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We have previously suggested that omicron might be bullish for the economy and stocks due to signs that infections caused by the variant are less severe, which could help with the transition toward treating COVID more like the flu.

While he didn't exactly go all-in on FUD like his rival, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said during an interview at the WSJ's CEO Council that omicron might lead to still more threatening variants if it isn't dealt with appropriately.

The prospect of another mutation emerging is something that keeps the CEO of the US's best selling COVID jab up at night (although his company would stand to reap billions in profit should another generation of vaccines be warranted).

"I don’t think it’s good news to have something that spreads fast," Bourla told his interlocutors at the summit.

"Spreads fast means it will be in billions of people and another mutation may come. You don’t want that."

So far, data on the ground in South Africa has shown few if any serious cases caused by omicron. The South African Medical Research Council released a report on Saturday claiming that most patients admitted to a hospital in Pretoria who had COVID don't need supplemental oxygen. The report also noted that many patients were admitted for other medical reasons and were then found to have COVID Still, South Africa has seen case numbers jump over the last week.

However, Bourla cautioned that drawing definitive conclusions from the wave of infection in South Africa would be "difficult". Just 5% of South Africans are over the age of 60, and younger people normally have milder cases of COVID. However, many people in South Africa are also HIV positive, which means they're at risk of more severe infections.

So far, most of the virus's mutations have occurred on the spike protein, which is deeply involved in the mechanism it uses to attach to human cells, Bourla said. Vaccines and antibody treatments that target the spike protein may need updates when mutations occur on that part of the virus, he said.

Looking ahead, Bourla said he expects the number of confirmed omicron cases to surge from dozens to millions over the next few weeks.According to Pfizer it will only be a matter of weeks before they determine exactly how long it will take to eradicate this latest mutation. And pretty soon, Pfizer won't only have its COVID vaccine, it'll also be selling its new drug, Paxlovid, a COVID therapautic similar to Merck's miracle drug.

Update (2010ET): Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is hitting friction within his own party over Tuesday's debt deal announcement - which would essentially hand Democrats a blank check to continue raising the debt ceiling in exchange for 'owning' whatever negative effects it may have.

"There are always very diverse points of view within our conference on these types of issues," said Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the #2 Senate Republican.

Republicans were describing the measure Tuesday as setting up a one-time exception to the filibuster. Though a GOP aide noted that the Senate routinely has a fast-track process for other issues like arms sales and trade deals, the debt agreement was drawing criticism from conservatives who don’t want to lift a finger to help Democrats extend the nation’s borrowing limit. -The Hill

Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) called it a "Frankenstein bill" that would "neuter the Senate," while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said that Democrats shouldn't have any help from Republicans when it comes to raising the debt ceiling.

"[Democrats] should at least own the responsibility for crushing debt they are necessitating. Republicans should not participate in racking up that debt, which is harming people across the country," said Cruz.

McConnell reportedly pitched his caucus on it during a close-door lunch on Tuesday, touting it as a way for the GOP to shine a spotlight on Democrats' reckless spending.

"I think this is in the best interest of the country by avoiding default. I think it is also in the best interest of Republicans," he said.

That said, it's unknown how many Senate Republicans actually agree with McConnell, who sounded confident that he could round up 10 GOP votes on Thsday.

At least two GOP senators who helped advance the debt ceiling agreement in October said they were either opposed or likely to be “no” votes.

“I wouldn't vote for it,” said Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who helped advance a short-term debt hike earlier this year. “I just think we ought to keep our word with the base.”

Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), another one of the 11 GOP senators, said that he was “leaning” toward opposing the deal.

“I just think they can do it with reconciliation,” he said. “They've known that from day one.”

Stay tuned...

*  *  *

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says Congressional leaders have reached a deal to avoid breaching the federal debt ceiling.

The deal will allow Democrats to raise the debt ceiling on their votes alone - creating a temporary fast-track process which would allow them to increase the debt limit with 51 votes, bypassing the filibuster.

"I believe we've reached here a solution to the debt ceiling issue that's consistent with Republican views of raising the debt ceiling for this amount at this particular time and allows the Democrats to proudly own it," said McConnell, adding that there will be a vote on Thursday.

The new plan will be tied to a non-controversial bill which would avoid cuts to Medicare, according to NBC News' Sahil Kapur.

