Joe Biden sworn in as 46th president of the United States, and immediately rolled out a flurry of executive orders

weekly notes 24-30 january2021

Joe Biden sworn in as 46th president of the United States and immediately rolled out a flurry of executive orders. Most of the executive orders were design to fight the COV19 pandemic, others to bring economic reliefs, here is a list for some of these executive orders:

• Focus on the economy:
  
  • Restores collective bargaining power and worker protections for federal workers, and lays the foundation for $15 minimum wage.
    
  • Calls for assistance to those who are struggling to buy food, missed out on stimulus checks or are unemployed.
    
  • Extends the existing nationwide moratorium on evictions and foreclosures until at least March 31.
    
  • Extends the existing pause on student loan payments and interest for Americans with federal student loans until at least September 30.

• Focus on Coronavirus:
  
  • Accelerates manufacturing and delivery of supplies for vaccination, testing and Personal Protective Equipment.
    
  • Directs FEMA to expand reimbursement to states to fully cover the cost for National Guard personnel and emergency supplies.
    
  • Establishes the Pandemic Testing Board to expand US coronavirus testing capacity.
    
  • Establishes a preclinical program to boost development of therapeutics in response to pandemic threats.
    
  • Enhances the nation’s collection, production, sharing and analysis of coronavirus data.
    
  • Directs FEMA to create federally-supported community vaccination centers.
    
  • Directs the Department of Education and HHS to provide guidance for safely reopening and operating schools, childcare providers and institutions of higher education.
    
  • Calls on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to release clear guidance on Covid-19, decide whether to establish emergency temporary standards, and directs OSHA to enforce worker health and safety requirements.
    
  • Requires mask wearing in airports and on certain modes of transportation, including many trains, airplanes, maritime vessels and intercity buses. International travelers must provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test prior to coming to the US.
    
  • Creates the Covid-19 Health Equity Task Force to help ensure an equitable pandemic response and recovery.
    
  • A presidential directive to restore America’s leadership, support the international pandemic response effort, promote resilience for future threats and advance global health security and the Global Health Security Agenda.
    
  • Launches a “100 Days Masking Challenge” asking Americans to wear masks for 100 days. Requires masks and physical distancing in federal buildings, on federal lands and by government contractors, and urges states and local governments to do the same.
    
  • Stops the United States’ withdrawal from the World Health Organization, with Dr. Anthony Fauci becoming the head of the delegation to the WHO.
    
  • Creates the position of Covid-19 Response Coordinator, reporting directly to Biden and managing efforts to produce and distribute vaccines and medical equipment.
    

• Focus on Ethics:
  
  • Requires executive branch appointees to sign an ethics pledge barring them from acting in personal interest and requiring them to uphold the independence of the Department of Justice

Next task for the Biden administration among a list of many tasks is to get the process rolling for potential vote on the 1.9T stimulus package.

We had some important economic data released, here a few of them:

• China economic data:
  
  • GDP Growth Rate QoQ Q4 at 2.6% vs previous at 3.0%
    
  • GDP Growth Rate YoY Q4 at 6.5% vs previous at 4.9%
    
  • Industrial Production YoY DEC at 7.3% vs previous at 7.0%
    
  • Retail Sales YoY DEC at 4.6% vs previous at 5.0%
    
  • Unemployment Rate DEC at 5.20% vs previous at 5.20%
    
  • Unemployment Rate DEC at 5.20% vs previous at 5.20%
    
  • Industrial Capacity Utilization Q4 at 78.00% vs previous at 76.7%

• Australia economic data:
  
  • Markit Manufacturing PMI Flash at 57.20 vs previous at 55.70
    
  • Markit Services PMI Flash JAN at 55.80 vs previous at 57.00
    
  • Markit Composite PMI Flash JAN at 55.00 vs previous at 55.6
    
  • Retail Sales MoM Prel DEC at -4.2% vs previous 7.1%
    
  • Westpac Consumer Confidence Change JAN at -4.50% vs previous at 4.1%
    
  • Westpac Consumer Confidence Index JAN at 107 vs previous at 112
    
  • Employment Change DEC at 50K vs previous at 90K
    
  • Full Time Employment Chg DEC at 35.7K vs pervious at 84.2K
    
  • Part Time Employment Chg DEC at 14.3K vs previous at 5.7K
    
  • Unemployment Rate DEC at 6.6% vs previous at 6.8%

• EU economic data:
  
  • EU Construction Output YoY NOV at 1.3% vs previous at -1.9%
    
  • EU ZEW Economic Sentiment Index JAN at 58.3 vs previous at 54.4
    
  • Germany ZEW Economic Sentiment Index JAN at 61.8 vs previous at 55.0
    
  • Germany ZEW Current Conditions JAN at -66.4 vs previous at -66.5
    
  • France Markit Manufacturing PMI Flash JAN at 51.5 vs previous at 51.1
    
  • France Markit Services PMI Flash JAN at 46.5 vs previous at 49.1
    
  • France Markit Composite PMI Flash JAN at 47 vs previous at 49.5
    
  • Germany Markit Manufacturing PMI Flash JAN at 57 vs previous at 58.3
    
  • Germany Markit Services PMI Flash JAN at 46.8 vs previous at 47
    
  • Germany Markit Composite PMI Flash JAN at 50.8 vs previous at 52
    
  • EA Markit Manufacturing PMI Flash JAN at 54.7 vs previous at 55.2
    
  • EA Markit Services PMI Flash JAN at 45 vs previous at 46.4
    
  • EA Markit Composite PMI Flash JAN at 47.5 vs previous at 49.1
    

• UK economic data:
  
