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Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Summit News,

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer used a zoom call involving Santa Claus and scripted questions from children to push the message that families should not visit each other over Christmas.

Yes, really.

Whitmer introduced Santa Claus to the 6 groups of children before inviting them to ask Santa questions, almost all of which were about COVID-19 rules and had obviously been scripted for them.

Asked by one of the kids if he had to wear a mask, Santa said him and his elves are “all masked up and social distancing.”

Father Christmas was subsequently asked if coronavirus had reached the North Pole, to which he responded that no one was taking any chances and that “we’re all gonna mask up, we’re all gonna wash our hands, and we’re all gonna stay six feet apart.”

All of the children on one of the zoom calls were seen wearing masks.

As Michigan’s kids gear up for the holiday season, I decided to surprise a few of them with a special guest from the North Pole! pic.twitter.com/aI6qGkrouS

— Governor Gretchen Whitmer (@GovWhitmer) December 16, 2020

Another one of the children then said they would leave out “hand sanitizer” once Santa is finished with the cookies and milk.

Santa urged everyone “to do what the Governor is telling all the people of the great state of Michigan to do,” which includes the instruction to “wear your mask when you’re outside your home.”

Whitmer then said that families should “stay home” and not visit each other and instead, “call your grandparents and your cousins and your family and it’s the safest way to tell the people you love how much you care about them.”

“This year, it has to look a little bit different so we can stay safe,” said Whitmer

Respondents to the video expressed their revulsion at the message being pushed.

“What kind of a parent would make their kids participate in this???” asked one.

“Edward Bernays would feel proud if he saw this,” remarked another.

“Wow. That’s some truly creepy shit right there,” added another.

“Was the Grinch not available?” joked another.

*  *  *

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Summary:

• Hospitalizations trend higher in every region but Midwest
• 240K+ new cases reported, new daily record
• 1.1MM doses received in 4 countries
• Nearly 50K doses administered in US
• Pence vaccinated live on TV
• Beijing plans to vaccinate 50MM before LNY
• JNJ has enrolled 45K patients
• Tokyo reports 664 new cases
• Turkey rushes to deploy vaccines

* * *

After the FDA’s advisory panel confirmed yesterday that the benefits of approving Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine outweigh the risks, we now await the ‘green light’ from the agency itself, which should arrive either today or tomorrow.

Meanwhile, a small number of disturbing reactions have stoked reservations among health care workers who are slated to be the first to receive the vaccine, but find themselves anxious about becoming “guinea pigs”. The CDC has promised that jabs would be given in prearranged waves to prevent entire nursing floors from being overwhelmed by the side effects. But fears about production delays are also starting to mount.

Moving on to the latest COVID data, hospitalizations are trending higher in every region but the Midwest.

Across the US, the number of deaths since the start of December has put the month on track to challenge April as the deadliest month since the pandemic started. 

Globally, the number of cases passed 75MM while deaths topped 1.7MM. Another interesting fact: During the past week alone, nearly 1 out of 200 Americans was diagnosed with the coronavirus – an astronomically large portion of the population to be sick at the same time.

As the race for supplies of vaccines continues, Bloomberg is trying to track the number of doses doses administered so far. As of Friday morning, more than 1.1MM people in four countries had received the vaccine.

It’s possible that Europe will approve shots from AstraZeneca or CureVac, or perhaps both, during the coming month or two, which could immediately boost Germany’s capacity to inoculate, according to Jens Spahn, who spoke during a press conference Friday.

As of Friday morning, more than 1.1MM people in four countries had received the vaccine.

In the US, 24 states have reported just under 50K doses that have been administered to health care workers, as the map above shows.

Speaking of vaccinations, VP Mike Pence received his first COVID-19 dose live on television Friday, seeking to shore up public support for vaccinations as US deaths topped 3K once again.

VP Mike Pence was vaccinated for COVID-19 on Friday in a live-television event aimed at reassuring Americans the vaccine is safe. Check it out >> https://t.co/7xoAMHN8BM pic.twitter.com/QufaACUIbn

— KTBS (@KTBS) December 18, 2020

Then again, reports from weeks ago claimed that China has already administered 1MM doses had already been administered to health-care workers and others under an “emergency”  basis.

