Tweet thread from Jim Bianco to raise the hair on one’s neck:
2/15
The US reported over 61k cases Sat.
The data has a strong day of the week pattern. Y’day was the most amount of Sat cases in 3-mos, worrisome.
The 7-day avg is up 65% in the last week (green).
Maybe distorted from Xgiving, but as the top panel shows, this US cases are 🚀 pic.twitter.com/q6r46Lp8Rq— Jim Bianco biancoresearch.eth (@biancoresearch) December 5, 2021
4/15
Chart with some new data. The % of the country that has gotten a booster.
12.75% (red) or 14.89% as a % of the pop eligible for a booster, over 12-yrs old (green).
Total % of the pop fully vaxed is 60% (blue). Over 12-yr old pop fully vaxed is just over 70% (orange). pic.twitter.com/q4ihgUglvV
— Jim Bianco biancoresearch.eth (@biancoresearch) December 5, 2021
6/15
Or see that Australia has COVID internment camps where thousands of Aussies just SUSPECTED of having COVID are forcibly held without rights, and subject to a $5000AU fine is they so much raise their voice to their jailers about their plight.https://t.co/rZznuDaiCj
— Jim Bianco biancoresearch.eth (@biancoresearch) December 5, 2021
8/15
Under restrictions ordering amazon boxes is as easy as not under restrictions.
But producing the contents/delivering those boxes will become much harder.
So, the “fix” will be even higher prices (inflation) to balance supply/demand.
Explainedhttps://t.co/sNbxNgI1CJ
— Jim Bianco biancoresearch.eth (@biancoresearch) December 5, 2021
10/15
The way a panicky politician will look at it is only 35% of the pop has been gotten booster or has been fully vaxed in the last 6-mos.
If cases are about to 🚀they will look at this and panic that 2/3s of the pop is at health risk and impose economic restrictions.
— Jim Bianco biancoresearch.eth (@biancoresearch) December 5, 2021
12/15
Did Australia consider any of this when they used the might of the state to forcibly detain citizens without rights just SUSPECTED of COVID?
Of course, the answer is no.
So, if US cases 🚀, why should we not expect US politicians to panic and impose restrictions?
— Jim Bianco biancoresearch.eth (@biancoresearch) December 5, 2021
14/15
Just this morning Fauci is out again literally bragging that he panicked last week when Omicron became a thing and slapped on travel restrictions.
Only now just thinking about “un-panicking,” but giving no hard date when he will actually do it.https://t.co/BbMTID5uIU
— Jim Bianco biancoresearch.eth (@biancoresearch) December 5, 2021
15/15
I hope I’m wrong about US case trend in the coming weeks.
I hope I’m wrong about the coming political response.
But watching this unfold the last 22 months makes me fear I’m not.
— Jim Bianco biancoresearch.eth (@biancoresearch) December 5, 2021
A few points:
- Bianco was an early mover when the pandemic first appeared. Take from that what you will.
- Things are not as bad in Australia as Bianco suggests meaning he may be a little emotional about political responses.
- Will still don’t know if OMICRON is less virulent in health impacts but critical cases have begun to rise in South Africa.
There is mixed news from Pfizer:
Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE said initial lab studies show a third dose of their Covid-19 vaccine may be needed to neutralize the omicron variant, results that will accelerate booster-shot drives around the world and may lead to use of new strain-specific vaccines.
Company researchers observed a 25-fold reduction in neutralizing antibodies that fight the variant, compared with the original strain of the virus, in people who got just two shots. However, boosting with an additional shot of the vaccine restored protection to a level similar to the initial two-dose regimen, the vaccine partners said in a statement.
Well, that’s good, I guess. We were all going to get a booster anyway. Though it is certain to boost the anti-vaxxer movement and social unrest.