United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling on nations to institute a wealth tax to help reduce global inequality exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. There has been a $5 trillion surge in the wealth of the world’s richest in the past year even as those at the bottom were made increasingly vulnerable, Guterres told a UN economic and social forum on Monday. With the Covid-19 fallout causing government debt to swell, and hurting poorer people most, wealth taxes are being debated from California to the U.K. —David E. Rovella Bloomberg is tracking the progress of coronavirus vaccines while mapping the pandemic globally and across America. Here are today’s top stories It’s a bubble, and day traders say they don’t want to miss it. An E*Trade Financial survey found that roughly three-quarters of retail investors believe the market is “fully or somewhat” in a bubble, a 3 percentage-point increase from the previous quarterly poll. At the same time, bullish sentiment has increased, rising to pre-pandemic levels at 61%. U.S. stocks slipped from their latest record highs while investors weighed the start of corporate earnings season and an influx of bond supply that loom as speedbumps to a roaring rally. Here is your markets wrap. The weekly death toll from Covid-19 in the U.S. rose for the first time since February and infections climbed for a fourth straight week. England reopened shops, pub gardens, gyms and hair salons after months of lockdown, while Hong Kong outlined plans to ease social-distancing restrictions as an incentive to get vaccinated. Here is the latest on the pandemic. Nvidia unveiled its first server microprocessors, extending a push into Intel’s most lucrative market with a chip aimed at handling the most complicated computing work. Intel shares fell about 4% and Nvidia jumped on the news. Ukraine urged Russia to pull back troops from its border as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Washington would impose “costs” on any Kremlin aggression. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits troops in the Donbas region, Ukraine, on April 8. Source: Ukrainian Presidential Office Bitcoin neared an all-time high on Monday as bullish sentiment gathered steam ahead of a listing by the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange. The token rose as much as 2.6% to $61,229, the highest in nearly a month. Actor Will Smith will no longer shoot the movie “Emancipation” in Georgia, citing a Republican-sponsored law critics say is aimed at disenfranchising Black Americans. The Apple production, in which Smith stars as a real-life fugitive from slavery who became famous for a photograph of his whip-scarred back, was set to start filming in Georgia on June 21. The actor called the voting law “regressive” and said it’s “designed to restrict voter access.” Will Smith Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg What you’ll need to know tomorrow U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen decides to do China a favor. There has been another mass shooting in an American school. Minnesota wants more vaccine to battle outbreak; Biden says no. Minnesota police kill unarmed Black man, claim it was a mistake. George Floyd’s brother testifies in ex-Minneapolis cop’s murder trial. QuickTake: Simple math is about to create an inflation problem. This billionaire Saudi family broke the mold on kingdom secrecy.What you’ll want to read in Bloomberg Real EstateHedge fund manager Steve Cohen found a buyer for his midtown Manhattan penthouse. It took eight years and a 74% price cut. The sale marks the end of a journey that began in 2013 when Cohen, founder of Point72 Asset Management and owner of the New York Mets, listed the place for $115 million. Steve Cohen Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg Like getting the Evening Briefing? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and gain expert analysis from exclusive subscriber-only newsletters. Diversity is a business issue. Sign up now for our weekly Bloomberg Equality newsletter to get the latest on how companies and institutions are confronting issues of gender, race and class. Download the Bloomberg app: It’s available for iOS and Android. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. Learn more. |