As Goldman notes, the bill would also address several Medicare payment issues:

Specifically, it would: 

• Delay Medicare sequestration: COVID-relief legislation Congress passed in 2020 and 2021 suspended the 2% cuts to Medicare payments ("sequestration") that had been in place since 2013. That suspension was due to expire at the end of the year, when the 2% across-the-board cut would have taken effect again. The pending legislation would renew the current suspension for another three months (through March 31, 2022) and then cut payments by 1% from April 1 to June 30, 2022, after which the full 2% cut would take effect. 
• Boost Medicare physician payments: Congress boosted Medicare payments to physicians by 3.75% for 2021, but that temporary increase is due to expire at year end, which would have resulted in a cut of around 3.75% on Jan. 1, 2022. The bill would raise payments by 3% from the currently scheduled level for 2022, or only about 0.75% below the 2021 level. 
• Postpone PAYGO sequestration: Under current law, if Congress passes direct spending or tax legislation raising the deficit in a given year, statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) rules require that the White House issue a sequestration order early the following year to cut some areas of spending (primarily Medicare) to offset the deficit impact. Congress routinely passes legislation to waive this requirement, but had not yet done so this year to address the deficit increases stemming from the American Rescue Plan and the bipartisan infrastructure bill. The legislation just posted in the House would do this. While unsurprising, this step was necessary to avoid spending cuts at the start of 2022.

The debt ceiling is set to reach its limit as soon as Dec. 15, according to a recent warning by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

If Congress passes the measure, it would be the second such bailout in recent days after Biden signed a 10-week stopgap funding bill into law last week which gives Congress until Feb. 18 to come up with a full year of appropriations.

China has followed Monday's White House confirmation that US government officials will boycott the 2022 Winter Olympic games with a vow to retaliate with "resolute countermeasures". 

Describing that it's lodged a formal diplomatic protest, China's Foreign Ministry said at a Tuesday press conference that the United States is seeking to "disrupt" Beijing's hosting of the games. "Out of ideological bias and based on lies and rumors, the US is trying to disrupt the Beijing Winter Olympics. This will only expose its sinister intention and further erode its moral authority and credibility," ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said.

"The wrong move of the US has undermined the foundation and atmosphere for China-US sports exchanges and Olympic cooperation. It has shot itself in the foot. The US should understand the grave consequences of its move," Zhao added.

While US athletes will be allowed to compete in the games, the Biden administration's largely symbolic slap in the face is geared toward sending a strong message against China's "ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang," according to a Monday statement. 

Beijing officials have meanwhile suggested that the US government boycott is likely to negatively impact bilateral dialogue and cooperation in key areas.

It's as yet unclear whether other Western-allied governments of the US will follow suit, but it was separately reported early this week that New Zealand officials will also not attend the Beijing games. However, in this case New Zealand Deputy PM Robertson cited the Covid-19 pandemic as the reason, and confirmed his country's diplomats would not attend.

Politicians calling for boycott #2022BeijingOlympics are doing so for their own political interests and posturing. In fact, no one would care about whether these people come or not, and it has no impact whatsoever on the #Beijing2022 to be successfully held.

— Liu Pengyu ??? (@SpoxCHNinUS) December 6, 2021

Interestingly, some notable Chinese officials and pundits expressed that if US officials don't come, nobody in China actually cares. For example, Liu Pengyu, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the US, had this to say on Twitter:

"Politicians calling for boycott #2022BeijingOlympics are doing so for their own political interests and posturing. In fact, no one would care about whether these people come or not, and it has no impact whatsoever on the #Beijing2022 to be successfully held."

And Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of state-run English language Global Times, questioned: "Why the fuss?" He answered, "If US officials don't come, let it be. China didn't invite them anyway."

With the premise that Washington was not invited to the Winter Olympics, it has made a big deal announcing it will not send a government delegation to the Games. They are so arrogant that one day they could ask for an appearance fee to go to public restrooms in foreign cities. pic.twitter.com/vAKn5jJrMe

— Hu Xijin ??? (@HuXijin_GT) December 7, 2021

"Only super narcissistic people will regard their absence as a powerful boycott. Most of those US govt officials are close contacts of the Covid-19 patients according to China's standard, moreover picky and pretentious. You are the people that Beijing residents least want to see," the GT editor quipped sarcastically.

