Month: April 2020

Federal Reserve maintained its current fed funds target range of 0% to 0.25% on Wednesday, as the U.S. economy continues to struggle to manage the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.” data-reactid=”19″ type=”text”>The U.S. Federal Reserve maintained its current fed funds target range of 0% to 0.25% on Wednesday, as the U.S. economy continues to struggle amid the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. The Fed said in a statement: “The Committee expects to maintain this target range until it is confident that the economy has weathered recent events and is on track to achieve its maximum employment and price stability goals.” All 10 Fed members voted unanimously to maintain current rates.

The Federal Reserve issued two emergency interest rate cuts totaling 1.5% in March in response to the outbreak and has provided access to more than $2.3 trillion in loans to support the economy. As recently as December, the Federal Reserve said it anticipated no adjustments to interest rates in 2020. The yield on 10-year U.S. Treasury bonds declined slightly on Tuesday to 0.606%, down 0.002% on the day.

Fed signals it will likely hold rates near zero for months

Via abcnews.go.com

The Federal Reserve says it will keep its key short-term interest rate near zero for the…

04/29/2020 6:06 PM

 

Oxford University scientists who have already begun testing a potential coronavirus vaccine in humans say they believe that it might be available as early as September. The vaccine, which is being developed by the Jenner Institute and Oxford Vaccine Group, began clinical trials last week.

Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University, said “Personally I have a high degree of confidence about this vaccine because it’s technology that I’ve used before.”  Work on a potential vaccine began in January, and success has previously been seen in using a similar vaccine on a previous coronavirus strand. The vaccine has also reportedly seen success in monkeys, signaling the promising potential for humans.

The vaccine is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus, or adenovirus, from chimpanzees and has been “genetically changed so that it is impossible for it to grow in humans,” according to a statement from the University Hospital Southampton, which is also helping to conduct the trial. There currently are no approved vaccines or specific treatments for COVID-19, which as of Wednesday had sickened more than 3.1 million people worldwide, and resulted in over 217,000 deaths.

Oxford scientists say they may have a vaccine ready by September

Via www.cbsnews.com

04/28/2020 6:45 PM