The EU is moving to double its order of Moderna-produced vaccine doses, while Pfizer is fending off reports of more supply disruptions, something we have repeatedly warned about as the biggest risk to the  “Operation Warp Speed” target.

Here’s more COVID-19 news from overnight and Friday morning:

• Spain’s health minister says the country will begin its vaccination campaign on Dec. 27 (Source: Nikkei).
• Turkey, one of the worst-hit countries in the Middle East by the coronavirus, is rushing to deploy vaccines as quickly as possible, and the Chinese are eager to help. The first 3 million doses of Sinovac vaccines out of a contracted 50 million are to be delivered in the coming days (Source: Nikkei).
• The Philippines logs 2,122 new cases, the highest daily tally in nearly six weeks, as local health authorities warn of a possible spike in infections during the Christmas holidays. The number of total cases is now 456,562 with 8,875 deaths (Source: Nikkei).
• Johnson & Johnson says it has enrolled about 45,000 participants for the first late-stage trial of its COVID-19 single-dose vaccine candidate and that it expects interim data by late-January (Source: Nikkei).
• The company lags rivals Pfizer and Moderna in the race for a COVID-19 tame (Source: Nikkei).
• Tokyo reports 664 new infections in Japan’s capital, down from 822 a day earlier, with the number of patients in serious condition unchanged at 66 (Source: Nikkei).

As we await more data on the pace of vaccinations from China and elsewhere, Nikkei reports that China is planning to vaccinate 50MM people in high-priority groups against the coronavirus before the peak Lunar New Year travel season begins early next year. Readers might remember the LNY travel season as the original catalyst that spread COVID-19 around the world. Beijing is planning to distribute 100MM doses made by Chinese companies Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech.

The hits just keep on coming for movie theaters. With their businesses already thrashed by Covid, theaters are now having to deal with the threat of movies going “straight to streaming” and bypassing the box office altogether. 

Disney, for example, said that its Disney+ service would have 100 new titles per year and that 80% of these would bypass the box office.

Which means that theaters like AMC are going to be in a precarious position heading into 2021 regardless of what happens with the pandemic. There’s currently 40,449 movie screens in the U.S., according to a new Bloomberg op-ed – a massive supply that will likely have to narrow in size even as people eventually start to trickle back to theaters. 

Even prior to the pandemic, box offices were struggling mightily. Box office sales adjusted for inflation have plunged over the last several years.

And post-pandemic, it’s going to take theaters months – if not years – to get back to the occupancy they had prior to Covid. Some who used to go to movies simply won’t go anymore, not only as a product of the pandemic, but also due to increased options in streaming. It simply won’t be necessary anymore. 

Recall, it was just days ago we wrote about Warning Bros. deciding it was going to snub studios in favor of streaming services. We called it “a move that is almost certainly going to set off a devastating chain reaction for what’s left of the movie theater industry” when Warner Bros. decided it is going to release its major movies next year in theaters and on HBO Max at the same time. 

Included in its list of films for next year will be major features, like the next installment of the Matrix series and DC Comics movie “The Suicide Squad”, according to Bloomberg. 

Theaters used to have exclusive rights to films for up to three months, the report notes. But now, with most theaters either shut down or barren, studios are starting to shift their business models to protect the money they’ve invested in major films. Ticket sales are down 78% this year to $2.2 billion, according to Comscore. 

Ann Sarnoff, chief executive officer of WarnerMedia Studios, said: “We know new content is the lifeblood of theatrical exhibition. But we have to balance this with the reality that most theaters in the U.S. will likely operate at reduced capacity throughout 2021.”

In addition to gouging theaters, the new model could increase signups to HBO Max, which is owned by AT&T. HBO Max is competing with well known streaming services, like Disney+ and Netflix. 

Theaters have experimented with studios in trying to change their business model to adapt, as well. Several movie chains entered into agreements with Universal this year to narrow the time between movies hitting the theater and when it can be sold online. But we’ll be surprised if theaters are able to do enough to offset what appears to just be the beginning of a dramatic shift that will pull new films out from their grasp heading into 2021.

