THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR SEPTEMBER 15, 2021 AT 8:15 PM
Paul Plante says:
As to why the for-profit healthcare system dropped the ball here and was woefully unprepared despite the warnings from the CDC in January 2020, that answer is quite simple: the bean counters didn’t have a pandemic built into their financial model.
I wonder if people are clued to the fact that in a for-profit healthcare system, there are stockholders, and it is to those stockholders that the corporations running the healthcare system are responsible to, providing them with ROI, or return on investment.
No ROI, they bail, plain and simple.
That’s why Andy issued his February 26, 2020 press release, forty-nine (49) days after the 8 January 2020 CDC Health Network Alert about COVID, this one entitled “Governor Cuomo Announces $40 Million Emergency Appropriation to Support DOH Staffing and Equipment to Respond to Potential Novel Coronavirus Pandemic,” as follows:
“While there are still no confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in New York, these aggressive actions including $40 million in emergency funding will help ensure our healthcare system is equipped with the necessary staff, supplies and equipment needed to respond to any emergency situation that may arise in the future.”
end quotes
Except they weren’t and people died as a result, and where did the $40 million in taxpayer money end up going?
Nobody really knows!
http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/news/o ... ent-424382
POLITICS
Re: POLITICS
CNBC
"Moderna releases new data on Covid breakthrough cases it says supports need for booster shots"
Berkeley Lovelace Jr. @BERKELEYJR
PUBLISHED WED, SEP 15 2021
KEY POINTS
* The U.S. drugmaker shared a new analysis that showed the incidence of breakthrough Covid cases was less frequent in people who were more recently vaccinated.
* The findings suggesting immunity for earlier groups had started to wane.
Moderna on Wednesday released more data on so-called breakthrough cases it says supports the push for wide use of Covid-19 vaccine booster shots.
The U.S. drugmaker shared a new analysis from its phase three study that showed the incidence of breakthrough Covid cases, which occur in fully vaccinated people, was less frequent in a group of trial participants who were more recently inoculated, suggesting immunity for earlier groups had started to wane.
There were 88 identified breakthrough cases out of 11,431 people vaccinated between December and March, the company said in a release, compared with 162 breakthrough cases out of 14,746 trial participants vaccinated in July through October of last year.
There were also fewer severe cases of Covid-19 cases in the group that received the vaccine more recently, according to a manuscript of the results shared by the company.
Three Covid-19 related hospitalizations occurred in the group that got the shots early on, resulting in two deaths, according to the data.
There were no hospitalizations or deaths in the group that recently received the vaccine, although the finding on severe cases was not statistically significant.
“There’s a large debate, we all know, about whether or not vaccine boosters are going to be necessary into the fall,” Moderna President Stephen Hoge said in a phone interview.
“That debate, what makes it really hard is it’s not really about whether the vaccine worked last month."
"It’s really about whether it’s going to work this winter.”
The analysis hasn’t been peer-reviewed yet.
The new data comes two days before a key Food and Drug Administration vaccine advisory committee meeting, when a panel of outside experts will debate whether there is enough data to support widely distributing booster shots across the U.S.
The group, called the agency’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, is scheduled to debate administering third doses of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine as federal health regulators say they need more time to review Moderna’s application for extra doses.
The data shows that “we do see a significant increase in the risk of Covid-19 for those who are vaccinated a year ago versus six months ago,” Hoge said.
“If you take that number, which in the paper is roughly 28 cases per 1,000 person, and you extrapolate that across the 60 million Americans who’ve received that vaccine."
"The incremental number of cases of Covid-19 that would happen between here and the hospitals is about 600,000, more than half a million cases of Covid-19,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, FDA scientists declined to take a stance on whether to back booster shots of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine, saying U.S. regulators haven’t verified all the available evidence.
The FDA appears to be skeptical about some of the data provided, including efficacy numbers out of Israel, where researchers there have released observational studies showing the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against infection waned over time.
It sets the stage for a tense meeting Friday as the Biden administration has said it wants to begin offering booster shots to the general public as early as next week, pending authorization from the FDA.
The move is part of President Joe Biden’s broader plan to confront a higher number of Covid cases fueled by the fast-spreading delta variant.
The administration has cited three studies, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that showed the vaccines’ protection against Covid diminished over several months.
The White House’s plan calls for people to get a third dose eight months after they got their second shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
Scientists and other health experts have repeatedly criticized the plan, saying data the federal health officials cited wasn’t compelling and characterizing the Biden administration’s push for boosters as premature.
A leading group of scientists published a paper Monday in the journal The Lancet that argued booster shots are not needed at this time for the general public.
While Covid vaccine effectiveness against mild disease may wane over time, protection against severe disease appears to persist, the scientists said.
Widely distributing booster shots to the general public is “not appropriate” at this time, the authors, including two senior FDA officials and multiple scientists from the World Health Organization, wrote in the journal.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/15/covid-b ... doses.html
"Moderna releases new data on Covid breakthrough cases it says supports need for booster shots"
Berkeley Lovelace Jr. @BERKELEYJR
PUBLISHED WED, SEP 15 2021
KEY POINTS
* The U.S. drugmaker shared a new analysis that showed the incidence of breakthrough Covid cases was less frequent in people who were more recently vaccinated.
* The findings suggesting immunity for earlier groups had started to wane.
Moderna on Wednesday released more data on so-called breakthrough cases it says supports the push for wide use of Covid-19 vaccine booster shots.
The U.S. drugmaker shared a new analysis from its phase three study that showed the incidence of breakthrough Covid cases, which occur in fully vaccinated people, was less frequent in a group of trial participants who were more recently inoculated, suggesting immunity for earlier groups had started to wane.
There were 88 identified breakthrough cases out of 11,431 people vaccinated between December and March, the company said in a release, compared with 162 breakthrough cases out of 14,746 trial participants vaccinated in July through October of last year.
There were also fewer severe cases of Covid-19 cases in the group that received the vaccine more recently, according to a manuscript of the results shared by the company.
Three Covid-19 related hospitalizations occurred in the group that got the shots early on, resulting in two deaths, according to the data.
There were no hospitalizations or deaths in the group that recently received the vaccine, although the finding on severe cases was not statistically significant.
“There’s a large debate, we all know, about whether or not vaccine boosters are going to be necessary into the fall,” Moderna President Stephen Hoge said in a phone interview.
“That debate, what makes it really hard is it’s not really about whether the vaccine worked last month."
"It’s really about whether it’s going to work this winter.”
The analysis hasn’t been peer-reviewed yet.
The new data comes two days before a key Food and Drug Administration vaccine advisory committee meeting, when a panel of outside experts will debate whether there is enough data to support widely distributing booster shots across the U.S.
The group, called the agency’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, is scheduled to debate administering third doses of Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine as federal health regulators say they need more time to review Moderna’s application for extra doses.
The data shows that “we do see a significant increase in the risk of Covid-19 for those who are vaccinated a year ago versus six months ago,” Hoge said.
