods — like drinking bleach cures the coronavirus — or claims that create confusion about health resources that are available. ''
It's a significant move for Facebook, which often declines to remove conspiracy theories, even if they 've been debunked by the company's fact checkers.
Notably, Facebook's coronavirus policy appears to be much more aggressive than how it has dealt with anti-vaccine conspiracy theories, which also cause physical harm. The company will fact check and demote anti-vaccine content, but the posts are allowed to remain in News Feed and in groups.
The update comes after Twitter and Google have also announced initiatives to combat conspiracy theories and other inaccurate information about the coronavirus. | tech |
Coronavirus panic is not an excuse to spread racist memes | Coronavirus has put the world on high alert. But the spread of the virus has been matched by the spread of racism and misinformation.
First observed in China, the deadly virus has killed 213 people and infected nearly 10,000. It has been confirmed in at least 16 other countries so far, prompting many governments to issue warnings or restrict travel. It’ s a frightening time, particularly for those trapped in China’ s quarantined cities.
As the panic has spread, warnings to avoid Asians and Asian-populated areas have gone viral. Many of them are blaming the coronavirus outbreak on Chinese people eating bats. There really is no bad thing humans can't make worse.
The racist narrative has engulfed social media. Sites like Twitter and Facebook are filled with posts calling Asians `` barbaric '' and `` disgusting. '' Some even say they `` deserve '' the coronavirus outbreak because they consume bats.
White people are really making anti-Chinese jokes because of this outbreak as if their ancestors didn’ t spread catastrophic diseases everywhere because they didn’ t know how to bathe
— Darien Alexis ( @ DarienAlexis3) January 25, 2020
Some people in China do eat bats. However, the animals are also consumed by people all over the world, including in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and even the Americas. It's also true that bats and other animals can carry coronaviruses — though, according to the CDC they rarely spread to people, as was the case with the MERS and SARS outbreaks.
Beef, pork, and chicken can also transmit disease — most famously mad cow disease, swine flu, and salmonella. Yet nobody was vilified for having previously eaten pork during the 2009 swine flu pandemic.
The notion that eating bat is inherently barbaric, disgusting, or immoral is based entirely on the food practices that have been normalised in predominantly Western societies. The coronavirus panic has provided an opportunity for a pile-on of disinformation.
Particularly upsetting are the videos of Asian people eating bats that have been shared widely on social media in recent days. The comments are exactly what you’ d expect, and incredibly familiar to anyone of Asian descent.
`` The most disgusting people with no damn culture expect eating every other freaking animals they see they deserve they type of viruses karma bi * * h. ''
`` I guess they just take the rats in their kitchen, deep fry them and serve them on the menu as well… ''
`` these ppl eat anything that has 4 foot in it except a friggin Table. And now their jnfected are not quarantined, they free to travel anywhere in the world. its like they are the disease themselves ''
Today my son was cornered at school by kids who wanted to “ test ” him for # Coronavirus just because he is half-Chinese. They chased him. Scared him. And made him cry.I was the same age when I was bullied for being Pakistani.It’ s 2020. I thought things had changed by now... 💔
— Dr. Nadia Alam ( @ DocSchmadia) January 30, 2020
the coronavirus outbreak doesn’ t give u the right to be racist & xenophobic towards asian people
— geo ( @ skzlovs) January 26, 2020
In one of the videos, a Chinese woman holds a bat up to show the camera before tucking in. Various media outlets have labelled the footage `` gruesome, '' unable to handle the notion that not everyone gets all their protein from plastic-wrapped cutlets of factory-farmed chicken.
However, the clip wasn’ t shot in China. The woman was in Palau, an island nearly 3,000 miles away. Nor did this happen recently. It was part of an online travel show filmed in 2016 and released before 2018. Host Wang Mengyun was simply trying the local cuisine, which included bat meat. ( According to her, the bat she consumed was a fruit bat that had been raised by locals, not a wild one.)
racists: coronavirus happened because Chinese people eat weird shitme, a Chinese person: what is the charge? eating a meal? a succulent Chinese meal?
— Soon-Tzu Speechley 孫子 ( @ speechleyish) January 31, 2020
SEE ALSO: Watch out for this extremely fake, weirdly racist viral post about coronavirus
Of course, none of this stopped people from piling on Wang, forcing her to issue an apology. Neither did it stop them from spreading the video. Many who have shared it clearly consider the behaviour subnormal, conflating `` unfamiliar '' with `` disgusting '' and perceiving their normality as superior. It is sadly not an unfamiliar reaction.
`` Ignorance plus distrust plus saber rattling are a deadly combination, '' said historian John Kuo Wei Tchen, speaking in 2014 on anti-Asian racism in the U.S. `` It’ s not all hate, but the line in the sand is drawn between we civilized, normal, hence superior people versus 'them. ' ''
Beef, pork, and chicken have become staple foods around the globe, normalised and commercialised on an industrial scale, but bat meat has not. Many people are familiar with the concept of eating a cow or pig, but would have never turned their mind toward eating a bat.
PSA for everyone freaking out about this coronavirus: A country that YouTubed itself into a 21st Century measles outbreak does not get to talk any shit about anyone else's health practices.
— Elliott Kay ( @ ElliottKaybooks) January 29, 2020
it's uncalled for to call chinese people uncivilized just because they eat bats: / i know we're all scared pero sa tarlac, some people eat snakes and frogs, sa palawan, some people eat worms from tree bark, sa batangas some people eat paniki, just say you're racist and go: /
— claudine ( @ stephjaurigue) January 24, 2020
Some of the repulsion also comes from the fact that the bats being eaten in the videos are clearly identifiable as animals. Again, this disgust is rooted in the psychology surrounding meat consumption rather than the behaviour itself.
Supermarkets stocked with pre-cut, commercially farmed meat have contributed to a psychological disassociation in consumers between meat and the animals it comes from. Studies have demonstrated that people are more disgusted by meat when it visibly resembles the animal, or even when it is referred to as `` cow '' instead of `` beef. ''
In contrast, many Asian people have a greater connection with their food's source, as evidenced by the history of live animal sales at wet markets. China does have prepackaged meat, but the value Chinese people place on the `` freshness '' of food means they're also accustomed to carcasses that still look like animals, or even butchering animals themselves. It's a different way of approaching food, but no less legitimate.
I’ ll just put it here that attacking Chinese people for exotic meat is shocking in its historical ignorance. This actually has nothing to do w China and entirely how industrialized food production monopolized public consciousness about food in America.
— J for Genius ( @ cogitatotomato) January 28, 2020
In reality, scientists don’ t yet know exactly where this coronavirus originated and how it was transmitted to humans. There is good evidence that bats were the source of this outbreak, but even if that is ultimately found to be the case, it doesn't warrant the ill-informed and often racist memes making the rounds.
Though this coronavirus outbreak is new, the persistent, racist idea that Chinese people are filthy and will indiscriminately eat anything with a pulse is far from it. The outbreak has simply brought these xenophobic sentiments to the fore, strengthening them with confirmation bias and fear. Asian and particularly Chinese communities around the world are facing ostracisation and hostility, being turned away from restaurants and racially abused.
It's important to be cautious in the face of this global health emergency, and to take reasonable precautions to prevent infection. But it's just as important not to give in to racism and hatred, or pile more harm onto an already painful situation. | tech |
ClearSign Technologies Corporation Provides Updates on Ongoing Projects | ClearSign Technologies Corporation provided updates on its operations in China and the demonstration project at the World Oil site in California. With the continuing outbreak of the Corona virus, the Company anticipates possible delays to the two boiler demonstration projects in China. While at present the Company anticipates that both projects will be completed this year, the recent extension of the Chinese New Year holiday period and the travel restrictions on the local work force are impacting the project schedules. To date, based on ClearSign's measurements, the modifications made this past year to the water tube boiler project have performed well, achieving up to 95% of the design capacity with NOx levels within the aggressive project specification. The burner hardware is currently undergoing an engineering modification to prepare it for final automation, formal testing and ongoing operation. This will resume as soon as the situation in China allows. The testing of the fire tube boiler has been relocated to a different site. The new site is not restricted by the schedule of the heating season, and will allow for testing after the heating season is over, if required. The testing will also now take place in a boiler that is not in use for facility heating, which allows more flexibility in the timing of the installation, optimization and testing. The initial test firing of the ClearSign burners at the World Oil site in California was undertaken this past week. The burners demonstrated an operating range from below minimum to exceeding their design firing capacity while consistently limiting NOx emissions to less that 4ppm based on ClearSign measurements. In this initial testing some interaction was experienced between the burners creating problematic flame behavior that ultimately lead to a joint decision between World Oil and ClearSign to remove the burners so that the anomaly could be addressed without disrupting the production of the refinery through the peak mid-year production season. The purpose of the project with World Oil is to demonstrate ClearSign Core™ process burner technology as a Best Available Control Technology ( BACT) candidate to achieve sub 5 ppm NOx emissions levels in refinery process heaters and other types of fired equipment. The project involves a retrofit installation of five Plug & Play™ burners on a process heater within the California refinery as a demonstration of the technology for the South Coast Air Quality Management District and refiner World Oil. Based on preliminary estimates, if successful, the project is expected to result in a reduction of over 15 tons of NOx emissions compared to current operations, without the utilization of catalysts, chemicals, utility consumption or other inefficient requirements of established technologies. | business |
China banks borrow from SARS playbook in preparation for market reopening | Banks and brokers will also be paying double next week for the essential staff in financial capital Shanghai who will be working from Monday when markets reopen after the extended Lunar New Year holiday, they said.
China's stock and bond markets are the second-largest in the world, with equities trading in Shanghai averaging 222.9 billion yuan ( 24.57 billion pounds) a day in 2019 and the interbank bond market averaging 836 billion yuan, according to the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the central bank, respectively.
Mainland markets were due to reopen on Friday following a week-long break but the holiday was extended to Monday by central government officials in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus that has so far killed more than 200.
Bank compliance rules mean that while staff such as analysts can work from home, traders must work from the office using secure internal systems.
The Shanghai government has told companies not to allow workers back before Feb. 9. Banks, however, are deemed to be providing an essential service and are required to re-open nationwide on Monday, and staff called to work must be paid double on holidays.
China Construction Bank ( CCB), the country's second largest lender, and Hang Seng Bank are among those planning to split their trading teams and alternate their working days, according to three sources.
HSBC is also considering a shift system for trading teams that have to be in the office, according to one source.
CCB and HSBC did not respond to requests for comment specifically on their trading plans. Hang Seng bank confirmed it would arrange trading shifts and would tell other staff where possible to work from home.
The People's Bank of China and the Shanghai Stock Exchange did not respond immediately to a request for comment due to the holiday.
China's new virus belongs to the same coronavirus family as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS), which also originated in China, and killed nearly 800 people globally in 2002 and 2003.
A fund manager at the investment arm of the People's Insurance Company ( Group) of China said the virus wouldn't deter people from trading when the market opens.
`` People in the market are eager to trade, '' he said. `` It's about money. You're disadvantaged if others trade but you don't. ''
China Asset Management Co Ltd said its fund managers are required to work from the office to meet compliance rules. One member of its marketing team said the company would use online marketing rather than physical roadshows to promote new products in the near-term.
`` Even if you want to meet investors in flesh, they don't necessarily want to meet you, '' he said.
( Reporting by Cheng Leng, Samuel Shen and Winni Zhou; Additional reporting by Scott Murdoch; Writing by Jennifer Hughes; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) | business |
Hyundai Motor to suspend some SUV output in South Korea as virus disrupts supplies | Its crosstown rival Ssangyong Motor also said it will idle its plant in the South Korean city of Pyeongtaek from Feb. 4 to Feb. 12, as China's factory suspension had disrupted parts supplies.
The suspension illustrates that China's extended factory closures ripple through supply chains across China and beyond.
A coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan, the capital of China's central province of Hubei, has spread to more than 9,320 people globally, killing over 200 people.
Many firms scale back operations or close for long periods around the holidays, which began on Jan. 24 this year. This year, China's government extended the Lunar New Year holidays to limit the spread of the virus.
Hyundai Motor is finding alternative suppliers in South Korea and other parts of China, after a supplier extended a factory closure to Feb. 9 in the wake of the closure, a union spokesperson said.
( Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin and Joyce Lee; editing by David Evans) | business |
Novacyt S.A.: Launch of Novel Coronavirus Test | Regulatory News:
Novacyt ( EURONEXT GROWTH: ALNOV; AIM: NCYT) ( `` Novacyt '', the `` Company '' or the “ Group ”), an international specialist in clinical diagnostics, announces that its molecular diagnostics division, Primerdesign, has launched a new molecular test for novel coronavirus ( 2019-nCoV). As announced on 28 January, the research use only ( RUO) test has been developed as a direct response to the recent outbreak of the respiratory virus in China.
The Primerdesign coronavirus test has the ability to detect only the 2019 strain of the virus, which the Company believes differentiates it from other current tests which are less specific and may also react to other related species giving rise to a false diagnosis. The Primerdesign test is also stable at ambient temperatures, which eliminates the need for cold chain shipping in tropical climates and therefore improves the efficiency of the test and reduces transport costs.
On 7 January 2020, the Chinese authorities identified a new strain of the coronavirus named 2019-nCoV that had not been previously identified in humans. The outbreak started in the Chinese city of Wuhan, and already thousands of people have been confirmed infected and 170 have died as of 28 January 2020. Significant containment controls and people movement restrictions have been imposed by China and other countries close to China. The presence of the infection has already been reported in 15 other countries. More people have now been infected in China than during the severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS) outbreak in the early 2000s.
On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization ( WHO) declared the 2019-nCoV outbreak a global emergency as it continues to spread outside of China.
The test has been designed to run on multiple molecular testing platforms, including Primerdesign’ s own genesig® q16 and q32 instrument, and therefore can be used in large and small laboratories as well as remotely where necessary. The test can generate a result in less than two hours meaning that all samples can be screened quickly which could help stop the unnecessary spread of this virus.
Graham Mullis, Chief Executive Officer of Novacyt commented. “ Over the last few days, we have seen significant early demand for our genesig® 2019-nCoV test from over 10 countries. We believe our assay is the first European test to be made available and will be introduced this weekend at the Medlab Expo in the Middle East. Our rapid response to this latest virus outbreak is a testament to our core competency of in-vitro diagnostic design, development, manufacturing and commercialisation. I am immensely proud of the Primerdesign team which has been able to offer this rapid response for our customers who need fast and reliable diagnostic solutions in times such as these. ”
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation ( EU) 596/2014.
About Novacyt Group The Novacyt Group is an international diagnostics business generating an increasing portfolio of in vitro and molecular diagnostic tests. Its core strengths lie in diagnostics product development, commercialisation, contract design and manufacturing. The Company's lead business units comprise of Primerdesign and Lab21 Products, supplying an extensive range of high-quality assays and reagents worldwide. The Group directly serves microbiology, haematology and serology markets as do its global partners, which include major corporates.
For more information please refer to the website: www.novacyt.com
About 2019-nCoV Researchers at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention and their collaborators have sequenced the 2019 novel coronavirus ( 2019-nCoV) pathogen from patient samples and have found it to be genetically distinct from the severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS) virus that caused an epidemic in 2002 and 2003, as well as from the Middle East respiratory syndrome ( MERS) virus that was detected in 2012.
