WSJ - Coronavirus Is Found in Semen of Covid-19 Patients

WSJ - Coronavirus Is Found in Semen of Covid-19 Patients
Finding by Chinese researchers raises the prospect of sexual transmission

The new coronavirus has been found in the semen of infected individuals, according to Chinese researchers, raising the prospect that the virus could be sexually transmitted.

The study, other researchers warn, also raises many questions. It doesn’t explain how much viral load was present in the sperm; nor did it examine whether the virus can be transmitted through sexual activity. The study, conducted at China’s Shangqiu Municipal Hospital, was described in a research letter published Thursday by the JAMA Network of medical journals.

It is the first to detect the virus in reproductive fluids. Further research is needed to understand whether safe-sex practices should be part of Covid-19-prevention efforts, say medical experts who read the paper.

“These are intriguing results,” said John Brooks, chief medical officer for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Covid-19 response. But it doesn’t mean that semen is infectious, he noted. “When we’re looking everywhere for this virus, we’re finding its footprints in different places in the body—whether that’s a trace or if it’s a big foot is very hard to say.”

No known U.S. infections have spread through sexual contact, Dr. Brooks said. Some other viruses, including mosquito-borne Zika, can spread by sexual contact.

In the study, Chinese researchers said semen from six out of 38 Covid-19 survivors tested positive for the virus. Four out of the six individuals were in “the acute stage of infection” at the time of semen collection, and the remaining two “had achieved clinical recovery,” according to the paper. Later, the study said those two individuals “were recovering,” confusing some clinicians. The authors didn’t respond to requests for comment.
“If they were recovering, it’s less problematic than if they had fully recovered,” said David Baud, the head of obstetrics at Switzerland’s Lausanne University Hospital. Sick and bedridden individuals are unlikely to have a sexual drive so the risk of transmission is low. “You’re more likely to get it through their cough droplets,” he said.
Clinicians are also divided over what constitutes recovery because data on Covid-19 progression is scant and knowledge about the virus that causes it is swiftly changing. “What is recovery? That is a million-dollar question” the study doesn’t answer, said David Shin, a urologist focusing on male reproduction at the New Jersey-based Hackensack University Medical Center.

Liona Poon, an obstetrics and gynecology professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, noted the study falls short of explaining how much viral load was present in semen. “Was it fragments, or whole virus particulate? Until the virus is isolated and cultured, we don’t know if it’s infectious,” she said.

A study posted online in March by a different group of Chinese researchers didn’t find the virus in the semen of Covid-19 survivors. None of those survivors had severe pneumonia. The findings are yet to be vetted by other experts. Thursday’s study didn’t say how sick its subjects had been, which “could guide us in many ways and help reassure people too,” Dr. Shin said.

Dr. Baud said stronger data are needed to show how long the virus circulates in the sperm after symptoms first surface. Those findings could help draft prevention guidelines in the future.

For example, the CDC recommends that people who travel to areas with Zika virus wait at least three months after their return, or after symptoms start, before engaging in unprotected sex.

Thursday’s study isn’t the first to show that the virus can snake its way through the human reproductive tract. In a research letter published in JAMA late last month, Dr. Baud detected the virus in the placenta of a 28-year-old pregnant woman who miscarried during the second trimester.

The stillborn infant’s blood tested negative for the virus, as did the mother’s blood, though the mother’s nasal swab tested positive. It isn’t known if the virus induced miscarriage.

>>> What to look at today - 8th of May 2020

Asian equities rose Friday along with U.S. and European futures as investors continue to weigh moves to reopen economies and moves on trade negotiations between the U.S. and China against data illustrating the enormous damage wreaked by the coronavirus. The dollar dipped.
S&P 500 futures hit their session highs after reports that China and the U.S. had a phone call on trade. Japan saw gains of about 1.5%, the largest moves, while shares also rose in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul and Sydney. The yuan nudged up. U.S. jobless claims continued at historically high levels, but fell from the prior week, in the run-up to Friday’s payrolls report. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite turned positive for 2020, wiping out losses of as much as 24%. Two-year Treasury yields continued to trend lower after plunging to a record.
US After Hours UBER +5.7%, SPWR +12.1%, SAIL +5.6% up on earnings; ROKU -9.6%, TTD -8.2%, STMP -7.6%, OLED -3.9% are among downside earnings names