And once the shift to streaming starts – despite whether or not we have a vaccine that works – we can’t help but think that there’s likely no chance that studios turn back to their legacy business models. 

By Piotr Matys of Rabobank

Global stocks have lost their bullish momentum after Reuters reported that the US will blacklist dozens of Chinese firms, including the country’s top chipmaker SMIC. It will be yet another step by President Trump to cement his legacy of being tough on China before he leaves office in January.

Political bickering over a spending package that would be a bridge for US households and companies through a harsh winter continues in Congress. Perhaps yesterday’s news of a sharp rise in weekly jobless claims to the highest level in three months at 885,000 will provide US policymakers with a strong incentive to push the stimulus package through in the next few days. The labour market has been hit by rapidly rising coronavirus cases forcing many states to impose tougher restrictions. A significantly larger than expected fall in retail sales for November (-1.1% m/m) was a warning signal that consumer spending is losing momentum.  Without doubt, fiscal stimulus is required to support the economy in the coming months.

Many European economies will also need a fresh dose of stimulus from governments to reduce the negative impact of restrictions imposed to regain control over the second outbreak of the pandemic. Virologists are seriously concerned that the upcoming festive period will be followed by an even bigger surge in infections across the continent at the beginning of 2021. Poland’s Health Minister Niedzielski warned that the country faces “tough days and weeks” before the vaccine is widely redistributed. Similar comments could have been made by many other European health ministers. The Polish government will impose a “national quarantine” from December 28 to January 17 to prevent the third wave from overwhelming the healthcare system. Hotels, ski-slops and shopping centres will be closed on the top of already existing restrictions (schools, restaurants and sports centres have been shut for a few weeks). Also, a curfew will be imposed on New Year’s Eve to restrict movement of Poles (many of them still remember similar drastic steps being used by the communist party during the martial law in early 80s making the curfew a controversial, but necessary step).

The phrase that it’s darkest before the dawn certainly applies to the coronavirus pandemic. While vaccines are already available and will be globally distributed in the coming months, new cases may surge following the festive season. The third wave could be even bigger, as Poland’s health minister warned and his concerns are most likely shared by his peers.

The markets do not seem to be seriously concerned, though. For them an efficient antidote has been available since around March when the Fed and other major central banks used all tools from their toolbox to inject as much liquidity as possible.

GBP has edged down from yesterday’s levels as the nail-biting finish to the EU/UK trade talks goes to the wire. A call between EC President von der Leyen and PM Johnson yesterday evening resulted with both sides welcoming “substantial progress on many issues”.  However, this could not hide the fact that various differences remain. The UK warned that EU level spending should not be exempt from state-aid restrictions, this includes its EUR 750bln Covid-19 Recovery Fund.  Fisheries remain the major sticking point with the PM re-stating that the UK must have control of its own waters.

Over the past few weeks, sentiment on Brexit has been swinging back and forth between unsustainable optimism, as progress on key issues is always made through crises, and unjustified pessimism, as the broader set of fundamentals have always pointed towards a deal. Even though time is running ridiculously short, there’s no reason why this shouldn’t be true for fisheries as well, our Brexit watcher Stefan Koopman claims. The proverbial ‘fish can’ has been kicked down the road time and again, as it is one of the few sources of leverage that the UK really has in these talks, and it is only logical that the negotiators try to squeeze as much out of it as they can. So far, their madman strategies have worked out reasonably well, after all. The UK government also believes that time is on their side, so even as the European Parliament stated that this Sunday will be the last possible moment for a deal if negotiators want it to be ratified before year-end, please keep in mind what happened to all the other deadlines. Let’s just hope they’ll get it done this time around.

In the midst of the confusion the Japanese Times is reporting that Nissan has opted to ship a new electric vehicle from Japan to Europe rather than manufacture it in its UK factory which, the paper states, is facing an existential risk due to Brexit. Better news came this morning from the stronger than expected reading for the UK December GfK consumer confidence index. This rose by the most in 8 years on the back of positive vaccine news.  November retail sales were also better than expected at -3.8% m/m, though the series was hit by England’s lockdown last month. News that the UK furlough will be extended a month to April will be supportive. The Chancellor also pledged further support for UK businesses with an extension to his emergency loan schemes.