View source version on businesswire.com: https: //www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200130005908/en/ | business |
SE Asia Stocks-Extend losses as coronavirus fears deepen, Philippines falls most | * WHO declares coronavirus outbreak a global health emergency * Philippines set for fifth straight session of losses * Indonesia set to fall over 4% for the week By Arpit Nayak Jan 31 ( Reuters) - Southeast Asian stock markets extended losses on Friday after the World Health Organisation ( WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a global emergency, with Indonesia and Philippines easing over 1% each. The death toll from the virus crossed the 200-mark in China with confirmed cases of infection reported in at least 22 other countries and regions. The WHO director-general on Thursday said the greatest concern was the virus ' potential spread to countries with weaker healthcare systems, compounded by cases of person-to-person transfer of the virus outside China. Economists have signalled the impact of the new virus could be worse than that of the Severe Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS) epidemic in 2002-2003, which took 800 lives and cost the global economy an estimated $ 33 billion. All south-east Asian markets were headed for weekly losses as the virus continued to dampen risk appetite in the region. Providing some relief, China's manufacturing activity in January was in line with expectations, dodging a contraction. `` China markets ' return in the coming week will be assessed for impact and could add to the noise as selling gets underway, '' IG Market Strategist Jingyi Pan said in note. With the growing reassessment of the growth trajectory for China this year by brokers following the virus outbreak, the sentiment may be overtly bearish at present, the note added. Indonesian shares slumped as much as 1.7% and were on course to slip 4.2% for the week, with financial and consumer stocks being the biggest drags on the index. An index of Indonesia's 45 most liquid stocks fell over 2%. Bank Rakyat Indonesia shed 2.6% and household goods maker Unilever Indonesia dipped 2.7%. Philippine stocks lost 1.8%, on course for a fifth consecutive session of losses and were set to be down 4.8% for the week. Financials and consumer stocks took the biggest hit, with BDO Unibank and conglomerate SM Investments dropping 2.9% and 2.2%, respectively. Singapore shares dipped 0.3% and headed for a loss of about 1.8% for the month, with conglomerate DBS Group Holdings losing 1.4% and Mapletree Logistics Trust down 1.1%. Vietnamese stocks fell nearly 1% after losing over 3% in the previous session. The Malaysian index inched lower 0.1%, following eight consecutive sessions of losses. The Thai bourse inched 0.3% lower, ahead of trade data for December expected later on Thursday. For Asian Companies click; SOUTHEAST ASIAN STOCK MARKETS as at 0405 GMT STOCK MARKETS Change on the day Market Current Previous Pct Move close Singapore 3163.3 3170.68 -0.23 Bangkok 1520.48 1523.99 -0.23 Manila 7260.37 7392.68 -1.79 Jakarta 5977.3 6057.596 -1.33 Kuala Lumpur 1544.99 1545.59 -0.04 Ho Chi Minh 955.47 959.58 -0.43 Change so far in 2020 Market Current End 2019 Pct Move Singapore 3163.3 3222.83 -1.85 Bangkok 1520.48 1579.84 -3.76 Manila 7260.37 7,815.26 -7.10 Jakarta 5977.3 6,299.54 -5.12 Kuala Lumpur 1544.99 1588.76 -2.75 Ho Chi Minh 955.47 960.99 -0.57 ( Reporting by Arpit Nayak in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta) | business |
Hang Seng Bank: Outlets To Close at Noon on Saturdays Until Further Notice Other Arrangements During Weekdays Under Consideration, To Be Updated ( 31 January 2020) | 31 January 2020
Hang Seng Bank Outlets To Close at Noon on Saturdays Until Further Notice Other Arrangements During Weekdays Under Consideration, To Be Updated
Hang Seng Bank places top priority on the health and safety of its employees and customers. The Bank has had a number of precautionary health measures to protect against the novel coronavirus in place from 29 January, the first working day following the Chinese New Year holiday. These include more frequent cleaning at its outlets and offices, and all non-service critical staff to work from home until 8 February. Frontline and service-critical staff are required to check their temperature before leaving for work and to wear surgical masks at all times while on duty. Business trips to mainland China have been suspended and all staff ( frontline and service-critical staff included) who have visited mainland China over the holidays are required to inform their managers and to stay or work at home for 14 days following their return to Hong Kong.
While the Bank continually strives to maintain normal banking services for the convenience of customers, we will be taking further precautionary actions in response to the latest developments related to the novel coronavirus. Starting from tomorrow ( 1 February), the Saturday opening hours of all Hang Seng branch outlets will be adjusted to 9:00am - 12:00noon. This adjustment means all branches will be closing one to two hours earlier than usual until further notice. The Bank is also looking at arrangements to temporarily close 18 street level branches, 10 outlets in MTR stations and 3 Business Banking Centres in phases by 5 February 2020. Details will be announced when finalized and posted on the Bank's website www.hangseng.com.
Customers are advised to visit other Hang Seng outlets or use the Bank's other service channels, such as e-Banking, mobile banking or phone banking ( personal customers: 2822 0228 / commercial customers: 2198 8000) to meet their banking needs.
The Bank apologises for any inconvenience caused.
# END #
Hang Seng Bank Outlets To Close at Noon on Saturdays Until Further Notice Other Arrangements During Weekdays Under Consideration, To Be Updated / 2 | business |
U.S. ramps up anti-coronavirus measures at border as impact spreads | That measure followed on from an earlier travel advisory that warned Americans not to travel to China and angered Beijing.
Originating in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the flu-like virus first identified earlier in January has resulted in 213 deaths in China, according to local health authorities. Wuhan and the surrounding region of Hubei are in virtual quarantine.
More than 9,800 people have been infected in China and more than 130 cases reported in at least 25 other countries and regions, with Russia, Britain, Sweden and Italy all reporting their first cases on Thursday or Friday.
The World Health Organization said on Thursday that the epidemic constituted a public health emergency of international concern, a designation that triggers tighter global containment measures and coordination.
`` Following the World Health Organization's decision... I have today declared that the coronavirus presents a public health emergency in the United States, '' U.S. Health Secretary Alex Azar said at a public briefing on Friday afternoon.
As of Sunday, U.S. citizens who had been in Hubei would be subject to compulsory quarantine, he said. Foreign nationals - aside from the immediate family of citizens and residents - who had traveled in China in the last 14 days would be denied entry, said Azar.
`` The risk is low in the United States... but our job is to keep that risk low as much as we can, '' he said.
The move will likely anger Beijing, which has only just started to mend tattered trade ties with Washington. Earlier on Friday, it criticized the U.S. travel warning.
`` The World Health Organization urged countries to avoid travel restrictions, but very soon after that, the United States did the opposite, '' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said. `` It's truly mean. ''
Other countries have also advised citizens to put off non-urgent travel to China or restricted flights. After reporting its first two cases of the illness, Russia on Friday restricted direct flights to China, its biggest trade partner.
Singapore, a major travel hub in Asia, stopped entry of passengers with a recent history of travel to China and also suspended visas for Chinese passport holders.
Many airlines have chosen to cancel or reduce flights, with airline crews pressuring carriers to act.
Governments around the world are evacuating citizens from Hubei. A plane with 83 British and 27 foreign nationals landed in Britain on Friday, while Japan, with 14 confirmed cases, has sent three flights to bring citizens home.
The United States said it would channel all flights from China through seven airports. It has put 195 Americans evacuated to California this week in quarantine.
The virus has an incubation of between one and 14 days, and there are some limited signs it may also be able to spread before any symptoms show.
For a full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak, click: https: //graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH/0100B59Y39P/index.html
GLOBAL REVERBERATIONS
With major fallout inevitable for China's economy, which is the world's second largest, global shares posted their biggest weekly and monthly losses since August on Friday.
The outbreak could `` reverberate globally, '' Moody's said.
In the latest impact to big name corporations, South Korea's Hyundai Motor said it planned to halt production of a sport utility vehicle this weekend due to a supply disruption caused by the outbreak.
Home appliance maker Electrolux issued a similar warning, French carmaker PSA Peugeot said its three plants in Wuhan will remain closed until mid-February, and tractor maker Deere & Co said it was temporarily shutting its facilities in China.
WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has said the WHO did not support travel or trade curbs. Tedros reiterated in a series of tweets on Friday that his organization had confidence in China's capacity to control the 2019-nCoV virus.
`` Travel restrictions can cause more harm than good by hindering info-sharing and medical supply chains and harming economies. We urge countries and companies to make evidence-based, consistent decisions. ''
Graphic: Tracking the novel coronavirus - https: //graphics.reuters.com/CHINA-HEALTH-MAP/0100B59S39E/index.html
VIRUS EPICENTER
The roughly 60 million residents of Hubei province, where Wuhan is the capital, have had movements curbed to try and slow the spread of the disease. But some people were leaving and entering the area by foot on a bridge over the Yangtze river, a Reuters witness said, and infections have jumped in two cities flanking Wuhan.
China's statistics show just over 2% of infected people have died, suggesting the virus is less deadly than the 2002-2003 outbreak of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome ( SARS).
But economists say its financial impact could be bigger than SARS, which killed about 800 people at an estimated cost of $ 33 billion to the global economy, since China's share of the world economy is now far greater.
Like other respiratory infections, the coronavirus spreads between people in droplets from coughs and sneezes. No deaths have been reported outside China, but it is still too early to know what its death rate will be.
`` The issue now with this is that there's a lot of unknowns, '' said U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention head Robert Redfield.
The WHO has reported at least eight cases of human-to-human transmission - as opposed to people coming infected from China - in four countries: the United States, Germany, Japan and Vietnam. Thailand said it too had such a case.
( Reporting by Brenda Goh in Shanghai, Muyu Xu, Ryan Woo and Cate Cadell in Beijing; Martin Pollard in Jiujiang, Felix Tam and Clare Jim in Hong Kong; John Geddie and Aradhana Aravindan in Singapore; Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Michelle Nichols at the U.N.; Gilles Guillaume in Paris; Dylan Martinez in Brize Norton; Maria Tsvetkova in Moscow; Makini Brice and David Shepardson in Washington; Writing by Nick Macfie and Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Timothy Heritage, Andrew Cawthorne and Jonathan Oatis)
By Brenda Goh and Makini Brice | business |
Oil Prices Slump on Fears the Worst of Coronavirus Is ‘ Yet to Come’ | Oil prices recently fell to a three-month low, and U.S. benchmark crude is on track to suffer a loss of more than 12% in January as coronavirus intensifies the impact of seasonal weakness in the market, raising prospects for lower fuel prices.
The market is “ dealing with two issues giving hurricane-force headwinds to oil, ” says Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis for fuel-price tracker GasBuddy. One is seasonal winter weakness in demand and the other is the “ Chinese coronavirus and the implications that it could throttle back demand in the world’ s second-largest economy. ”
U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate oil may “ drop under $ 50 before the market finds some sort of traction, ” says DeHaan. That would bring prices to their lowest level since January 2019.
WTI crude and global benchmark Brent crude futures on Jan. 30 marked their lowest settlements since August and October of last year, respectively, with WTI at $ 52.14 and Brent at $ 58.29 a barrel. As of Jan. 30, WTI prices traded nearly 15% lower for the month so far, while Brent has lost nearly 12% this month. Both were poised for the largest January loss since 1991.
“ The market is betting that the worst is yet to come, ” says Manish Raj, chief financial officer at Velandera Energy. There is concern the virus will indirectly lead to economic slowdown in China, as the nation “ contributes to more than a quarter of the growth in global oil demand, ” he said. Yet, there is “ no doubt that actual oil-demand reduction resulting from coronavirus will be temporary at best. ”
He said he thinks that the virus-led fears are “ overblown, ” and unless the World Health Organization classifies the virus as a global pandemic, he sees the market response as an overreaction. WHO on Thursday designated the outbreak in China a public health emergency of international concern. “ As psychological fears give way to on-the-ground reality of sustained oil demand, oil prices will revert back to pre-coronavirus levels, ” says Raj.
Brent crude reached a settlement high of $ 68.91 in early January before news of the coronavirus really took flight.
The decline in oil prices has also led a fall in gasoline prices. Even before any real media coverage of the virus, there was a “ miserable period of transportation demand in the U.S., ” points out Tom Kloza, global head of energy analysis at the Oil Price Information Service.
Implied demand for U.S. motor gasoline over the past four weeks as of the week ended on Jan. 24 was at 8.5 million barrels a day, down 4.4% from the same period last year, according to the Energy Information Administration.
The average national price for regular gasoline fell to $ 2.495 a gallon on Jan. 29, below $ 2.50 for the first time since March, according to data from GasBuddy.
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DeHaan says given the loss in oil prices, retail gasoline could fall in the $ 2.30 range “ before all is said and done, ” though a downward move probably won’ t last much more than a few more weeks.
As for oil, there is “ no visible impact to demand just yet, ” but movements in oil are being driven by fear, says Jay Park, chief executive officer at oil and gas firm ReconAfrica. He notes that there was only a small impact on demand during the SARS outbreak in 2003, but a “ significant ” decline in prices.
The price impact of the coronavirus could be a drop of about $ 5 to $ 10 a barrel in Brent and WTI, he says. He believes that the impact is already priced in, with WTI falling from $ 63 to $ 53 and Brent down from $ 68 to $ 59 this month. | business |
NanoViricides: Confirms It Has Been Working On A Treatment for the Novel Wuhan Coronavirus | NanoViricides, Inc. ( NYSE Amer.: NNVC) ( the 'Company '), a global leader in the development of highly effective antiviral therapies based on a novel nanomedicines platform, is confirming public disclosures in articles by various industry journals and other articles, that it is working on developing a treatment for the novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV, or the Wuhan coronavirus.
'We have already initiated a program for developing a treatment for the 2019-nCOV, ' said Anil R. Diwan, PhD, President and Executive Chairman of the Company, adding, 'Our platform technology enables possibly the most rapid pathway for new drug development against viral diseases. Of course, we will need support from governmental and international agencies such as the US CDC, WHO, and Chinese CDC to successfully develop these treatments, and, if developed, to get them to the patients in the fastest possible time. At this time, the Company does not have a collaboration with any of these agencies, and we have not been contacted by any of these entities or asked to develop a treatment for this virus. We had collaborations with the CDC and USAMRIID in the past. The Company intends to pursue a relevant collaboration for testing of our drug candidates soon. '
The new 2019-nCoV is known to be closely related to the SARS-CoV of 2002-2003 epidemic. In fact it has been shown to use the same cell surface receptor as SARS-CoV, namely ACE2.
'We have already found some lead candidate ligands in our chemical library that can bind to the SARS-CoV spike protein in the same fashion as it binds to the cognate receptor, ACE2, using molecular modeling tools, ' explained Dr. Diwan, adding, 'We believe this means we may already be significantly ahead in developing a potential treatment for the new Wuhan virus. '
While the Company commissions synthesis of the anti-nCoV nanoviricide drug candidates for testing, some of which are already in our hands, in parallel, the Company has also started preparing for testing of the candidates in cell cultures against certain known BSL2 coronaviruses, including ones that use the ACE2 receptor. Less threatful viruses in the same family that use the same receptor can serve as valid test viruses for screening our broad-spectrum antiviral drug candidates. The Company has its own BSL2-certified virology laboratory at its Shelton campus where it intends to perform this testing.
The Company has its own cGMP-capable drug manufacturing facility. This highly customizable facility can be employed to produce several thousand doses of drugs per batch for treating coronavirus patients, if the Company's drug successfully transitions to obtaining an exploratory treatment approval for use in patients.
The Company's platform technology has already proven that it can result in safe drugs. The Company's first IND-ready clinical drug candidate, namely NV-HHV-101, has successfully undergone a standard battery of Safety and Toxicological testing, as previously disclosed by the Company in press releases and SEC filings.
The Company is building on its previous work against coronaviruses. The Company's technology relies on copying the human cell-surface receptor to which the virus binds, and making small chemicals that are called 'ligands ' that will bind to the virus in the same fashion as the cognate receptor. These ligands are chemically attached to a nanomicelle, to create a nanoviricide. It is anticipated that when a virus comes in contact with the nanoviricide, not only would it land on the nanoviricide surface, binding to the copious number of ligands presented there, but it would also get entrapped because the nanomicelle polymer would turn around and fuse with the virus lipid envelop, harnessing a well known biophysical phenomenon.
'It is like a 'Venus-Fly-Trap ' for the virus, ' explained Dr. Diwan.
The Company focuses on developing broad-spectrum ligands and, thereby, broad-spectrum nanoviricides, copying the specific human cellular receptor. No matter how much a virus mutates, it lands on the same cell surface receptor, and binds in the same fashion. Thus, it is highly unlikely that a virus might escape a nanoviricide against it, in spite of mutations.
In 2014, the Company had worked on developing antiviral treatments against MERS-CoV, and coronaviruses in general. It had developed potential candidates for testing in animal models. The MERS-CoV threat was eclipsed by the Ebola epidemic of 2015. The Company developed viable drug candidates against Ebola in a rapid response time of a few weeks and sent them for testing to USAMRIID. These initial candidates showed significant activity. The Company believes that another cycle of optimization would have resulted in a candidate ready for animal testing under the criteria established by USAMRIID then.
During these previous crises, the Company did not have the modern labs, the cGMP drug manufacturing facility or the BSL2 virology testing facility, all of which were commissioned after 2015 at its modern campus in Shelton, CT.