Submitted by Bitcoin Magazine

Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini will soon offer frictionless bitcoin trading in Colombia for customers of the country’s biggest bank, Bancolombia, the company said in a statement Monday. However, it is unclear whether users will be able to withdraw funds — a vital feature for achieving the financial sovereignty that Bitcoin enables.

The partnership is part of a government-sponsored pilot program. It will launch on December 14, giving an initial cohort of Bancolombia customers a seamless on and off-ramp to trade BTC through the exchange.

“The partnership also serves as an important step toward the strategic expansion of Gemini’s presence in Latin America,” Cynthia del Pozo García, Gemini’s principal of strategy and corporate development, said in the statement.

“We look forward to working closely with the Colombian crypto ecosystem and to supporting crypto products that empower Colombians to take control of their financial lives.”

The Colombia government launched a one-year pilot program through the country’s financial regulator, Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia (SFC), to bring bitcoin and cryptocurrency services to citizens in a more straightforward fashion.

“Crypto is borderless by nature, and we are committed to expanding crypto access to individuals across the globe,” del Pozo García added.

Bancolombia is part of the Bancolombia Group, a holding company that also owns Banistmo, the largest bank in Panama and Central America; BAM, from Guatemala; and Banco Agricola, which serves customers in El Salvador. The group had 17.8 million customers as of December 31, 2020, according to its numbers report.

In January, the SFC announced it had chosen nine cryptocurrency exchanges out of 14 applicants to participate in the pilot. In addition to Gemini, the list included Binance and Mexican firm Bitso. Binance is set to partner with the third-largest bank in Colombia, Davivienda, and digital payments app Powwi, while Bitso will collaborate with Banco de Bogotá.

Shortly after 1am local time Israeli warplanes mounted a large-scale missile strike on Syria's key port of Latakia, igniting large fires as shipping containers were engulfed. 

International reports underscored that "It was a rare attack on the city's port, a vital facility where much of Syria's imports are brought into the war-torn country." Indeed it was the first such known attack on Latakia's main port throughout the conflict which began over a decade ago.

Syrian state TV said at least five explosions were heard, with circulating social media videos from the site showing high-reaching flames. 

The Israeli government didn't comment in the immediate aftermath, but its media is calling the attack a "gamechanger" in terms of drastically shifting the rules of engagement towards civilian ports. Over the course of prior years, Damascus International Airport has been struck several times. Typically the Israelis claim to be acting against Iranian weapons shipments. 

Regional Al-Mayadeen media described that "A military source said in a statement to SANA that at around 1.32 a.m. today, the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack with several missiles from the direction of the Mediterranean, southwest of Latakia, targeting the container yard in the commercial port of Latakia."

URGENT: #SyriaUnderAttack Israeli Warplanes Just Bombarded The Civilian Port Of Latakia, West Syria.

This was completely unprovoked !

Although Israel launches strikes routinely against Syria, this is unprecedented.

Where’s the condemnation? Will the Western media cover it? pic.twitter.com/Fx149zH3ds

— Robert Inlakesh (@falasteen47) December 7, 2021

Both Syrian and Russian anti-air defenses are stationed in this northwest coastal province, but it doesn't appear they were activated. Syrian state sources are suggesting Syrian air defenses may have repelled some of the Israeli missiles, however. 

Al-Mayadeen noted further: 

...the Russians at Khmeimim airbase nearby had “announced that [they] had monitored ten bombing attacks by Jabhat al-Nusra elements in the Idlib region of the de-escalation zones in the northwest of the country.”

 Despite literally hundreds of Israeli attacks on Syria since the war's beginning, it's rare for such an assault to come so close to Russia's Khmeimim airbase (also spelled Hmeymim). It's as yet unclear Moscow's reaction to the attack.

#Syria's state media has said #Israeli warplanes have attacked its #Latakia port, with several missiles striking the area of the containers at 1:23 local time on Tuesday (23:23 GMT Monday), starting a fire.

There has been no comment from the Israeli military thus far. pic.twitter.com/wWBazX62hG

— Ruptly (@Ruptly) December 7, 2021

Though there's not confirmation of this, Middle East Eye is citing Syrian opposition media to say Israel targeted shipments of weapons that were bound for Iranian troops in Syria: 

An Israeli air strike hit a shipment of Iranian weapons in the Syrian port of Latakia on Tuesday, in the first such attack on the key facility, according to a UK-based activist group.