“If you take that number, which in the paper is roughly 28 cases per 1,000 person, and you extrapolate that across the 60 million Americans who’ve received that vaccine."
"The incremental number of cases of Covid-19 that would happen between here and the hospitals is about 600,000, more than half a million cases of Covid-19,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, FDA scientists declined to take a stance on whether to back booster shots of Pfizer’s Covid vaccine, saying U.S. regulators haven’t verified all the available evidence.
The FDA appears to be skeptical about some of the data provided, including efficacy numbers out of Israel, where researchers there have released observational studies showing the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against infection waned over time.
It sets the stage for a tense meeting Friday as the Biden administration has said it wants to begin offering booster shots to the general public as early as next week, pending authorization from the FDA.
The move is part of President Joe Biden’s broader plan to confront a higher number of Covid cases fueled by the fast-spreading delta variant.
The administration has cited three studies, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that showed the vaccines’ protection against Covid diminished over several months.
The White House’s plan calls for people to get a third dose eight months after they got their second shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
Scientists and other health experts have repeatedly criticized the plan, saying data the federal health officials cited wasn’t compelling and characterizing the Biden administration’s push for boosters as premature.
A leading group of scientists published a paper Monday in the journal The Lancet that argued booster shots are not needed at this time for the general public.
While Covid vaccine effectiveness against mild disease may wane over time, protection against severe disease appears to persist, the scientists said.
Widely distributing booster shots to the general public is “not appropriate” at this time, the authors, including two senior FDA officials and multiple scientists from the World Health Organization, wrote in the journal.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/15/covid-b ... doses.html
Re: POLITICS
CNBC
"Rap artist Nicki Minaj faces backlash after tweeting inaccurate information about Covid vaccines"
Robert Towey @ROBERTTOWEYCNBC
PUBLISHED TUE, SEP 14 2021
KEY POINTS
* Minaj skipped this year’s Met Gala, which enforced a vaccine mandate, saying she was generally avoiding public events because she has a new baby at home.
* Minaj said a family friend developed swollen testicles and impotency after getting the Covid vaccine shots.
* Doctors were quick to point out that whatever Minaj’s relative’s friend was suffering from weren’t known side effects from getting the shots.
Nicki Minaj faced public backlash after tweeting that a friend of her cousin developed swollen testicles and impotence after getting vaccinated against Covid-19.
In a series of tweets Monday, the 10-time Grammy-nominated rap artist told fans she would only get immunized once she did enough research and recommended that they wear masks and get the shots if they’re required to for work.
Minaj skipped Monday’s Met Gala, which enforced a vaccine mandate, saying she was generally avoiding public events because she has a new baby at home.
Minaj said she was shooting a video and preparing for the Video Music Awards, which aired Sunday, when she caught Covid earlier this year and had to quarantine away from her infant son for a week.
Most people, however, seized on her comments about her cousin’s friend, which many people criticized as spreading false information.
MSNBC host Joy Reid criticized Minaj: “You have 22 million followers on Twitter."
"For you to use your platform to encourage our community to not protect themselves and save their lives, by God sister, you can do better than that.”
Minaj lashed out at Reid over Twitter, sharing the news clip and using a racial slur to insult the MSNBC host of “The Reidout,” who is also Black.
Doctors were quick to point out that whatever Minaj’s relative’s friend was suffering from weren’t known side effects from getting the shots.
“We are all human, and we tend to associate things,” Dr. Arturo Casadevall, chair of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told CNBC.
He noted that swollen testicles and impotence aren’t side effects of the vaccine.
“So oftentimes, things that are not related get associated, and to that person, that association is very strong."
"But this is why we have science.”
Casadevall said the symptoms experienced by Minaj’s cousin’s friend were “almost certainly” not connected to the vaccines, and the timing was just a coincidence.
Minaj skipped the Met Gala in New York City, which enforced a vaccine requirement for guests.
She replied to a fan who noted Minaj had not made a public appearance for over a year, saying that she was avoiding travel to protect the health of her infant son.
In a subsequent tweet, Minaj said she was “sure” she’d eventually get vaccinated in order to go on tour.
Attempts to reach Minaj’s representatives were unsuccessful.
Vaccine hesitancy is common nationwide, a recent CNBC/Change Research poll found, and it’s a major obstacle to achieving the herd immunity that experts say is necessary to prevent Covid surges in the U.S.
The poll reported that 34% of unvaccinated respondents said they were worried about the vaccine’s side effects, while another 34% said their suspicion of the federal government made them reluctant to vaccinate.
Debunking misinformation through conversations with the vaccine hesitant is essential to building public trust, Casadevall said.
“These vaccines are extremely safe,” Casadevall said, noting that the risks of the side effects from the vaccines are significantly lower than the health risks posed by the virus.
“Covid, on the other hand, is deadly, unpredictable.”
And for anyone like Minaj seeking more research on the available vaccines before scheduling an appointment to immunize, Casadevall suggested turning to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration for guidance.
“I don’t think doing research on the internet, or reading Twitter posts or something like that, is research,” Casadevall said.
“Research means that you have a systematic way to look at the problem.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/14/rap-art ... cines.html
"Rap artist Nicki Minaj faces backlash after tweeting inaccurate information about Covid vaccines"
Robert Towey @ROBERTTOWEYCNBC
PUBLISHED TUE, SEP 14 2021
KEY POINTS
* Minaj skipped this year’s Met Gala, which enforced a vaccine mandate, saying she was generally avoiding public events because she has a new baby at home.
* Minaj said a family friend developed swollen testicles and impotency after getting the Covid vaccine shots.
* Doctors were quick to point out that whatever Minaj’s relative’s friend was suffering from weren’t known side effects from getting the shots.
Nicki Minaj faced public backlash after tweeting that a friend of her cousin developed swollen testicles and impotence after getting vaccinated against Covid-19.
In a series of tweets Monday, the 10-time Grammy-nominated rap artist told fans she would only get immunized once she did enough research and recommended that they wear masks and get the shots if they’re required to for work.
Minaj skipped Monday’s Met Gala, which enforced a vaccine mandate, saying she was generally avoiding public events because she has a new baby at home.
Minaj said she was shooting a video and preparing for the Video Music Awards, which aired Sunday, when she caught Covid earlier this year and had to quarantine away from her infant son for a week.
Most people, however, seized on her comments about her cousin’s friend, which many people criticized as spreading false information.
MSNBC host Joy Reid criticized Minaj: “You have 22 million followers on Twitter."
"For you to use your platform to encourage our community to not protect themselves and save their lives, by God sister, you can do better than that.”
Minaj lashed out at Reid over Twitter, sharing the news clip and using a racial slur to insult the MSNBC host of “The Reidout,” who is also Black.
Doctors were quick to point out that whatever Minaj’s relative’s friend was suffering from weren’t known side effects from getting the shots.
“We are all human, and we tend to associate things,” Dr. Arturo Casadevall, chair of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told CNBC.
He noted that swollen testicles and impotence aren’t side effects of the vaccine.
“So oftentimes, things that are not related get associated, and to that person, that association is very strong."
"But this is why we have science.”