The Company is preparing an IND application for its first clinical drug candidate to go into human clinical trials. This drug candidate, NV-HHV-101, is a skin cream with the treatment of shingles rash as its first indication. It has shown broad-spectrum activity against HSV-1 ( cause of 'cold sores '), HSV-2 ( cause of 'genital ulcers '), and VZV ( the varicella-zoster virus, that causes chickenpox in children and immune-compromised humans, and shingles in adults).
NV-HHV-101 has already gone through standard battery of safety-toxicological testing, which provides confidence that our platform is capable of creating safe drugs.
The Company has its own cGMP-capable drug manufacturing facility where it intends to produce the drugs for clinical supply.
The Company's top priority remains working on its first IND application for NV-HHV-101. The Company intends to solicit interest and financing from government agencies in order to accelerate its work on the coronaviruses.
The market size for the treatment of shingles is estimated at approximately one billion dollars by various estimates. These estimates take into account the Shingrix vaccine as well as existing vaccines. About 500,000 to 1million cases of shingles occur in the USA alone every year.
The market size for our immediate target drugs in the HerpeCide program is variously estimated at billions to tens of billions of dollars. The Company believes that its dermal topical cream for the treatment of shingles rash will be its first drug heading into clinical trials. The Company believes that additional topical treatment candidates in the HerpeCide program, namely, HSV-1 'cold sores ' treatment, and HSV-2 'genital ulcers ' treatment are expected to follow the shingles candidate into IND-enabling development and then into human clinical trials. These additional candidates are based on NV-HHV-101, thereby maximizing return on investments and shareholder value.
The Company develops its class of drugs, that we call nanoviricides, using a platform technology. This approach enables rapid development of new drugs against a number of different viruses. A nanoviricide is a 'biomimetic ' - it is designed to 'look like ' the cell surface to the virus. The nanoviricide technology enables direct attacks at multiple points on a virus particle. It is believed that such attacks would lead to the virus particle becoming ineffective at infecting cells. Antibodies in contrast attack a virus particle at only a maximum of two attachment points per antibody. In addition, the nanoviricide technology also simultaneously enables attacking the rapid intracellular reproduction of the virus by incorporating one or more active pharmaceutical ingredients ( APIs) within the core of the nanoviricide. The nanoviricide technology is the only technology in the world, to the best of our knowledge, that is capable of both ( a) attacking extracellular virus, thereby breaking the reinfection cycle, and simultaneously ( b) disrupting intracellular production of the virus, thereby enabling complete control of a virus infection. | business |
General Announcement::IMPACT OF WUHAN CORONAVIRUS ON UNDERGROUND MINING OPERATIONS | General Announcement::IMPACT OF WUHAN CORONAVIRUS ON UNDERGROUND MINING OPERATIONS
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CNMC Goldmine Holdings Ltd. published this content on 31 January 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 31 January 2020 09:19:02 UTC | business |
China virus causes scare for India's smartphone makers | India is the world's biggest smartphone maker after China but is still largely dependent on China for supplies of parts such as cells, display panels, camera modules and printed circuit boards.
Taiwan's Foxconn and Wistron make iPhones in India for Apple, and Foxconn produces phones there for China's Xiaomi as well. Other smartphone makers in India include South Korea's Samsung and China's OnePlus.
So far smartphone makers in India have weathered the impact of the virus, which has already killed 170 people, partly because they had ramped up inventories of Chinese-made parts anyway to cover the Lunar New Year holiday period when China's factories close down.
`` Those disruptions were already planned but if it ( the virus ' spread) gets prolonged then for March and April production we will have serious trouble, '' said S.N. Rai, the co-founder of homegrown smartphone maker Lava. `` We're definitely worried about it. ''
Some components can be shipped in from markets such as South Korea, Vietnam or Taiwan, but smartphone makers will only make such purchases as a `` last resort '' as it would force companies to make changes including in design and software, Rai said.
Samsung declined to comment, while Foxconn, Wistron, Apple and Xiaomi did not respond to requests for comment.
China's OnePlus said its Indian operations could manage, in the short term at least.
`` We are well covered because we have the entire production in India, we already have enough stock, and even going forward many of the components will anyway be coming directly from other markets, '' said Vikas Agarwal, the India head of OnePlus.
While Beijing has expressed confidence in defeating the `` devil '' virus, which is yet to be declared a global emergency by the World Health Organisation, major companies such as Alphabet Inc Google and Sweden's IKEA have closed operations in China.
India's Tata Motors, which counts China as a major market for its luxury Jaguar Land Rover cars, said on Thursday it was worried about the coronavirus and warned that the outbreak could hit profits.
As several airlines suspend flights to China, the movement of technical staff from the country - such as on-site support executives, machine and automation specialists - will also be curtailed and that will hit India's smartphone sector, an executive at another foreign-owned smartphone maker, who did not wish to be named, said.
For now, the industry just hopes the outbreak can be contained within the next two weeks.
`` If the problem persists beyond Feb. 10 then we have a real problem at hand, '' said Pankaj Mohindroo, head of the India Cellular & Electronics Association, an industry lobby group.
By Sankalp Phartiyal | business |
'There's no doubt ': Top US infectious disease doctor says Wuhan coronavirus can spread even when people have no symptoms |
German researchers found that the virus was transmitted by people without symptoms in five instances in one cluster of people: from a parent to a daughter; from that daughter to two colleagues; and from one of those colleagues to two other coworkers.
`` There's no doubt after reading this paper that asymptomatic transmission is occurring, '' said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases. `` This study lays the question to rest. ''
For nearly a week, US health officials have debated whether someone can spread the virus during the incubation period, when they are infected but not yet ill. The Chinese minister of health said it could spread asymptomatically, but US authorities had their doubts because Chinese health authorities offered no evidence.
The question is crucial, because when asymptomatic transmission occurs, officials sometimes need to institute more dramatic control measures, such as tougher quarantines.
The Wuhan coronavirus, which was first identified in China in December, has killed more than 200 people and infected nearly 10,000 in more than a dozen countries around the world.
In the study, which published Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine, German researchers described four business associates who became infected through asymptomatic transmission.
`` They were in workshops together, they went to the company canteen together, '' Dr. Camilla Rothe, an infectious disease specialist and the lead author of the paper, told CNN.
The chain of transmission
The chain of transmission started on January 16 when a woman in Shanghai hosted her parents for a weekend visit, Rothe said.
Her parents were visiting from Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak. They were healthy during their visit with their daughter but were later diagnosed as having the coronavirus.
Three days later, on January 19, the woman left Shanghai and flew to Germany. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday she held a series of workshops with employees of an auto parts supply company outside of Munich. She was healthy during those workshops, showing no signs of the disease, according to the New England Journal report.
On January 22, the woman flew back to China and became ill on the plane.
She was diagnosed with the virus and alerted the company -- but by then it was too late.
On January 24, two days after the Shanghai woman flew back home, two of the German employees who had attended her workshops fell ill, according to the report.
Neither of them was very sick, Rothe said.
The first, an otherwise healthy 33-year-old, developed a fever of 102.4 degrees, and felt ill for a few days.
`` He stayed in bed for the weekend, but by Monday he felt fine, '' Rothe said.
The second one had a `` mildly sore throat and a minimal cough, '' Rothe said. `` He was clinically unspectacular. ''
Then on January 26, nearly a week after the Shanghai woman infected these two men at the workshops, two more employees became ill.
These employees had not attended the workshops. But they had spent time with the first German patient before he was showing any symptoms.
Those two patients were also mildly ill with a minor sore throat and cough.
All four of these employees later tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus. They stayed at a hospital not because they were sick, but to contain the spread of the virus.
Webasto, a German auto supply company, posted a press release on its website about the infections.
The company temporarily closed down its facility in Stockdorf, Germany, and cancelled business travel to China for at least the next two weeks.
US authorities doubted asymptomatic transmission was possible
The German study marks the first time scientific evidence available to the public has shown that the Wuhan coronavirus can be spread before someone develops systems.
On Sunday, Chinese Health Minister Ma Xiaowei said at a press briefing that they had found people could spread the virus while asymptomatic. Two days later, a Chinese doctor repeated this at a press conference.
US officials, however, weren't so sure, since the Chinese offered no data to support the claims.
On Wednesday, when a reporter at a press conference asked about the Chinese officials ' statements, a doctor from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressed doubt.
`` We don't know that. We 've heard one Chinese health official say that, but we don't know that that's the case, '' said Dr. Christopher Braden, deputy director of the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
On Thursday, Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the Center for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at CDC, acknowledged the test for this coronavirus might show up negative if someone is infected but not yet showing symptoms.
`` Is it possible to detect this virus before somebody is symptomatic? And the answer is, we don't know yet and we're looking closely to see if we can, '' she said.
Fauci, the NIH doctor, said it might take a period of time after infection for the test to be reliable.
`` There's still much we don't know about this virus, '' he said.
Novel coronavirus is a US public health emergency
Alex Azar, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, declared on Friday that the novel coronavirus is now a public health emergency in the United States.
Any US citizen who has been in China's Hubei province in the last 14 days will be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine upon return to the United States. US citizens returning from the rest of mainland China within the last 14 days will undergo screening at US ports of entry and up to 14 days of self-monitoring.
The Trump administration also announced it will deny entry to foreign nationals who have traveled in China in the last 14 days. Azar said the US is `` temporarily suspending the entry into the United States of foreign nationals who pose a risk of transmitting the 2019 novel coronavirus. ''
The ban will go into effect at 5 p.m. ET Sunday on Sunday.
`` While this virus poses a serious public health threat, the risk to the American public remains low at this time, and we are working to keep this risk low, '' Azar said in a statement. `` We are committed to protecting the health and safety of all Americans, and this public health emergency declaration is the latest in the series of steps the Trump Administration has taken to protect our country. ''
Also on Friday, the CDC ordered a mandatory 14-day quarantine for nearly 200 Americans who recently returned from Wuhan. This is the first such order by the CDC in more than 50 years.
The 195 Americans, many of them diplomats and their families, flew from Wuhan to California on Wednesday. They had been staying at March Air Reserve Base since then under a three-day voluntary quarantine.
`` We believe that this approach of having quarantine for the incubation period offers the greatest level of protection for the American public, '' Dr. Martin Cetron, director of CDC's Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, said during a Friday telebriefing with reporters. `` That is our primary concern. ''
CDC officials thanked quarantined individuals for their flexibility. Cetron said most of the passengers were `` exuberant and elated to be out of harm's way, '' and understand the need for a longer quarantined.
`` We're taking every measure possible to make sure people are treated with dignity and respect, '' Cetron said.
One quarantined individual had previously tried to leave the base. CDC officials declined to offer more information about that person. | business |
Coronavirus in the US: US declares coronavirus a public health emergency | Once the declaration goes into effect at 5 p.m. ET Sunday, US citizens returning to the United States who have been in China's Hubei province in the two weeks before their return will be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine, Azar said.
US citizens returning from the rest of mainland China in the two weeks prior will face a health screening at a select number of ports of entry, he said. Those citizens also face up to two weeks of monitored self-quarantine to ensure they pose no health risk.
President Donald Trump has signed a proclamation suspending the entry of foreign nationals who have traveled in China in the last two weeks, Azar said, and could pose a risk of spreading the coronavirus. Foreign nationals who are the immediate family of US citizens or permanent residents are exempt.
`` These prudent, targeted and temporary actions will decrease the pressure on public health officials screening incoming travelers, expedite the processing of US citizens and permanent residents returning from China, and ensure resources are focused on the health and safety of the American people, '' Azar said.
`` I want to stress: the risk of infection for Americans remains low, '' he added. `` And with these and our previous actions we're working to keep the risk low. ''
Azar's announcement came as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the seventh confirmed coronavirus case in the US. The seventh patient is an adult male in Santa Clara County in northern California, the third confirmed case in the state.
The man recently traveled to Wuhan, according to health officials. Upon returning to Northern California on January 24, the man self-isolated and did not leave home except to seek medical care, said Dr. Sara Cody, director of Santa Clara County's health department. He was not sick enough to be hospitalized.
The health department is reaching out to everyone the man may have had contact with to determine if they may have been exposed to the virus.
The outbreak has so far killed at least 258 people and infected more than 10,000 others in China, most of them in the Hubei province. There are at least 140 confirmed cases outside of mainland China.
14-day quarantine ordered for evacuated Americans
Earlier Thursday the CDC ordered a federal 14-day quarantine for the 195 Americans on an Air Force base in California recently evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.
It's the first such order in more than 50 years.
`` While we recognize this is an unprecedented action, we are facing an unprecedented public health threat, and this is one of the tools in our toolbox to mitigate the potential impact of this novel virus on the United States, '' said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of CDC's National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases.
The group of 195 Americans, many of them diplomats and their families, arrived by plane Wednesday at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, California, and were staying at the base under a three-day voluntary quarantine.
US health officials previously said they wouldn't issue a blanket quarantine for the evacuees, as some agreed to stay at the base voluntarily longer than 72 hours.
Then Thursday, one of the passengers tried to leave the base and was ordered to stay there in quarantine for a 14-day incubation period `` or until otherwise cleared, '' Riverside County Public Health said in a statement.
A longtime CDC adviser told CNN Friday morning the agency should consider extending the three-day quarantine because other countries are doing the same for citizens returning from Wuhan. Those include France, South Korea and Australia.
The CDC adviser pointed to a report published Thursday night in the New England Journal of Medicine showing that infected people can transmit the virus before they develop symptoms.
According to the study, there were five instances of asymptomatic transmission of the Wuhan virus in one cluster. A woman in Shanghai was infected by one of her parents, who had no symptoms. That woman flew to Germany and while she was asymptomatic transmitted the virus to two colleagues. One of those colleagues, while healthy, transmitted the virus to two more coworkers.
The last time such a quarantine order was issued was in the 1960s for smallpox evaluation, Dr. Martin Cetron, director of CDC's Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, told reporters Friday.
`` We believe that this approach of having a quarantine for the incubation period offers the greatest level of protection for the American public in preventing introduction and spread, '' Cetron said. `` That is our primary concern. ''
'Is this a nightmare? '
Jarred Evans, one of the 195 passengers from Wuhan, told CNN Thursday he `` will stay as long as I need '' at the military base.
The passengers are wearing protective masks and are spending some time outdoors.
`` We're all still taking major precautions. So, it's not like we're around here hugging each other and shaking hands and things like that, '' Evans said.
Evans spent more than a week holed up in his apartment in Wuhan as coronavirus raced through Wuhan before he landed in the US on the chartered flight. During that time, he said, residents sent panicked messages, warning others to take precaution.
`` It hit fast and... it just was very hectic for, like, three days straight, '' he said. `` I got the news from my Chinese friends saying, 'Hey, stay inside. Wear a mask. Don't go outside, stock up on some food because this is going to get serious. ' And as you can see, it's very serious. ''
`` When you're there and there's no transportation, no trains, no subways, no planes, the military is blocking off each and every aspect of the road. No Ubers, nothing. Mom and pop stores are closed. You think to yourself, like, is this real? Is this a movie? Is this a nightmare? '' he said. | business |
Fake coronavirus cures and other misinformation taken down by Facebook, Google and Twitter | The company will `` remove content with false claims or conspiracy theories that have been flagged by leading global health organizations and local health authorities that could cause harm to people who believe them, '' according to a blog post published Thursday by Kang-Xing Jin, Facebook's head of health.
Jin said that includes claims `` related to false cures or prevention methods '' or `` that create confusion about health resources that are available. ''
The company also plans to increase its fact-checking and monitoring efforts on Instagram, which it also owns. Jin said users who click on a hashtag related to the coronavirus will now be served with a `` pop-up with credible information. ''
The social network wants to prioritize legitimate sources of information, Jin said, by letting select organizations run free ads that help educate people about the virus and also boosting posts that fall in line with health experts ' guidance to the top of users ' Facebook feeds. It did not specify which organizations would be included.
Jin noted in the Thursday blog post that not all the new measures were `` fully in place '' yet.
