Dow futures rallied more than 150 points late Sunday before turning flat early Monday, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were also mostly unchanged, on COVID-19 vaccine news. Apple’s 4-for-1 stock split goes into effect Monday, sparking advances.
Scott Lehtonen for Investor’s Business Daily:
On Sunday, U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said in an interview with the Financial Times that the FDA would be willing to bypass the normal approval process to authorize a coronavirus vaccine before Phase 3 trials are completed, provided the benefits outweighed the risks.
Amid the coronavirus stock market rally, the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up 30.3% for the year through Friday’s close. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is up 8.6%, while the DJIA is up 0.4% year to date, through the Aug. 28 close.
Apple stock rallied less than 1% ahead of the stock’s first trading session after a four-for-one stock split. Shares are trading 3% off their all-time split-adjusted high of 128.79 — set on Aug. 25.
Apple shares are about 73% above a cup-with-handle’s 72.15 buy point. The blue-chip giant is the No. 1-performing Dow Jones stock in 2020, with a 70.0% advance through Friday’s close.
MacDailyNews Note: Apple is currently up $0.89 (+0.72%) to $125.70 per share in pre-market trading.
Approving one of the dozens of competing vaccines before its clinical trials are complete is a really bad idea. It practically guarantees that the trials will never be completed.
Who is going to volunteer for a clinical trial (and a 50% chance of receiving a placebo) if they can simply get a prescription for a 100% chance of receiving the “approved” vaccine? Who is going to sign up for a clinical trial of one of the other candidates, passing up that 100% chance for a 50% chance of placebo and a 50% chance of an unapproved vaccine? One of those candidates might be much better than the approved one, but we will never know without trials.
Without proper trials, we cannot know if a drug is reliably safe and effective. Thalidomide was a wonderfully effective treatment for morning sickness but it took nine months for the birth defects to manifest.
If all of the production capacity is dedicated to clinical trials, that is all the doses there are. Emergency approval will not result in a single additional person receiving the vaccine. It will terminate the testing process in exchange for nothing except favorable publicity for the “winner,” fantastic profits for its manufacturer, and political points for the government.
Each vaccine company wants to yell, “First!” so their value will rise. I think there will be plenty of volunteers for clinical trials if people are desperate enough. I’m sure there are plenty of people looking for a quick cure even if there’s a 50/50 chance of it working. Especially those people who are most likely to catch the virus. Although I’m a senior citizen, I think I’ll wait to see what proves most effective and meanwhile I’ll continue to play it safe by following all CDC recommendations.
Most of the teens in my area stopped wearing masks and are playing group sports without a care. I suppose they believe being young makes them invulnerable. I understand it, because I felt the same way when I was their age. It will be a huge mess when they have to go back to school, especially if the virus mutates into a stronger strain. I see what’s happening at the colleges and how students are catching CoViD-19 in great numbers. That’s definitely not good news.