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TDR’s U.S. Stock Market Preview For The Week Of August 29, 2022

A weekly stock market preview and the data that will impact the tape. Sunday Evening Futures Open – Stock Market Preview Weekend News And Developments…

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A weekly stock market preview and the data that will impact the tape.

Sunday Evening Futures Open – Stock Market Preview

Weekend News And Developments

Air travel service complaints jumped nearly 270% from pre-pandemic levels in June 2019, according to the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) air travel consumer report released Friday.

Adidas ended its partnership with Major League Baseball star Fernando Tatis Jr. after he was suspended for 80 games without pay due to performance-enhancing drugs.

Amarin Corporation plc announced that new REDUCE-IT data show that VASCEPA/VAZKEPA (icosapent ethyl) significantly reduced cardiovascular (CV) events in patients with a history of smoking.

AstraZeneca’s blockbuster diabetes drug Farxiga led to significant reductions in the risk of hospitalization and death in people with all types of heart failure, according to study data released on Saturday, opening the door to a substantial increase in patients who could benefit.

Barron’s Op-Ed: Fed Chief Talks Tough on Inflation. There’s More Pain Ahead for Stocks.

Bayer announced the start of a Phase III clinical development program “OCEANIC” to investigate the efficacy and safety of asundexian (BAY 2433334), an investigational oral Factor XIa (FXIa) inhibitor, in patients with atrial fibrillation (irregular heartbeat) and in patients with a non-cardioembolic ischemic stroke or high-risk transient ischemic attack.

Bitcoin dipped below $20,000 on Saturday, continuing a drop that has taken it down nearly 60% from its year high.

Boris Johnson on Sunday warned that the country would face “eye-watering” energy bills and promised his successor would soon announce a “huge package” of financial support for struggling households.

CoinSwitch is cooperating with the national financial-crime agency, whose agents searched its offices this week to find out about its business model and user-onboarding processes, its CEO told Reuters on Saturday.

Dell Technologies Inc. said on Saturday it had ceased all Russian operations after closing its offices in mid-August, the latest in a growing list of Western firms to exit Russia.

European Central Bank needs another significant interest rate hike in September and should hit the “neutral” level before the end of the year, French central bank chief Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Saturday.

FedEx Corp filed suit asking a federal judge to stop one of its largest delivery contractors from spreading misinformation about its business for financial gain, and confirmed that it severed its relationship with him, effective immediately.

Global Infrastructure Solutions (GISI) and Hill International, Inc. (NYSE: HIL) announced that their boards of directors have approved enhancements to their definitive agreement of August 16, 2022, wherein they agreed to merge the diversified construction management companies. Following the receipt of an unsolicited proposal from a third party, Hill and GISI negotiated an amended and restated Merger Agreement under the terms of which the per share price is US$3.40, the transaction remains all-cash, and there is no financing contingency. 

Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson announced the final results from the randomized Phase 2 GRIFFIN study evaluating the investigational use of DARZALEX® (daratumumab) in combination with lenalidomide (Revlimid®), bortezomib (VELCADE®) and dexamethasone (DARZALEX®-RVd), followed by maintenance therapy with DARZALEX®-lenalidomide (R), compared to RVd followed by maintenance therapy with R alone, in patients with newly diagnosed, transplant-eligible multiple myeloma.

Medtronic Extravascular ICD meets global pivotal clinical trial’s safety and effectiveness endpoints.

Norway’s Equinor is considering selling a 28% stake in Statfjord field, which straddles the Norwegian and British continental shelves, alongside minority stakes in several satellite fields, a presentation seen by Reuters showed.

Russia’s central bank said on Saturday a slight easing of foreign currency restrictions on banks that took effect this week would boost the supply of cash dollars and euros on the local market.

Small business: The percentage of small business owners unable to make rent hasn’t been this high since March 2021.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp said it had signed a framework agreement to invest $7.5 billion for a new 12-inch foundry production line in Tianjin.

Sinopec 2022 interim profit reached record high level H-Shares annualized dividend yield exceeding 10% coupled with shares repurchase plan.

Testing June’s stock market low isn’t a foregone conclusion. From a birds eye view, the market could be undergoing a typical setback to consolidate the near-19% rally from the intraday June 16 low to the mid-August high.