Casadevall said the symptoms experienced by Minaj’s cousin’s friend were “almost certainly” not connected to the vaccines, and the timing was just a coincidence.
Minaj skipped the Met Gala in New York City, which enforced a vaccine requirement for guests.
She replied to a fan who noted Minaj had not made a public appearance for over a year, saying that she was avoiding travel to protect the health of her infant son.
In a subsequent tweet, Minaj said she was “sure” she’d eventually get vaccinated in order to go on tour.
Attempts to reach Minaj’s representatives were unsuccessful.
Vaccine hesitancy is common nationwide, a recent CNBC/Change Research poll found, and it’s a major obstacle to achieving the herd immunity that experts say is necessary to prevent Covid surges in the U.S.
The poll reported that 34% of unvaccinated respondents said they were worried about the vaccine’s side effects, while another 34% said their suspicion of the federal government made them reluctant to vaccinate.
Debunking misinformation through conversations with the vaccine hesitant is essential to building public trust, Casadevall said.
“These vaccines are extremely safe,” Casadevall said, noting that the risks of the side effects from the vaccines are significantly lower than the health risks posed by the virus.
“Covid, on the other hand, is deadly, unpredictable.”
And for anyone like Minaj seeking more research on the available vaccines before scheduling an appointment to immunize, Casadevall suggested turning to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration for guidance.
“I don’t think doing research on the internet, or reading Twitter posts or something like that, is research,” Casadevall said.
“Research means that you have a systematic way to look at the problem.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/14/rap-art ... cines.html
Re: POLITICS
CNBC
"FDA staff declines to take stance on Pfizer’s Covid vaccine booster shots, citing lack of verified data"
Berkeley Lovelace Jr. @BERKELEYJR
PUBLISHED WED, SEP 15 2021
KEY POINTS
* The FDA staff declined to take a stance on whether to back booster shots of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, saying U.S. regulators haven’t verified all the available data.
* “Overall, data indicate that currently US-licensed or authorized COVID-19 vaccines still afford protection against severe COVID-19 disease and death in the United States,” they wrote in a 23-page document.
* The staff report is meant to brief the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which meets Friday to review Pfizer’s request to approve Covid booster doses for the general public.
The staff of the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday declined to take a stance on whether to back booster shots of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, saying U.S. regulators haven’t verified all the available data.
“There are many potentially relevant studies, but FDA has not independently reviewed or verified the underlying data or their conclusions,” they wrote in a 23-page document published on the agency’s website.
“Some of these studies, including data from the vaccination program in Israel, will be summarized during the September 17, 2021 VRBPAC meeting.”
The staff said some observational studies have suggested declining efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine over time against symptomatic infection or against the delta variant, while others have not.
“Overall, data indicate that currently US-licensed or authorized COVID-19 vaccines still afford protection against severe COVID-19 disease and death in the United States,” they wrote.
The data the FDA is looking at includes efficacy numbers out of Israel, where researchers there have released observational studies showing the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against infection waned over time.
Pfizer says Israel data shows third Covid shot restores protection from infection to 95% as it makes case to FDA for boosters
In separate documents released Wednesday, Pfizer argued a third dose of the Covid vaccine six months after a second shot restores protection from infection to 95%.
FDA staff appeared to take a skeptical tone on the data, as observational studies don’t adhere to the same standards as formal clinical trials.
“It should be recognized that while observational studies can enable understanding of real-world effectiveness, there are known and unknown biases that can affect their reliability,” agency staff said.
“Furthermore, US-based studies of post-authorization effectiveness of BNT162b2 may most accurately represent vaccine effectiveness in the US population.”
The staff report is meant to brief the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which meets Friday to review Pfizer’s request to approve Covid booster doses for the general public.
The documents published offer a glimpse of the agency’s view on third shots.
The Biden administration has said it wants to begin offering booster shots to the general public as early as next week, pending authorization from the FDA.
The move is part of President Joe Biden’s broader plan to confront a higher number of Covid cases fueled by the fast-spreading delta variant.
Scientists and other health experts have repeatedly criticized the plan, saying data the federal health officials cited wasn’t compelling and characterizing the administration’s push for boosters as premature.
There is currently not a consensus in the biomedical community on boosters for the general public, said Dan Barouch, an immunologist at Harvard Medical School.
“There are senior experts who fall on different sides of the debate,” he said.
“Right now, it’ll be interesting to see where the debate goes, but obviously it is known that the Biden administration has suggested that boosters are needed.”
The Biden administration has cited three studies, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that showed the vaccines’ protection against Covid diminished over several months.
The administration’s plan, outlined by senior health officials, calls for people to get a third dose eight months after they got their second shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
Biden has said scientists were reviewing whether to move the third shot up by three months.
When the administration announced the plan in August, senior health officials said they worried protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death “could” diminish in the months ahead, especially among those who are at higher risk or were vaccinated during the earlier phases of the vaccination rollout.
A group of scientists, including two senior FDA officials and the World Health Organization, published a paper Monday in the journal The Lancet that argued booster shots are not needed at this time for the general public.
While Covid vaccine effectiveness against mild disease may wane over time, protection against severe disease appears to persist, the scientists said.
On Tuesday, WHO officials called again for wealthy nations to stop distributing Covid vaccine booster doses in hopes of making more shots available for poorer countries with lagging immunization rates.
“There are countries with less than 2% vaccination coverage, most of them in Africa, who are not even getting their first and second dose,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing.
“And starting with boosters, especially giving it to healthy populations, is really not right.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/15/covid-b ... -data.html
"FDA staff declines to take stance on Pfizer’s Covid vaccine booster shots, citing lack of verified data"
Berkeley Lovelace Jr. @BERKELEYJR
PUBLISHED WED, SEP 15 2021
KEY POINTS
* The FDA staff declined to take a stance on whether to back booster shots of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, saying U.S. regulators haven’t verified all the available data.
* “Overall, data indicate that currently US-licensed or authorized COVID-19 vaccines still afford protection against severe COVID-19 disease and death in the United States,” they wrote in a 23-page document.
* The staff report is meant to brief the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which meets Friday to review Pfizer’s request to approve Covid booster doses for the general public.
The staff of the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday declined to take a stance on whether to back booster shots of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, saying U.S. regulators haven’t verified all the available data.
“There are many potentially relevant studies, but FDA has not independently reviewed or verified the underlying data or their conclusions,” they wrote in a 23-page document published on the agency’s website.
“Some of these studies, including data from the vaccination program in Israel, will be summarized during the September 17, 2021 VRBPAC meeting.”
The staff said some observational studies have suggested declining efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine over time against symptomatic infection or against the delta variant, while others have not.
“Overall, data indicate that currently US-licensed or authorized COVID-19 vaccines still afford protection against severe COVID-19 disease and death in the United States,” they wrote.
The data the FDA is looking at includes efficacy numbers out of Israel, where researchers there have released observational studies showing the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against infection waned over time.