Nikkei +2.33% Hang Seng +1.10% CSI +1.16% Shanghai +0.94% Shenzen +1.38%

Eur$ 1.0845 CNH 7.0857 CNY 7.0726 JPY 106.42 GBP 1.2400 CHF 0.9722 RUB 74.0508 TRY 7.1153 WTI$ 24.14 +2.46%

S&P +1.42 Nasdaq +1.35% EuroStoxx +1.05% Dax +1.40% SMI +0.80%

Macro :
- Paul Tudor Jones Buys Bitcoin, Says He’s Reminded of Gold in 70s
- Equity Fund Outflows Last Week Most Since March, Jefferies Says
- Germany’s New Coronavirus Cases Rise the Most in a Week

Keep an eye on :
- ANA SM : Acciona First Quarter Net Income EU78 Mln
- AIR FP : Airbus Delivers 14 Aircraft, Logs 9 Net Orders in April
- AF FP : Air France-KLM Signs Accord for EU7B State Loans, Guarantees
- AKER NO : Aker Net Assets Fell to NOK24.1b in 1Q, Down 52% Q/q (1)
- BAMI IM : Banco BPM 1Q Net Boosted by Financial Income; Plan Goals Halted
- BC8 GY : Bechtle 1Q Pretax Profit EU51.1 Mln, +13% Y/y, Est. EU49.1 Mln
- BEFB BB : Befimmo First Quarter Adjusted EPS EU0.77 Vs. EU0.72 Y/y
- BRAV SS : Bravida First Quarter Operating Profit SEK271 Mln, +8.4% Y/y
- BC IM : Brunello Cucinelli First Quarter Net Revenue EU156.7 Mln
- CLNX SM : Cellnex First Quarter Adjusted Ebitda EU260 Mln, +64% Y/y
- DOKA SW : Dormakaba Withdraws Guidance Over Decreased Visibility
- EDP PL : EDP First Quarter Net Income EU146 Mln, +46% Y/y
- ELK NO : Elkem First Quarter Ebitda NOK590 Mln, -31% Y/y
- EUCAR FP : Hertz Downgraded to SD by S&P (1)
- FER SM : Ferrovial First Quarter Loss EU111 Mln, +13% Y/y
- GLPG NA :Galapagos First Quarter Operating Loss EU44.6 Mln
- HSBA LN : Singapore Oil Trader Involved in ‘Dishonest’ Deals, HSBC Says
- IAG LN : IAG CEO Says There Won’t Be a Third Heathrow Runway: Telegraph
- INGA NA : ING First Quarter Loan-loss Provision EU661 Mln, *ING 1Q LOAN-LOSS PROVISION EU661M, EST. EU798.4M
- INS GY : Instone Real Estate Prelim 1Q Adjusted Ebit EU18.0 Mln
- SDF GY : K+S Prepares Potential Application for German State Aid: Reuters
- KOG NO : Kongsberg First Quarter Ebitda NOK643 Mln, Est. NOK574.0 Mln
- MC FP : J.C. Penney, Sephora Settle Dispute Over Boutiques (Correct)
- MEL SM : Melia Hotels 1Q Loss EU79.7 Mln Vs. Profit EU11.5 Mln Y/y
- NHY NO : Norsk Hydro Issues Senior Unsecured Bonds of NOK7b
- QIA GY : Qiagen Gains as CTFN Speculates on Potential Increased Offer
- RNO FP : Renault Sandouville Plant Ordered to Halt Due to Covid-19: AFP
- RENE PL : REN First Quarter Net Income EU4.3 Mln, -67% Y/y
- RHM GY : Rheinmetall First Quarter Oper Profit EU34 Mln, Est. EU36.9 Mln
- SSO NO : Scatec Solar First Quarter Ebitda NOK503 Mln Vs. NOK242 Mln Y/y
- SIE GY : Siemens Scraps 2020 Guidance With Industrial Downturn At Bottom
- SMHN GY : Suess MicroTec 1Q Ebit Loss EU5.6 Mln Vs. Profit EU2.1 Mln Y/y
- VOW GY : Automakers Avoid Recall of 56 Million More Takata Air Bags

