Plus, today is do-or-die day for a stimulus deal before the election, Moderna’s CEO said it could have emergency use authorization from the FDA in December, and GM announced a $2.2 billion investment in manufacturing electric vehicles.
Stocks were higher to start Tuesday with the Dow gaining 176 points, or 0.6%. The S&P 500 added 0.7%, while the Nasdaq rose 0.6%.
Google has been sued by the DOJ. The Department of Justice filed its antitrust lawsuit against Google this morning, focusing on its dominance in online search. Eleven Republican state attorneys general have joined the DOJ as plaintiffs in the suit, including, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, and Texas. The DOJ and states are bringing the suit under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, and have alleged that Google has unlawfully maintained monopolies in markets for “general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising,” and has maintained its monopoly through “anticompetitive and exclusionary practices.” “Google’s conduct is illegal under traditional antitrust principles and must be stopped,” said Jeffrey Rosen, the Justice Department’s No.2 official. Google called the government’s lawsuit “deeply flawed.” “People use Google because they choose to – not because they’re forced to or because they can’t find alternatives,” Google said via Twitter. “We will have a full statement this morning.”
Do-or-die time. After months of on-again, off-again negotiations on an increasingly necessary fiscal stimulus deal, we’re now just hours away from knowing if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin can get a virus relief deal done in time for Election Day. After little progress was made in conversations yesterday, Pelosi directed House committee chairs to work to resolve areas of disagreement with the White House ahead of Pelosi’s and Mnuchin’s call later today. “The Speaker continues to hope that, by the end of the day Tuesday, we will have clarity on whether we will be able to pass a bill before the election,” said Pelosi spokesman, Drew Hammill. “The two principals will speak again tomorrow and staff work will continue around the clock.” Still, even if Mnuchin and Pelosi are able to come to an agreement, the thorny issue of Senate Republican support remains, who are set to proceed with a vote on part of their $500 billion package today.
Moderna shares are up more than 2% this morning after CEO Stéphane Bancel said that he expects interim results from its COVID-19 vaccine trail in November and said the company could see emergency use authorization from the FDA in December, the Wall Street Journal reported. The “first analysis is likely to occur in November, but it’s hard to predict exactly which week because it depends on the cases, the number of people getting sick,” Bancel reportedly said at the Journal’s annual Tech Live conference. In other coronavirus news, former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb warned that the U.S. is about “a week away from seeing a rapid acceleration in cases” of COVID-19 as the number of cases and hospitalizations surge. “The summer was a backstop, of sorts, to the spring surge, and we have no therapeutic backstop,” Gottlieb said. “The fall and winter season is when this coronavirus is going to want to spread. We can look to happier days, but these are going to be some tough months ahead. We’re going to have to get through this next wave without the benefit of protective immunity from a vaccine.”
In earnings news, Procter & Gamble reported revenue rose 9% in its fiscal first quarter as demand for its cleaning supplies and laundry products amid the coronavirus pandemic continued to be strong. PG reported earnings per share of $1.63 on revenue of $19.32 billion, beating estimates for earnings per share of $1.42 on revenue of $18.38 billion. Logitech shares are up more than 17% this morning after it reported a big jump in second quarter profit and the company again hiked its guidance amid the work-from-home boom. Logitech said it expects sales to increase between 35% and 40%, up from its previous view for a 10% to 13% increase as sales of its keyboards, webcams, and headsets remain strong. “The growth trends that drive our business have accelerated as society adjusts to its new reality,” said CEO Bracken Darrell in a statement. “The organization leaders I speak to envision people increasingly working from multiple locations, a hybrid work culture that is emerging as the norm.”
And GM shares are up more than 6% today after the automaker announced that it is investing in excess of $2.2 billion in its U.S. manufacturing operations, largely to increase production of electric vehicles. “We are committed to investing in the U.S., our employees and our communities,” said CEO Mary Barra in a statement. “These investments underscore the success of our vehicles today, and our vision of an all-electric future.” Tonight, GM will take another big step in that all-electric direction when it introduces its resurrected Hummer reimagined as an all-electric “supertruck,” which is set to go on sale in about a year. “We saw the opportunity for trucks,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “We always wanted to do this with Hummer, but it had so much baggage from a gas guzzler standpoint, so we turned it on its head.”
Stocks We’re Watching
Edesa Biotech Inc (NASDAQ: EDSA): Edesa Biotech shares gained as much as 31.6% yesterday after the biotech announced that it has received clearance from the FDA to begin its Phase 2 portion of tis Phase 2/3 clinical study of its investigational drug, EB05, for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. “Our EB05 study has been deemed safe to proceed by the FDA, marking another milestone in our plans to begin patient enrollment,” Dr. Par Nijhawan, CEO of Edesa, said in a statement. “We believe our drug candidate has the potential to inhibit a key proinflammatory pathway linked to some of the worst effects of the disease.”