Two South Korean companies have signed a $5.76 billion contract with Poland to export tanks and howitzers, Seoul’s arms procurement agency said on Saturday, after Warsaw agreed to ramp up arms imports amid tensions with Russia.

United Steelworkers said that the union has reached tentative agreement on a new, four-year contract on behalf of roughly 12,000 members at 13 Cleveland-Cliffs locations.  

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren said on Sunday that she was very worried that the Federal Reserve was going to tip the U.S. economy into recession.

What The Analysts Are Saying…

“After JPow punched the market in the face on Friday, BTC lost the trend coming off the June low. Now the question is whether that local low holds. Currently not seeing enough bid liquidity to get excited.”Material Indicators, on the current state of the Bitcoin trade

“Some of the price corrections that are in the public record understate just how drastic the correction has been… demand fell sharply in May and June… We still will have, even for the deals that are under contract, a very high cancellation rate.”Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman, on broad macro housing market conditions

“There is nothing in raising the interest rates, nothing in Jerome Powell’s tool bag that deals directly with those, and he has admitted as much in congressional hearings when I’ve asked him about it,” she continued. “Do you know what’s worse than high prices and a strong economy? It’s high prices and millions of people out of work. I’m very worried that the Fed is going to tip this economy into recession.”U.S. Senator (D-MA) Elizabeth Warren

We are moving our policy stance purposefully to a level that will be sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2%… Restoring price stability will likely require maintaining a restrictive policy stance for some time. The historical record cautions strongly against prematurely loosening policy.”Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Friday speech in Jackson Hole, WY

What We’re Watching

• Additional strength in AdvisorShares Pure US Cannabis ETF (NYSE: MSOS)?: Whenever a liquid ETF diverges from the broad market by double-digits on a percentage basis it catches our attention. That happened last week in MSOS, which finished +9.42% in a week where the NASDAQ and S&P 500 both shed over 4 percent. This was the largest weekly divergence from the broad averages in a very long time. Trough-to-peak, MSOS had risen exactly 33.73% from the June 30 low (Aug. 25), and held up relatively well on Friday during the broad market rout ($13.00, -0.31, -2.33%).

Trough-to-peak, MSOS has risen exactly 33.73% from the June 30 low (Aug. 25)

For several quarters, persistent headwinds have hammered U.S. cannabis and sending prices ever lower (U.S. consumer slowdown, high inflations, margin compression, lack of regulatory progress, to name a few). Investor sentiment remains low. However, with Q2 2022 earnings season behind the sector and many analysts/CEOs believing Q2 was a cyclical low in revenue growth/gross margins—and with at least a chance of federal reform on the horizon, sentiment appears to be shifting.

Beyond the fundamentals, Seabreeze Partners Management President Doug Kass helped galvanize sentiment last week by penning an article 10 Reasons Why I Plan To Substantially Increase My Cannabis Holdings, which appeared on Real Money on August 23. Doug had been a bear on U.S. cannabis in 2022 previously, but believes improving fundamentals and low valuations make the sector attractive at today’s levels.

We note that restrictions on naked short selling of securities in Canada is also believed to be playing a part in the current price action in U.S. cannabis. The IIROC recently issued a guidance notice on the obligation of a Participant to have reasonable expectations, prior to the entry of a short sale order, that sufficient securities will be available to allow the participant to settle any resulting trade on settlement date.

We’ll be watching with interest to see if MSOS is able to overtake the simple 100-Day MA ($13.50)—something that hasn’t happened since May 3, 2021.

Initial Jobless Claims and Non-Farm Payrolls: Numbers Still Look OK: On Thursday, weekly Jobless Claims may give some clues as to the strength on national employment, which has held up stubbornly well despite recent reports of some Fortune 500 companies paring back the workforce. The numbers have been creeping higher since setting lows this spring. But until we see claims spike above 300,000 per week, the unemployment rate should hold steady. Last report came in better than expected at 243,000 new claims, so headline risk is low.

1-Year U.S. unemployment rate remains near record lows

The non farm payroll report in July showed the US economy added 528K jobs last month—much better than market forecasts of 250K and above an upwardly revised 398K in June. This took the market by surprise and provided evidence to some that the economy was more resilient than expected. The medium estimate is about 300,000 jobs in August, to be released Friday morning.