`` It will take some time to roll them out across our platforms and step up our enforcement methods, '' he wrote. `` We're focusing on claims that are designed to discourage treatment or taking appropriate precautions. ''
The move is Silicon Valley's latest attempt to combat misinformation about the outbreak, which has infected more than 9,800 people around the world and killed more than 200 in mainland China. The World Health Organization ( WHO) on Thursday declared the outbreak `` a public health emergency of international concern. ''
Twitter and Google have also stepped up efforts this week to guide their users to verified sources on the subject.
Google ( GOOGL) announced Thursday that when people search for information about the coronavirus, it will pull up a special notice with updates from the WHO.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, said it will promote videos from credible sources when people search for clips about the virus. The company said it specifically points to content from trusted users, such as public health experts or news outlets, in search results or panels that suggest which videos to watch next.
Twitter ( TWTR) said Wednesday that it would begin prompting users who search for the coronavirus to first visit official channels of information about the illness. In the United States, for example, Twitter directs users to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, beneath a bold headline that reads: `` Know the facts. ''
The campaign is running in 15 locations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia, and `` will continue to expand as the need arises, '' the company said in a blog post.
As of Wednesday, Twitter said that it had already seen more than 15 million tweets about the coronavirus in four weeks, `` and that trend looks set to continue. ''
A company spokesperson told CNN Business earlier this week that it had not seen a coordinated increase in disinformation related to the virus, but would `` remain vigilant '' on the issue.
The moves this week are notable, particularly since social networks have long been criticized for allowing the spread of misinformation.
Facebook, which now claims about 2.5 billion monthly users on its flagship network and a combined 2.9 billion monthly active users across its other apps like WhatsApp and Instagram, has had major problems restricting hoaxes about vaccines, for example.
Instagram last year vowed to block more hashtags that surfaced vaccine misinformation after a CNN Business report found that content promoted by anti-vaccination accounts were still thriving on the platform.
While the company frequently touts its army of fact-checkers and reviewers who are paid to debunk false claims, the effectiveness of its policies remain in question.
On Thursday, some people pointed out that a search for `` vaccines '' on Instagram still brought up several pages linked to dangerous misinformation.
When asked about those searches, Facebook said its work to identify and combat the spread of disinformation was ongoing.
`` We are fully committed to the safety of our community and are working with external health experts to make sure we get this right, '' a company spokesperson told CNN Business.
`` Leading global health authorities, such as the World Health Organization, have publicly identified verifiable vaccine hoaxes; if these vaccine hoaxes appear on our platforms, including Instagram, we will take action against them. ''
-- Donie O'Sullivan contributed to this report. | business |
American Airlines, Delta and United suspend most US to China flights amid coronavirus outbreak | For American Airlines, the nation's largest carrier, the decision comes after the union representing 15,000 pilots sued the company Thursday to immediately halt its US-China service, citing `` serious, and in many ways still unknown, health threats posed by the coronavirus. ''
American ( AAL) moved up its planned suspension of flights between the United States and mainland China beginning Friday. It had originally announced that flights between Los Angeles and Shanghai and Los Angeles and Beijing would be suspended from February 9. Its Hong Kong flights will continue to operate.
`` Based on the U.S. Department of State's recent increase of the China Travel Advisory to a Level 4 ( Do Not Travel), American is suspending its operations to and from the Chinese mainland beginning today through March 27, '' American said in a statement.
The union applauded the move. `` Now that American is ceasing operations in China, the ultimate goal is that all our passengers and crew will remain safe and that was our main goal, '' Captain Dennis Tajer, a spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association, told CNN Business.
Delta said Friday it was suspending all flights from the United States to China from February 6 until April 30. The airline said it's continuing routes until February 5 to `` ensure customers looking to exit China have options to do so. '' It said that it will `` continue to monitor the situation closely '' and adjust its schedule accordingly.
Affected customers can request a refund, rebook their flight after the suspension lifts or speak with an agent for other options. Delta ( DAL) currently operates 42 weekly flights between the United States and China, including daily service connecting Beijing and Detroit and Seattle, and Shanghai and Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles and Seattle.
United Airlines ( UAL) also said Friday it was suspending flights from is US hub cities and Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai from February 6 to March 28. Until next week, the carrier will `` operate select flights to help ensure our US-based employees, as well as customers, have options to return home, '' it said in a statement.
On Tuesday, United said it was suspending operations to Hong Kong because of a drop in demand. Operations will be suspended Feb. 8-Feb. 20, the airline said.
`` Our last flights will depart San Francisco on February 5 ( flight 877 and flight 869) and the last returning flight will depart Hong Kong on February 7 ( flight 862), '' the airline said in a statement on its website.
The coronavirus, a potentially fatal respiratory disease, first emerged in Wuhan, China in early December and has since spread across China and appeared in some other countries, including the United States, Japan and India. The World Health Organization has declared the coronavirus epidemic a public health emergency of international concern.
Fears over the spread of the disease has forced both US and global carriers to amend their schedules as demand for China travel declines.
British Airways, Air Asia, Cathay Pacific, Air India, IndiGo, Lufthansa and Finnair have announced plans this week to slash the number of flights they are operating to China or stop flying to the country entirely. Other airlines are offering customers refunds. | business |
Diageo: 2020 Interim Results Q & A transcript | Diageo F20 Interim Results Investor Q & A Call
Date: Thursday, 30th January 2020
Conference Time: 09:30 ( UTC+00:00)
Operator: Good day, and welcome to the Diageo Interim Results Investor Q & A Call. Today's conference is being recorded. Your call today will be hosted by Diageo's CEO, Ivan, and CFO, Kathy. To ask a question today, please press star one. We are now ready to start the call. Ivan, please go ahead.
Ivan Menezes: Thank you. Hi everyone. Kathy and I are in London, and welcome to this morning's post-results investor call.
I 'm pleased to share with you another set of good consistent first half results with broad-based organic growth across regions and categories. As you know, we are lapping last year's very strong first half and we have faced volatility in specific markets. And therefore, pleased that despite this, our performance is in line with our medium-term guidance of 4-6% organic sales growth, demonstrating our increased resilience as a business.
Our margin expansion continues even after three strong years, despite increased COGS inflation in this half. And this is a result of our continued focus on premiumization and driving everyday efficiencies. I 'm particularly pleased with the strong growth in the US, our largest market, as well as good growth in Africa and Asia-Pacific, which more than offset challenges in India, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Travel Retail.
Across categories, tequila, Canadian whiskey and Chinese white spirits all grew double-digit, balancing softness in our scotch performance. We remain confident in the underlying performance of our scotch portfolio as the challenges were quite localized to a few specific markets. We made significant improvements in our AMP effectiveness through leveraging our proprietary tool catalyst and our strengthened consumer insight-led marketing campaigns.
This gives us the confidence to continue to grow A & P ahead of sales and we're seeing tangible results from this upweight in investment. Innovation remains a key growth driver for us as we recruit new consumers and occasions to our brands, as evidenced by the sustained growth of variants such as Crown Royal Regal Apple.
In the context of the market-specific challenges we saw in H1 and continue to face, I now expect the full year organic net sales growth to be towards the lower end of our medium-term guidance at 4- 6%. I continue to expect organic operating profit growth to be roughly 1 point ahead of net sales for the full year. However, we won't be immune from any significant changes to global trade policy.
On the evolving Coronavirus situation in China, we continue to monitor this very closely. Our primary concern is the welfare of our employees and ensuring they have all the available information and support as the situation evolves. There will be an impact on performance. However, it's too early to be able to quantify this at this point in time.
So we remain focused on sustainably building our business through the disciplined execution of strategy to deliver consistent and resilient performance. And with that, we 'll open up the line for your questions to Kathy and myself. Thank you.
Operator: Our first question comes from Simon Hales with Citi.
Operator: Thank you. Our next question comes from Sanjeet Aujla with Credit Suisse.
Sanjeet Aujla: Morning, Ivan, Kathy. I think Simon was trying to ask this but I 'll go ahead and continue. Just on the lowering of the guidance, can you just walk through the moving parts of that because on the one hand, you do have easier comparatives in the second half of the year across many parts of your business; however, the guidance implies no acceleration in the second half. So it 'd be great to walk us through the key assumptions there and also if you would have lowered the guidance if it wasn't for the Coronavirus outbreak in the past couple of weeks?
Kathryn Mikells: Sure. I 'm happy to take that. I would start with, and you 'll recall that when we discussed our full year results from last fiscal, one of the key themes we had in terms of the strong results that we delivered was it was a quite muted year in terms of volatility. And that was part of what caused our outperformance.
If you look at what we're seeing in the first half, I would say we're seeing more volatility across the world and that's impacting our results. And we're not expecting that situation to necessarily improve in the second half. If you look at the places in the world where results were a little softer, I would point to India and the fact that in India, this is largely as a result of just the softening economy in India. And I 'd say there's a lot of uncertainty associated with when and how that's going to improve.
As we look to the second half, we would be quite cautious about the economic situation in India. We pointed out specifically within our PEBAC market, Peru and Chile as being places that have been impacted by disruptive social unrest, and again, that's a situation that continues to be difficult. Mexico is also a place where we 've seen just the overall economic environment weaken a bit and, obviously, we have a big Scotch business in Mexico and that has impacted our Scotch business overall.
I would say it's just the fact that last fiscal year, we had really muted volatility across the globe and that helped us in terms of the overall performance - at the high end of our mid-term guidance last fiscal. And we just expect that the world is going to continue to be a bit more volatile.
I want to come back to your mentioning about the Coronavirus because as you would 've heard in Ivan's commentary, that's a situation that we just can't predict as we sit here at this point in time. And it's something that we 'll just have to continue to watch closely.
Sanjeet Aujla: Got it. Okay. And perhaps just a quick follow-up on the growth in China you 've seen in the first half of the year. Is that really distribution-led growth? Are you going into more provinces still?
Ivan Menezes: It's a combination of greater penetration, so rate of sale improving. If you look at the two businesses, SJF and primarily high-end Scotch whisky, both are very healthy and both are growing double-digit. And we're investing behind these brands. We're investing in innovation - in premium innovation in SJF. So we're seeing momentum in existing distribution and we are gradually
expanding distribution. It's very high-quality growth. And the brands and the businesses are in really good shape and growing market share in both cases.
Sanjeet Aujla: Got that. And I appreciate its early days but any qualitative signs of how Chinese New Year has gone?
Ivan Menezes: Very hard to tell. Obviously, it came early so you can see in our first half results some of it. It's too early to call what the actual consumption has been over the last week. We will obviously be tracking that in the weeks to come.
Sanjeet Aujla: Got it. Thank you
Operator: Our next question comes from Laurence Whyatt with Barclays.
Laurence Whyatt: Hi, Ivan and Kathy. Thanks very much for the questions. In the US, you mentioned that your Scotch business benefited first from trade loading ahead of the tariff impact. You said the Scotch is up 4% but Johnnie Walker is down 5%, so single malts are being presumably loaded. Could you quantify how much of that +4% was trade loading and how much is an underlying growth? And then secondly on the two vodka brands, Smirnoff and Cîroc, sales velocity has worsened a bit there. Could you give us some detail on what's happening in those brands and if there's anything you can do to try and improve that? And then finally your margins have improved despite declines in gross margin and an increase in marketing. How can we be confident that the cost savings you're putting through aren't going to be affecting the business continuity? Thanks very much.
Ivan Menezes: Okay. I 'll take the first two and Kathy will address the last. On the US Scotch, it's 30 basis points of pre-buying of blended Scotch. That's 30 basis points of the growth rate of the US business. So, it's small. On vodka and Cîroc. The vodka category, as you can see, in the US is still challenging. If I take the three brands, on Smirnoff, we are stabilizing. The equity is building. The business is stabilizing. The quality of performance is better. We are easing off promotional intensity on some SKUs through our NRM initiatives, etc., but Smirnoff is a big brand and it's going to take time to do that consistently and stabilize.
On Cîroc, it's still challenged. And on Cîroc, we 've always said this is going to be a long game to stabilize. We are taking some actions to reduce some of the less sustainable flavour innovations and trying to get the base more healthy. But I expect Cîroc to remain challenged in the US. It will take us over many years to get that brand stabilized in the US. It's better outside, clearly.
And then Ketel One, core Ketel One, the base brand is healthy and growing and we are just lapping incredible success of botanicals from last year but I remain positive on the health of Ketel One. Vodka overall clearly challenged category but gradually our health of our brand is getting better.
Kathryn Mikells: And then I 'd say, look it just relates to continuing to drive productivity overall. I think we 've shown quite good execution in terms of our productivity being driven by everyday efficiency, how we take that and look to invest in key areas of growth in the company to make sure that what we're driving is sustainable quality growth. It's a virtuous circle and I think we 've been
quite sustained in terms of how we do that at Diageo. If I look at our first-half results, I 'd say I continue to feel really good about what we're driving through everyday efficiency and you see that really come through our overall overhead line. Getting us a little over 100 basis points of positive improvement, which really helped us to offset both the gross margin softness that you saw and continuing to invest ahead in marketing, right. Which we 've been doing very consistently and I expect we 'll continue to do as we look forward in the second half. I 'd say I feel very good about that.
As I look to the second half I 'd also tell you as we look at gross margin, I 'm expecting right now to get a bit more productivity gains in the second half that can help a little bit of that softness that we're seeing in gross margins and, overall, probably a little less than what we saw in overhead in the first half. But again, I think we 've got a strong engine of driving productivity on an everyday efficiency sustainable basis and we continue to feel great about that.
Laurence Whyatt: Thank you. Just to come back on the scotch from Ivan. You mentioned 30 basis points on the blended category and as I understood it, the tariffs were on a single malt. So are you seeing no trade loading on the single malt, then?
Ivan Menezes: I don't like the word trade loading, please. We are talking about handling the situation of - we were anticipating tariffs late in last year and we didn't know what categories would get impacted or not. So, at that stage we had a plan to bring in more blended scotch because there was a risk which thankfully did not emerge. The 30 basis points is on total North America. That's the framing of blended scotch that was pre-bought because - until we knew what the tariff situation was.
Laurence Whyatt: That's very clear, thank you very much.
Operator: Once again, that's star one to ask a question. If you find that your question has been answered you may remove yourself from the queue by pressing star two. Our next question comes from Simon Hales with Citi.
Simon Hales: Thank you. I 'm going to try again. Can you hear me, Kathy and Ivan?
Kathryn Mikells: We can, yes, much better. Thanks for calling back in, Simon.
Simon Hales: Excellent, thanks for taking the call - the question. I have three, please. Firstly, just on A & P spend trends. A & P is slightly ahead of sales in the first half but not much and I think really driven by the step-up we're seeing in Asia. How do we think about the step-up in A & P spend for the second half? Is it going to be broad-based across more of the regions? Perhaps a bit more skewed into H2 than H1?
Secondly, just going on from some of the comments on your US performance, the previous questions. I wonder, Ivan, maybe you could expand a little bit more on the performance of Crown Royal in the half. Very strong. I wonder if you could give us a breakdown as to how the base brand has performed versus peach and apple. And also Smirnoff Spiked Seltzer is clearly doing well. Where do you think you're gaining share from in the hard seltzer category? Are you seeing any cannibalization of your spirits brands do you think at all?
And then just a final one on cash flow, Kathy. Obviously $ 300 million higher cash tax one-offs in the first half. You talk about those one-offs continuing for the full year. Should we think about incremental further cash outflows in relation to tax [ inaudible ] French government or in relation to the Group financing exemption situation in the UK? How do we think about that for the full year?
Kathryn Mikells: Okay, I 'll go ahead and take the first question, also the second one.
Ivan Menezes: Sure.
Kathryn Mikells: As you look at A & P, I 'd say we feel good about the first half and investing ahead overall in A & P. That consumed about 25 basis points of margin for us. If you looked back at what we 've done in the last couple of years, that's been reasonably consistent. But as I look to the second half, the one place I would call out is in the US, right, so in US spirits over the last few years, we 've increased what I 'll call the A & P investment rate, by a rough order of magnitude 200 basis points or so in US spirits. We held that in the half. We can see that in the results. I would expect that's one of the places that in all likelihood would be further upweighted in the second half.
If we talk about some of the other areas where we would 've seen an increase in A & P spend, we 've talked about the fact that we're increasing spend behind scotch more generally. You would 've seen a bit of an upweight in Europe. And then Asia you 'd have to pick apart a little bit. I would say outside of the India business in Asia and especially in areas of strong growth that we would 've seen scotch in China, Chinese white spirits, those would all be places that were upweighting spend. So, we always I would say make adjustments here in real time.