Pfizer says Israel data shows third Covid shot restores protection from infection to 95% as it makes case to FDA for boosters
In separate documents released Wednesday, Pfizer argued a third dose of the Covid vaccine six months after a second shot restores protection from infection to 95%.
FDA staff appeared to take a skeptical tone on the data, as observational studies don’t adhere to the same standards as formal clinical trials.
“It should be recognized that while observational studies can enable understanding of real-world effectiveness, there are known and unknown biases that can affect their reliability,” agency staff said.
“Furthermore, US-based studies of post-authorization effectiveness of BNT162b2 may most accurately represent vaccine effectiveness in the US population.”
The staff report is meant to brief the FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, which meets Friday to review Pfizer’s request to approve Covid booster doses for the general public.
The documents published offer a glimpse of the agency’s view on third shots.
The Biden administration has said it wants to begin offering booster shots to the general public as early as next week, pending authorization from the FDA.
The move is part of President Joe Biden’s broader plan to confront a higher number of Covid cases fueled by the fast-spreading delta variant.
Scientists and other health experts have repeatedly criticized the plan, saying data the federal health officials cited wasn’t compelling and characterizing the administration’s push for boosters as premature.
There is currently not a consensus in the biomedical community on boosters for the general public, said Dan Barouch, an immunologist at Harvard Medical School.
“There are senior experts who fall on different sides of the debate,” he said.
“Right now, it’ll be interesting to see where the debate goes, but obviously it is known that the Biden administration has suggested that boosters are needed.”
The Biden administration has cited three studies, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that showed the vaccines’ protection against Covid diminished over several months.
The administration’s plan, outlined by senior health officials, calls for people to get a third dose eight months after they got their second shot of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine.
Biden has said scientists were reviewing whether to move the third shot up by three months.
When the administration announced the plan in August, senior health officials said they worried protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death “could” diminish in the months ahead, especially among those who are at higher risk or were vaccinated during the earlier phases of the vaccination rollout.
A group of scientists, including two senior FDA officials and the World Health Organization, published a paper Monday in the journal The Lancet that argued booster shots are not needed at this time for the general public.
While Covid vaccine effectiveness against mild disease may wane over time, protection against severe disease appears to persist, the scientists said.
On Tuesday, WHO officials called again for wealthy nations to stop distributing Covid vaccine booster doses in hopes of making more shots available for poorer countries with lagging immunization rates.
“There are countries with less than 2% vaccination coverage, most of them in Africa, who are not even getting their first and second dose,” Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing.
“And starting with boosters, especially giving it to healthy populations, is really not right.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/15/covid-b ... -data.html
Re: POLITICS
CNBC
"Powell orders ethics review after Fed presidents disclosed multimillion-dollar investments"
Thomas Franck @TOMWFRANCK
PUBLISHED THU, SEP 16 2021
KEY POINTS
* Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell directed staff to review the central bank’s ethics rules after several Fed presidents disclosed large investments and stock trades.
* News of Powell’s inquiry broke after Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent 12 letters to the Fed’s regional bank presidents demanding stricter ethics around stock buying.
* Documents revealed that Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan traded Apple, Amazon and Delta Air Lines stock in 2020.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell directed staff to review the central bank’s ethics rules for appropriate financial activities after disclosures that several senior central bank officials made multiple multimillion-dollar stock trades in 2020, while others held significant investments.
News of Powell’s inquiry broke after Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent 12 letters to the Fed’s regional bank presidents demanding stricter ethics from the nation’s top central bank officials.
The Massachusetts Democrat called on each Fed president to institute a ban on the ownership and trading of individual stocks by senior officials at each regional office.
Last week, financial disclosures filed by the Fed’s 12 regional presidents revealed some had actively traded in 2020, while others held million-dollar financial positions without making changes to their portfolios.
A Fed spokesman told CNBC that Powell last week ordered a “fresh and comprehensive look at the ethics rules around permissible financial holdings and activities by senior Fed officials.”
Powell ordered the review “because the trust of the American people is essential for the Federal Reserve to effectively carry out our important mission,” the spokesman said.
“This review will assist in identifying ways to further tighten those rules and standards."
"The Board will make changes, as appropriate, and any changes will be added to the Reserve Bank Code of Conduct.”
Documents released last week revealed that Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan made multiple trades worth $1 million or more last year in individual stocks including Apple, Amazon and Delta Air Lines.
Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren held stakes in four real estate investment trusts and several purchases and sales of similar property-owning vehicles, according to filings.
He also held stock in Pfizer, Chevron and AT&T.
His investments were in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Other Fed presidents, such as Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, disclosed little to no trading activity but several financial holdings in excess of $1 million.
His stakes included Coca-Cola stock worth more than $500,000 but less than $1 million.
Barkin’s largest holdings, worth $1 million or more, included a variety of exchange-traded and mutual funds overseen by outside managers.
He had, for example, a holding worth at least $1 million in Vanguard’s Energy Fund Admiral Shares, a mutual fund that invests in energy companies including ConocoPhillips, Marathon Petroleum and BP.
Even the appearance of self-dealing at the Fed could prove problematic to an institution tasked with the impartial oversight of U.S. employment and inflation.
The trades quickly came under scrutiny given the Fed’s critical role in managing the U.S. economy as well as its influence over interest rates and liquidity markets.
The Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing recession magnified the Fed’s power in 2020.
Congress allows the Fed, with the Treasury Department’s approval, to embark on a wide range of emergency lending measures to flush the economy with cash during times of crisis.
Rosengren, Barkin and Kaplan serve as presidents of three of the Fed’s 12 regional banks that span the country.
The regional bank presidents take turns serving on the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed’s policymaking body that sets interest rates across the economy.
Amid the public backlash, both Kaplan and Rosengren have agreed to sell their individual stock holdings.
Separately, Warren sent letters to all of the Fed’s regional bank presidents demanding tighter restrictions on the type of financial activity officials can engage in.
Each letter, all dated Sept. 15, was similar to the next except for the two addressed to Kaplan and Rosengren.
“As the Fed took extraordinary actions to address the risks to the economy and the banking and financial systems from the COVID-19 pandemic, you and your colleague Eric Rosengren made extensive trades in individual stocks and real estate investment trusts,” Warren wrote in her letter to Kaplan.
That trading, she added, “has prompted concerns about conflicts of interest among high-level officials with far-reaching policymaking influence and extraordinary access to information about the economy.”
The Fed played a leading role in the U.S. economic recovery from the worst of the coronavirus recession.
Economists say that its political independence allowed it to move more quickly than Congress and that its monthly purchase of $120 billion in U.S. debt and mortgage-backed securities helped sustain countless businesses that saw business swoon last year.
Data also provided by Reuters
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/16/fed-chi ... rades.html
"Powell orders ethics review after Fed presidents disclosed multimillion-dollar investments"
Thomas Franck @TOMWFRANCK
PUBLISHED THU, SEP 16 2021
KEY POINTS
* Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell directed staff to review the central bank’s ethics rules after several Fed presidents disclosed large investments and stock trades.
* News of Powell’s inquiry broke after Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent 12 letters to the Fed’s regional bank presidents demanding stricter ethics around stock buying.