U.S. Economic Calendar

TIME (ET)REPORTPERIODMEDIAN FORECASTPREVIOUS
Monday, August 15
None scheduled
Tuesday, Aug. 30
9:00 AMS&P Case-Shiller U.S. home price index (year-over-year)June19.80%
10:00 AMConsumer confidence indexAug.9795.7
10:00 AMJob openingsJuly10.7 million
10:00 AMQuitsJuly4.2 million
11:00 AMNew York Fed President John Williams speaks
Wednesday, Aug. 31
8:00 AMCleveland Fed President Loretta Mester speaks
8:15 AMADP employment reportAug.310,000N/A
9:45 AMChicago manufacturing PMIAug.5352.1
6:30 PMAltanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks
Thursday, Sept. 1
8:30 AMInitial jobless claimsAug. 27243,000
8:30 AMContinuing jobless claimsAug. 201.42 million
8:30 AMProductivity revision (SAAR)Q2-5.00%-4.60%
8:30 AMUnit labor costs revision (SAAR)Q210.80%10.80%
9:45 AMS&P U.S. manufacturing PMI (final)Aug.52.2
10:00 AMISM manufacturing indexAug.52.00%52.8
10:00 AMConstruction spendingJuly0.00%-1.10%
3:30 PMAltanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks
VariesLight motor vehicle sales (SAAR)Aug.13.5 million
Friday, Sept. 2
8:30 AMNonfarm payrollsAug.325,000528,000
8:30 AMUnemployment rateAug.3.50%3.50%
8:30 AMAverage hourly earningsAug.0.40%0.50%
8:30 AMLabor-force participation rate, 25-54 yearsAug.82.40%
10:00 AMFactory ordersJuly0.30%2.00%
10:00 AMCore capital equipment orders revisionJuly0.40%
8:30 AMEmpire state manufacturing indexJuly-1-1.2
8:45 AMAtlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic speaks
10:00 AMUMich consumer sentiment index (preliminary)July50.250
10:00 AMUMich 5-year inflation expectations (preliminary)July3.10%

Meme Of The Week

Key Earnings (US Markets)

DateCompanySymbolEarnings estimate
Monday, August 29CatalentCTLT$1.15 per share
SelectQuoteSLQT-$0.16
Tuesday, Aug. 30AmbarellaAMBA$0.19
BaiduBIDU$10.83
Best BuyBBY$1.29
Big LotsBIG-$2.46
ChewyCHWY-$0.12
Conn’sCONN$0.09
CrowdStrikeCRWD$0.27
HP Inc.HPQ$1.04
Hewlett Packard EnterpriseHPE$0.48
PhotronicsPLAB$0.50
Wednesday, August 31AnaplanPLAN-$0.07
Brown-FormanBF.B$0.47
CooperCOO$3.26
Designer BrandsDBI$0.52
DonaldsonDCI$0.12
Five BelowFIVE$0.79
MongoDBMDB-$0.28
OktaOKTA-$0.30
Pure StoragePSTG$0.22
SemtechSMTC$0.85
Veeva SystemsVEEV$1.01
Vera BradleyVRA$0.12
Thursday, September 1BroadcomAVGO$9.55
Campbell SoupCPB$0.56
CienaCIEN$0.34
GenescoGCO$0.27
G-III ApparelGIII$0.47
Hormel FoodsHRL$0.41
JOANNJOAN$-$0.52
Lululemon AthleticaLULU$1.86
Ollie’s Bargain OutletOLLI$0.33
SecureWorksSCWX-$0.17
Signet JewelersSIG$2.59
Sportsman’s WarehouseSPWH$0.26
ToroTTC$1.13
WeiboWB$0.45
Friday, September 2Nothing notable
Source: CNN Business – TDR’s stock market preview sentiment indicator