One of the things that Ivan pointed to is we have terrific tools now, right. If you went back two or three years ago, we were not as good in terms of how agile we could be to move spend to where we're really seeing the returns. And our catalyst tools which we continue to invest in and it's on every marketeer's desktop, which really helps us to be much more agile because it's spend placed behind where we really see the returns coming from. That's some of the places where we see upweight and yes, I think if we look to the second half again, we would be looking to continue to invest ahead. Ill hand over to Ivan, and then I 'll return to you.
Ivan Menezes: On Crown Royal, Simon, the brand is - if I start with brand health, it is at an all-time high, really, really strong. We 've now had seven consecutive halves of growth in the brand. If you look at the breakdown of what's happening, actually Regal Apple is now the year sixth of launch and it's continuing to grow double-digit. If you look at Nielsen, [ Inaudible ], it's up 13%. Vanilla is up 10%. The base business is broadly stable, the base brand, but it's healthy. And the main thing Crown Royal is doing which we are very encouraged by is it's bringing new consumers into whisky and into Crown Royal. And our marketing is working well. We 've upweighted our marketing spend against the brand in the last few years significantly. We feel good about Crown and the momentum continues to be healthy. Clearly, flavours have accelerated the growth but the flavours are bringing new consumers and new occasions. They're not cannibalizing the base.
On seltzer, we are a relatively small player in seltzer so we are riding the trend with Smirnoff right now. You can see it in the numbers. It's strong double-digit growth on our F & B business in the US. It is - our main - my main focus is ensuring we have a healthy beer business in the US and so while the trends continue, we will benefit but it's not a strategic area for focus for us. We see plenty of good growth in spirits and beer, and I view this more as riding the trend for now because it could be more volatile and we don't want to get overly dependent on it.
In terms of impact of seltzer from spirits, so far, in our analysis and what it says, it's mostly impacting beer. Inevitably there 'll be some impact on spirits but as you can see in our performance, it's not - we don't see this as having a significant impact yet but we're tracking it. And ultimately, the simplicity of a premium spirit, whether it's whisky or tequila or vodka on the rocks with a splash of soda, the 'with soda ' trend is very strong. And when you look at tequila growing at 33%, our tequila business, 35% in the US, I mean, there's huge trends in favour of premium spirits but still in the US market and that is underpinning some of our strong performance there.
Kathryn Mikells: And then I 'll just get back to your question which was with respect for the higher tax payments that we would 've seen in the half and that impact and the fact that in our guidance we basically said we're expecting to see that flow-through through the year. As you mentioned, we 've had over the last several years a number of different one-off tax payments and in different tax jurisdictions, this always works differently. Some of them you actually pay ahead. Some of them you pay after the fact and then the cash flow is a year-over-year change number. I would say, as we look at those one-off impacts for the half, they will just flow through for the full-year. And when we get to the end of the fiscal, we 'll be able to talk in more specificity about what we have seen in terms of one-off for the year and then, what, if anything, we would anticipate as we go into fiscal 2021. But that's really what's going on.
Simon Hales: Okay, that's very clear, thank you all.
Operator: Our next question comes from Richard Withagen with Kepler.
Richard Withagen: Yes thanks. Good morning. I have two questions, please. First of all, specifically on the US market and your marketing spending, can you discuss how your marketing effectiveness tools increase the return on your marketing investments and maybe give one or two examples? And related to that, should we expect further increases in marketing spending ahead of net sales growth in the next few years?
And then the second question is going back to productivity savings. Kathy, you mentioned you expect more productivity in the second half of the year. With the full year results last year you mentioned you expect $ 100-150 million in savings or in productivity in fiscal 2020. Is that range still valid or do you expect to perform outside of that range? Thanks.
Ivan Menezes: Sure, I 'll take the first. On US marketing spend, if you look at the last three years we have increased our marketing spend in US spirits by over 250 basis points. A significant upweight in investment and our share has gone up significantly. I 'm really pleased with the quality of marketing and innovation coming out of the team in North America.
And with our tools, our ability to direct spending against effective programs and to adjust quickly is much stronger than it was a few years ago. As I talked about earlier, we have invested significantly in Crown Royal because we can see the returns there being really strong and it's working and delivering on our performance. But even on a brand like Baileys, we're now down to the level of sophistication where we can pick days in the year and geographies and, through our digital and social spending, can drive a purchase at a very granular level. This is clear - we 'll continue - we're learning and getting better all the time, but the rigor now behind which we look at every dollar spend and where it goes and how we measure returns is much stronger. And the US is very capable and effective at this.
We 've upweighted on a number of brands. We're constantly adjusting because not everything works, and then we redirect spend going forward. We don't have a requirement or a target that we will keep increasing spend reinvestment levels in the US. It really is the bottom-up. If we see the opportunities for good returns, we will spend more. At the same time, we're driving a lot of efficiencies and we're getting significant gains in how we buy media and the efficiencies of our spend, which is also contributing even more to the effective spend that we have in that market.
Kathryn Mikells: And then as it relates to productivity, you had referenced that at our last Investor Day we talked about the fact that we saw about £100-150 million annually of incremental opportunities and productivity as we look forward. That was supportive of our overall guidance of being able to grow operating profits about a point ahead of net sales. As you look at this year and what we're currently expecting, we're continuing to look at that and say we believe we can grow operating profits about a point ahead of net sales for the full year. And we had previously stated we thought the first half on operating profit growth, delivery and margins specifically, was going to be a little lighter than the second half.
I 'd say we feel again very good about our execution of everyday efficiency and seeing those benefits continue to come through the business. They clearly support it, margin expansion in the first half and my commentary about the second half is we always have some phasing going on in productivity. And obviously as I referenced earlier, in the second half we are expecting to get a bit more in terms of our product-costproductivity-related savings, that we're looking for in terms of just helping to offset a bit of that softness that we're seeing in growth margin.
Richard Withagen: All right, that's clear. Thanks a lot.
Operator: Our next question comes from Nico von Stackelberg with Liberum.
Nico von Stackelberg: Hi. Good morning everyone. I just wanted to ask, because I know there are parts of the guidance that are certainly quite volatile and hard to forecast, but one part that you should have a pretty good feel for is the impact of tariffs, particularly, on Scotch going to the US. I was just wondering, could you please quantify this for us? And does the current operating profit assume that the current tariff situation remains stable? Thanks.
Ivan Menezes: Yes, to answer your second part first, we 've assumed the current tariff situation remains stable. We're not assuming it's getting worse or getting better in the current guidance. We're really early in the game is what I would say. As we have announced to the trade, we are passing on the impact of tariffs on single malts and on Baileys. That's been already communicated to the trade in the US. Seeing the impact of that on actual sell-out is something we will watch very closely in the next few months. Obviously, we 've got ranges and scenarios that impact and what I would say, all that is factored into our current guidance, that the current level of tariffs stay.
Nico von Stackelberg: Great. Thank you. And as a follow-up, can I ask about Crown Royal? It grew 11% in North America. It looks like depletions were up 8% in the period. So, slightly shipping ahead. And I also note that if I look through November, the last 12 months, the volumes are only growing around 2.5 so you're getting strong price mix. Does Crown still have legs in terms of price mix? Obviously, there's a broader premiumization trend but, certainly, the brand is being helped quite a lot by price mix, and so how sustainable is that?
Ivan Menezes: Yes, although with Crown, our depletions are broadly in line. The report Is growing at about 9%. On many of our brands, we do really well. Crown captures, whatever, 45% of the market. Our performance in the independent channels and the on-premise, which is not captured in the data is very strong on many brands and so you see some of that momentum come through on Crown.
One of the things - we do see good opportunity for price and mix on Crown, and one of the things we are doing is really looking at the higher marks, like Crown Royal Extra, where we want to put a lot more focus, a bit like we do with Johnnie Walker Blue. So we are looking at building the top end of the Crown Royal franchise as we go forward, putting more focus behind that for gifting and brand building, and that should improve mix as well over time.
Nico von Stackelberg: Okay, great, and if I can just ask one more question. I 've always wondered why Diageo gets something of a pass in terms of the fair market value of your maturing inventories. Could you maybe for the full year provide some sort of color around the fair market value of your maturing stocks? It seems like it 'd be useful for the valuation equation. Thanks
Kathryn Mikells: I would say we don't look to attempt to disclose what we would say the fair market value is. We would say our assets are appropriately valued in our balance sheet, and we, like every whiskey maker across the world, have a good amount of stocks. All I would say is we build stocks very consistently across all of our whiskey brands and we're happy with the stock levels that we have.
Nico von Stackelberg: Yes, I guess it's at cost on your books and there is a fair market value and I also know - actually maturing stocks are excluding from working capital in your management compensation, so you have a slight incentive to build stocks. And we never really get any colour on the growth or the IRRs of your maturing stocks, and more disclosure would be useful, I think. But, yes, just a thought for consideration. Thanks.
Kathryn Mikells: Look, I would just comment that we try to create our compensation metrics in a way that the people across the organization can have an impact, as it relates to growing maturing stocks. We just look to do that consistently to support our brand and that is managed by a - I 'll call it relatively few people across the company. But it's specifically an area that we don't move things up and down, but we actually just look to grow our stocks consistent with the categories that they support. I think we have done a great job in terms of actually everyday efficiency and delivering strong cash flow, and that's been supported by the metrics we have in our compensation programs that drive the things that people can actually impact. But thank you for the question.
Nico von Stackelberg: Yes, thanks. Appreciate it.
Operator: Our next question comes from Trevor Stirling with Bernstein.
Trevor Stirling: Hi Ivan and Kathy. There's two questions from my side. The first one returns to the theme of malts and the performance at the moment. We saw 12% growth last year, 17% first half. It really seems that the malts are kicking into gear after a few years of perhaps less-than-ideal performance. What do you put that down to Ivan? And I suppose secondly, do we have the stocks
to support that? But then secondly on the Coronavirus. I appreciate it's entirely way too early to talk about the impact. Can you talk a little bit about the impact of SARS back in 2003?
Ivan Menezes: Yes, sure Trevor. On malts, I mean, we put, a far more disciplined and focused strategy behind malts by - one of the things Diageo is blessed with is this wonderful 28 distilleries that produce the most beautiful single malts and we're spoiled for choice. One of the things that's happened is we put real discipline and focus behind the variants and the geographies and we 've got better growth drivers. A brand like Singleton now is doing really well. Cardhu in Spain is doing extremely well. In the US, Lagavulin and so we, and the supply side is now better aligned to support sustainable growth over the long-term. I put it down to clearer strategy and better execution against it.
Kathryn Mikells: And then, look, I think if you attempted to go back to SARS, you have to understand our SJF business wasn't on at that point in time, and our scotch business was small. There's just no relative comparative there.
Trevor Stirling: Okay. Could I just ask one follow-up, Ivan? You mentioned that you were passing through the price increase in single malts. Are your competitors following, as far as you can tell?
Ivan Menezes: I don't know the answer to that, I wouldn't even speculate. So, I don't.
Trevor Stirling: Okay.
Ivan Menezes: And again, what I said is that we 've communicated to the trade what we're doing. Which is why I mentioned it on the call, because that's been already communicated.
Trevor Stirling: Okay. Thank you, Ivan and Kathy.
Kathryn Mikells: Thank you.
Ivan Menezes: Thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from Alicia Forry with Investec.
Alicia Forry: Hi. Good morning, Ivan and Kathy, three questions, please, from me. First, volume momentum has deteriorated. I appreciate India is a significant impact on this. But I 'm curious about what's happening with your volumes ex-India and are you seeing any new trends emerge?
And then, secondly, the organic operating margin fell 160-ish basis points in India in H1 after several years of improvement there, as you 've been improving the product portfolio. It seems to be cogs- driven. How should we think about this near-term? Have margins in India reached a sort of plateau?
And then, finally, on global travel retail, how should we think about the timing of recovery in this channel? We will lap Hong Kong later in the year and, presumably, the Middle East issues will work themselves out at some point. So, just curious on the timing of recovery there. Thank you.
Ivan Menezes: I 'll take the first. Kathy, you do India margin, and I can come back to global travel.
Kathryn Mikells: Great.
Ivan Menezes: On volumes, you're right, India was flat, and it's almost a third of Diageo's volume, so that had an impact. If you take India, travel retail, and our weak spots in Latin America, like Peru and Chile, where we had volume decline, outside of that, our volume would have grown I think close to 1.5%. We are - there's solid volume growth coming in most places, including the US, which you can see is… there's no shift in trend here. I mean, we are seeing consumers are trading up to - more to spirits, and more to premium spirits, and we gain from that. I mean, our reserve brands were up 11%; that's 20% of the business. And then all those conditions remain strong.
Kathryn Mikells: And then on India, overall, we were pleased in terms of how much of the gross margin our softness in the India business was able to offset, especially in light of the difficult economic conditions that they're facing. The other thing that we're seeing that's just causing more pressure in terms of the margin is a fair amount of inflation in specific input costs. And one I would point to that has a big impact on them is base neutral spirits. And inflation in base neutral spirits for them has been truly significant. When I look overall at their result and how much they 've gained in margin over the past year, while they have some specific challenges this year, as we look over the long-term, our expectations are unchanged for India over the longer term. Which is looking to have them have a top line growth more high single-digits, low double-digits and getting to a margin level of mid to high teens. And I think they 've made terrific progress in the last three-year period in just making good gains against those long-term goals.
Ivan Menezes: And on global travel, we expect it to remain challenging, certainly, through the second half. And it's a little hard to predict the pace of recovery and when it comes. Our focus is really on execution and market share in the airports, in particular. On that standpoint, I feel good about how the business is doing. Sell-out execution and our market share performance in the measured global travel retail business, we are doing well. And that's what we can control. I 'd say that we are assuming that things will stay tough in the second half, too.
Operator: Our next question comes from Edward Mundy with Jefferies.
Edward Mundy: Morning Ivan, morning Kathy, three questions, please. The first is on the buyback, where you're £1.1 billion through £1.25 billion. How should we think about the phasing of your £4.5 billion over three years? Should we think about equal phasing or is there certainly scope, once you 've finished your £1.25 billion, to perhaps accelerate the phasing of that buyback?
The second question is around slides 34 and 35 in your presentation. I appreciate that you don't run your business from 1 July to 31 December, and there is - there are differences on shipment phasing from one day to the next. But on page 34 of your slide deck, your shipments, as I see, accelerated from 5 to 6.1; from 35, your depletions have slightly decelerated a little bit across most of the portfolio. Is that really around the on-trade that's not captured in the reports, or is there something else that we're not thinking about at this stage?
And then the third question is around gin. I think you disclosed that your gin portfolio grew 7% in the first half, and Tanqueray grew 13%. I was wondering whether you could clarify what the growth of both Gordon's Core and Gordon's Pink would have been in the first half?
Kathryn Mikells: Okay. I 'll start with first question. As you would have seen, and you referenced, we completed £1.1 billion of the three-year program, which includes up to £4.5 billion of share buybacks and capital return in the first half. The way that we always talk about this, is we're looking to manage capital returns to shareholders against the backdrop of our leverage ratio, right. And if we had looked back in the last couple of years, we had a leverage ratio that was below the range we're targeting. We target a leverage ratio of 2.5 to 3 times, and that's an adjusted net debt to EBITDA number. And when we finished the first half, we were at 2.8 times, right, roughly in the middle-ish of that range. As we look to both the second half and into the next couple of years, we 'll be looking to manage shareholder returns against that backdrop of the leverage ratio.
But right now, my overall commentary was we feel pretty good about execution against the £4.5 billion. We made a very good down payment in the first half against that three-year program.
Ivan Menezes: On the US depletion performance, our overall US spirits depletions have growth in line with shipment in value terms, so across this period in the first half. You raised the right point. When you look at our growth in the non-measured channel of the independent market and the on- premise, our growth rates have been higher, and we are performing very strongly in many of those states, which are non-chain states. And we put a lot of focus now on the US. In fact, we put a whole new organization behind it to really building our on-premise spirits in the US strongly. And I 'm pleased to see that focus will continue to give us good benefits in the years to come.