>>> US After Hours Summary: UBER +5.7%, SPWR +12.1%, SAIL +5.6% up

After Hours Summary: UBER +5.7%, SPWR +12.1%, SAIL +5.6% up on earnings; ROKU -9.6%, TTD -8.2%, STMP -7.6%, OLED -3.9% are among downside earnings names

After Hours Gainers:

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: CWH +22.6%, HLF +14.9%, SPWR +12.1%, VECO +10.4%, SKYW +10.1%, IPHI +8.8%, CARG +8.6%, PRDO +8.1%, GH +7.2%, AAXN +7.1%, HASI +6.5%, UBER +5.7%, SAIL +5.6%, KTOS +5.3%, GPRO +5%, ITGR +4.9%, QRVO +4.7%, SVMK +4.5%, ARNA +4.3%, PBYI +4.3%, FLEX +3.8%, PEB +3.2%, CWST +3%, DBX +2.9%, CNDT +2.7%, AL +2.5%, GLUU +2.5%, MTW +1.7%, RGNX +1.3%, AGO +1.2%, DEI +0.8%, FSLR +0.8%, PBA +0.8%, SXI +0.8%, NKTR +0.6%, RDFN +0.6%, POWI +0.5%, REG +0.5%, EQH +0.4%, MDU +0.4%, CUBE +0.3%, CPT +0.2%, SWX +0.2%, WRI +0.2%, COLD +0.1%, CWK +0.1%, FLS +0.1%, GMED +0.1%, LSI +0.1%, MMI +0.1%, RBA +0.1%

Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: FDP +2% (reinstates share repurchase program), OMI +1.2% (files for $300 mln mixed securities shelf offering), F +0.9% (outlines phased production and operations resumption)

After Hours Losers:

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: FLDM -13%, TRUE -12.4%, NET -11.5%, APPN -10.8%, QLYS -10.6%, ROKU -9.6%, TDC -9.2% (also names new CEO), VSLR -8.5%, TTD -8.2%, LOPE -8.1%, CYRX -7.9%, STMP -7.6%, SAGE -6.6%, ACAD -6.5%, ADT -6.4%, EOG -5.7%, GKOS -5.4%, CTSH -5.1%, HST -4.6%, PFPT -4.6%, SYNA -4.4%, TRIP -4.4%, ICUI -4.3%, MSI -4.3%, MDRX -3.9%, OLED -3.9%, YELP -3.7%, BILL -3.2%, BJRI -3.1%, UPLD -3.1%, PCTY -3%, PDCE -2.9%, ZG -2.7%, MCHP -2.6%, INTU -2.6%, AVLR -2.5%, TWST -2.5%, FISV -2.3%, MNST -2.2%, ALTR -2%, BRX -1.9%, RPD -1.8%, SCOR -1.8%, BKNG -1.7%, DLR -1.7%, NUAN -1.5%, TCX -1.2%, MTD -1.1%, MAIN -1%, OMCL -1%, LYV -0.9%, TRHC -0.7%, POST -0.6%, PODD -0.5%, PEN -0.4%, ZIOP -0.4%, ALRM -0.3%, KMPR -0.3%, ENV -0.2%, FLT -0.2%, BCC -0.1%, DLX -0.1%, ED -0.1%, ELY -0.1%, FGEN -0.1%, MTG -0.1%, NNI -0.1%, OEC -0.1%, PRA -0.1%

Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: FISV -2.3% (names new CEO), AXNX -2.2% (commences public offering), SHOP -1.4% (launches public offering of 1.85 mln Class A shares), KALA -0.5% (files for $350 mln mixed securities shelf offering)

FT : Warren Buffett held the wrong stocks as music stopped

Warren Buffett held the wrong stocks as music stopped
Few investors went into this crisis with a portfolio they were entirely happy with

How many fund managers went into the GVC (great virus crisis) with the portfolio they would have liked to be holding? Not many. And not even poor Warren Buffett.