  • Markit/CIPS Manufacturing PMI Flash JAN at 52.9 vs previous at 57.5
    
  • Inflation Rate YoY DEC at 0.6% vs previous at 0.3%
    
  • Inflation Rate MoM DEC                at 0.3% vs previous at -0.1%
    
  • Core Inflation Rate YoY DEC at 1.4% vs previous at 1.1%
    
  • Retail Sales MoM DEC at 0.3% vs previous at -4.1%
    
  • Retail Sales YoY DEC at 2.9% vs previous at 2.1%
    
  • Retail Sales ex Fuel MoM DEC at 0.4% vs previous at -3%
    
  • Retail Sales ex Fuel YoY DEC at 6.4% vs previous at 5.3%
    
  • Markit/CIPS Manufacturing PMI Flash JAN at 52.9 vs previous at 57.5
    
  • Markit/CIPS UK Services PMI Flash JAN at 38.8 vs previous at 49.4
    
  • Markit/CIPS Composite PMI Flash JAN at 40.6 vs previous at 50.4
    
  • Gfk Consumer Confidence JAN at -28 vs previous at-26
    

• US economic data
  
  • Jobless Claims 4-week Average JAN/16 at 848K vs previous at 824.5K
    
  • Initial Jobless Claims 16/JAN at 900K vs previous at 926K
    
  • Continuing Jobless Claims 09/JAN at 5054K vs previous at 5181K
    
  • Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index JAN at 26.5 vs previous at 9.1
    
  • Markit Services PMI Flash JAN at 57.5 vs previous at 54.8
    
  • Markit Composite PMI Flash JAN at 58 vs previous at 55.3
    
  • Markit Manufacturing PMI Flash JAN at 59.1 vs previous at 57.1
    

• Canada economic data
  
  • New Motor Vehicle Sales NOV at 132K vs previous at 159K
    
  • Manufacturing Sales MoM NOV at -0.6% vs previous at 0.3%
    
  • Inflation Rate YoY DEC at 0.7% vs previous at 1.00%
    
  • Inflation Rate MoM DEC at -0.2% vs previous at 0.1%
    
  • Core Inflation Rate YoY DEC at 1.5% vs previous at 1.5%
    
  • ADP Employment Change DEC at -28.8K vs previous at -219.8K
    
  • Retail Sales MoM NOV at 1.3% vs previous at 0.4%
    
  • Retail Sales YoY NOV at 7.5% vs previous at 7.3%
    
  • Retail Sales Ex Autos MoM NOV at 2.1% vs previous at 0.0%
    
  • Wholesale Sales MoM Flash DEC at -1.7% vs previous at 0.7%
    

Considering how much money the Central Banks around the world has printed, it is important to watch the inflation rates during 2021, not only for the USA but Australia, New Zealand, and so on! I love when journalists ask the FED why we don’t have higher inflation, it is very simple, we don’t have wage growth, therefore no inflation. That been said, this week we have CPI numbers from Australia.

Next week the focus is on the Fed Interest Rate Decision and on the Fed Press Conference on Wednesday, January 27, 2021! Considering the rise last unemployment claims and previous negative Non-Farm Payrolls report for DEC at -140K, FED chairman Jerome Powell is expected to repeat and reassure everyone that the low-interest rates will remain low until at least 2023 and we expect him to reject to give an exact date for a potential tapering of their bond purchasing program. The reaction in the currency market and the stock, markets will be watched closely not only during the FED press conference but, in the days, to follows.

Also, very interesting to note is that we have more earnings reports from some big companies on schedule for next week. Here is a list of a few of them:

• AMD Advanced Micro Device – Tuesday, January 26 2021
• MSFT MICROSOFT CORPORATION – Tuesday, January 26 2021
• GE General Electric Co. – Tuesday, January 26 2021
• SBUX STARBUCKS CORPORATION. – Tuesday, January 26 2021
• VZ Verizon Communications Inc.  – Tuesday, January 26 2021
• JNJ Johnson & Johnson – Tuesday, January 26 2021
• AAPLY Apple – Wednesday, January 27 2021
• TSLA Tesla, Inc. – Wednesday, January 27 2021
• FB Facebook – Wednesday, January 27 2021
• BA Boeing, Co. – Wednesday, January 27 2021
• T AT&T – Wednesday, January 27 2021
• AAL American Airlines Group – Thursday, January 28 2021
• V Visa, Inc. – Thursday, January 28 2021
• LUV Southwest Airlines Co. – Thursday, January 28 2021
• X United States Steel Corp. – Thursday, January 28 2021
• MCD McDonald’s Corp. – Thursday, January 28 2021
• JBLU JetBlue Airways Corporation – Thursday, January 28 2021
• CAT Caterpillar Inc. – Friday, January 29 2021
• CVX Chevron Corp. – Friday, January 29 2021
• LLY Eli Lilly & Co. – Friday, January 29 2021

Have a happy, positive, and profitable week ahead!