- Biden insists on the stimulus package
- Silver at the top of 8 years after ‘Reddit’
- WHO head announced the possibility of controlling the pandemic
Biden Insists on the Stimulus Package
Biden Insists on the Stimulus Package
President Joe Biden held a two-hour meeting Monday with a group of 10 Republican senators who proposed a slimmed-down coronavirus relief plan that they say can win bipartisan support.
The Republicans’ proposed package is estimated to cost $618 billion, about one-third the size of Biden’s $1.9 trillion proposal. It provides $160 billion for vaccines, $132 billion for a smaller unemployment benefit and $1,000 direct payments to Americans, according to an official summary.
US President Joe Biden insists on a $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package offer. White House Press Spokesperson Jen Psaki said the president is willing to issue a large stimulus package, even if he had to bypass Senate Republicans. The revival of expectations for the stimulus package in the USA has a positive reflection on the global markets.
US President Joe Biden will continue his search for a major pandemic stimulus package after his meeting with Republican senators at the White House.
Stating that the meeting of 10 Republican senators was “very constructive”, Psaki said, “Although there are areas of consensus, the president believes that Congress should take a fast and brave step. He also notes that there are many areas that the Republicans’ incentive offer did not point to ”.
Psaki stated that he maintains hope that Biden can pass the stimulus package with the support of the two parties. With the votes of 50 Democrats in the US Senate and Vice President Kamala Harris, the package can technically pass.
Republican Senator Susan Collins, on the other hand, stated that they are in agreement with Biden that the package should come out with support from both parties and said, “I cannot say that we have created a package today. Nobody expected this anyway. However, both sides agreed to continue the talks”.
The other members of the group are Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Rob Portman of Ohio, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, Todd Young of Indiana, Jerry Moran of Kansas, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Mitt Romney of Utah.
It’s not clear they made progress toward an agreement.
Silver at the Top of 8 Years after ‘Reddit’
Silver at the Top of 8 Years after ‘Reddit’
Silver prices rose close to 6 percent last week as Reddit users turned to silver after GameStop shares. With the continuation of the Reddit trends, silver rose by more than 10 percent to the new week, reaching the peak of 8 years.
Silver prices saw their 8-year high, starting the new week with a more than 10 percent rise in the buying spree triggered by Reddit.
As retail outlets flooded over the weekend with demand for silver bullion and coins due to excess demand, precious metal sellers in the US such as Apmex said they would not be able to process orders until Asian markets opened due to excessive demand.
Silver futures contracts were up almost 6 percent last week with the influx of Reddit users. Silver, which closed the last year with an increase of nearly 50 percent, doubled gold in annual performance.
According to Bloomberg News, while the gold/silver ratio has been on the decline for the last few years, more effort is required than on GameStop to raise commodity prices.
Bloomberg News Commodity Correspondent Eddie van der Walt warned Reddit investors that increasing commodity prices would not be like raising share prices, stating that the commodity markets are of larger volumes and a different nature.
In a headline opened in Reddit’s WallStreetBets group, users aim to squeeze short positions in silver to increase precious metal to $ 1,000 per ounce. It has been seen that these traders who are trading the market can certainly increase their silver prices, but they need more financial power to reach the level they speak of.
According to the Bloomberg report, many commodity analysts pointed out that the individual investor operation, which puts short positions in some stocks, will not be successful in silver. Stating that silver prices will continue to fluctuate, HSBC Securities Analyst James Steel said, “We will probably soon see new entrants in the silver market cashing their positions. Buyers should be careful”.
“Reddit investors are learning that no one has taken a serious short position in silver,” said Edward Moya, Senior Analyst at Oanda. The silver market is deeper than the market for small stocks. The purchases will not be enough to raise prices to record levels”.
WHO Head Announced the Possibility of Controlling the Pandemic
WHO Head Announced the Possibility of Controlling the Pandemic
Coronavirus infection can be controlled. This opinion was expressed by the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Ghebreyesus at a briefing on February 1.
He recalled that the number of new cases of Covid-19 worldwide has been declining for the third week in a row. And while there are countries with an increasing incidence, globally this is encouraging news.
“For the third week in a row, the number of new cases of Covid-19 reported globally fell last week. There are still many countries with increasing numbers of cases, but at the global level, this is encouraging news,” Tedros said at a Monday briefing, adding “It shows this virus can be controlled, even with the new variants in circulation.”
At the same time, he recalled that the world has already faced a decrease in the incidence of coronavirus infection, noting that then countries lifted restrictions too quickly, and people relaxed their vigilance. The WHO chief warned governments against opening up too quickly, as that could enable the coronavirus to come back in full strength. Tedros said governments need to make appropriate adjustments, such as making quarantine measures easier to adhere to.
“As vaccines spread, it is vital that we all continue to take precautions to keep ourselves and each other safe,” said the WHO director.
Earlier in January, Michael Ryan, the director of the WHO health emergencies program, said that it would be very difficult to completely defeat the coronavirus.
He said that so far only smallpox has been completely eradicated by mankind, but diseases such as polio and measles have not been defeated. The same can happen with Covid-19 – it will become endemic.
Ryan also said that it will be difficult to defeat the coronavirus due to the uneven distribution of the vaccine against it between countries. And the incidence will continue if vaccination is not widespread.
On January 28, WHO confirmed that the number of cases of Covid-19 worldwide exceeded 100 million people.