On gin, Gordon's grew as well. Gordon's base was up about 3% and Pink, I think, was up about 1%. And in spite of having what was the decade's greatest spirits launch in the UK market, we had a phenomenal success last year, but it's still growing. And our belief on gin is the category still has good runway ahead of it. Yes, GB and Spain took off the earliest. But those growth rates will slow down. But the rest of Europe and then other markets, like South Africa, Brazil, and Australia, we are seeing very good growth.
Edward Mundy: Very good, thank you. And then just as a follow-up, the Captain Morgan Europe growth has really accelerated. Is there anything particular behind that relative to last year?
Ivan Menezes: I would just say we were excited about the brand. We put focus behind it. It's doing
Edward Mundy: Very good, thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from Marion Boucheron with MainFirst.
Marion Boucheron: Hi, good morning everyone, two question for me, please. One, on the COGS How shall we look at them going forward and the impact for that on the second half?
And the second question would be on the price mix that was very strong in the first half. Would you be able to give us some granularity of what has been in size, what's been more driven by net revenue management and what was mix?
And then I don't know if you have any colour to give on the innovation pipeline in the upcoming quarters?
Kathryn Mikells: I 'll start with just how we're thinking about COGS in the second half. I would mention that we obviously have softness in gross margin in the first half. And part of that is coming from just the level of inflation that we're seeing relative to our ability to offset it through productivity. I had mentioned in India specifically base neutral spirits is one of the areas where we 've seen higher inflation. I had mentioned in the past, and would certainly reiterate today, that Agave is another place that we can still continue to see inflation in relatively high prices.
And then the third thing I would mention is generally glass cost inflation has been another area of impact for us. As I look to the second half, I would say we're expecting to continue to see a lot of the similar inflationary impact. With regard to overall gross margin, I 'd say we're also expecting to see a bit more positive productivity phasing against cost. I would say I hope to improve what we're seeing in terms of gross margin.
But it's always a bit of a game against what's happening in inflation, how much can we offset that in productivity and then obviously, what are we seeing in price mix. Ivan, do you want to take the second question with the price mix?
Ivan Menezes: Price mix, yeah. First the price mix, as you can see was strong here. We had price of about a point and a half and the rest is mix. Mix was always helped unfortunately by India being weak, some of the countries, the geographic mix is stronger as well. But our own capabilities and focus and disciple are really operating in all our markets. As you know, we are coming from behind, we still got a lot of room to improve. But with every period, we are getting better and better. And in many markets, we're seeing and taking more price mix in a sustained way. That's our goal. And the underlying trends of in-market mix also remain very positive with premiumization being strong. And as I said earlier, our reserve business, which is 20% of the business, grew 11%, so that is very strong mix operating in our favour.
On innovation, our focus on innovation is sustainability and consistency. As we look at the second half, we have a good pipeline. We are also - as we go into this calendar year, we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of Johnnie Walker, and you can expect us to do some exciting things on that brand as well in the course of - it will be second half and the first half of next year.
Our innovation pipelines are now built with the long-term focus to ensure we have consistency and our innovation capability continues to get better. And the focus on sustainability is also much stronger in how we develop and execute innovation.
Marion Boucheron: All right, thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from Celine Pannuti with JP Morgan.
Celine Pannuti: Yes, good morning. Most of my question had been answered. I just wanted to follow-up on Europe. If you could talk about the overall growth environment that you 've see in your categories and then also in the UK, whether you 've seen any slowdown throughout the quarter?
Ivan Menezes: I 'd say overall, Europe, as we saw the business grew 3%. If you take a 12-month - last, rolling 12 months ' view, we are growing share. We have taken some price increases in certain markets and channels, and that has impacted some of the short-term performance. We do have variability across Europe. I mean, some of our markets, like Germany, Benelux, etc., are growing double-digit. Italy was strong, Spain is more challenged. Ireland is tough, flattish. The UK market, I feel good about; our beer business here, it's been strong. Guinness too was up 6% in the UK, and 1 in 10 pints in London is now a Guinness. This is our highest share ever on Guinness. And so, we got ups and downs but overall, the performance consistency continues and the environment is good.
I would say we see spirits well-positioned and premiumization trends strong, and even small categories like tequila, expensive tequila are growing very fast. Our single malts are doing much better. So, the Europe environment, I 'd say is solid.
Celine Pannuti: Thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from Andrea Pistacchi with Deutsche Bank.
Andrea Pistacchi: Yeah, good morning, I have three questions please. The first one on the US, where Scanner Data, Nielsen in particular, have proved to be not a very good predictor of your performance in the US, as you were also highlighting. That said, the Nielsen data in the past couple of months show, or would suggest a bit of a slowdown at the industry level through November/December. Have you seen a slowdown at all in the business?
The second question, please, on your guidance and on China; I appreciate of course the uncertainty on the situation in China. But could you give us any an idea of what situation in China you are factoring into your guidance, on how many months of difficult situation in China you are building into the guidance?
The third question, please, back to the US on Captain Morgan, which in the last two half-year periods has been positive, so a clearly better performance compared to the past two or three years. Is this a reflection of the work you 've been doing on the brand, that you're confident that you 've probably turned the corner on Captain Morgan?
Ivan Menezes: Sure, I 'll take the first and the third and Kathy, you can talk about the guidance. On the US trends, again, I don't look at any particular month of news and read too much into it. We don't see - we look at the MAT trends overtime, I don't see a shift in US. The US Spirits market is probably growing 5-5.5% if you throw in all channels and everything, and we think that's fairly consistent.
On Captain Morgan, I 'd say it's improving, but we 've still got a lot of work to do, so we're far from declaring victory on Captain Morgan. The actions we're taking have stabilized the brand is how I would characterize it. We're going back with a lot of focus against the serve, the drinks, the MLS, the football sponsorship, which is just kicking in, in terms of its full impact. The marketing is much
more focused. We're getting smarter about some of the innovation that was on Captain Morgan which we're focusing -- some of it was not working so we're easing that out of the base.
But there's work to do. This is a big brand in a challenge category. The rum category is still very sluggish in the US, and I 'm happy we're here compared to a couple of years ago, but still lots of work to do and too early to declare victory.
Kathryn Mikells: And then specifically as it relates to the guidance, we were clear that it's just too early to call the impact of the Coronavirus. And that's just a situation, that we 'll have to watch closely.
Andrea Pistacchi: But your guidance assumes that of course, China will deteriorate in the second half versus H1, yes?
Kathryn Mikells: Again, it is too early to be able to call exactly what the impact is going to be. And as it relates to our guidance, we can't yet appropriately factor in something that we can't yet really call. It's just early days and too early to be able to call how it's going to impact the business. I would back up a little bit to say China is about 4% of our business, it's obviously growing strongly right now, but it's just too early days to be able to understand the impact.
Andrea Pistacchi: Perfect, thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from Sanjeet Aujla with Credit Suisse.
Sanjeet Aujla: Yeah, hi. I just had a couple of quick follow-ups please. Firstly, just on mainstream spirits. We haven't heard you speak so much about mainstream spirits. Is it still a strategic focus for yourselves, particularly in light of the emerging market volatility that you're seeing? I noticed primary scotch was flat in the half, so love to get your assessment on that part of the business.
And then just on the Guinness turnaround in the US, can you try and pinpoint what's really driving that improvement?
Ivan Menezes: Sure, on mainstream spirits is still a focus and priority. You would see the performances were more subdued in the half, and primary whiskeys was impacted also by a weak [ inaudible ] in the UK. We also had weakness on Smirnoff in South Africa. It's a big brand. Those were some of the factors that drove it.
But if you look at Nigeria and Kenya, we're seeing really good growth and we're excited about the potential for mainstream spirits to build, and obviously, India is such a big market for us. Primary scotch is still a big priority. I mean, Black & White grew 5%. It's really on trend in many markets and absolutely, very much a focus for us to keep that business growing, and at good margins.
On Guinness, in the US, we are -- it's playing to the trends of better beer, more iconic beer and the experiential side of what we 've put into Baltimore is working really well, the new brewery experience we 've created there. So, it's a bit of all of it. Bottle beer is doing well. The on-trade draft
market in the US is still challenged. It's difficult, but we are doing really well on packaged and at- home.
And the marketing is working better and as I talked about earlier, our focus in the beer company is really making sure we build a quality, sustainable growth business, particularly around Guinness. And there's more exciting things to come around the brand in the next 12 months in the US market as well.
Sanjeet Aujla: Thank you.
Operator: Our next question comes from Nico Von Stackelberg from Liberum.
Nico Von Stackelberg: Hi there. Pardon for the collective sigh around the city on this, but there has been no question around Brexit. And I was just wondering, could you just give us a quick update on Brexit even in the event of a no free trade agreement outcome. You said in the statement that there will be no direct financial impact to Diageo; basically, it won't be material. And just can you walk me through why is that the case? And secondly, there would be no change to the medium-term guidance in the event of a no FTA outcome, right? Thanks.
Ivan Menezes: Yes, very simply our ability to trade within the EU doesn't change much. Under WTO conditions, we will trade tariff free. If there's some complications in borders and shipping products, we know how to handle that. I mean, we ship to 180 countries. So, it's immaterial, the impact within the EU.
The UK government, we had a number of EU FTA agreements in many countries where scotch benefited, and the UK government has got the vast majority of that value covered, or grandfathered, or continued in the post-Brexit scenario. So, we don't have risk on that front.
And finally on the upside, and it's not immediate, but clearly as UK develops new free trade agreements with emerging countries around the world, we see good opportunities actually for scotch and gin to benefit, but that's more medium term than immediate. And our supply chain is a very indigenous supply chain that we are not relying on shipping a lot of products from Europe into the UK. We don't have the complexity of many other manufactured products to deal with. Those are the main reasons why we say we can take the Brexit within our current guidance however Brexit plays out.
Okay, I 'm going to call it to a close there. Thanks very much everyone for your joining us on the call and for your interest in the company, and look forward to meeting with many of you as we, Kathy and I go on the road show in the next few days. Thanks a lot.
Kathryn Mikells: Thanks everyone.
Operator: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's teleconference. You may now disconnect.
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Diageo plc published this content on 31 January 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 31 January 2020 16:34:05 UTC | business |
East African airlines suspend China flights due to coronavirus | Kenya's health ministry said samples from a person suspected of having the new coronavirus sent to South Africa for further tests had turned out negative.
The patient, a student in the epicentre of the outbreak in the city of Wuhan, China, has been isolated in a Nairobi hospital having arrived on Tuesday on a Kenya Airways flight from Guangzhou in southern China.
`` We have temporarily suspended all flights to and from Guangzhou starting Friday until further notice, '' the airline said in a statement.
The World Health Organization on Thursday declared a global emergency as the virus spread to more countries.
Air transport links between Africa and China have boomed in the past 20 years, in tandem with the growth of trade, social, economic, political and cultural ties between the continent and the Asian giant.
Kenya Airways, which operates one flight daily to Guangzhou via Bangkok, joins other airlines around the world that have stopped flying to the world's second-largest economy as it deals with the outbreak that has infected at least 8,000 people.
Flights to Bangkok will continue, Kenya Airways said.
RwandAir, which operates three flights a week to Guangzhou, has also suspended the flights, the airline said on Friday, adding that the decision would be reviewed in February.
On Thursday, Ethiopian Airlines, Africa's largest carrier, denied reports that it would suspend flights to the Asian country after its call centre told Reuters that flights were cancelled.
Air Tanzania, which was poised to start maiden flights from Dar es Salaam to China in February, said on Wednesday it had postponed the plan, citing concerns over the spread of the virus.
Kenya Airways did not respond to queries about the share of its revenue that comes from the China flights.
By Omar Mohammed and Clement Uwiringiyimana | business |
Kenya Airways: RwandAir suspends flights to China amid the coronavirus outbreak | `` RwandAir is to suspend flights with immediate effect between the Rwandan capital, Kigali, and the Chinese city of Guangzhou, '' the airline said in a statement on Friday. `` The decision will be reviewed later in February. ''
( Reporting by Clement Uwiringiyimana; writing by Omar Mohammed; Editing by Christian Schmollinger) | business |
What Lies in Store for Energy ETF This Earnings Season? | The energy sector enjoyed a strong surge last year, with oil price registering the highest yearly gain in three years. The positive trend continued at the start of 2020 due to Middle East tensions but has fizzled lately with the coronavirus scare leading to global slowdown fears ( read: Virus Scare Weighs on Oil ETFs: Go Short for the Near Term).As a result, the ultra-popular ETFs Energy Select Sector SPDR XLE, Vanguard Energy ETF VDE, iShares U.S. Energy ETF IYE and Fidelity MSCI Energy Index ETF FENY are down around 9% each this month. The downside can also be attributed to weak Q4 earnings expectations. This is especially true as total earnings for the sector are expected to be down 47.1% from the same period last year. Revenues are expected to decline 3%.Let’ s delve into the earnings picture of two oil biggies, Exxon Mobil XOM and Chevron CVX, dominate the abovementioned funds’ portfolio and have the power to move the funds up or down in the coming days. Both firms are slated to release their earnings before market open on Jan 31, and collectively make up for 42.9% of XLE, 42.2% of IYE, 40.5% of FENY and 39.3% of VDE ( see: all the Energy ETFs here).According to our methodology, the combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank # 1 ( Strong Buy), 2 ( Buy) or 3 ( Hold) increases the chances of an earnings beat. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’ re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.What’ s in the Cards? Exxon Mobil has a Zacks Rank # 3 ( Hold) and an Earnings ESP of 0.00%. The company has witnessed negative earnings estimate revision of 3 cents over the past seven days for the to-be-reported quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’ s earnings indicates a decline of 70.9% from the year-ago quarter reported figure. However, it delivered positive earnings surprise of 7.45% on average over the last four quarters. The stock has a VGM Score of B.Chevron has a Zacks Rank # 2 and an Earnings ESP of +0.80%. It has witnessed upward earnings estimate revision of 3 cents over the past seven days for the to-be-reported quarter. Analysts raising estimates right before earnings — with the most up-to-date information possible — is a pretty good indicator for the stock. Additionally, the company delivered four-quarter average positive earnings surprise of 14.78%. However, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’ s earnings indicates a decline of 28.6% from the year-ago quarter reported figure. The stock has a VGM Score of A ( read: Can Energy ETFs Rebound as China Promises Ramped-up Purchases?).ConclusionAll the four ETFs have a Zacks ETF Rank # 5 ( Strong Sell), suggesting some pain for the same in the coming weeks. However, these funds have the ability to withstand the shocks from any of the major components in their holdings.Want key ETF info delivered straight to your inbox? Zacks’ free Fund Newsletter will brief you on top news and analysis, as well as top-performing ETFs, each week. Get it free > >
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF ( XLE): ETF Research Reports Fidelity MSCI Energy Index ETF ( FENY): ETF Research Reports Vanguard Energy ETF ( VDE): ETF Research Reports iShares U.S. Energy ETF ( IYE): ETF Research Reports Exxon Mobil Corporation ( XOM): Free Stock Analysis Report Chevron Corporation ( CVX): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report | business |
Buy These ETFs if U.S. Yield Curve Flattens Further | One of most-watched gauges for an impending recession is the inversion of yield curve. Investors should note that the spread between the two-month and 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield slipped to the negative territory on Jan 30, spooking market watchers globally. The inversion happened for the first time since October ( read: Economic Slowdown in 2020? ETF Strategies to Help You).
Global growth apprehensions as evident from the latest IMF projections and outbreak of coronavirus marred the risk-on sentiments. Asian stocks logged a six-day losing streak while fears of contagion hurt global stocks too. This in turn boosted demand for safe-haven assets like U.S. treasuries and gold ( read: 5 Gold ETFs Riding the Safe Haven Rally).
The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield slumped to 1.57% on Jan 30, 2020 from 1.88% at the start of the year. Meanwhile, the two-month U.S. treasury yield rose to 1.58% from 1.55% at the start of January. The spread between the two treasuries fell from 33 bps to minus one bps on Jan 30.
This kind of flattening yield curve is negative for financial stocks. Since banks borrow money at short-term rates and lend capital at long-term rates, a lower long-term rate does not bode well. If the yield curve flattens, net interest rate margins of banks decline. This clearly explains the underperformance of banks or overall financial ETFs.
Inverse Financial ETFs
Though we do not expect further flattening in the yield curve, everything depends on the spread of coronavirus and demand for the risk-free assets. Still, if the bearish situation persists, the appeal for financial ETFs, especially banks, will be dull for the near term.