The Israeli raid "directly targeted an Iranian weapons shipment in the container yard," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Already there's speculation that the aggressive action is tied to Iran nuclear talks in Vienna. Israeli defense and intelligence leaders are currently in Washington attempting to persuade the Biden administration to act militarily against Iranian assets in the region, sending a strong "message" against the Islamic Republic's alleged nuclear ambitions.

Authored by Isabel van Brugen via The Epoch Times,

More than 700 mathematicians and scientists have signed an open letter denouncing recent “trends” in K-12 mathematics education that proponents argue will close achievement gaps and damage America’s global competitiveness.

“We write to express our alarm over recent trends in K-12 mathematics education in the United States,” the “ Open Letter on K-12 Mathematics,” which has 746 signatories as of Dec. 6, says.

Signatories include several public school math teachers from California, numerous professors at University of California schools, including UC-Davis and UC-Berkeley, and staff at leading U.S. universities for hard science, including Stanford, Berkeley, CalTech, and MIT.

It comes after the California Department of Education this year postponed implementation of a new math framework that aims to keep students learning at the same level, citing equity, following widespread opposition to the curriculum. Opponents have said the reforms would discourage students who speak English as a second language.

The letter cites the California Mathematics Framework as particularly concerning, describing the recent reforms as “well-intentioned approaches to reform mathematics education,” but warns they may have “unintended consequences.”

While the California Mathematics Framework may superficially reduce disparities at the high school level, the efforts are merely “kicking the can” to college and will ultimately place K-12 public school students at a disadvantage compared with their international and private-school peers, the letter says.

“Such frameworks aim to reduce achievement gaps by limiting the availability of advanced mathematical courses to middle schoolers and beginning high schoolers,” the open letter says.

“Such a reform…may lead to a de facto privatization of advanced mathematics K-12 education and disproportionately harm students with fewer resources.”

The letter calls on national, state, and local governments to involve college-level STEM educators and STEM professionals in the design of K-12 mathematics and science education curriculum with three key goals.

The first goal states that all students, regardless of background, should have access to a math curriculum “with precision and rigor” and that would enable them to pursue STEM degrees and careers if they choose to do so.

“Far from being deliberately held back, all students should have the opportunity to be nurtured and challenged to fulfill their potential,” the second goal states.

“This is not only for their own benefit but also for society and the nation’s economic competitiveness.”

The third goal states that there cannot be a “one size fits all” approach to K-12 mathematical education.

“Students should be offered multiple pathways and timelines to explore mathematics,” it says.

“Reducing access to advanced mathematics and elevating trendy but shallow courses over foundational skills would cause lasting damage to STEM education in the country and exacerbate inequality by diminishing access to the skills needed for social mobility,” the letter concludes.

After a day of zigzags on the virus front, we end with some encouraging observations from Deutsche Bank's Jim Reid who shows in his "chart of the day" that according to global mobility data, most of the world is back close to pre-pandemic levels of mobility (at least on a population-weighted basis) even if the GDP-weighted figure still lags, partly due to some of the larger DM economies still being down vs. February 2019.

Regardless, as Reid observes, the graph shows that "on both measures mobility is notably above last year’s levels. This helps show why reasonably strong YoY growth shouldn’t be too difficult to attain in H1 2022. In H1 2021, the world wasn’t that mobile."

This is good news because it means that - at least so far- as the winter covid wave and Omicron hit us, aggregate mobility hasn’t yet dipped. This, according to Reid, shows that either people are learning to live with the virus more or that it’s too early to tell as travel and domestic restrictions, only very recently imposed, have yet to fully take their toll, with more possibly to come.

To be sure, Austrian mobility has declined significantly with Germany also drifting lower. So where restrictions have been imposed there has been a consequence.

A more detailed heatmap of global mobility is shown below.

To be sure, the swing factor to winter mobility will be Omicron. For those readers looking for good news, the second chart from Reid shows that in South Africa covid fatalities from the Omicron wave have not responded to the rise in cases in the same manner as prior ones (with a 12-day lag).

While it is still very early days with the data subject to revisions, Reid notes that "we are getting more and more (albeit patchy) evidence that the new variant is less severe. So much now depends on how more transmissible it is, especially in heavily-vaccinated populations." Reid says that he leans on the optimistic side here "but it seems the number of Omicron cases are building fast enough that we should get some decent data very soon on how its impacting well-vaccinated countries."