Tag Archives: Delta

President Biden now has his very own pandemic: The one driven by the Delta variant of the coronavirus. Hiring retreated in August, largely because the highly contagious Delta strain is now ravaging parts of the country with tenacity rivaling the original coronavirus outbreak last year. Employers created just 235,000 new jobs in August, barely one-third of what economists were expecting. The average for the three prior months was 876,000 new jobs per month. Job growth in August was the slowest… Source link

August marked the seventh straight month of gains for the S&P 500 (^GSPC) as investors ignored softening U.S. economic data at the hands of the COVID Delta variant.  But investors may be wise to stop ignoring the data, and position for a September rife with market volatility, says the team at Goldman Sachs.  “General mobility statistics have weakened, full-service restaurant indicators have softened, travel intentions appear to have faded and retail traffic declines (off of 2019 levels) have… Source link

The Delta variant of the coronavirus has shown to be more contagious than previous versions, particularly for the unvaccinated, and that’s creating a level of risk for children that didn’t arise in 2020. “Children are getting hospitalized at higher rates than we’ve ever seen,” Dr. Mona Amin, a board-certified physician, said on Yahoo Finance Live (video above). “And yes, we do see that most children who are hospitalized are children of unvaccinated parents. But as this Delta variant… Source link

Hospitals in the U.S. South have quickly become overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients as cases continue climbing amid the surge of the Delta variant of coronavirus. And while there are indications that Delta transmission tends to subside after around 50 days, some health professionals see things getting worse before getting better. “We’ve seen it pick up with children, young adults, young women, pregnant women, unfortunately,” Dr. Ellen Eaton, assistant professor at the University of… Source link

COVID-19 Delta fears has unleashed the short sellers on the economically sensitive consumer discretionary sector.  Short sellers held 4.57% of outstanding shares in the S&P 500 consumer discretionary sector at the end of July, according to new data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Taking a short position in a stock is one’s way of betting on a decline in price.  The percentage of short sellers in the consumer discretionary space has trended higher since April as stimulus check spending… Source link

‘No toilet paper, again?!’ Shoppers report COVID delta shortages and hoarding Remember the bare store shelves and shopping carts overflowing with bulk packages of toilet paper and bottled water during last year’s intial waves of COVID-19? The bleak scenes at the big-box stores may be making a comeback, thanks to the COVID delta variant sweeping the U.S. Don’t be surprised if you can’t find t.p. again at your local Costco store. A new survey finds three-quarters of Americans are already seeing… Source link

(Adds economic data, economists’ comments) By Ann Saphir and Howard Schneider Aug 20 (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City said on Friday its annual economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, will take place on Aug. 27 virtually and not in person as planned, the clearest sign yet of the impact of the COVID-19 Delta variant on the Fed’s plans. “While we are disappointed that health conditions will prevent us from being able to gather in person at the Jackson Lake Lodge this year… Source link

This article first appeared in the Morning Brief. Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET. Subscribe Friday, August 20, 2021 More signs of a summer swoon for economic growth On Thursday morning, we noted that challenges were emerging for the health of the economic expansion, mostly due to the still-raging COVID-19 pandemic.  Those signs continued into the end of this week.  After highlighting that at least two Wall Street firms had either cut or… Source link

There may be a budding consumer spending slowdown underway at the hands of COVID-19 Delta variant fears, but that isn’t stopping some household name retailers from reinstating the dividends and buyback plans they scrapped at the height of the pandemic.  For some analysts on the Street, the moves make total sense.  “I wouldn’t say that anyone [retailer] returning cash is all of a sudden better off than they were before, but I think they are realizing that they did a good job. They put as much… Source link

Goldman Sachs on Thursday cut its GDP forecast for the U.S., warning of continued supply chain disruption and heightened inflation caused by the COVID-19 delta variant.  But the bank still anticipates robust 6% growth for the U.S. economy this year.   The world’s richest countries boast relatively high rates of vaccination that ensure strong economic growth, despite a wave of infections brought about by the delta variant, Ian Bremmer, Eurasia Group founder and political scientist, tells… Source link