As a result, investors who are bearish on the sector now may want to consider a near-term short. There are several inverse financial ETFs to play this kind of a flattening yield curve scenario. Below we highlight a few of them.
ProShares Short Financials ETF ( SEF)
This fund provides unleveraged inverse ( or opposite) exposure to the daily performance of the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index. The ETF makes a profit when the financial stocks decline and is suitable for hedging purposes against the fall of these stocks.
ProShares UltraShort Financials ETF ( SKF)
This fund seeks two times ( 2x) leveraged inverse exposure to the Dow Jones U.S. Financials Index.
ProShares UltraPro Short Financial Select Sector ETF ( FINZ)
Investors having a more bearish view and higher risk appetite may find FINZ interesting as the fund provides three times ( 3x) inverse exposure to the S & P Financial Select Sector Index.
Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3x Shares ETF ( FAZ)
This product provides three times inverse exposure to the Russell 1000 Financial Services Index. Direxion Daily Regional Banks Bear 3x Shares ( WDRW)
This fund seeks to deliver thrice the inverse return of the S & P Regional Banks Select Industry Index.
Bottom Line
As a caveat, investors should note that such products are suitable only for short-term traders as these are rebalanced on a daily basis. Still, for ETF investors who are bearish on the financial sector for the near term, either of the above products could make an interesting choice ( see: all the Inverse Equity ETFs here).
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Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report ProShares UltraPro Short Financial Select Sector ( FINZ): ETF Research Reports Proshares Short Financials ( SEF): ETF Research Reports ProShares UltraShort Financials ( SKF): ETF Research Reports Direxion Daily Financial Bear 3x Shares ( FAZ): ETF Research Reports Direxion Daily Regional Banks Bear 3X Shares ( WDRW): ETF Research Reports To read this article on Zacks.com click here. Zacks Investment Research Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report | business |
PennEast Targeting Partial Service in Pennsylvania as New Jersey Struggles Continue | Sign in to get the best natural gas news and data. Follow the topics you want and receive the daily emails.
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As a battle with New Jersey over state-owned land and key permits persists, PennEast Pipeline Co. LLC is pursuing a plan to bring the 120-mile project online in two phases.
In an amendment filed with FERC requesting authorization to divide the project, PennEast highlighted a plan to bring 68 miles of the system online by November 2021 entirely within Pennsylvania. The pipeline would originate at a point near shale fields in the northeast part of the state to a terminus in Northampton County. The second phase would include the remaining route that would stretch into New Jersey, which is now being targeted for completion in 2023.
For years the project has battled through various setbacks, including regulatory delays and issues with private landowners. But it has been stymied by New Jersey, which has prevented PennEast from condemning state-owned land in a court battle. Without those properties, state regulators have also claimed they can’ t issue water quality approvals necessary for the project to move forward.
Precedent agreements for 338,000 Dth/d were filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as part of the Phase One request. The company said additional negotiations are underway to bring the total capacity in Phase One to 600,000 Dth/d. The original design capacity of more than 1 million Dth/d remains unchanged.
The first phase in Pennsylvania would include three delivery points, including one with project affiliate UGI Utilities Inc. to serve a ski resort, another with Columbia Gas and one with the proposed Adelphia Gateway Project. PennEast also stressed that there are no new private property owners impacted by the first phase.
Given the setbacks it’ s faced, the project in early January filed at FERC for a two-year extension to finish the system by 2022.
PennEast got a lift from FERC on Thursday, which granted a petition for declaratory order by finding the project may condemn state-owned land as a certificate holder with the power of eminent domain.
PennEast, which filed the petition in October, called the order “ encouraging news. ” The decision would better position the project to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for review of an adverse ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit that stopped it from seizing land in New Jersey, said PennEast spokesperson Patricia Kornick.
FERC found that eminent domain authority under the Natural Gas Act ( NGA) applies to state land. FERC also ruled that Congress delegated such authority to certificate holders and not the Commission itself.
PennEast obtained FERC approval and received a certificate of public convenience and necessity in 2018. However, New Jersey has prevented the pipeline’ s sponsors from seizing 42 parcels of state-owned land that it claims are preserved for recreational, conservation and agricultural uses. The project’ s backers sued to condemn the land.
The Third Circuit concluded that the Eleventh Amendment of the U.S. Constitution bars a certificate holder from bringing an action in federal court under the NGA to seize property in which a state or its agencies hold an interest. The court ruled that New Jersey’ s sovereign immunity wasn’ t revoked by the project’ s certificate and also found that the federal government’ s exemption from sovereign immunity was not delegated to PennEast.
While FERC did not address the broader Constitutional issue of sovereign immunity, ClearView Energy Partners LLC said the order is at least likely to expedite the Supreme Court’ s review if it chooses to hear the case.
PennEast requested an extension last week to file its Supreme Court petition pending FERC’ s order.
“ In agreeing with PennEast, the Commission reiterated that vital infrastructure should not be disrupted by parochial interests after having been found by expert federal regulators to be in the broad public interest and environmentally safe, ” Kornick said on Thursday.
About one-third of the pipeline would be in New Jersey’ s Hunterdon and Mercer counties. Environmental groups have backed New Jersey’ s opposition to the system. New Jersey Sierra Club director Jeff Tittel called FERC’ s decision “ an outrageous interference in the legal process. ”
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Vaxart Announces Initiation of Coronavirus Vaccine Program | SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Jan. 31, 2020 ( GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vaxart, Inc. ( NasdaqGS: VXRT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing oral recombinant vaccines administered by tablet rather than by injection, announced today that it has initiated a program to develop a coronavirus vaccine candidate based on its proprietary oral vaccine platform, VAAST.
“ Vaxart’ s proprietary technology has been clinically proven in humans, and the ability to make an oral vaccine to meet this current public health threat is very important to all of us at Vaxart, ” said Sean Tucker, Ph.D., chief scientific officer of Vaxart. “ The results of our recently published influenza challenge study demonstrated that our oral tablet vaccine primarily protects through mucosal immunity, a potential key factor when targeting mucosal pathogens such as this new coronavirus. ”
Under the program, Vaxart plans to generate vaccine candidates based on the published genome of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus ( 2019-nCoV) and evaluate them in preclinical models for their ability to generate both mucosal and systemic immune responses. Of particular interest will be the mucosal immune responses, as coronavirus is primarily an infection of the respiratory tract.
To date, Vaxart has conducted multiple clinical trials with vaccines based on its VAAST platform, demonstrating its oral tablet vaccines consistently generate robust mucosal responses in humans. In addition, Vaxart’ s vaccines have demonstrated efficacy in humans for H1 influenza, and in pre-clinical models for chikungunya, aerosolized Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis ( VEE) and Respiratory Syncytial Virus ( RSV).
“ We believe our oral tablet vaccines provide substantial potential advantages, especially when targeting mucosal pathogens such as flu, norovirus, RSV and the recently emerged coronavirus, ” said Wouter Latour, MBA, MD. “ In addition, the logistical advantages of an oral vaccine that is administered using a convenient room temperature-stable tablet could be of critical benefit when rolling out a major public health vaccination campaign. ”
About CoronavirusThe 2019 Novel Coronavirus ( 2019-nCoV) is a virus ( more specifically, a coronavirus) identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China. Early on, many of the patients in the outbreak in Wuhan, China reportedly had some link to a large seafood and animal market, suggesting animal-to-person spread. However, a growing number of patients reportedly have not had exposure to animal markets, indicating person-to-person spread is occurring. At this time, it’ s unclear how easily or sustainably this virus is spreading between people. The latest situation summary updates are available on CDC’ s web page 2019 Novel Coronavirus, Wuhan, China.
About VaxartVaxart is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing oral recombinant protein vaccines based on its proprietary oral vaccine platform. Vaxart’ s vaccines are designed to generate broad and durable immune responses that protect against a wide range of infectious diseases and may also be useful for the treatment of chronic viral infections and cancer. Vaxart’ s vaccines are administered using a convenient room temperature-stable tablet, rather than by injection. Vaxart believes that tablet vaccines are easier to distribute and administer than injectable vaccines and have the potential to significantly increase vaccination rates. Vaxart’ s development programs include oral tablet vaccines that are designed to protect against norovirus, seasonal influenza and respiratory syncytial virus ( RSV), as well as a therapeutic vaccine for human papillomavirus ( HPV). For more information, please visit www.vaxart.com.
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release regarding our strategy, prospects, plans and objectives, results from preclinical and clinical trials, commercialization agreements and licenses, beliefs and expectations of management are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may be accompanied by such words as “ believe, ” “ could, ” “ potential, ” “ will ” and other words and terms of similar meaning. Examples of such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the Vaxart’ s ability to develop and commercialize its product candidates and clinical results and trial data ( including plans with respect to the proposed Coronavirus vaccine program); Vaxart’ s intention to continue its efforts to advance its oral tablet seasonal flu vaccine; and Vaxart’ s expectations with respect to the important advantages it believes its oral vaccine platform can offer over injectable alternatives, particularly for mucosal pathogens such as norovirus, flu and RSV, as well as coronaviruses such as SARS, MERS and the virus that recently emerged in China. Vaxart may not actually achieve the plans, carry out the intentions or meet the expectations or projections disclosed in our forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, expectations and projections disclosed in the forward-looking statements. Various important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that Vaxart makes, that Vaxart’ s product candidates may not be approved by the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory authorities; that, even if approved by the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory authorities, Vaxart’ s product candidates may not achieve broad market acceptance; that Vaxart may experience manufacturing issues and delays; and other risks described in the “ Risk Factors ” sections of Vaxart’ s Quarterly and Annual Reports filed with the SEC. Vaxart does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
CONTACT:
Brant BiehnVaxart650 550 3500bbiehn @ vaxart.com
| business |
Drugmakers Race to Develop a Coronavirus Vaccine. | Four pharmaceutical giants dominate the vaccine business. Together, Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, and Sanofi sold about $ 30 billion worth of vaccines in 2019, a staggering sum, given that most vaccines sell for less than $ 100 in the U.S.
Yet when a new coronavirus spreading out from the Chinese city of Wuhan early this year, shaking global markets, none of the four set out to work on a rapid-response inoculation to stop the outbreak.
No real business model exists to justify developing vaccines for emerging viral threats, despite the broad impact they can have. Since Jan. 17, as the number of people sickened by the outbreak climbed near 10,000, the S & P 500 index has fallen 3.1%. Morgan Stanley estimates that the outbreak could cut global economic growth by up to 0.3% in the first quarter of 2020, and that there could be a more severe impact in the second quarter if the situation worsens.
Still, viruses like the coronavirus aren’ t a big focus for the pharmaceutical industry. Drugmakers know how to make money on rare diseases. But vaccines for new viruses are expensive, have unpredictable demand, and are needed most in markets where patients have the least ability to pay.
“ The private sector will go toward where the returns are largest, and that is clearly now in a direction that is not efficient at improving public health, ” wrote Peter Bach, director of the Memorial Sloan Kettering’ s Center for Health Policy and Outcomes, in an email to Barron’ s.
Yet a handful of companies have come forward with plans to develop a vaccine: Johnson & Johnson ( ticker: JNJ), which has a small vaccine business, and three small biotechs.
How useful these programs will be for the current outbreak is uncertain. But they could be a model for how drug developers find incentives to work on emerging viral threats.
“ The hope is that there is a business model, ” said Charles Duncan, an senior biotechnology analyst with Cantor Fitzgerald. “ The belief is that the emergence of biological threats is going to become an increasingly common thing.... So we [ have ] got to get prepared for this. ”
Investors saw gold in the experimental vaccines, at least at first. Shares of Novavax ( NVAX), one of the three biotechs, jumped 146% from Jan. 14 through Jan. 21, to $ 9.82, before falling to $ 6.84 by the end of the day on Jan. 29. Inovio Pharmaceuticals ( INO) had a similar bump. These firms, along with Moderna ( MRNA), are using newer vaccine technologies that could allow for the production and development of vaccines much faster than older techniques. While the big four vaccine makers are the undisputed masters of churning out millions upon millions of doses of prophylactic vaccines each year, it is these newer modalities that offer a way to develop quick responses to new viral threats.
Some of the companies have tried this before. Johnson & Johnson developed an Ebola vaccine that went into Phase 1 trials in 2015 using the same technique it will use for the new coronavirus, and Moderna’ s coronavirus effort will use the same technique as its experimental Zika vaccine.
“ People forget very quickly when these are over, but one time this will go very bad, ” said Paul Stoffels, Johnson & Johnson’ s chief scientific officer. “ The world needs an accelerated program and platform to do this time and time again. We are training ourselves. But there are no incentives. ”
For now, the companies are relying on funding from nonprofits and governments. Moderna is collaborating with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, or NIAID, and received funding from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a nongovernmental organization funded by a handful of governments and private foundations.
“ We are leveraging not our shareholder’ s capital, but not-for-profit capital, in a way that’ s nondilutive to the rest of our efforts, ” said Tal Zaks, Moderna’ s chief medical officer.
The timeline for the coronavirus vaccines is not yet clear. The NIAID’ s director told S & P Global Market Intelligence that the Moderna vaccine could be ready for a Phase 1 study in three months, while Stoffels said that J & J could have a vaccine available in eight to 12 months. Inovio has said it hopes to bring its vaccine candidate into Phase 1 in less than seven months. Novavax’ s president of research and development has said that his company would work quickly, but didn’ t offer a specific time frame.
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Each company is building a platform to allow for the quick development of vaccines for the next novel virus.
“ Initially, the market is fairly limited, ” Cantor Fitzgerald’ s Duncan said. “ It’ s a result of a specific viral outbreak, and there are limited buyers, namely governments, that will want to access them. I do think that in the future, retail purchase of therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines will occur. ”
For investors, the question is whether the incentives will be enough to develop these technologies to a point where they can defend the rest of the economy -- and public health.
“ This is the third coronavirus in roughly two decades, ” said Duncan, referring to SARS and MERS, both of which are of the same family of virus as the new coronavirus. “ And we’ re going to see more. So we have got to get prepared for this. ”
Corrections & Amplifications: An earlier version of this article misstated the prices of Novavax shares on Jan. 21 and Jan. 29. | business |
Stock Market Drop Can’ t Keep Amazon Stock, IBM Down | U.S. stocks are set to close the week with more losses even as earnings and corporate actions send some shares higher.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures have fallen 124 points, or 0.4%, while S & P 500 futures are down 0.4%. Nasdaq Composite futures are off 0.4%.
For the week, the Dow is down about 0.1%. The S & P has fallen 0.4%. The Nasdaq is off about 0.2%.
Overseas stocks are mostly lower as well because of continuing fears related to the Wuhan province coronavirus outbreak. Hong Kong’ s Hang Seng Index is down 0.5%. Europe’ s FTSE 100 Index has fallen 0.8%.
For the week, the Hang Seng has dropped 5.8%. The FTSE index is off 3.6%.
In better news for investors, Amazon.com ( ticker: AMZN) joined the trillion-dollar market capitalization club Thursday evening after posting much better than expected earnings. For the fourth quarter, Amazon reported sales of more than $ 87 billion, up 21% year over year, and above the high end of management’ s own guidance range. Shares are up almost $ 160, or 8.5% in premarket trading.
United States Steel ( X) reported earnings that were better than feared Thursday evening and its stock jumped too. Shares are up about 3.5% in premarket trading. The stock is down, however, more than 50% over the past year. High investment and low steel prices have battered investor sentiment.
Stock in financial technology giant Visa ( V), on the other hand, is falling, down about 2.6%, after reported earnings only matched Wall Street expectations.
Amgen ( AMGN) shares are down too, by about 3.7%. Earnings were reported Thursday evening, like Visa, were solid, but the company’ s outlook disappointed investors.
Caterpillar ( CAT) and Honeywell ( HON) reported earnings Friday morning. Both beat expectations. Cat’ s outlook, however, was lower than hoped for and shares are down about 1.7%. Honeywell’ s outlook, on the other hand, matched Wall Street expectations and its shares are up about 0.9% in premarket trading.
Earnings aren’ t the whole story Friday morning.
International Business Machines ( IBM) stock jumped in after hours trading after the announced CEO Virginia Rometty would step down. Shares are up about 3.6% in Friday morning premarket trading.
