What we’re reading (12/17)
“Trump Signs COVID-19 Relief Package After Threatening To Derail It” (NPR). “President Trump has signed a coronavirus relief and spending package after threatening to derail the bill by calling for changes after it had passed Congress. The White House announced the signature Sunday night. The move puts an end to the uncertainty over when millions of Americans will receive the desperately needed economic relief provided by the massive package. The legislation includes more than $900 billion in aid for individuals and small businesses.”
“Search Engine Start-ups Try To Take On Google” (Financial Times). “A new batch of search engine start-ups positioning themselves as potential rivals to Google is hoping that growing regulatory pressure will finally reverse two decades of the search giant’s dominance. The latest challengers include Neeva, launched by two former Google executives, and You.com, founded by Salesforce.com’s former chief scientist, as well as Mojeek, a UK-based start-up with growing ambitions to build its own index of billions of web pages.”
“Insiders Cash Out Via IPOs As Investor Optimism Becomes Excessive, NDR Says” (Business Insider). “Company insiders are taking advantage of ‘excessive optimism’ among investors and cashing out via IPOs and secondary offerings, according to a note from Ned Davis Research. A survey conducted by the National Association of Active Investment Managers has registered above 100% invested for five weeks in a row. The survey suggests that optimism is high and active managers are fully invested.”
“New York Healthcare Provider May Have Fraudulently Obtained Vaccine Doses” (CNBC). “Doses of the coronavirus vaccine may have been wrongfully obtained and distributed throughout parts of New York, the state’s top doctor said Saturday…[t]he vaccine doses allegedly diverted for ‘members of the public’ circumvent the state’s plan to prioritize the inoculation of frontline healthcare professionals and residents of long-term care facilities, Zucker said. New York’s initial rollout of the vaccine it still limited to hospitals and nursing homes.”
“Washington’s Secret To The Perfect Zoom Bookshelf? Buy It Wholesale.” (Politico). “Books by the Foot, a service run by the Maryland-based bookseller Wonder Book, has become a go-to curator of Washington bookshelves, offering precisely what its name sounds like it does…[w]hen the coronavirus pandemic arrived, Books by the Foot had to adapt to a downturn in office- and hotel-decor business—and an uptick in home-office Zoom backdrops for the talking-head class.”
