Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Paused on Blood Clot Concerns. What to Know.

For investors, the news has the potential to shake confidence in vaccines—and the strength of the economic recovery. Recent data regarding job creation, manufacturing activity, housing, and consumer spending have looked particularly strong.

U.S. stock futures had been pointing to a flat open, but dropped after the news. S&P 500 futures fell about 0.3% immediately after the news. J&J stock had dropped more than 3% in premarket trading.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is one of three approved for emergency use in the U.S. along with a vaccine from Moderna as well as another from Pfizer and BioNTech. Moderna stock was up almost 8%, while Pfizer and BioNTech shares are both up more than 1%.

This isn’t the first hiccup for vaccine administration globally. AstraZeneca ran into problems in Europe, with several countries halting use while investigating reports of blood clots. European health officials later declared the vaccine “safe and effective.”

Don’t be surprised if the FDA reaches a similar conclusion.

Follow the latest news on J&J’s vaccine pause here.

—Al Root

*** In this week’s Streetwise podcast, Barron’s columnist Jack Hough speaks with BorgWarner CEO Frédéric Lissalde who says that electric vehicles have taken off in Europe—and the U.S. is next. Listen now.

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Grab in Record $40 Billion SPAC Merger

Grab, the Singapore-based ride-hailing and food delivery group, said Tuesday that it will go public in the U.S. after merging with special-purpose acquisition company Altimeter Growth in a deal implying an initial value of $39.6 billion.

• The deal, the largest blank-check company ever, will include private investment in public equity of more than $4 billion led by investors like BlackRock, Fidelity International, Janus Henderson Investors, Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala and Temasek Holdings, Grab said in a statement.
• The group will be quoted on the Nasdaq after what it described as a strong financial performance in 2020, when it “surpassed pre-pandemic levels.”
• A record $99 billion has been raised in the U.S. by a total of 306 SPACs this year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

What’s Next: Grab benefited from its flexibility during the last year as many of its drivers switched from transporting passengers to delivering food. The suggested valuation indicates that the group has doubled in value in the last 18 months.

—Pierre Briançon

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Younger People Are Driving the Majority of New Covid-19 Cases

Americans under 25 have become the group most likely to get and spread coronavirus, making up the majority of the nation’s new cases.

• Only 10% of those ages 18 to 29 have been vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People 18 to 34 now account for the highest rates of new infections nationwide, compared with other age groups, according to the CDC. Nearly every U.S. state has opened eligibility for a Covid-19 vaccine to all adults or plans to do so by April 19.
• But vaccinations may not be the only answer. In Michigan, cases among those 19 and younger have more than quadrupled over the past week, worsened by school sports. Instead of more vaccines, Michigan needs to “shut things down, to flatten the curve, to decrease contact with one another, to test,” CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Monday.
• A growing number of colleges, including Rutgers, Duke, and Cornell University, said they would require incoming students to be vaccinated against Covid-19, raising questions among those with religious or medical objections or who don’t want vaccines. Florida and Texas have banned requiring proof of vaccinations by businesses and government agencies.

What’s Next: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday announced the state is providing 35,000 extra vaccine doses for students at SUNY schools, private colleges, and universities. “We need herd immunity and we need every New Yorker vaccinated, and that includes New York’s young people and students,” he said.

—Janet H. Cho

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The Coinbase Direct Listing Is a Pivotal Moment for Crypto

The leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, is set to go public on the Nasdaq Wednesday with a valuation in the $100 billion range. The listing is hotly anticipated both for its size and its inherent validation of the crypto market.

• Founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, who met on a Bitcoin forum on Reddit, Coinbase has 56 million verified users and expects first-quarter profits of around $800 million, twice what it earned in the previous 12 months combined.
• The debut comes as Bitcoin reached a new all-time high of $63,191 per coin, with its market value surging 1,000% to more than $1 trillion in the past year as the virtual currency has gone mainstream.
• Coinbase serves as a kind of gatekeeper to the crypto market by only listing a fraction of the thousands of digital currencies available. Assets listed on the exchange gained an average of 91% in the first five days, according to a report by research firm Messari.

What’s Next: For investors looking for ways to play Bitcoin without having to buy the digital assets directly, Coinbase stock gives them an easier way to invest in crypto until a Bitcoin ETF gains regulatory approval. 

—Anita Hamilton

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Biden Says He’s ‘Prepared to Negotiate’ as Infrastructure Debate Heats Up

During a bipartisan Oval Office meeting with eight lawmakers on Monday, President Joe Biden said he is “prepared to negotiate” the size and scope of his nearly $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal as well as how to pay for it.

• Republicans argue it funds things outside the scope of infrastructure and oppose raising the corporate tax rate to fund spending. Some Democrats, such as Sen. Joe Manchin, who was not at Monday’s meeting, also oppose the higher tax rate. Others are pushing to expand the size and scope of the proposal.
• “I think everyone acknowledges that we need a significant increase in infrastructure. It’s going to get down to what we call infrastructure,” Biden told attendees, according to The Wall Street Journal. In a briefing before the meeting, press secretary Jen Psaki said that everything was open to negotiation.
• Republican Sen. Roger Wicker, who was in attendance, said he told Biden that raising corporate taxes “would be an almost impossible sell” to many Republicans, according to The Wall Street Journal. Wicker said that Biden reiterated he wanted to raise taxes on corporations.
• Democratic Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr., also in attendance, said Biden at one point asked about raising the gas tax by as much as 5 cents. A White House official said Biden rejected the idea because it wouldn’t bring in enough revenue.

What’s Next: Biden’s meeting could signal a willingness to try to pass a smaller bill, as some Republicans have suggested, through a Congressional vote. Still, Democrats have the option of passing the package without Republican backers using the budget reconciliation process.

—Janet H. Cho, Barron’s staff

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Microsoft Accelerates Growth With $16 Billion Nuance Deal

Microsoft said it reached a $16 billion deal for artificial intelligence company Nuance Communications. It’s the tech giant’s largest acquisition since 2016.

• Nuance is involved in what Microsoft calls “conversational AI,” with a focus in healthcare applications. Microsoft says it can incorporate the voice-recognition technology in its Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare.
• Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called the deal “a strategic no-brainer,” in a note on Monday. Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft is “in a clear position of strength to capitalize on its entrenched position in the cloud going forward with Nuance another feather in its cap,” Ives wrote.
• The $16 billion cash deal, or $19.7 billion including debt, is subject to Nuance shareholder approval. It’s Microsoft’s largest deal since it bought LinkedIn for $26.2 billion in 2016.

What’s Next: This might not be Microsoft’s only foray into audio acquisitions. Last month the company was in talks to acquire the gamer-focused chat platform Discord, according to Bloomberg News.

—Connor Smith and Eric J. Savitz

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Congrats to the winners of the March virtual stock exchange game! Be sure to join this month’s Barron’s Daily virtual stock exchange challenge and show us your stuff.

Each month, we’ll start a new challenge and invite newsletter readers—you!—to build a portfolio using virtual money and compete against the Barron’s and MarketWatch community.

Everyone will start with the same amount and can trade as often or as little as they choose. We’ll track the leaders and, at the end of the challenge, the winner whose portfolio has the most value will be announced in The Barron’s Daily newsletter.

Are you ready to compete? Join the challenge and pick your stocks here.

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—Newsletter edited by Anita Hamilton, Stacy Ozol, Mary Romano, Matt Bemer, Ben Levisohn