* Documents revealed that Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan traded Apple, Amazon and Delta Air Lines stock in 2020.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell directed staff to review the central bank’s ethics rules for appropriate financial activities after disclosures that several senior central bank officials made multiple multimillion-dollar stock trades in 2020, while others held significant investments.
News of Powell’s inquiry broke after Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent 12 letters to the Fed’s regional bank presidents demanding stricter ethics from the nation’s top central bank officials.
The Massachusetts Democrat called on each Fed president to institute a ban on the ownership and trading of individual stocks by senior officials at each regional office.
Last week, financial disclosures filed by the Fed’s 12 regional presidents revealed some had actively traded in 2020, while others held million-dollar financial positions without making changes to their portfolios.
A Fed spokesman told CNBC that Powell last week ordered a “fresh and comprehensive look at the ethics rules around permissible financial holdings and activities by senior Fed officials.”
Powell ordered the review “because the trust of the American people is essential for the Federal Reserve to effectively carry out our important mission,” the spokesman said.
“This review will assist in identifying ways to further tighten those rules and standards."
"The Board will make changes, as appropriate, and any changes will be added to the Reserve Bank Code of Conduct.”
Documents released last week revealed that Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan made multiple trades worth $1 million or more last year in individual stocks including Apple, Amazon and Delta Air Lines.
Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren held stakes in four real estate investment trusts and several purchases and sales of similar property-owning vehicles, according to filings.
He also held stock in Pfizer, Chevron and AT&T.
His investments were in the tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Other Fed presidents, such as Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin, disclosed little to no trading activity but several financial holdings in excess of $1 million.
His stakes included Coca-Cola stock worth more than $500,000 but less than $1 million.
Barkin’s largest holdings, worth $1 million or more, included a variety of exchange-traded and mutual funds overseen by outside managers.
He had, for example, a holding worth at least $1 million in Vanguard’s Energy Fund Admiral Shares, a mutual fund that invests in energy companies including ConocoPhillips, Marathon Petroleum and BP.
Even the appearance of self-dealing at the Fed could prove problematic to an institution tasked with the impartial oversight of U.S. employment and inflation.
The trades quickly came under scrutiny given the Fed’s critical role in managing the U.S. economy as well as its influence over interest rates and liquidity markets.
The Covid-19 pandemic and ensuing recession magnified the Fed’s power in 2020.
Congress allows the Fed, with the Treasury Department’s approval, to embark on a wide range of emergency lending measures to flush the economy with cash during times of crisis.
Rosengren, Barkin and Kaplan serve as presidents of three of the Fed’s 12 regional banks that span the country.
The regional bank presidents take turns serving on the Federal Open Market Committee, the Fed’s policymaking body that sets interest rates across the economy.
Amid the public backlash, both Kaplan and Rosengren have agreed to sell their individual stock holdings.
Separately, Warren sent letters to all of the Fed’s regional bank presidents demanding tighter restrictions on the type of financial activity officials can engage in.
Each letter, all dated Sept. 15, was similar to the next except for the two addressed to Kaplan and Rosengren.
“As the Fed took extraordinary actions to address the risks to the economy and the banking and financial systems from the COVID-19 pandemic, you and your colleague Eric Rosengren made extensive trades in individual stocks and real estate investment trusts,” Warren wrote in her letter to Kaplan.
That trading, she added, “has prompted concerns about conflicts of interest among high-level officials with far-reaching policymaking influence and extraordinary access to information about the economy.”
The Fed played a leading role in the U.S. economic recovery from the worst of the coronavirus recession.
Economists say that its political independence allowed it to move more quickly than Congress and that its monthly purchase of $120 billion in U.S. debt and mortgage-backed securities helped sustain countless businesses that saw business swoon last year.
Data also provided by Reuters
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/16/fed-chi ... rades.html
Re: POLITICS
REUTERS
"U.S. House Democrats advance tax-hike plan as rifts open over Biden spending bill"
By David Lawder and Ahmed Aboulenein
September 15, 2021
WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Legislation to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations advanced out of a U.S. House of Representatives committee on Wednesday to help fund President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion social spending plan, but a provision to slash drug prices stalled elsewhere on Capitol Hill.
Many elements of Democrats' sweeping "reconciliation" bill remain in flux due to the competing demands of the party's centrists and progressives.
Biden met with two influential moderate Senate Democrats on the legislation at the White House.
The Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee voted 24-19 to approve the tax-related portions of the bill, which include raising the top income tax rate to 39.6% from 37% and the top corporate tax rate to 26.5% from 21%.
The plan boosts the capital gains tax rate to 25% from 20% for Americans with taxable income above $400,000 and adds a 3% surtax on income above $5 million.
The committee's work will be treated as recommendations to House and Senate leaders as they craft final versions of the massive tax and spending bill in coming weeks.
Representative Stephanie Murphy was the lone Democrat to vote against the tax plan, as did all Republicans on the panel.
Murphy said she supported some elements such as tax breaks for green energy.
"But there are also spending and tax provisions that give me pause, and so I cannot vote for the bill at this early stage," she said in a statement, adding the final version can be "fiscally responsible."
Democrats, who aim to pass the bill without the support of Republicans using budget reconciliation rules, cannot afford to lose more than three votes in the House and any votes in the Senate.
MEDICARE DEADLOCK
Rifts between Democratic moderates and progressives also were on display at the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where a 29-29 vote blocked a provision that would allow the Medicare healthcare program for seniors to negotiate lower drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.
Three Democrats sided with Republicans in opposing the measure, long sought by progressives to beat back healthcare costs, but opposed by drugmakers as stifling innovation.
A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the provision "will remain a cornerstone of the Build Back Better Act as work continues" on a final version.
The drug pricing plan could be reinstated due to the House Ways and Means Committee approving identical language in its legislation.
The House Rules Committee could also add it to a final version ahead of a floor vote.
MANCHIN, SINEMA LEVERAGE
Biden met separately with moderate Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema on Wednesday to discuss Democratic-backed domestic spending legislation, the White House said.
Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in the Senate, making Manchin and Sinema essential to the $3.5 trillion bill's prospects.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the purpose of the meetings was to discuss a “path forward” on Biden’s legislation.
Sinema spokesman John LaBombard said: "Today’s meeting was productive, and Kyrsten is continuing to work in good faith with her colleagues and President Biden as this legislation develops."
LaBombard did not provide details of the conversation.
Manchin was scheduled to discuss the wide-ranging spending and tax bill on Wednesday evening, Psaki indicated.
The legislation - opposed by Republicans - aims to supplement a separate bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill and would focus on matters including education, childcare and climate-related projects.
Manchin said over the weekend he would not back a $3.5 trillion package and urged a slimmer version, putting him at odds with other Democrats backing the larger bill to tackle the party's major policy goals while they maintain a narrow hold on Congress.