Past Week What’s Hot… and What’s Not

Source: TradingView – TDR’ stock market preview what’s hot this past week

Top 12 High Short Interest Stocks

TickerCompanyExchangeShortIntFloatS/OIndustry
ICPTIntercept Pharmaceuticals IncNasdaq48.79%23.69M29.80MBiotechnology & Medical Research
BBBYBed Bath & Beyond Inc.Nasdaq40.44%76.05M79.96MRetail (Specialty Non-Apparel)
UPSTUpstart Holdings IncNasdaq37.46%69.40M84.77MConsumer Lending
BIGBig Lots, Inc.NYSE37.09%26.49M28.92MRetailers – Discount Stores
BYNDBeyond Meat IncNasdaq34.35%56.77M63.54MFood Processing
EVGOEvgo IncNasdaq33.99%67.69M69.08MUtilities – Electric
HRTXHeron Therapeutics IncNasdaq33.21%102.38M102.14MBiotechnology & Medical Research
MSTRMicroStrategy IncNasdaq32.82%9.33M9.34MSoftware & Programming
BGFVBig 5 Sporting Goods CorpNasdaq32.11%20.71M22.18MRetailers – Miscellaneous Specialty
WWayfair IncNYSE29.16%70.80M80.51MRetailers – Department Stores
SWTXSpringWorks Therapeutics IncNasdaq28.84%32.22M49.41MBiotechnology & Medical Research
NKLANikola CorporationNasdaq28.12%277.61M433.48MAuto & Truck Manufacturers
Source: highshortinterest.com (data as of August 26)TDR’ stock market preview, Top 12 High Short Interest Stocks

Tags: stock market preview, stock market preview August 29, 2022.

The post TDR’s U.S. Stock Market Preview For The Week Of August 29, 2022 appeared first on The Dales Report.

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International

Beloved mall retailer files Chapter 7 bankruptcy, will liquidate

The struggling chain has given up the fight and will close hundreds of stores around the world.

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It has been a brutal period for several popular retailers. The fallout from the covid pandemic and a challenging economic environment have pushed numerous chains into bankruptcy with Tuesday Morning, Christmas Tree Shops, and Bed Bath & Beyond all moving from Chapter 11 to Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.

In all three of those cases, the companies faced clear financial pressures that led to inventory problems and vendors demanding faster, or even upfront payment. That creates a sort of inevitability.

Related: Beloved retailer finds life after bankruptcy, new famous owner

When a retailer faces financial pressure it sets off a cycle where vendors become wary of selling them items. That leads to barren shelves and no ability for the chain to sell its way out of its financial problems. 

Once that happens bankruptcy generally becomes the only option. Sometimes that means a Chapter 11 filing which gives the company a chance to negotiate with its creditors. In some cases, deals can be worked out where vendors extend longer terms or even forgive some debts, and banks offer an extension of loan terms.

In other cases, new funding can be secured which assuages vendor concerns or the company might be taken over by its vendors. Sometimes, as was the case with David's Bridal, a new owner steps in, adds new money, and makes deals with creditors in order to give the company a new lease on life.

It's rare that a retailer moves directly into Chapter 7 bankruptcy and decides to liquidate without trying to find a new source of funding.

Mall traffic has varied depending upon the type of mall.

Image source: Getty Images

The Body Shop has bad news for customers  

The Body Shop has been in a very public fight for survival. Fears began when the company closed half of its locations in the United Kingdom. That was followed by a bankruptcy-style filing in Canada and an abrupt closure of its U.S. stores on March 4.

"The Canadian subsidiary of the global beauty and cosmetics brand announced it has started restructuring proceedings by filing a Notice of Intention (NOI) to Make a Proposal pursuant to the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada). In the same release, the company said that, as of March 1, 2024, The Body Shop US Limited has ceased operations," Chain Store Age reported.

A message on the company's U.S. website shared a simple message that does not appear to be the entire story.

"We're currently undergoing planned maintenance, but don't worry we're due to be back online soon."

That same message is still on the company's website, but a new filing makes it clear that the site is not down for maintenance, it's down for good.

The Body Shop files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy

While the future appeared bleak for The Body Shop, fans of the brand held out hope that a savior would step in. That's not going to be the case. 

The Body Shop filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the United States.

"The US arm of the ethical cosmetics group has ceased trading at its 50 outlets. On Saturday (March 9), it filed for Chapter 7 insolvency, under which assets are sold off to clear debts, putting about 400 jobs at risk including those in a distribution center that still holds millions of dollars worth of stock," The Guardian reported.

After its closure in the United States, the survival of the brand remains very much in doubt. About half of the chain's stores in the United Kingdom remain open along with its Australian stores. 

The future of those stores remains very much in doubt and the chain has shared that it needs new funding in order for them to continue operating.

The Body Shop did not respond to a request for comment from TheStreet.   

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Government

Are Voters Recoiling Against Disorder?

