Watch Live 10:00 AM EST — On this episode of Inside the Numbers, the People’s Pundit explains why the coronavirus (COVID-19) models were wrong, new polling and Wall Street trader Tim “The Source” Anderson discusses the market rallies amid positive coronavirus moves.
On this episode of Inside the Numbers,
Asbury Park, N.J. (PPD) — Only one in four (25%) American Adults think the U.S. can buy its way out of the negative economic impact resulting from the coronavirus (COVID-19) with stimulus. According to a new Rasmussen Reports national online and telephone survey, 45% disagree and most (54%) worry the government will run out of money if the U.S. Congress continues down this road.
Another 30% are undecided on the initial question, which is worded as follows: Can the United States buy its way out of the economic damage done by the coronavirus crisis with government money?
On March 23, President Donald J. Trump signed a historic $2 trillion coronavirus relief bill, known in short as the CARES Act. It provides unprecedented support for unemployment and relief to companies and workers.
But now members of the U.S. Congress are talking about another round of stimulus, in which the president would like to include a $2 trillion infrastructure program.
On the question of whether they are concerned about running out of money, only 23% who are Very Concerned and a sizable minority 42% don’t share that concern, including 18% who are Not At All Concerned.
Interestingly, Republicans (30%) are slightly more likely than Democrats (26%) and unaffiliated Americans (20%) to think America can buy its way out of the current economic hard times with government money.
However, Democrats are less worried than the others that the government will run out of money if the aid packages continue.
The survey of 1,000 American Adults was conducted March 31-April 1, 2020 by Rasmussen Reports. The sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
Only one in four (25%) Americans think
Joe Biden again called on President Donald Trump to take measures to combat the coronavirus (COVID-19) indeed already in place. In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on This Week, he called on the president to invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) and appoint a supply commander to combat coronavirus.
There’s just one problem. The president has already done both.
On March 18, President Trump first invoked the DPA for the non-specified purpose to prioritize and allocate resources. Put plainly, the invocation grants the president vast powers for emergency preparedness, to include requiring private companies to manufacture critical supplies in times of crisis.
On March 23, he used DPA to curb the hoarding of resources. On March 27, the president used the DPA to require General Motors Company (GM) to produce ventilators for coronavirus patients.
Hours later, he appointed Peter Navarro to also serve as the policy coordinator on DPA. The administration set a goal for the U.S. to produce 100,000 ventilators in next 100 days.
President Trump previously appointed Rear Admiral John Polowczyk of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to head up the Supply Chain Stabilization Task Force for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He’s been serving in that capacity since last month, though has taken a more public role only in the last week.
This is not the first time the former vice president has either accused the president of not doing something or has called for action the president has already taken.
On March 12, the Trump Campaign accused the Biden Campaign of “plagiarizing” the president’s plan to combat the coronavirus. During a press conference, Mr Biden said “no efforts should be spared” to get private labs and universities to expand testing.
While testing was an area of challenge in the early period of the outbreak, the president weeks before had ordered the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to allow hundreds of private labs and academic hospitals to do just that.
Mr. Biden’s plan also called for financial assistance to small businesses to mitigate the economic devastation of forcing a shutdown. At the time, the President Trump already provided $50 billion in liquidity and requested more from the U.S. Congress.
The president would later sign the CARES Act, which included a provision providing more than $300 billion in loans for small businesses, much of which is eligible for forgiveness if used on payrolls.
The rest of the interview on Sunday made headlines for all the wrong reasons. One answer was nearly incoherent.
“We cannot let this, we’ve never allowed any crisis from the Civil War straight through to the pandemic of 17, all the way around, 16, we have never, never let our democracy sakes second fiddle, way they,” he bubbled in his response. “We can both have a democracy and elections and at the same time, correct public health.”
On at least two occasions, Mr. Biden has forgotten the name of coronavirus and the proper name of the swine flu, H1N1. At other times, he has mistaken one for the other.
Joe Biden again called on Donald Trump
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Democratic Governor Tony Evers does not have the authority to delay in-person primary voting. The 4-2 ruling — split along ideological lines with 4 conservatives against and 2 liberals for— means the primary will still be held on Tuesday.
Earlier Monday, Governor Evers tweeted his decision suspending in-person voting and postponing the election until June 9, 2020. coronavirus crisis, but the state’s Supreme Court ruled 4-2 against him.
“In the absence of legislative action, today I signed Executive order #74 suspending in-person voting for the April 7 spring election until June 9, 2020,” he tweeted.
The governor himself previously suggested that he did not have authority to move the election, unilaterally. State Republican legislators did not support the proposal to delay the in-person vote.
Leftists have used the coronavirus and the case in Wisconsin as a test case for a national fight over elections. While many other states postponed primaries amid efforts to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, Democrats wanted to test the legal waters and also morph voting into mail only.
Critics note that such a process as ripe for voter fraud and unconstitutional.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Democratic
New York, New York (PPD) — U.S. equity markets are soaring higher on Monday amid signs the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is slowing in New York, the epicenter for the nation.
UPDATE: The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) closed +1,627.46, or +7.73% higher to 22,679.99. The S&P 500 (^SPX) closed up +175.03, or +7.03% to 2,663.68. The NASDAQ Composite (^IXIC) closed +540.16, or +7.33% higher at 7,913.24.
The Russell 2000 (^RUT) soared +86.73, or +8.24% to close at 1,138.78.