The Bank of England MPC voted unanimously to maintain Bank Rate at 0.10% and to keep its asset purchase targets unchanged. The pace of these purchases remains at its current rate of GBP 4.4bn a week. There were no specific references to negative interest rates. Instead, the MPC emphasized once more that it stands ready to increase the pace of bond purchases if necessary. The MPC noted that the outlook remains ‘unusually uncertain’. This is an understatement. However, the planned rollout of effective vaccines would be expected to have a positive impact on activity and inflation and is seen to reduce downside risks. The TFSME was extended by six months to 31 October 2021. Full post meeting analysis by Stefan is available here.

The BoJ announced no change to rates or its yield curve control target this morning.  However, it did pledge to extend its aid for firms hit by the pandemic and pledged to examine more effective ways to achieve its 2% inflation target.  The Tokyo region is currently suffering another spike of covid-19 cases which it putting pressure on its hospitals.

The last few weeks have seen a dramatic divergence in the fortunes of gold and bitcoin as a wide range of strategists and talking heads note that “there also seems to be an increasing demand to use Bitcoin where Gold used to be used to hedge Dollar risk, inflation and other things.”

In recent weeks we have seen record inflows into bitcoin and record outflows from gold…

And that has translated into a drastic collapse in the correlation between the two assets…

But, while JPMorgan has pushed the idea of a structural “gold-to-bitcoin” flow, Goldman Sachs says in their latest note that “Bitcoin and gold can coexist.“

As Goldman’s Jeff Currie writes, gold’s recent underperformance versus real rates and the dollar has left some investors concerned that Bitcoin is replacing gold as the inflation hedge of choice.

While there is some substitution occurring, we do not see Bitcoin’s rising popularity as an existential threat to gold’s status as the currency of last resort.

Both institutional investors and wealthy individuals avoid cryptocurrencies due to its inherent transparency issues, while speculative retail investment causes Bitcoin to act as an excessively risky asset.

In fact, since the depths of the first lockdown Bitcoin’s rise has closely tracked that of copper, a key proxy for global growth.

In our view, bitcoin is the retail reflation trade while gold is a defensive asset with long-term real capital preservation.

In addition, gold’s recent sell off was more closely aligned to a vaccine-driven risk-on rotation, rather than an abandonment of gold as a hedge against debasement.

Such aggressive rotation historically doesn’t last too long as investors quickly re-balance their portfolios. Therefore, in early 2021 we expect gold ETFs to rebuild.

Given the rising inflation expectations, weakening dollar and lofty valuations in some risky assets, demand for safe-haven inflation hedges should remain supported next year, continuing to push gold higher towards our $2300/toz target.

On balance, we do not see evidence that Bitcoin’s rally is cannibalizing gold’s bull market and believe the two can coexist.

Just when we thought hospitality finally had a chance of recovering, former Yankees slugger and steroid aficionado Alex Rodriguez has decided it’s time for him to get into the industry.

Rodriguez, who lives in Miami, is teaming up with Adi Chugh, founder of the New York-based Maverick Commercial Properties real estate and equity firm, to become a “platform investor” in a $650 million hospitality fund, the Sun Sentinel reports. The fund is run by CGI Merchant Group, a Miami-based investment firm focusing on real estate and private equity, the report notes. 

The fund is looking to acquire 20 hotels across North America and the Caribbean over the next three years and place them under the Hilton brand.

Despite us playfully chiding Rodriguez, the timing to get into hospitality may not actually be too bad. Covid has decimated the industry, with names like Hilton seeing an 81% drop in net income in the second quarter of 2020. But one problem is that despite the industry not recovering yet, many travel and leisure related stocks already have, thanks to the Fed’s relentless money printing. 

Raoul Thomas, CEO and founder of CGI, said: “We’re excited about this venture not only from a financial aspect, where hotels will be sold at a discount due to COVID, but the way in which we operate those hotels,” which we translate to mean “We are happy to have found a mark with a recognizable public face to help lead other investors to our fund, which we will happily take fees from.”

