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FDA Endorses New Covid Vaccine

FDA Endorses New Covid Vaccine

Today is Wednesday, June 8, 2022.

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FDA Endorses New Covid Vaccine: Novavax

Shares of Novavax (Nasdaq: NVAX) jumped 22.11% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after an advisory panel with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended the company's Covid-19 vaccine for approval.

Details: 21 members in the advisory panel voted in favor of authorizing the Covid vaccine from Novavax, with one person abstaining. The vote was for adults ages 18 and older.

Background: Novavax’s shot is different than many of the other popular Covid vaccines in the U.S. It is protein-based and doesn’t require special refrigeration. If approved, it would be the fourth Covid vaccine on the market in the U.S.

Stop: Trading in Novavax was halted on Tuesday because of the FDA advisory panel.

Upcoming: The FDA will then decide whether to authorize the shot for emergency use.

Numbers: Shares of Novavax are down 66% in 2022.

Final Thoughts: It may not be the best time for biotech stocks, but Novavax hopes that its Covid vaccine can make a difference.

Notables

Notable Earnings Today: The LoveSac Company (Nasdaq: LOV), Five Below (Nasdaq: FIVE), Campbell Soup (NYSE: CPB), ABM Industries (NYSE: ABM), Thor Industries (NYSE: THO), Greif (NYSE: GEF), Ollie's Bargain Outlet Holdings (Nasdaq: OLLI), Mission Produce (Nasdaq: AVO), Kingsoft Cloud Holdings (Nasdaq: KC), Oxford (), J.Jill (NYSE: JILL), American Software (Nasdaq: AMSWA), Vera Bradley (Nasdaq: VRA), Skillsoft (NYSE: SKIL), Brown-Forman (NYSE: BF.A), Quantum (Nasdaq: QMCO), AstroNova (Nasdaq: ALOT), Yext (NYSE: YEXT), Bausch + Lomb (NYSE: BLCO), Daktronics (Nasdaq: DAKT), Streamline Health Solutions (Nasdaq: STRM).

Notable IPOs Today: Phoenix Motor Inc. Common Stock (Nasdaq: PEV).

Notable Equity Crowdfunding Campaigns Ending Today: N/A.

Notable Economic Events Today: Wholesale Inventories (10:00 a.m. ET), Crude Oil Inventories (10:30 a.m. ET). Thursday: Initial Jobless Claims (8:30 a.m. ET).

New Crypto Trading Marketplace

Photo by shutter_speed / Unsplash

Shares of Virtu Financial (Nasdaq: VIRT) ticked up 0.87% in after-hours trading on Tuesday after a report found that the financial services company is building a cryptocurrency trading marketplace.

Details: The report, from CoinDesk, said that Virtu Financial would team up with trading company Citadel Securities as well as Sequoia Capital and Paradigm. Other additional wealth managers could join the marketplace as well and Citadel is reportedly hiring executives for the project.

Quote: “A group of industry leaders are working closely together to facilitate the safe, clean, compliant and secure trading of digital assets.” - a source told CoinDesk.

Background: Virtu previously launched crypto futures products in Canada and has eyed a bigger role in crypto for some time.

Numbers: Virtu’s stock is down 15% this year and down 23% in the past six months. The stock price peaked last spring.

Final Thoughts: It’s been a rough market for Virtu. What’s interesting about the timing is that crypto prices have declined in the past few months.

Stocks vs. Bonds in June

With potential interest rate hikes in June, what’s the best investing option: stocks or bonds?

Bonds: Investors might turn to bonds, which can offer protection against inflation and act as a hedge.

Stocks: The stock market is not all bad. Some consumer staples and energy stocks could perform well in the short term.

Final Thoughts: There’s also a third option: alternatives. Although some alternatives, namely crypto, have declined in 2022.

Trends to Watch

Not a Good Year: Goodyear Recalls Tires That Federal Government Says Had High Failure Rate (The New York Times)

Survived: Hasbro Fends Off Activist Alta Fox’s Push for Board Shake-Up (Bloomberg)

Coming Soon: U.S. senators unveil bill to regulate cryptocurrency (Reuters)

Prolonged: Janet Yellen and World Bank Expect Elevated Inflation to Persist (The Wall Street Journal)

About Time: PayPal is finally allowing users to move their cryptocurrency to other wallets (TechCrunch)