Reporting by David Lawder, Ahmed Abouleinen and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Trevor Hunnicutt and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden- ... 021-09-15/
"U.S. House Democrats advance tax-hike plan as rifts open over Biden spending bill"
By David Lawder and Ahmed Aboulenein
September 15, 2021
WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Legislation to raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations advanced out of a U.S. House of Representatives committee on Wednesday to help fund President Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion social spending plan, but a provision to slash drug prices stalled elsewhere on Capitol Hill.
Many elements of Democrats' sweeping "reconciliation" bill remain in flux due to the competing demands of the party's centrists and progressives.
Biden met with two influential moderate Senate Democrats on the legislation at the White House.
The Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee voted 24-19 to approve the tax-related portions of the bill, which include raising the top income tax rate to 39.6% from 37% and the top corporate tax rate to 26.5% from 21%.
The plan boosts the capital gains tax rate to 25% from 20% for Americans with taxable income above $400,000 and adds a 3% surtax on income above $5 million.
The committee's work will be treated as recommendations to House and Senate leaders as they craft final versions of the massive tax and spending bill in coming weeks.
Representative Stephanie Murphy was the lone Democrat to vote against the tax plan, as did all Republicans on the panel.
Murphy said she supported some elements such as tax breaks for green energy.
"But there are also spending and tax provisions that give me pause, and so I cannot vote for the bill at this early stage," she said in a statement, adding the final version can be "fiscally responsible."
Democrats, who aim to pass the bill without the support of Republicans using budget reconciliation rules, cannot afford to lose more than three votes in the House and any votes in the Senate.
MEDICARE DEADLOCK
Rifts between Democratic moderates and progressives also were on display at the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where a 29-29 vote blocked a provision that would allow the Medicare healthcare program for seniors to negotiate lower drug prices with pharmaceutical companies.
Three Democrats sided with Republicans in opposing the measure, long sought by progressives to beat back healthcare costs, but opposed by drugmakers as stifling innovation.
A spokesman for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the provision "will remain a cornerstone of the Build Back Better Act as work continues" on a final version.
The drug pricing plan could be reinstated due to the House Ways and Means Committee approving identical language in its legislation.
The House Rules Committee could also add it to a final version ahead of a floor vote.
MANCHIN, SINEMA LEVERAGE
Biden met separately with moderate Democratic Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema on Wednesday to discuss Democratic-backed domestic spending legislation, the White House said.
Democrats hold a razor-thin majority in the Senate, making Manchin and Sinema essential to the $3.5 trillion bill's prospects.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters the purpose of the meetings was to discuss a “path forward” on Biden’s legislation.
Sinema spokesman John LaBombard said: "Today’s meeting was productive, and Kyrsten is continuing to work in good faith with her colleagues and President Biden as this legislation develops."
LaBombard did not provide details of the conversation.
Manchin was scheduled to discuss the wide-ranging spending and tax bill on Wednesday evening, Psaki indicated.
The legislation - opposed by Republicans - aims to supplement a separate bipartisan $1 trillion infrastructure bill and would focus on matters including education, childcare and climate-related projects.
Manchin said over the weekend he would not back a $3.5 trillion package and urged a slimmer version, putting him at odds with other Democrats backing the larger bill to tackle the party's major policy goals while they maintain a narrow hold on Congress.
Reporting by David Lawder, Ahmed Abouleinen and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Trevor Hunnicutt and Susan Cornwell; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Peter Cooney
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden- ... 021-09-15/
Re: POLITICS
FOX NEWS
"Blinken admits US doesn't know who was killed in Kabul airstrike, review ongoing"
By Ronn Blitzer | Fox News
14 SEPTEMBER 2021
Secretary of State Antony Blinken admitted Tuesday that he does not know whether a person killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul was a member of ISIS-K or an aid worker, and that the Biden administration is still looking into the matter.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., grilled Blinken on the matter during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the Afghanistan withdrawal.
"The guy the Biden administration droned, was he an aid worker or an ISIS-K operative?" Paul asked, referencing a New York Times report that found that the vehicle struck was driven by U.S. aid group worker Zemari Ahmadi, one of 10 people the Times said died in the attack.
"The administration is of course reviewing that strike and I’m sure that a full assessment will be forthcoming," Blinken said, leading Paul to press the issue.
"So you don’t know if it was an aid worker or an ISIS-K operative?" the senator asked.
When Blinken said he could not speak to that in the setting they were in, Paul asked, "So you don’t know or won’t tell us?"
"I don’t know because we’re reviewing it," Blinken admitted.
Paul slammed the administration's failure to be aware of who they had targeted.
"You’d think you’d kind of know before you off somebody with a Predator drone whether he’s an aid worker or an ISIS-K," he said, before accusing past administrations of exhibiting similar behavior.
Paul had earlier chastised the administration for its failures in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and evacuation of Americans and allies trying to get out.
"Never in my worst nightmares could I have imagined that an administration would leave and leave $80 billion worth of weaponry to the Taliban," Paul said.
"Dozens of planes and helicopters, thousands of armored carriers, hundreds of thousands of automatic weapons, and worst of all, 13 of our brave young men and women."
"Never in my worst nightmares did anyone conceive of such a colossal incompetence."
Paul said the U.S. abandoning Bagram Air Field will be viewed as "one of the worst military decisions in our history."
Blinken then claimed that much of the planes and helicopters were inoperable or soon would be due to lack of maintenance.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/blinke ... was-killed
"Blinken admits US doesn't know who was killed in Kabul airstrike, review ongoing"
By Ronn Blitzer | Fox News
14 SEPTEMBER 2021
Secretary of State Antony Blinken admitted Tuesday that he does not know whether a person killed in a U.S. drone strike in Kabul was a member of ISIS-K or an aid worker, and that the Biden administration is still looking into the matter.
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., grilled Blinken on the matter during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the Afghanistan withdrawal.
"The guy the Biden administration droned, was he an aid worker or an ISIS-K operative?" Paul asked, referencing a New York Times report that found that the vehicle struck was driven by U.S. aid group worker Zemari Ahmadi, one of 10 people the Times said died in the attack.
"The administration is of course reviewing that strike and I’m sure that a full assessment will be forthcoming," Blinken said, leading Paul to press the issue.
"So you don’t know if it was an aid worker or an ISIS-K operative?" the senator asked.
When Blinken said he could not speak to that in the setting they were in, Paul asked, "So you don’t know or won’t tell us?"
"I don’t know because we’re reviewing it," Blinken admitted.
Paul slammed the administration's failure to be aware of who they had targeted.
"You’d think you’d kind of know before you off somebody with a Predator drone whether he’s an aid worker or an ISIS-K," he said, before accusing past administrations of exhibiting similar behavior.
Paul had earlier chastised the administration for its failures in the withdrawal from Afghanistan and evacuation of Americans and allies trying to get out.
"Never in my worst nightmares could I have imagined that an administration would leave and leave $80 billion worth of weaponry to the Taliban," Paul said.
"Dozens of planes and helicopters, thousands of armored carriers, hundreds of thousands of automatic weapons, and worst of all, 13 of our brave young men and women."
"Never in my worst nightmares did anyone conceive of such a colossal incompetence."