And stock in truck maker Navistar International is up more than 50% after the company received a buyout offer from its German-based partner Traton ( 8TRA.Gremany). Navistar’ s board said it is reviewing the proposal. | business |
Huami:'s Amazfit Donates $ 1.5 Million to Help Combat the Coronavirus Outbreak in China | The 2nd Largest Brand of Health Wearable Tech in the World, Huami’ s Amazfit to Obtain Much Needed Medical Supplies For People Affected in China’ s Hubei Province
Huami - ( NYSE: HMI), the world’ s second-largest health wearables company, announced today that has donated $ 1.5 million ( USD) to help combat the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus in the capital city of Wuhan, located in China’ s Hubei Province. The funds will be dispersed to purchase medical supplies that are in urgent need by both medical professionals and people residing within the affected province.
Funds that were originally set aside for Huami’ s annual corporate meeting in China, which management elected to cancel ( for the first time) due to the severity of the Coronavirus outbreak, are now being allocated to prevent and contain further spread of the virus. In addition to the monetary donation, the tech company will also utilize its global supplier network and channel partnerships to try and obtain much needed medical supplies outside of China to distribute within Wuhan and its province.
“ The coronavirus outbreak in China continues to rage on, disrupting people’ s lives, ” said Wang Huang, founder and CEO of Huami. “ We are keenly aware of the devotion and courage with which thousands of healthcare professionals and many others are fighting to contain the contagion and care for those affected. As a health conscious brand, Huami cares, and we have organized an effort to obtain medical supplies to donate to those in critical need. It is the least we can do to express our heartfelt gratitude to those brave souls fighting on the front line. We wish a speedy recovery of those affected. ”
Huami’ s mission is to champion an interoperable health ecosystem that improves the quality of its customers’ lives. By designing cutting edge technology centered around the health of people, Huami has helped reshaped the lifestyles of millions of customers.
Huang remarked, “ We encourage other global brands to help fight the spread of the virus in the capital city of Wuhan and the Hubei province, whether it be with a monetary donation or providing much needed medical supplies including medical masks. ” | business |
CNMC Goldmine: Impact Of Wuhan Coronavirus On Underground Mining Operations | Attachments
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CNMC Goldmine Holdings Ltd. published this content on 31 January 2020 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 31 January 2020 13:14:04 UTC | business |
Forex Review - Coronavirus and the monetary status quo | Already at least 170 deaths and 7,700 reported cases. This is more than the severe acute respiratory syndrome ( SARS) of the years 2002/2003. These figures could even be below the reality and minimize the scale of the pneumonia epidemic linked to a new form of Coronavirus, of which the city of Wuhan is the epicenter. Tens of millions of people are already under quarantine in the region and international health authorities have been mobilized. Several airlines have suspended flights to mainland China and WHO has declared an international emergency. According to the Financial Times, Chinese officials fear a shock to the manufacturing sector, and more generally to first-quarter growth as the Asian giant celebrates its New Year this week.
In Australia, after trade tensions and fires, the outbreak in neighboring China is now seriously threatening growth on the island-continent. In the meantime, the employment figures, particularly scrutinized by the central bank ( RBA), are reassuring: 29k new hires in December ( against 10k expected) and an unemployment rate that is falling against all expectations to 5.1% ( -0.1%).
In Europe, the ECB has just announced a logical status quo after the package of measures launched in September. Christine Lagarde was once again optimistic, mentioning a stabilization of inflation and `` less pronounced '' economic risks after the Sino-US trade agreement. She also considered `` positive '' the progress of equivalent discussions between Europe and the United States. Indeed, Paris and Washington have just agreed on a truce in the context of the disagreement on the digital tax. Emmanuel Macron has agreed to extend the discussions until the end of 2020 in order to avoid reprisals on French exports. However, the central bank's boss has failed to reassure forex traders as the institution seems to lack ideas on how to change its strategy.
In the UK, with growth at half-mast and low inflation on the one hand, a strong labor market and booming business confidence on the other, investors were awaiting the Bank of England's decision with some impatience. In the end, the UK's money managers did not change their position from their last meeting, according to Chairman Mark Carney. Two of the nine members of the Committee are still advocating a rate cut, while the majority prefers to delay. On the eve of Brexit, the BoE is basing its decision on an upturn in activity since the beginning of the year as well as on the decline in uncertainty linked to the divorce between London and Brussels.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the Bank of Canada has not lowered its key rate since July 2015, while raising it by a quarter of a point five times since then. The monetary authority is now paving the way with its rhetoric. The BoC thus deplores an `` unexpected '' weakness in consumption and investment. One or more rate cuts could therefore support a persistent slowdown in 2020, which does not bode well for the Loonie.
In the United States, despite new pressure from Donald Trump, the Fed did not budge at its last meeting. Such a decision was largely anticipated by the markets as US consumer confidence has recorded a high since last August. In a press conference, Jerome Powell also welcomed the agreement between Beijing and Washington but described the Coronavirus as a `` very serious problem ''. In the aftermath, Uncle Sam revealed a growth rate of +2.3% in 2019, the lowest score since 2016 due to trade tensions.
Finally, in Japan, the central bank did not change its monetary policy either, but it nevertheless revised its growth forecasts upwards while slightly lowering its inflation projections. As a safe haven, the yen is benefiting greatly from the Coronavirus ' fears about global growth. However, the potential exposure of the Japanese peninsula to the epidemic is linked to its geographical proximity, which favors tourism and retail trade.
Over the next few days, Forex traders will be focusing on European inflation on Friday, US ISM Manufacturing and Services indicators on Monday and Wednesday respectively, and most importantly, the RBA's monetary policy decision on Monday night and Tuesday. The consensus is for a quarter-point drop to 0.50%, although the risk of a less accommodative tone than expected, or even of a status quo, does exist, since this would be consistent with the strength of the job market while compensating for the Aussie's latest decline, which began at the beginning of the year.
Graphically, the single currency, which is sometimes seen by some as a safe haven because of the low interest rates backing the currency, does indeed decline when risk appetite diminishes. After rallying to 1.10, however, we may need to take a breather and remain on the lookout for potential rebound sales. Ideally in contact with 1.1096 and 1.1152.
More or less condemned to suffer the same fate, the cable nevertheless manages to preserve 1.30 in the wake of the BoE decision on Thursday 30th January. If we are rather neutral on the pair, the uncertainties could quickly come back to the forefront as the transition period begins. Therefore, we remain more interested in bounce selling, preferably around USD 1.3260 and 1.3473.
For its part, the Loonie is stumbling and the USD/CAD pair could now consolidate below CAD 1.3255, not without having already closed a quotation gap dating back to December 11. Anticipating actions by the Canadian central bank, we are rather pessimistic about the CAD's strength in the medium term. We therefore logically favor purchases of greenback notes, preferably over declines to CAD 1.3163 and CAD 1.3067.
Taking advantage of the climate of risk aversion, the Yen is recovering after the USD/JPY pair crossed the psychological price of 110. Now in contact with 108.60, the downside potential is drastically reduced, especially as uncertainties remain as to the real impact of the Chinese virus on the world economy. We are once again neutral on parity.
As for the unstoppable EUR/CHF, the expected upward reaction to the CHF 1.07 is slow to emerge due to the strong appeal of the franc in times of uncertainty and falling stock market indices. However, the Euro is holding on to this key level despite everything and we remain convinced that the upside potential here is largely dominant. We are maintaining long positions for the long term.
Finally, the Australian dollar is the most successful major currency in 2020. A bearish acceleration that could cause a sharp technical rebound, especially if prices manage to slide into a very liquid area, which is materialized by a large quantity of stop orders placed below the lowest levels traded in nearly 11 years ( 0.6670). The next RBA meeting could materialize such a scenario and provide a great opportunity to take action. We would aim for a return to 0.6853. | business |
Researchers Say Up to 75,800 People in Wuhan May Be Infected With Coronavirus | The University of Hong Kong researchers used mathematical modeling to come up with the new estimate.
With coronavirus panic raging, researchers are racing to determine how widespread the virus actually is.
A group of them from the University of Hong Kong think they have the answer, estimating it stands at 75,800 in the city of Wuhan alone.
The researchers used mathematical modeling to estimate the size of the epidemic using officially reported coronavirus data and domestic and international travel data. The work was published in journal The Lancet.
The team of researchers were able to determine that in the early stages of the outbreak from 1 December to 25 January each person infected could have infected up to two to three other individuals on average. The epidemic doubled in size every 6.4 days during that period infecting up to 75,815 people.
As of 25 January, the modeling suggests cases of coronavirus may have spread from Wuhan to other major Chinese cities including Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Combined they account for more than half the outbound international air travel from China.
Given the new estimates of those infected and how quickly it's spreading, a step-up of public health control measures are in order to prevent large epidemic areas in and outside of Wuhan, the researchers argued. The researchers said if further transmissibility of the virus could be reduced, the growth rate and size of the outbreaks across China will be reduced as well.
Even a 25% reduction in transmissibility in all cities in China via expanded control efforts would have a big impact. If there's a 50% reduction, it could change the status of coronavirus from rapidly expanding to slowly growing.
`` It might be possible to reduce local transmissibility and contain local epidemics if substantial, even draconian, measures that limit population mobility in all affected areas are immediately considered. Precisely what and how much should be done is highly contextually specific and there is no one-size-fits-all set of prescriptive interventions that would be appropriate across all settings, '' co-author Dr. Kathy Leung from the University of Hong Kong said in a press release announcing the results.
`` On top of that, strategies to drastically reduce within-population contact by canceling mass gatherings, school closures, and introducing work-from-home arrangements could contain the spread of infection so that the first imported cases, or even early local transmission, does not result in large epidemics outside Wuhan. ''
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European shares drop on coronavirus cases, weak euro zone data | Britain's blue chip index closed down 1.3%, while Milan's main benchmark bled 2.3% as the country's cabinet declared a state of emergency over the virus. Britain and Italy have two cases each.
The pan-European STOXX 600 ended 1.1% lower, taking losses this week to 3% for its worst week in almost six months. On the month, it lost 1.2% - its worst January since 2016.
`` Each new case adds to the uncertainty about the virus, '' said Philip Marey, a strategist at RaboBank.
The World Health Organization declared the epidemic a global emergency on Thursday as the death toll passed 200 and the number of cases of infection rose to nearly 10,000.
While the illness has been centred on China, governments around the world are scrambling to stop its spread and travel curbs and supply chain disruptions have prompted economists to reassess the potential economic fallout from the outbreak.
Miners were the biggest losers, down 1.6%, on worries that China and its gigantic market for raw materials will come to a standstill if the epidemic worsens.
Travel and leisure stocks also extended losses as more airlines suspended flights to China.
Concerns about the euro zone economy also pushed stocks downwards.
Economic growth in the bloc was less than expected in the last quarter of 2019, mainly due to surprise GDP contractions in France and Italy, while core inflation slowed in January in a worrying sign for the European Central Bank.
The United Kingdom's official exit from the European Union later on Friday had no immediate impact on stocks but it fuels uncertainty going forward. The FTSE 100 is roughly back to where it was before Prime Minister Boris Johnson's landslide election win on Dec. 12 during which he promised to `` get Brexit done ''.
Among earnings updates, Spanish lender Banco Sabadell tumbled almost 14% to the bottom of STOXX 600 after the lender swung to a loss in the fourth quarter.
On the other hand, shares of Signify, the world's largest maker of lights, rallied 7% after reporting a higher quarterly core profit, which prompted a price target hike from JP Morgan.
France-based healthcare company Novacyt shot up 81% after saying it had launched a new molecular test for the coronavirus.
By Medha Singh and Joice Alves | business |
Berry Global: Increases Production to Aid in Coronavirus Protection | Today, in response to questions from the investment community on its recent quarterly call, Berry Global Group, Inc. ( NYSE: BERY) reports it is prioritizing the production of nonwoven healthcare products in its Nanhai, China and Suzhou, China facilities, which are used to manufacture products that can help protect against airborne particles like the Coronavirus.
Nonwoven materials produced at the facilities are used in face masks, N95 respirators, and protective apparel, all of which have recently been in high demand in the plan to prevent the spread of not only the Coronavirus, but also other communicable diseases.
A look inside the Company’ s current Nanhai production efforts can be viewed through media coverage found on its LinkedIn page.
“ Our thoughts go out to those affected by the Coronavirus. Our dedicated teams are working around the clock to manufacture as much of these materials as possible to help prevent the spread of the virus, ” said Curt Begle, President of Berry’ s Health, Hygiene, and Specialties Division.
Berry has advised employees in the affected areas to use extra caution including the use of Company-issued face masks, hand sanitizer, and hand soaps. | business |
The 2019-nCoV Coronavirus Is Highly Effective at Human-to-Human Transmission | The 2019-nCoV epidemic, known to the public as the novel coronavirus, represents an ever-changing and significant risk to the human population. A virus that had never been identified before began to infect humans in early to mid-December, leading to an explosion of cases primarily in areas of mainland China. This is a public-health concern because of the potential for the virus to spread globally and infect millions of people.
At this time, there is very little risk of infection in areas outside of mainland China. However, the virus has spread relatively quickly in China. This development should serve as a warning to other countries about the potential for this virus to cause large numbers of cases if not contained efficiently. While the scale of the current epidemic is large, the number of cases pales when compared with other respiratory viruses such as influenza, which has been estimated to have caused over 15,000,000 cases and 8,000 deaths in the U.S. alone this winter.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to predict how an epidemic caused by a new virus will turn out, but public-health officials have a clear goal of containing the outbreak so as to both reduce human disease and prevent the virus from becoming more adept at infecting humans.
They can do so by identifying infected people, limiting their contact with uninfected individuals, finding anyone who may have had contact with the infected person, and then monitoring those individuals for signs of disease. In this way, transmission from person to person can be reduced, thereby stopping the epidemic. This effort has been a challenge in mainland China, as the virus appears to be able to spread from human to human with an unexpectedly high efficiency, which results in tens of thousands of people needing to be investigated for potential infections—an inordinately large burden for the public-health services to tackle.
While the situation changes almost daily, the virus appears to be causing both mild, flu-like disease and more-serious respiratory infections that require hospitalization. Clinical, research, and public-health efforts are ongoing to contain the virus and provide better options for detecting and treating infections. The speed with which information on case numbers is being conveyed and the distribution of virus and virus sequences is unprecedented.
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Vaccines and diagnostic tests specific to this virus have already been constructed, and the virus is being tested against panels of U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved drugs to identify potential treatments. The ability to sequence the genes of the virus has allowed epidemiologists to piece together how the virus entered the human population and how it is spreading.
Combined with travel restrictions, these efforts will improve the ability of other countries to deal with the eventual appearance of infected individuals and allow them to more efficiently intervene to limit virus spread.
For the time being, most countries are planning, garnering resources, and monitoring the epidemic. For people outside of mainland China who want to do something, get your flu shot and donate blood—both will help with immediate, pressing medical conditions while we wait to see how the 2019-nCoV epidemic will unfold. B | business |
Two coronavirus cases in the UK as WHO declare outbreak as a ‘ global emergency’ | Two people have tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus in the UK, they are both part of the same family and currently under specialised NHS care.
in response to the news Professor Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, said: “ The NHS is extremely well-prepared and used to managing infections and we are already working rapidly to identify any contacts the patients had, to prevent further spread. We have been preparing for UK cases of novel coronavirus and we have robust infection control measures in place to respond immediately. ”
Whitty also said the UK was working closely with the World Health Organization and the international community to prepare for more cases.
This comes on the same day that the World Health Organisation has declared a global emergency. WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: “ In the past few weeks we have witnessed the emergence of a previously unknown pathogen which has escalated into an unprecedented outbreak and which has been met by an unprecedented response. China is to be congratulated for the extraordinary measures it has taken to contain the outbreak despite the severe social and economic impact that is having on China. ”
This declaration gives WHO greater powers to direct the response as the danger to the coronavirus could be devastating if it spreads to countries with weak public health systems.
Out of the 9,320 cases of the coronavirus, only 98 have been outside China, with a small number of cases outside of the country transmitted by human to human contact. The US reported the first such foreign case on Thursday.
The outbreak began on 12 December, and has been traced to a Wuhan market that sold meat and animals. The disease is thought to come from animal products. Currently known as 2019-nCoV, the virus is understood to be a new strain of coronavirus not previously identified in humans. | tech |
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