07 January 2021
Data: FactSet; Chart: Axios Visuals
U.S. stock prices were generally higher on Wednesday and riskier assets in most markets rose as investors showed little worry about protests in Washington, D.C. that devolved into violence and looting at the nation's capital by supporters of President Trump.
What happened: "The market primarily is looking at an economic recovery in the second or third quarter and hasn’t seen anything in the pandemic or political situation to change that view," Joseph Trevisani, senior analyst at FXStreet, tells Axios.
- Traders were much more focused on victories by Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in Georgia's runoff elections that will likely mean more relief funds, including increased direct payments of $2,000 to Americans that expected Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said is a top legislative priority, he added.
- "The stuff in D.C. is not a serious event and I don’t think anyone’s taking it seriously. There will be no long-term political ramifications as far as the political transition in a few weeks."
In fact, Wednesday's chaos dashed "any lingering uncertainty about a transition of power in D.C. come Inauguration Day," Danielle DiMartino Booth, CEO of Quill Intelligence, says in an email.
- "Investors received verification that the recently enacted $908 billion relief bill is but a down payment on stimulus spending to come."
One level deeper: The 50-50 split in the Senate paves the way for three things the market likes — more stimulus, a more difficult path for tax increases and a very likely confirmation of former Fed chair Janet Yellen as Treasury secretary.
The bottom line: There are four factors at play, Gregory Daco, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, tells me on Twitter (also noting that a "coup d'état is only worth -0.6% on the #SP500, & we're only 0.2% from the all-time high close"):
"1. Chaos/violence banalized
2. Assumption that unrest is transitory (14 days)
3. Georgia wins for Dems mean more fiscal stimulus coming
4. Fed put is solidly in place"
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.