Paul said the U.S. abandoning Bagram Air Field will be viewed as "one of the worst military decisions in our history."
Blinken then claimed that much of the planes and helicopters were inoperable or soon would be due to lack of maintenance.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/blinke ... was-killed
Re: POLITICS
CNBC
"Retail sales post surprise gain as consumers show strength despite delta fears"
Jeff Cox @JEFF.COX.7528 @JEFFCOXCNBCCOM
KEY POINTS
* Retail sales rose 0.7% in August versus expectations for a 0.8% decline.
* Excluding autos, sales increased 1.8% versus the Dow Jones estimate for a 0.1% gain.
* Weekly jobless claims increased to 332,000 versus the estimate for 320,000.[/b]
Retail sales posted a surprise gain in August despite fears that escalating Covid cases and supply chain issues would hold back consumers, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.
Sales increased 0.7% for the month against the Dow Jones estimate of a decline of 0.8%.
A separate economic report showed that weekly jobless claims increased to 332,000 for the week ended Sept. 11, according to the Labor Department.
The Dow Jones estimate was for 320,000.
Economists had expected that consumers cut back their activity as the delta variant continued its tear through the U.S.
Persistent supply chain bottlenecks also were expected to hold back spending as in-demand goods were hard to find.
The pandemic’s impact did show up in sales at bars and restaurants, which were flat for the month though still 31.9% ahead of where they were a year ago.
However, sales were strong for most areas during the month, when back-to-school shopping generally results in a pickup in activity, especially so this year as schools prepared to welcome back students after a year of remote learning.
The headline number would have been even better without a 3.6% monthly drop in auto-related activity; excluding the sector, sales rose 1.8%, also well above the 0.1% expected gain.
With fears rising over the pandemic, shoppers turned online, with nonstore sales jumping 5.3%.
Furniture and home furnishing also saw a healthy 3.7% increase, while general merchandise sales rose 3.5%.
Electronics and appliances stores saw a 3.1% drop, while sporting goods and music stores fell 2.7%.
The numbers overall reflected a more resilient consumer, with sales up 15.1% from the same period a year ago.
The retail upside surprise was tempered slightly with a disappointing read on jobless claims.
Initial filings increased 20,000 from a week ago after posting a fresh pandemic-era low.
Still, the four-week moving average, which accounts for weekly volatility, declined to 335,750, a drop of 4,250 that brought the figure to its lowest point since March 14, 2020, at the pandemic’s onset.
The claims total came under heavy seasonal adjustments, as the unadjusted figure showed a drop in filings of 23,331 to 262,619.
Continuing claims also declined, falling by 187,000 to 2.66 million, also a new low since Covid hit.
The four-week moving average nudged lower to about 2.81 million.
However, those receiving compensation under all programs actually increased just ahead of the expiration of enhanced federal jobless benefits.
That total, through Aug. 28 and thus before the expiration, rose by 178,937 to 12.1 million.
In a separate economic report, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported its manufacturing activity index rose 11 points to 30.7, representing the percentage difference between firms reporting expanding activity against those seeing contraction.
That number was well ahead of the Dow Jones estimate of 18.7.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/16/retail- ... rcent.html
"Retail sales post surprise gain as consumers show strength despite delta fears"
Jeff Cox @JEFF.COX.7528 @JEFFCOXCNBCCOM
KEY POINTS
* Retail sales rose 0.7% in August versus expectations for a 0.8% decline.
* Excluding autos, sales increased 1.8% versus the Dow Jones estimate for a 0.1% gain.
* Weekly jobless claims increased to 332,000 versus the estimate for 320,000.[/b]
Retail sales posted a surprise gain in August despite fears that escalating Covid cases and supply chain issues would hold back consumers, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.
Sales increased 0.7% for the month against the Dow Jones estimate of a decline of 0.8%.
A separate economic report showed that weekly jobless claims increased to 332,000 for the week ended Sept. 11, according to the Labor Department.
The Dow Jones estimate was for 320,000.
Economists had expected that consumers cut back their activity as the delta variant continued its tear through the U.S.
Persistent supply chain bottlenecks also were expected to hold back spending as in-demand goods were hard to find.
The pandemic’s impact did show up in sales at bars and restaurants, which were flat for the month though still 31.9% ahead of where they were a year ago.
However, sales were strong for most areas during the month, when back-to-school shopping generally results in a pickup in activity, especially so this year as schools prepared to welcome back students after a year of remote learning.
The headline number would have been even better without a 3.6% monthly drop in auto-related activity; excluding the sector, sales rose 1.8%, also well above the 0.1% expected gain.
With fears rising over the pandemic, shoppers turned online, with nonstore sales jumping 5.3%.
Furniture and home furnishing also saw a healthy 3.7% increase, while general merchandise sales rose 3.5%.
Electronics and appliances stores saw a 3.1% drop, while sporting goods and music stores fell 2.7%.
The numbers overall reflected a more resilient consumer, with sales up 15.1% from the same period a year ago.
The retail upside surprise was tempered slightly with a disappointing read on jobless claims.
Initial filings increased 20,000 from a week ago after posting a fresh pandemic-era low.
Still, the four-week moving average, which accounts for weekly volatility, declined to 335,750, a drop of 4,250 that brought the figure to its lowest point since March 14, 2020, at the pandemic’s onset.
The claims total came under heavy seasonal adjustments, as the unadjusted figure showed a drop in filings of 23,331 to 262,619.
Continuing claims also declined, falling by 187,000 to 2.66 million, also a new low since Covid hit.
The four-week moving average nudged lower to about 2.81 million.
However, those receiving compensation under all programs actually increased just ahead of the expiration of enhanced federal jobless benefits.
That total, through Aug. 28 and thus before the expiration, rose by 178,937 to 12.1 million.
In a separate economic report, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve reported its manufacturing activity index rose 11 points to 30.7, representing the percentage difference between firms reporting expanding activity against those seeing contraction.
That number was well ahead of the Dow Jones estimate of 18.7.
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/16/retail- ... rcent.html
Re: POLITICS
REUTERS
"Attorney for Clinton campaign indicted in U.S. Trump-Russia probe"
By Sarah N. Lynch
September 16, 2021
WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - An attorney who represented Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign was indicted on Thursday for lying to the FBI, as part of U.S. Special Counsel John Durham's probe into origins of the FBI's investigation of ties between Russia and former President Donald Trump's campaign.
Michael Sussmann, a partner with Perkins Coie who also represented the Democratic National Committee in connection with Russia's hack of the organization, is accused of making false statements during a Sept. 19, 2016 meeting with former FBI General Counsel James Baker.
This marks the second criminal case Durham has filed since former Attorney General William Barr tapped him in 2019 to investigate U.S. officials who probed the Trump-Russia contacts.
Trump, a Republican, portrayed the 2016 FBI investigation as part of a witch hunt against him.
President Joe Biden's administration has allowed Durham to continue his work as special counsel.
In the indictment, Sussmann is accused of falsely telling Baker he did not represent any client when he met him to give the FBI white papers and other data files containing evidence of questionable cyber links between the Trump Organization and a Russian-based bank.