Thomas said, trying to make his fund sound as much like a “woke” ESG fund as possible: “There’s a growing demand from consumers who are looking for value beyond the experiences they want to have. They want to know where their dollars go, are they making an impact in the communities around the hotels and if the hotel is being a responsible steward of the community and giving back.”

Rodriguez concluded: “CGI’s visionary and conscious approach to business has the potential to transform the commercial real estate industry, bringing in untapped voices that can inject new energy and ideas to ignite vast opportunities. I’m proud to be involved with a company that is as focused on advancing the communities it calls home, as it is on financial returns.”

There was speculation early in the session that tensions between the US and China were set to ease following an FT report that the US Treasury department was “attempting to water down an executive order from President Donald Trump that bars Americans from investing in Chinese companies with suspected ties to the People’s Liberation Army” (which however was “met with furious opposition from the Pentagon and state department, opening up a heated dispute over one of the last big anti-Beijing policies of the Trump era”). So to set the record straight, Reuters first reported and this morning the Commerce Department confirmed that it’s blacklisting Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. and more than 60 other Chinese companies “to protect U.S. national security.”

The designation restricts companies from exporting U.S.-origin technology to the listed firms without a license, with a provision that effectively prohibits SMIC from acquiring technology to build chips with 10-nanometer circuits and smaller, the industry’s top class of chips.

“This action stems from China’s military-civil fusion doctrine and evidence of activities between SMIC and entities of concern in the Chinese military industrial complex,” the Commerce Department said in a statement.

“Entity List restrictions are a necessary measure to ensure that China, through its national champion SMIC, is not able to leverage U.S. technologies to enable indigenous advanced technology levels to support its destabilizing military activities,” Wilbur Ross said in a statement provided to The Wall Street Journal.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross confirmed the move in a Friday morning interview with Fox Business. It was reported first by Reuters overnight. Shares in China’s top chipmaker slid 5.2% Friday in Hong Kong on the news after earlier rising on the FT report.

A senior Commerce Department official told the WSJ that the policy was designed to prevent SMIC from using U.S. technology to produce the most cutting-edge chips for advanced military applications such as drones, military aircraft and exoskeletons.

“We’re taking this action to address a national-security concern by using a very targeted action that we believe will hopefully begin to move SMIC in a better direction,” the official said, adding that the department has been communicating with SMIC to address its concerns.

Other Chinese entities affected include those “that enable human rights abuses, entities that supported the militarization and unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea, entities that acquired U.S.-origin items in support of the People’s Liberation Army’s programs, and entities and persons that engaged in the theft of U.S. trade secrets,” according to the statement.

As Bloomberg notes, the majority of the newly banned companies are Chinese and will join the likes of Huawei Technologies Co. on a list that denies them access to U.S. technology from software to circuitry.

The move is not a surprise as Trump had been widely expected to level more sanctions against China’s national champions before Joe Biden formally took office. “If the report you mentioned is correct, it will be another example of how the U.S. is using its national power to crack down on Chinese companies,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a briefing in Beijing on Friday. “We urge the U.S. to stop its wrongful activities cracking down on foreign companies.”

The Shanghai-based chipmaker, which is a supplier to Qualcomm and Broadcom, lies at the heart of Beijing’s intention to build a world-class semiconductor industry and wean itself off a reliance on American technology, arguably the issue at the core of the US-China trade war. Washington in turn views China’s ascendancy and its ambitions to dominate spheres of technology as a potential geopolitical threat. A blacklisting threatens to cripple its longer-term ambitions by depriving it of crucial gear.

As Bloomberg adds, “in response to the widening U.S. crackdown, China is planning to provide broad support for so-called third-generation semiconductors in its next five-year plan to increase domestic self-sufficiency in chip manufacturing, people with knowledge of the matter have said.” SMIC, which is backed by the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund as well as Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC Pte and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, is expected to play a central role in that overall effort.