In his downbeat online shareholder meeting last week, he told investors that he had spent much of March and April selling his huge stakes in the US’s four biggest airlines (United, American, Delta and Southwest) on the basis that “the world has changed” and holding them had been a “mistake”.

Unfortunately, it has not been the only mistake the world’s one-time greatest investor has made recently. Thanks to holding much of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio in out-of-fashion value stocks in an age of growth obsession, its shares have underperformed for a decade.

They are up 126 per cent in the past 10 years. That sounds fine — until you look at the S&P 500 index, which is up 140 per cent.

On the plus side, the fact that even Warren Buffett has been caught with the wrong portfolio as the music stopped should come as some reassurance to many others in the same boat.

Anyone who went into the GVC having been convinced — as I was — that it was nearly time for a great switch from growth into value, from technology to the physical economy or from relatively expensive US stocks to cheaper, high yielding UK ones has had an unpleasant few months.

For an example of just how unpleasant, take a look at the Temple Bar Investment Trust (which I hold). Its managers had positioned the fund in cheap UK shares, which had appeared to be poised for a post-Brexit uptick — or so we thought.

Temple Bar went into March with the worst possible portfolio (its top 10 holdings included BP and Shell). Its shares are down more than 40 per cent in the past three months. Ouch.

This is not to say, by the way, that the wrong portfolio is always the wrong thing to buy. Get a big enough discount on an investment trust and the wrong portfolio can still be a perfectly reasonable buy. There is still some of that kind of opportunity around in the niche areas of the investment trust market — but overall discounts have closed significantly since the low in March when they hit 20 per cent. The average is now back to more like 8 per cent.

Still, there are outliers — funds that went into the crisis in the perfect place. One is the Equitile Resilience Fund which was able to say in its last note to investors that its manager had “made no significant changes to the composition of your portfolio during April”.

Instead, managers are convinced that Covid-19 will simply accelerate the trends they had in mind when they chose the fund’s holdings. Our new interest in hygiene over privacy will help out Visa and Microsoft as we shift to a cashless economy. Our shift to homeworking — one of the few changes that I think will last longer than the pandemic — will help US gaming specialist Nvidia (one of Equitile’s top holdings), not to mention Microsoft, Apple and Alphabet which are all in the portfolio already as well as the semiconductor business as a whole.

Starting from here, the managers might even be happy to have had LVMH in their portfolio: spending on luxury goods is already recovering nicely in China and they expect an element of carpe diem spending as the rest of the world reopens (although the more slowly lockdowns are lifted, the less likely that becomes).

Collectively, the fund’s holdings fit nicely with a slightly overused bit of advice from Canadian hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, whom Mr Buffett likes to quote: “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.”

The Equitile fund rose 33 per cent last year, and is only down 8 per cent this year. Add it all up and I think that were Equitile able to start again they would, I think, be happy to start from much the same place.

There are others. The managers of the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, which I also hold in my own portfolio, would probably say the same thing (its shares are up a slightly absurd 15 per cent year to date). So would those of the Blue Whale Growth Fund (up 2.6 per cent so far this year) and Fundsmith (also in my portfolio, and flat year to date).

Note that these funds are all pretty US heavy. Perhaps their managers have been keeping another well-known Buffettism more in mind than most: “Never bet against America.”

They may all find their time of trial is yet to come of course. The stocks they hold are expensive and if the bears are right, the real bear market has barely begun.

However, the really interesting question now is whether some managers might use this environment to start from scratch — because now might be a great time to do so.

Retail investors are hugely engaged. All the platforms are reporting sharp rises in activity and there has been an interesting inflow of cash into equity funds (£2.6bn last month, according to fund settlement firm Calastone).

