Friday Morning Briefing: GameStop back on the rise as Robinhood eases trading ban

The Reuters Daily Briefing Friday, January 29, 2021 by Linda Noakes and Farouq Suleiman Good morning, . Here’s what you need to know. Game on Wall Street is bracing for the return of an army of amateur investors to trading in GameStop and other hot stocks whose surges this week have pitched the little guy against short-selling hedge funds. Several online platforms imposed buying halts yesterday, but plan to ease restrictions today. But investors are flocking to options that pay out if its shares fall below 50 cents within a year. Read our analysis on how Wall Street gains from a 'populist' trading movement. And we've tracked down famed GameStop bull 'Roaring Kitty', who turns out to be a 34-year-old financial advisor from Massachusetts. In another eye-catching market move, Bitcoin soared 14% to a two-week high after Tesla chief Elon Musk tagged the cryptocurrency in his Twitter biography. From broker notes to memes - we explain how the stock market went viral. Today’s biggest stories The coronavirus Britain is banning direct passenger flights from the United Arab Emirates, shutting down the world’s busiest international airline route from Dubai to London. Britain said it was adding the UAE, Burundi and Rwanda to its travel ban list because of worries over the spread of a more contagious and potentially vaccine-resistant COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa. Mexico surpassed India in confirmed COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, giving the Latin American country the third-highest toll worldwide, according to a Reuters tally of official data. AstraZeneca offered 8 million more doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the European Union to try to defuse a row over supplies, but the bloc said that was too far short of what was originally promised, an EU official told Reuters. New York state’s health department may have undercounted the COVID-19 death toll among state nursing home residents by as much as 50%, according to a report released by the state attorney general’s office. South Korea has delayed until Sunday any easing of social distancing measures because outbreaks involving mission schools are threatening to undermine efforts to keep new infections under control ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays. World News President Joe Biden promised after November election’s that he and Vice President Kamala Harris would govern as a “simpatico” team. In their first days at the White House, the two are crafting a partnership that recalls Biden’s own service as Barack Obama’s No. 2. The first major lawsuit hit Biden’s administration two days after he took office, providing an early test of his strategy in fending off such challenges. Thousands of Indian farmers marched overnight to reinforce protesting colleagues camping out on the outskirts of the capital, New Delhi, to press the government to withdraw three new farm laws that they say will hurt their livelihoods. Pakistan’s government petitioned the Supreme Court to review its decision to free an Islamist and his co-accused convicted of kidnapping and beheading U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl, the Pearl family’s lawyer Faisal Siddiqi said. No Plan B: Japan’s Olympic sponsors are scaling back advertising campaigns and delaying marketing events for this year’s Summer Games, concerned that public sentiment toward the event is souring amid a fresh wave of COVID-19. Business News The U.S. oil industry is seeking to forge an alliance with the nation’s corn growers and biofuel producers to lobby against the Biden administration’s push for electric vehicles, but is so far meeting a cool reception, according to multiple sources. Executives in Hyundai Motor are divided over a potential tie-up with Apple, with some raising concerns about becoming a contract manufacturer for the U.S. tech giant, dimming the outlook for a deal. A suitable suitor? So what now for French supermarket group Carrefour, forbidden from wedding its wealthy Canadian admirer, just as it needs to renovate? The deal, worth close to $20 billion, was killed off by French ministers who said the food sector was of strategic national importance. Financial sources familiar with Carrefour say it expects a European bidder could elicit a friendlier response from France. Roblox has postponed plans to go public because of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s scrutiny of how the video game platform recognizes revenue in its finances, according to a memo the company sent to employees. Breakingviews - Corona Capital: Commerzbank, Cathay Pacific, BBVA Commerzbank raised return targets but still ought to merge with Deutsche, and Cathay Pacific’s fundraising offers a stark contrast with its city-state rival. Catch up with the latest pandemic-related financial insights. Quote of the day "Britain is trying to turn large numbers of Hong Kong people into second-class British citizens." Zhao Lijian Chinese foreign ministry spokesman UK offers Hong Kong residents a route to citizenship, angering China Video of the day The WHO kicks off investigation into COVID-19 origins A World Health Organization-led team of experts investigating the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic began meeting with Chinese scientists, and the WHO said the group plans to visit labs, markets and hospitals in Wuhan. And finally… In Mexico, amateur find of ancient 'goddess' stirs calls for more research The edge of a mysterious block of limestone began to peak out from the dirt after Cesar Cabrera cleared a stretch of his family farm in Mexico where he wanted to plant watermelon. More from Reuters The Great Reboot COVID-19: Global Tracker The Wider Image Thanks for spending part of your day with us. Share your thoughts You are receiving this email because you signed up for newsletters from Reuters. No longer want to hear from us? Unsubscribe from The Reuters Daily Briefing. Terms, conditions, and privacy statement © 2021 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. 3 Times Square, New York, NY 10036