PREVIOUS: As of 1:56 PM EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) shot +1,246.28, or 5.92% to 22,298.81. The S&P 500 (^SPX) soared +145.50 (5.85%) to 2,634.15. The NASDAQ Composite (^IXIC) rose +433.05 (5.87%) to 7,806.13.
The Russell 2000 (^RUT) was +69.81 (6.64%) to 1,121.86.
At his daily press conference on Sunday, Governor Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., said the total number of new cases statewide had decline for three days in a row. On Monday, he said the state be at the beginning of the APEX, the highest point before the flatten the curve.
“It’s hopeful,” he added with a caveat. “It’a also inconclusive, and also depends on what we do.”
U.S. equity markets are soaring higher on
Watch Live 10:00 AM EST — On this episode of Inside the Numbers, the People’s Pundit gives a sneak peek into voter files, and Wall Street trader Tim “The Source” Anderson discusses the markets amid positive coronavirus moves.
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New York, N.Y. (PPD) — Futures markets were trading higher on Monday following declines on Friday driven by negative labor market data resulting from mitigation efforts to stop the spread of the Chinese Coronavirus (COVID-19).
As of 7:15 AM EDT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average Futures Index (USD) TR was +6.63, or 2.08% to 325.72.
The S&P 500 Futures Index TR was +8.21, or 2.29% to 367.36.
On Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the economy lost 701,000 jobs in March. The report didn’t cover the entire month.
On Sunday, Governor Andrew Cuomo, D-N.Y., said the state has seen its third day of declining total deaths. The rate of hospital discharges continue to outpace the rate of new hospitalizations.
UPDATE: U.S. equity markets are soaring higher on Monday amid signs the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) is slowing in New York, the epicenter for the nation.
New York, N.Y. (PPD) — Futures markets
Washington, D.C. (PPD) — Wages, or average hourly earnings (AHE) for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls, increased by 3.1% over the last 12 months in March. It marks 20 consecutive months in which wages grew at or above 3%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) monthly jobs report.
While the overall report marked the beginning of the negative impact from the mitigation efforts to stop the spread of the Chinese Coronavirus (COVID-19), the increase in wages beat the consensus forecast.
Forecasts for 12-month wage growth ranged from a low of 2.7% to a high of 3.0%. The consensus forecast was 3.0%.
Average hourly earnings of private-sector production and nonsupervisory employees increased by 1 cents to $28.62 in March, while private nonfarm payrolls increased by 10 cents to $24.07.
Wages, or average hourly earnings (AHE) for
Washington, D.C. (PPD) — President Donald Trump fired Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community inspector general (ICIG) who was criticized for his handling of the complaint that sparked impeachment.
The White House alerted the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee on Friday of his decision to fire Mr. Atkinson, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.
Trump said in the letter that it is “vital” he have confidence in appointees serving as inspectors general, and “that is no longer the case with regard to this inspector general.”
Mr. Atkinson was the first to inform the U.S. Congress about a so-called “anonymous whistleblower” complaint last year. It alleged President Trump pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a phone call on July 25, 2019, to investigate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
The identity of the “whistleblower” was a rare and well-kept open secret in Washington, D.C., despite his name being known to major media outlets.
His questionable ties — including to a Democratic operative central to disseminating the disproven allegation of collusion, Mr. Biden, and staffers to House Intel Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D.Calf. — and raised serious questions about his potential role in the crafting of the complaint that sparked the inquiry.
Who’s Blowing the Whistle, and Why?
Lawmakers raised these and other questions during Mr. Atkinson’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on September 26. Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called him “evasive to the point of being insolent and obstructive.”
“Despite repeated questions, you refused to explain what you meant in your written report by ‘indicia of an arguable political bias on the part of a rival political candidate,’” he wrote in a letter to the then-ICIG.
“This information is, of course, unclassified and we were meeting in a closed setting. Yet you moralized about how you were duty bound not to share even a hint of this political bias with us.”
Whistleblower’s Lawyer: “I’ve Gotten Clearances for Guys Who Had Child Porn Issues”
Mr. Atkinson also admitted to secretly changing rules and forms just before the complaint, which contained demonstrably false accusations based on gossip and second-hand information.
That complaint prompted a House investigation that ultimately resulted in Trump’s impeachment.
The U.S. Senate ultimately acquitted President Trump in February.
President Trump fired Michael Atkinson, the intelligence
Tempe, Arizona (PPD) — The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Index (NMI came in at 52.5% in March, beating the consensus forecast and only 4.8% lower than the reading in February (57.3%).
Forecasts ranged from a low of 34.8 to a high of 47.0. The consensus forecast was 43.0.
The Non-Manufacturing Business Activity Index fell 9.8% to 48%, down from a reading of 57.8%. That reflects contraction for the first time since July 2009, when the index registered 47.2%.
The New Orders Index came in at 52.9%, 10.2% down from the reading of 63.1% in February. The Employment Index fell 8.6% to 47% from the February reading of 55.6%.
The nine non-manufacturing industries reporting growth in March — listed in order — are: Health Care & Social Assistance; Real Estate, Rental & Leasing; Public Administration; Utilities; Finance & Insurance; Construction; Management of Companies & Support Services; Wholesale Trade; and Information. The seven industries reporting a decrease in March — listed in order — are: Arts, Entertainment & Recreation; Transportation & Warehousing; Professional, Scientific & Technical Services; Mining; Other Services; Retail Trade; and Educational Services.
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Non-Manufacturing