Are Voters Recoiling Against Disorder?

Authored by Michael Barone via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The headlines coming out of the Super…

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Are Voters Recoiling Against Disorder?

Authored by Michael Barone via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The headlines coming out of the Super Tuesday primaries have got it right. Barring cataclysmic changes, Donald Trump and Joe Biden will be the Republican and Democratic nominees for president in 2024.

(Left) President Joe Biden delivers remarks on canceling student debt at Culver City Julian Dixon Library in Culver City, Calif., on Feb. 21, 2024. (Right) Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump stands on stage during a campaign event at Big League Dreams Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nev., on Jan. 27, 2024. (Mario Tama/Getty Images; David Becker/Getty Images)

With Nikki Haley’s withdrawal, there will be no more significantly contested primaries or caucuses—the earliest both parties’ races have been over since something like the current primary-dominated system was put in place in 1972.

The primary results have spotlighted some of both nominees’ weaknesses.

Donald Trump lost high-income, high-educated constituencies, including the entire metro area—aka the Swamp. Many but by no means all Haley votes there were cast by Biden Democrats. Mr. Trump can’t afford to lose too many of the others in target states like Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Majorities and large minorities of voters in overwhelmingly Latino counties in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley and some in Houston voted against Joe Biden, and even more against Senate nominee Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas).

Returns from Hispanic precincts in New Hampshire and Massachusetts show the same thing. Mr. Biden can’t afford to lose too many Latino votes in target states like Arizona and Georgia.

When Mr. Trump rode down that escalator in 2015, commentators assumed he’d repel Latinos. Instead, Latino voters nationally, and especially the closest eyewitnesses of Biden’s open-border policy, have been trending heavily Republican.

High-income liberal Democrats may sport lawn signs proclaiming, “In this house, we believe ... no human is illegal.” The logical consequence of that belief is an open border. But modest-income folks in border counties know that flows of illegal immigrants result in disorder, disease, and crime.

There is plenty of impatience with increased disorder in election returns below the presidential level. Consider Los Angeles County, America’s largest county, with nearly 10 million people, more people than 40 of the 50 states. It voted 71 percent for Mr. Biden in 2020.

Current returns show county District Attorney George Gascon winning only 21 percent of the vote in the nonpartisan primary. He’ll apparently face Republican Nathan Hochman, a critic of his liberal policies, in November.

Gascon, elected after the May 2020 death of counterfeit-passing suspect George Floyd in Minneapolis, is one of many county prosecutors supported by billionaire George Soros. His policies include not charging juveniles as adults, not seeking higher penalties for gang membership or use of firearms, and bringing fewer misdemeanor cases.

The predictable result has been increased car thefts, burglaries, and personal robberies. Some 120 assistant district attorneys have left the office, and there’s a backlog of 10,000 unprosecuted cases.

More than a dozen other Soros-backed and similarly liberal prosecutors have faced strong opposition or have left office.

St. Louis prosecutor Kim Gardner resigned last May amid lawsuits seeking her removal, Milwaukee’s John Chisholm retired in January, and Baltimore’s Marilyn Mosby was defeated in July 2022 and convicted of perjury in September 2023. Last November, Loudoun County, Virginia, voters (62 percent Biden) ousted liberal Buta Biberaj, who declined to prosecute a transgender student for assault, and in June 2022 voters in San Francisco (85 percent Biden) recalled famed radical Chesa Boudin.

Similarly, this Tuesday, voters in San Francisco passed ballot measures strengthening police powers and requiring treatment of drug-addicted welfare recipients.

In retrospect, it appears the Floyd video, appearing after three months of COVID-19 confinement, sparked a frenzied, even crazed reaction, especially among the highly educated and articulate. One fatal incident was seen as proof that America’s “systemic racism” was worse than ever and that police forces should be defunded and perhaps abolished.

2020 was “the year America went crazy,” I wrote in January 2021, a year in which police funding was actually cut by Democrats in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Denver. A year in which young New York Times (NYT) staffers claimed they were endangered by the publication of Sen. Tom Cotton’s (R-Ark.) opinion article advocating calling in military forces if necessary to stop rioting, as had been done in Detroit in 1967 and Los Angeles in 1992. A craven NYT publisher even fired the editorial page editor for running the article.