Thursday Morning Briefing: GameStop effect spreads as calls for probe build

The Reuters Daily Briefing Thursday, January 28, 2021 by Linda Noakes and Nigel Stevenson Good morning, . Here’s what you need to know. How far from GameStop to game over? The battle between small-time traders and hedge funds that has shaken U.S. and European stock markets moved into Asia, with surges in several Australian companies squeezing another batch of financial institutions that have bet on the stocks falling. The war began last week when famed short seller Andrew Left of Citron Capital bet against GameStop and was met with a barrage of retail traders betting the other way. Consequently, the video game chain rallied as much as 1,700% in two weeks, costing some large short hedge funds billions. The squeeze has made Reddit required reading on Wall Street. Discussions on the social media forum fueled the action around individual stocks. Calls for a probe are building. This week’s turmoil caught the attention of the White House, with Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on her first full day on the job "monitoring the situation.” Read our explainer on why regulators may scrutinize GameStop's stock surge. Wall Street saw its worst sell-off since October as funds scrambled to sell their positions in stock market darlings, such as Facebook, Apple and Microsoft, to make up for surging losses from bets made against struggling smaller companies. Today’s biggest stories Pandemic Europe's vaccine row escalates Europe's fight to secure COVID-19 vaccine supplies sharpened on Thursday when Britain demanded that it receive all the shots it had paid for after the European Union asked AstraZeneca to divert supplies from the UK. India says it has contained spread India said on Thursday it had curbed an increase in infections, with a fifth of its districts reporting no new cases for a week. The country of 1.35 billion has recorded the highest number of cases in the world after the United States, though the rate of infection has come down significantly since a mid-September peak. WHO team in Wuhan leaves quarantine A World Health Organization-led team investigating the origins of the pandemic left its quarantine hotel in Wuhan on Thursday to begin field work, two weeks after arriving in the Chinese city where the virus emerged in late 2019. New Zealand and Vietnam most successful against COVID New Zealand, Vietnam and Taiwan rank as the top three in a COVID Performance Index of almost 100 countries for their successful handling of the pandemic, with Britain and the United States near the bottom of the pile. At the urging of nursing homes, a law is amended and COVID court claims are slowed. Garnice Robertson wants accountability for her mother’s death from COVID-19 caught while she was living at a Kansas nursing home that allegedly failed to prevent an outbreak of the disease. An unexpected legal hurdle stands in her way. Pandemic spurs quest to enroll more Black Americans in vaccine trials. Enrollment of Black people in clinical trials is a particular challenge. Mistrust runs high, in part because of the nation’s history of unethical practices in medical research on African Americans. World The United States rejects China’s maritime claims in the South China Sea beyond what it is permitted under international law and stands with Southeast Asian nations resisting its pressure, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday. Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of an Islamist convicted of beheading U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl, a decision that has left his family in “complete shock”, lawyers said. A Russian court on Thursday ordered Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny to be kept in jail and rejected his appeal against his detention. Navalny was remanded in custody for 30 days on Jan. 18 for alleged parole violations that he denies. He could face years in jail. Business Apple logs record quarterly smartphone shipments, Huawei in freefall Apple’s smartphone shipments jumped 22% to record levels in the fourth quarter, making it the world’s biggest seller, while those for Huawei plunged as U.S. sanctions took effect. Toyota beats Volkswagen to become World's No.1 car seller in 2020 Japan’s Toyota overtook Germany’s Volkswagen in vehicle sales last year, regaining pole position as the world’s top selling automaker for the first time in five years as the pandemic demand slump hit its German rival harder. In a first, most North American robots last year didn't go to automotive plants For the first time last year, most of the robots ordered by companies in North America weren’t destined for automotive factories. The shift is part of a long-term trend of automation spreading into more corners of the economy which was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Breakingviews: Corona Capital - Tequila, Prada, Japan activists The Paloma cocktail, comprising grapefruit juice and tequila, is lifting Diageo’s spirits, Prada is returning to its former glory and chalk one up for pushy investors. Read concise views on the pandemics financial fallout from Breakingviews columnists across the globe. Quote of the day "We warn those 'Taiwan independence' elements: those who play with fire will burn themselves, and 'Taiwan independence' means war" Wu Qian Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman China sharpens language towards Taiwan Video of the day A Bernie doll made $40,000 for charity on eBay And finally… Wanted: bison rangers for woodland in the Garden of England A Bison is seen at Wildwood Trust, Wild Animal Park, Blean Woods, Canterbury, Britain, January 27, 2021. REUTERS/Paul Childs Conservationists in England are looking for the country’s first ever rangers to look after European bison, Europe’s largest land mammal, which is being introduced to Kent more than 15,000 years after its ancestors roamed the landscape. More from Reuters The Great Reboot COVID-19 Investigates Legal news Other Thanks for spending part of your day with us. Share your thoughts You are receiving this email because you signed up for newsletters from Reuters. No longer want to hear from us? 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