The indictment alleges that Sussmann had turned over this information not as a "good citizen" but as an attorney representing a U.S. technology executive, an internet company and Clinton's presidential campaign.
An attorney for Sussmann could not be immediately reached for comment.
Sussamann is expected to deny lying, and will maintain that he did disclose he was meeting with the FBI on behalf of a cyber expert client, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The conversation between Sussmann and Baker was not recorded and Baker did not take notes, the person added, which could make it more challenging for the government to convince a jury whether Sussmann lied.
The indictment says the technology executive client who helped assemble the data Sussmann presented to the FBI had "exploited his access to non-public data at multiple Internet companies to conduct opposition research concerning Trump."
The FBI investigated, but ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence of a "secret communications channel" between the Trump organization and the bank.
The bank was not named in the indictment, but the person familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters it was Alfa Bank.
The New York Times later reported on the FBI's investigation into the Alfa Bank-Trump connection in October 2016 - a probe that the indictment says was sparked following Sussmann's September 2016 meeting with Baker.
The indictment alleges that some other materials Sussmann handed over to the FBI included a paper prepared by an investigative firm.
The indictment does not identify the firm, but a second source familiar with the events told Reuters it is Fusion GPS, the Washington, D.C. based firm that hired former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to conduct opposition research on Trump on behalf of the Clinton campaign.
Steele went on to produce a controversial 35 page "dossier" purporting to outline Trump links and dealings with Russia and Russians.
A spokesman for Fusion GPS declined to comment, as did Steele.
Neither have been accused of wrongdoing.
Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by David Gregorio
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-gra ... 021-09-16/
"Attorney for Clinton campaign indicted in U.S. Trump-Russia probe"
By Sarah N. Lynch
September 16, 2021
WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - An attorney who represented Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign was indicted on Thursday for lying to the FBI, as part of U.S. Special Counsel John Durham's probe into origins of the FBI's investigation of ties between Russia and former President Donald Trump's campaign.
Michael Sussmann, a partner with Perkins Coie who also represented the Democratic National Committee in connection with Russia's hack of the organization, is accused of making false statements during a Sept. 19, 2016 meeting with former FBI General Counsel James Baker.
This marks the second criminal case Durham has filed since former Attorney General William Barr tapped him in 2019 to investigate U.S. officials who probed the Trump-Russia contacts.
Trump, a Republican, portrayed the 2016 FBI investigation as part of a witch hunt against him.
President Joe Biden's administration has allowed Durham to continue his work as special counsel.
In the indictment, Sussmann is accused of falsely telling Baker he did not represent any client when he met him to give the FBI white papers and other data files containing evidence of questionable cyber links between the Trump Organization and a Russian-based bank.
The indictment alleges that Sussmann had turned over this information not as a "good citizen" but as an attorney representing a U.S. technology executive, an internet company and Clinton's presidential campaign.
An attorney for Sussmann could not be immediately reached for comment.
Sussamann is expected to deny lying, and will maintain that he did disclose he was meeting with the FBI on behalf of a cyber expert client, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The conversation between Sussmann and Baker was not recorded and Baker did not take notes, the person added, which could make it more challenging for the government to convince a jury whether Sussmann lied.
The indictment says the technology executive client who helped assemble the data Sussmann presented to the FBI had "exploited his access to non-public data at multiple Internet companies to conduct opposition research concerning Trump."
The FBI investigated, but ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence of a "secret communications channel" between the Trump organization and the bank.
The bank was not named in the indictment, but the person familiar with the matter confirmed to Reuters it was Alfa Bank.
The New York Times later reported on the FBI's investigation into the Alfa Bank-Trump connection in October 2016 - a probe that the indictment says was sparked following Sussmann's September 2016 meeting with Baker.
The indictment alleges that some other materials Sussmann handed over to the FBI included a paper prepared by an investigative firm.
The indictment does not identify the firm, but a second source familiar with the events told Reuters it is Fusion GPS, the Washington, D.C. based firm that hired former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele to conduct opposition research on Trump on behalf of the Clinton campaign.
Steele went on to produce a controversial 35 page "dossier" purporting to outline Trump links and dealings with Russia and Russians.
A spokesman for Fusion GPS declined to comment, as did Steele.
Neither have been accused of wrongdoing.
Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; additional reporting by Mark Hosenball; Editing by David Gregorio
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-gra ... 021-09-16/
Re: POLITICS
REUTERS
"Biden approval drops to lowest of presidency - Reuters/Ipsos poll"
By Chris Kahn
September 16, 2021
NEW YORK, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Public approval of U.S. President Joe Biden has dropped to the lowest level of his presidency, with Americans appearing to be increasingly critical of his response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.
The national poll, conducted Sept. 15-16, found that 44% of U.S. adults approved of Biden’s performance in office, while 50% disapproved and the rest were not sure.
Biden’s popularity has been declining since mid-August as the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed and as COVID-19-related deaths surged across the country.
While most Americans support the kind of vaccine and mask requirements that Biden has ordered recently to slow the spread of the Delta variant, some Republicans have criticized what they consider to be an overreaction by the White House.
The weekly poll showed the number of Americans who approved of Biden’s response to the pandemic dropped below 50% for the first time: About 48% approved of the president’s COVID-19 policies, while 46% disapproved.
At the same point in Donald Trump’s presidency, about 38% of Americans approved of his performance in office, while 57% disapproved.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll is conducted online in English throughout the United States.
The latest poll gathered responses from 1,005 adults in total including 442 Democrats and 360 Republicans.
It has a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of 4 percentage points.
Reporting by Chris Kahn; Editing by David Gregorio
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden- ... 021-09-16/
"Biden approval drops to lowest of presidency - Reuters/Ipsos poll"
By Chris Kahn
September 16, 2021
NEW YORK, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Public approval of U.S. President Joe Biden has dropped to the lowest level of his presidency, with Americans appearing to be increasingly critical of his response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll.
The national poll, conducted Sept. 15-16, found that 44% of U.S. adults approved of Biden’s performance in office, while 50% disapproved and the rest were not sure.
Biden’s popularity has been declining since mid-August as the U.S.-backed Afghan government collapsed and as COVID-19-related deaths surged across the country.
While most Americans support the kind of vaccine and mask requirements that Biden has ordered recently to slow the spread of the Delta variant, some Republicans have criticized what they consider to be an overreaction by the White House.
The weekly poll showed the number of Americans who approved of Biden’s response to the pandemic dropped below 50% for the first time: About 48% approved of the president’s COVID-19 policies, while 46% disapproved.
At the same point in Donald Trump’s presidency, about 38% of Americans approved of his performance in office, while 57% disapproved.
The Reuters/Ipsos poll is conducted online in English throughout the United States.
The latest poll gathered responses from 1,005 adults in total including 442 Democrats and 360 Republicans.
It has a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of 4 percentage points.
Reporting by Chris Kahn; Editing by David Gregorio
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden- ... 021-09-16/