The Manchin downgrade

A third dose of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine significantly increased antibody levels against the omicron variant, the company said, adding to a growing body of evidence that three doses of drugs made by Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech will be needed to neutralize the fast-spreading mutation. The variant continues to wreak havoc worldwide as nations await the grimmest of lagging indicators—deaths—to assess the severity of this iteration of a pathogen that’s killed more than 5.3 million people. Here’s the latest on the pandemic. —David E. Rovella

Bloomberg is tracking the coronavirus pandemic and the progress of global vaccination efforts.

The uber-rich of America may be elated that Joe Manchin suddenly and unexpectedly torpedoed fellow Democrat Joe Biden’s economic blueprint (otherwise known as “Build Back Better”), but Goldman Sachs said the move by the West Virginia senator is bad news for the future of the U.S. economy. After a few days of public condemnation of the coal state lawmaker, including White House protestations that he went back on his word, on Monday it was looking like Democrats and the administration were moving on (though with plans to drive home their displeasure). But Manchin, who (along with Arizona Democrat Kyrsten Sinema) spent the better part of 2021 dangling the White House, looks to be signaling he wants to be courted again—albeit with proposals that may be impossible for President Biden to accommodate. It adds credence to the school of thought that this is all just one ornate dance, and that the music hasn’t stopped just yet.

Manchin’s blindside of his own party in tandem with the global surge of omicron sent stocks tumbling on Monday. Traders said lower volume ahead of the holidays exacerbated market moves. The S&P 500 has had its biggest three-day drop since September, led by losses in financial and material shares. Here’s your markets wrap.

Buy the dip? Investing after a plunge, a trade rewarded virtually every time stocks pulled back this year, isn’t a foolproof strategy. Sometimes you dive in and find the water has been drained from the pool. Like right now.

Tesla’s stock went on a tear after an October deal with Hertz illustrated broader mainstream adoption of its electric cars. But that 35% rally is gone now.

When Cathie Wood speaks, investors listen. But over the weekend, many began to have their doubts. The famed active manager sparked skepticism with a market commentary in which she said her ARK Innovation ETF “could deliver a 40% compound annual rate of return during the next five years.” That’s a bold claim for the tail end of 2021, which has proved to be her worst year since she started her Ark Investment Management.

Chinese Estates Holdings shares tumbled by a record after the company failed to get sufficient shareholder support to go private. The property firm, a long-time ally of China Evergrande Group, plunged as much as 35% in Hong Kong trading on Monday morning.

More broadly, Chinese property stocks dived close to a five-year low after asset sales underscored concern that equity investors will bear the brunt of losses as developers offload projects to repay debt. Here’s your update on the collapse of Evergrande and its fallout.

Mark Zuckerberg sold Meta Platforms stock almost every weekday of this year. The founders of Google began to unload shares in May, which is also when two of the three Airbnb co-founders started diversifying their stakes. The transactions are part of a surge of selling by the very richest Americans. They unloaded $42.9 billion in stock through the start of December, more than double the $20.2 billion they sold in all of 2020.

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