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Notable statistic: Over the past three months, 85% of all the quantitative easing worldwide had been conducted by the Fed and the ECB. Download Seeking Alpha for your Phone or Tablet
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Covid
Rising coronavirus cases in Israel, where much of the population is inoculated with the Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) vaccine, suggests the jab may be less effective in preventing mild illness from the Delta variant. However, it's still "too early to precisely assess vaccine effectiveness," according to Ran Balicer, chairman of Israel's national expert panel on COVID-19. This is because exposure to the variant and the likelihood of being tested are not evenly distributed across the population, while there are still overall low number of cases among fully vaccinated Israelis.
By the numbers: Pfizer's vaccine protected 64% of people against COVID-19 between June 6 and early July, down from a previous 94%. The figures coincided with the lifting of Israel's virus restrictions, but also as Delta spread through the population. Effectiveness at preventing hospitalization and severe illness ticked down to 93%, compared with at least 97% in an earlier government study.
Back in January, Israel struck a vaccines-for-data deal with Pfizer that promised to share vast troves of information with the drug giant in exchange for the continued flow of COVID-19 shots. "Israel will be a global model state," former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time. "Israel will share with Pfizer and with the entire world the statistical data that will help develop strategies for defeating the coronavirus." No funding was allotted for the agreement and the county even paid a sizable premium for vaccine doses.
Go deeper: So far, 5.2M Israelis (57%) have received at least one dose of Pfizer's vaccine, while 5.6M (60%) have received both shots out of a population of about 9M. Israel has also surpassed 100K coronavirus inoculations of 12-16-year-olds, as well as 88% of the population above the age of 50, the group considered most at risk for serious cases. Helping to demonstrate the impact of the vaccine on an entire population is Israel's highly digitized universal healthcare system, which requires everyone over the age of 18 to register with one of four HMOs. (21 comments)
By the numbers: Pfizer's vaccine protected 64% of people against COVID-19 between June 6 and early July, down from a previous 94%. The figures coincided with the lifting of Israel's virus restrictions, but also as Delta spread through the population. Effectiveness at preventing hospitalization and severe illness ticked down to 93%, compared with at least 97% in an earlier government study.
Back in January, Israel struck a vaccines-for-data deal with Pfizer that promised to share vast troves of information with the drug giant in exchange for the continued flow of COVID-19 shots. "Israel will be a global model state," former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the time. "Israel will share with Pfizer and with the entire world the statistical data that will help develop strategies for defeating the coronavirus." No funding was allotted for the agreement and the county even paid a sizable premium for vaccine doses.
Go deeper: So far, 5.2M Israelis (57%) have received at least one dose of Pfizer's vaccine, while 5.6M (60%) have received both shots out of a population of about 9M. Israel has also surpassed 100K coronavirus inoculations of 12-16-year-olds, as well as 88% of the population above the age of 50, the group considered most at risk for serious cases. Helping to demonstrate the impact of the vaccine on an entire population is Israel's highly digitized universal healthcare system, which requires everyone over the age of 18 to register with one of four HMOs. (21 comments)
Outlook
Colonial Pipeline paid $4.4M in Bitcoin to hackers (before recovering $2.3M). Brazilian meatpacker JBS ended up paying $11M. Now, hackers are demanding $70M to restore data held by companies hit by the latest cyberattack.
Backdrop: Up to 1,500 organizations were compromised by ransomware following an incident at U.S. IT firm Kaseya, which remotely controls programs for companies that manage internet services for businesses. The breach is believed to be affiliated with the Russian-linked REvil ransomware gang and is one of the single largest criminal ransomware sprees in history. In Sweden, at least 800 stores of supermarket chain Coop couldn't open on Saturday after the attack knocked their cash registers offline.
"We're not sure if it's the Russians," said President Biden, ordering a "deep dive" by U.S. intelligence officials on what happened in the attacks. "The initial thinking was, it was not the Russian government, but we're not sure yet."
Statement from the FBI: The agency is "investigating the situation and working with Kaseya, in coordination with CISA, to conduct outreach to possibly impacted victims. We encourage all who might be affected to employ the recommended mitigations and for users to follow Kaseya's guidance to shut down VSA servers immediately. As always, we stand ready to assist any impacted entities." (178 comments)
Backdrop: Up to 1,500 organizations were compromised by ransomware following an incident at U.S. IT firm Kaseya, which remotely controls programs for companies that manage internet services for businesses. The breach is believed to be affiliated with the Russian-linked REvil ransomware gang and is one of the single largest criminal ransomware sprees in history. In Sweden, at least 800 stores of supermarket chain Coop couldn't open on Saturday after the attack knocked their cash registers offline.
"We're not sure if it's the Russians," said President Biden, ordering a "deep dive" by U.S. intelligence officials on what happened in the attacks. "The initial thinking was, it was not the Russian government, but we're not sure yet."
Statement from the FBI: The agency is "investigating the situation and working with Kaseya, in coordination with CISA, to conduct outreach to possibly impacted victims. We encourage all who might be affected to employ the recommended mitigations and for users to follow Kaseya's guidance to shut down VSA servers immediately. As always, we stand ready to assist any impacted entities." (178 comments)
Today's Markets
In Asia, Japan +0.2%. Hong Kong -0.3%. China -0.1%. India +0.2%.
In Europe, at midday, London -0.1%. Paris -0.4%. Frankfurt -0.4%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow flat. S&P flat. Nasdaq flat. Crude +2% at $76.70. Gold +1.3% at $1806.90. Bitcoin +0.1% at $34242.
Ten-year Treasury Yield flat at 1.43%
In Europe, at midday, London -0.1%. Paris -0.4%. Frankfurt -0.4%.
Futures at 6:20, Dow flat. S&P flat. Nasdaq flat. Crude +2% at $76.70. Gold +1.3% at $1806.90. Bitcoin +0.1% at $34242.
Ten-year Treasury Yield flat at 1.43%
Today's Economic Calendar
Jeff Bezos steps down at Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), hands reins to Andy Jassy.
Carnival (NYSE:CCL) marks first cruise from U.S. port since the pandemic.
M&A volume expected to keep record pace in second half of 2021.
Boris Johnson outlines plans to ease Covid restrictions in the U.K.
CDC investigating case of teenager who died after Pfizer shot.
Contamination? Tyson (NYSE:TSN) recalls 8.5M pounds of chicken.
Big Tech may leave Hong Kong over data-protection laws.
Central banks pick up gold after yellow metal drops to decade lows.
Robinhood (HOOD) IPO: Six big risks to consider before buying.
BP (NYSE:BP) mulls withdrawal from Iraq - Reuters.
Carnival (NYSE:CCL) marks first cruise from U.S. port since the pandemic.
M&A volume expected to keep record pace in second half of 2021.
Boris Johnson outlines plans to ease Covid restrictions in the U.K.
CDC investigating case of teenager who died after Pfizer shot.
Contamination? Tyson (NYSE:TSN) recalls 8.5M pounds of chicken.
Big Tech may leave Hong Kong over data-protection laws.
Central banks pick up gold after yellow metal drops to decade lows.
Robinhood (HOOD) IPO: Six big risks to consider before buying.
BP (NYSE:BP) mulls withdrawal from Iraq - Reuters.


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