At the same time, while the recovery from our sudden bear market has been extraordinary in its speed and scale, there will still be bargains about.

So far the opportunity has been pretty much ignored by the investment industry (which makes sense — fund launches usually mark the top not the bottom of the market).

Regardless, boutique management firm Downing is having a go with the launch of two new funds. The Downing Unique Opportunities Fund, managed by Rosie Banyard, will invest in companies across the size spectrum in the UK and has a long-term buy and hold strategy.

The Downing Global Investors fund will take positions in around 150 companies catering to the still-growing global middle class population. By the end of the decade, fund manager Anthony Eaton expects that two-thirds of the world’s middle classes will be located in Asia.

I can’t tell you how well either of these will do, but they both have well-regarded managers — and come with the happy advantage of starting with a delightfully blank slate.

>>> US Close Dow +0.89% S&P +1.15% Nasdaq +1.41% Russell +1.58%

Closing Stock Market Summary

Cyclical sectors led the S&P 500 to a 1.2% gain on Thursday, while mega-cap technology stocks carried the Nasdaq Composite to a 1.4% gain and into positive territory for the year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9%, and the Russell 2000 rose 1.6%. 

The day started with investors receiving economic data that the market construed as relatively good: weekly initial jobless claims totaled 3.169 million (consensus 2.900 million), but it was encouraging that it reflected another 677,000 decline from the prior week. Likewise, China's imports fell more than expected in April, but an increase in exports was a nice surprise.

Weekly claims are a leading indicator, so the declining trend appeared to endorse the market's reopening/recovery enthusiasm, which was made apparent in the outperformance of the cyclical energy (+2.5%), financials (+2.2%), and materials (+2.1%) sectors.

The S&P 500 peaked at around the 2900 level before gradually paring gains throughout the afternoon. The defensive-oriented consumer staples (-0.4%) and health care (-0.1%) sectors closed in negative territory.  

It was still a good day with many stocks receiving earnings-related boosts, including PayPal (PYPL 146.29, +17.98, +14.0%), T-Mobile US (TMUS 95.29, +8.70, +10.1%), Lyft (LYFT 31.78, +5.66, +21.7%), and Twilio (TWLO 170.89, +48.49, +39.6%). Investors were especially pleased to hear PayPal and Lyft noting improved/stabilizing conditions in April. 

Moderna (MRNA 53.19, +4.24, +8.7%) was another story stock after announcing it received FDA approval to proceed to a Phase 2 trial for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

It wasn't a true risk-on day, though, as U.S. Treasuries padded gains throughout the session and WTI crude futures ($23.65/bbl, -0.30, -1.3%) gave up an intraday gain. The advance in Treasuries drove the 2-yr yield down six basis points to 0.11% and the 10-yr yield down eight basis points to 0.63%. The U.S. Dollar Index declined 0.2% to 99.88. 

Reviewing Thursday's economic data:

  • Initial claims for the week ending May 2 decreased by 677,000 to 3.169 million (consensus 2.900 mln). Continuing claims for the week ending April 25 surged by 4,636,000 to 22.647 million, which is a record high.
    • The market, in its current frame of mind, is apt to see the decline in initial claims as relatively good news, yet the key takeaway from the report is that the massive influx of initial claims is just bad in an absolute sense for economic activity because those jobs won't be recovered nearly as quickly as they have been lost.
  • Nonfarm business sector labor productivity decreased 2.5% in the first quarter (consensus -6.0%) following a 1.2% increase in the fourth quarter. Unit labor costs increased 4.8% (consensus +2.9%) after increasing 0.9% in the fourth quarter.
    • The key takeaway from the report is that productivity was weak, which is a headwind to an increased standard of living. That headwind should be even stronger in the second quarter.

Looking ahead, investors will receive the Employment Situation Report for April and Wholesale Inventories for March on Friday.

  • Nasdaq Composite +0.1% YTD
  • S&P 500 -10.8% YTD
  • Dow Jones Industrial Average -16.3% YTD
  • Russell 2000 -23.1% YTD