The company had already been laboring under similar, less severe curbs after the Commerce Department in September placed it on a separate export restrictions list, accusing SMIC of supplying the military. Those sanctions took a toll on shares of the company, whose co-CEO Liang Mong Song this week unexpectedly resigned, triggering another selloff.

It is unclear whether Biden officials will take a similarly hard-line approach to Chinese firms or unwind any of the current administration’s orders. Under President Obama, Commerce Department officials applied export restrictions more narrowly, typically penalizing companies that ran afoul of U.S. law, and sometimes removing them if corrective action was taken.

Since January 2017, the Trump administration has added more than 300 Chinese entities to its export blacklist.

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,

Joe Biden on Wednesday claimed accusations against his son, who is under investigation by federal authorities, are “foul play.”

“Look, I have, we have great confidence in our son. I am not concerned about any accusations that have been made against him. It’s used to get to me,” Biden told late-night host Stephen Colbert, referring to his son, Hunter Biden.

“I think it’s kind of foul play, but look, it is what it is. He’s a grown man. He’s the smartest man I know, in terms of pure intellectual capacity. As long as he’s good, we’re good,” Biden added.

I know @StephenAtHome is an entertainer and not a journalist but this is still embarrassing. Rather than trying to break news about the FBI’s investigation into Hunter (which Biden himself is implicated in), Colbert asks him to go after Republicans making this an issue. pic.twitter.com/HjCEPOdap2

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 18, 2020

Jason Miller, a senior adviser for President Donald Trump’s campaign, responded on social media, writing: “Spoken like somebody who was bought off himself!”

Biden said he could still work with people who promoted the accusations.

It got worse. Colbert follows up asking how he can work w/ Republicans if they’re making Hunter an issue.

Biden, in a rambling response, says if he were in high school he’d want to “go a round”

Jill interjects: “But you have to take the high road” pic.twitter.com/7Jr5n3f6hM

— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) December 18, 2020

But he signaled he was frustrated about the situation, adding:

“It doesn’t mean I wasn’t angry and it doesn’t mean if I were back in the days of high school I wouldn’t say, ‘come here,’ and go a round.”

Hunter Biden last week said he’d just learned that he was being investigated for his “tax affairs” by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Delaware. The office said it couldn’t comment on ongoing investigations.

Hunter Biden engaged in business deals in China, Ukraine, and elsewhere while his father was vice president.

Several of his one-time business partners have been convicted of participating in a fraudulent scheme.

Newly unearthed emails suggest Joe Biden was involved in his son’s business deals.

One showed Hunter Biden referring to his father and a Chinese businessman “office mates.”

Hunter Biden (L) embraces his father, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, in Wilmington, Del., on Nov. 7, 2020. (Andrew Harnik/Pool/AP Photo)

Senators investigating Hunter Biden said he was tied to foreign individuals who have ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

A Biden spokesman said in October that the former vice president “has never even considered being involved in business with his family, nor in any overseas business whatsoever.”

“He has never held stock in any such business arrangements nor has any family member or any other person ever held stock for him,” the spokesman said.

Tony Bobulinski, one of Hunter Biden’s former business partners, said in October that he discussed a deal with a Chinese energy conglomerate with Joe Biden.

Tony Bobulinski, a former associate of Hunter Biden, speaks to reporters at a hotel in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 22, 2020. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

Legislators said last week that Hunter Biden’s lawyer isn’t cooperating with them.

“It should be noted that, collectively, President Trump’s family and associates produced documents and agreed to appear at interviews with a number of congressional committees,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chairman, said in a statement.

“It would be nice, and in the public’s interest, if the Biden family and their associates would be equally cooperative with the Senate, the American people we represent, and the mainstream media that has now joined our long interest in these crucial matters.”

Hunter Biden’s lawyer hasn’t responded to requests for comment. He has not released any public statements since his client revealed the existence of the investigation.

Republicans are pushing for a special counsel to be appointed to take over the probe to insulate it from a potential Joe Biden administration.

“I am absolutely calling on the special counsel to look at all things Hunter Biden to see if he presents a conflict with the Biden administration regarding his business dealings in Ukraine, which is overrun with Russian agents, and any activity he had with the Chinese government,” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters in Washington on Wednesday.