Evidence of visible and tangible discontent with increasing violence and its consequences—barren and locked shelves in Manhattan chain drugstores, skyrocketing carjackings in Washington, D.C.—is as unmistakable in polls and election results as it is in daily life in large metropolitan areas. Maybe 2024 will turn out to be the year even liberal America stopped acting crazy.

Chaos and disorder work against incumbents, as they did in 1968 when Democrats saw their party’s popular vote fall from 61 percent to 43 percent.

Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/09/2024 - 23:20

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Government

Veterans Affairs Kept COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate In Place Without Evidence

Veterans Affairs Kept COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate In Place Without Evidence

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The…

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Veterans Affairs Kept COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate In Place Without Evidence

Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) reviewed no data when deciding in 2023 to keep its COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place.

Doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in Washington in a file image. (Jacquelyn Martin/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

VA Secretary Denis McDonough said on May 1, 2023, that the end of many other federal mandates “will not impact current policies at the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

He said the mandate was remaining for VA health care personnel “to ensure the safety of veterans and our colleagues.”

Mr. McDonough did not cite any studies or other data. A VA spokesperson declined to provide any data that was reviewed when deciding not to rescind the mandate. The Epoch Times submitted a Freedom of Information Act for “all documents outlining which data was relied upon when establishing the mandate when deciding to keep the mandate in place.”

The agency searched for such data and did not find any.

The VA does not even attempt to justify its policies with science, because it can’t,” Leslie Manookian, president and founder of the Health Freedom Defense Fund, told The Epoch Times.

“The VA just trusts that the process and cost of challenging its unfounded policies is so onerous, most people are dissuaded from even trying,” she added.

The VA’s mandate remains in place to this day.

The VA’s website claims that vaccines “help protect you from getting severe illness” and “offer good protection against most COVID-19 variants,” pointing in part to observational data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that estimate the vaccines provide poor protection against symptomatic infection and transient shielding against hospitalization.

There have also been increasing concerns among outside scientists about confirmed side effects like heart inflammation—the VA hid a safety signal it detected for the inflammation—and possible side effects such as tinnitus, which shift the benefit-risk calculus.

President Joe Biden imposed a slate of COVID-19 vaccine mandates in 2021. The VA was the first federal agency to implement a mandate.

President Biden rescinded the mandates in May 2023, citing a drop in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. His administration maintains the choice to require vaccines was the right one and saved lives.

“Our administration’s vaccination requirements helped ensure the safety of workers in critical workforces including those in the healthcare and education sectors, protecting themselves and the populations they serve, and strengthening their ability to provide services without disruptions to operations,” the White House said.

Some experts said requiring vaccination meant many younger people were forced to get a vaccine despite the risks potentially outweighing the benefits, leaving fewer doses for older adults.

By mandating the vaccines to younger people and those with natural immunity from having had COVID, older people in the U.S. and other countries did not have access to them, and many people might have died because of that,” Martin Kulldorff, a professor of medicine on leave from Harvard Medical School, told The Epoch Times previously.

The VA was one of just a handful of agencies to keep its mandate in place following the removal of many federal mandates.

“At this time, the vaccine requirement will remain in effect for VA health care personnel, including VA psychologists, pharmacists, social workers, nursing assistants, physical therapists, respiratory therapists, peer specialists, medical support assistants, engineers, housekeepers, and other clinical, administrative, and infrastructure support employees,” Mr. McDonough wrote to VA employees at the time.

This also includes VA volunteers and contractors. Effectively, this means that any Veterans Health Administration (VHA) employee, volunteer, or contractor who works in VHA facilities, visits VHA facilities, or provides direct care to those we serve will still be subject to the vaccine requirement at this time,” he said. “We continue to monitor and discuss this requirement, and we will provide more information about the vaccination requirements for VA health care employees soon. As always, we will process requests for vaccination exceptions in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies.”

The version of the shots cleared in the fall of 2022, and available through the fall of 2023, did not have any clinical trial data supporting them.

A new version was approved in the fall of 2023 because there were indications that the shots not only offered temporary protection but also that the level of protection was lower than what was observed during earlier stages of the pandemic.

Ms. Manookian, whose group has challenged several of the federal mandates, said that the mandate “illustrates the dangers of the administrative state and how these federal agencies have become a law unto themselves.”

Tyler Durden Sat, 03/09/2024 - 22:10

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