Trump FBI raid documents about Mar-a-Lago search unsealed

FBI agents found four dozen empty document folders marked "CLASSIFIED" during their raid last month of former President Donald Trump's residence at his Mar-a-Lago club, a newly unsealed court file revealed Friday. Agents found 43 of those empty folders marked classified in Trump's office, according to the Department of Justice's inventory of the seized items, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The remaining five empty folders with that marking were found in containers in a storage room. The FBI also found another 42 empty folders marked "Return to Staff Secretary/Miliary [sic] Aide," during the Aug. 8 raid, which was authorized to search for government documents removed from the White House when Trump left office in Jan. 2021, the filing said.

Documents seized by FBI from Mar-a-Lago Source: Department of Justice

Twenty-eight of those empty folders were found in Trump's office, while another 14 were in a storage room elsewhere, the document shows. And FBI agents found more than 10,000 government documents and photographs without classification markings, the filing shows. Among those were hundreds of photos and news articles, along with gifts, clothing, and books. The bombshell revelations raise the prospect that the DOJ has not yet recovered the documents that would have been in the empty folders. The DOJ is investigating possible crimes related to the removal of those and other government documents from the White House when Trump left office in Jan. 2021. By law, such records must be turned over to the National Archives and Records Administration.

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It was signed by Miami U.S. Attorney Juan Gonzalez, and Jay Bratt, the chief of the counterintelligence and export control section of the national security division of the Justice Department. "The seized materials will continue to be used to further the government's investigation, and the investigative team will continue to use and evaluate the seized materials as it takes further investigative steps, such as through additional interviews and grand jury practice," that notice says. "It is important to note, 'review' of the seized materials is not a single investigative step but an ongoing process in this active criminal investigation," the document says. Trump's spokesman in a series of tweets about the inventory of the seized items again criticized the raid. "The new 'detailed' inventory list only further proves that this unprecedented and unnecessary raid of President Trump's home was not some surgical, confined search and retrieval that the Biden administration claims, it was a SMASH AND GRAB," wrote the spokesman, Taylor Budowich. "These document disputes should be resolved under the Presidential Records Act, which requires cooperation and negotiation by NARA [National Archives and Records Administration], not an armed FBI raid," Budowich added.

Trump in a lawsuit filed in late August asked Cannon to appoint an independent watchdog, known as a special master, to review the items seized in the search before the DOJ is allowed to continue using the documents in the investigation. Trump's lawyers have said a special master could check to see if some documents would be prohibited from being used in the probe because they are protected by either attorney-client privilege or executive privilege. The DOJ has opposed the appointment of a special master, saying that it would delay the investigation, and that Trump does not own the documents. Cannon, during a court hearing in Florida on that dispute Thursday, said she will issue a ruling on the special master request in "due course."

Cannon, a Trump appointee, previously shared her "preliminary intent" to grant Trump's request for a special master. The judge suggested in Thursday's hearing that she is still considering that appointment, news outlets reported.

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PGA Tour denies renewal of membership for LIV-affiliated players

Team Captain Phil Mickelson of Hy Flyers GC watches a shot on the practice range during day one of the LIV Golf Invitational - Bedminster at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on July 29, 2022 in Bedminster, New Jersey. Jonathan Ferrel | LIV Golf | Getty Images

The PGA Tour confirmed Friday that it won't allow players affiliated with the rival LIV Golf league to renew their memberships for the 2022-23 year. The decision, reported earlier in the day by Sports Illustrated, means the LIV players will not be allowed to compete in PGA Tour events in the 2022-2023 season. The move comes after players who had jumped to the the Saudi-backed LIV league were indefinitely suspended from the PGA Tour in June.

On Friday, a spokesperson from the PGA told CNBC that the players are ineligible for renewal because their contracts with LIV prevent them from upholding the membership requirements.

#PGA #Tour #denies #renewal #membership #LIVaffiliated #players https://www.globalcourant.com/pga-tour-denies-renewal-of-membership-for-liv-affiliated-players/?feed_id=19549&_unique_id=6312be77c0c27

Russia’s energy influence over Europe ‘is nearly over’

Germany is currently ahead of schedule in its race to fill underground gas storage facilities ahead of winter. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Europe's dependence on Russian gas appears to be coming to an end, energy and political analysts say, potentially alleviating the risk of further supply disruptions at a time when many fear Russia could completely cut off deliveries during the winter. Europe in recent months has endured a sharp drop in gas exports from Russia, traditionally its largest energy supplier. It has deepened a bitter dispute between Brussels and Moscow and exacerbated the risk of recession and a winter gas shortage. Russia has cited faulty or delayed equipment as the reason for a reduction in deliveries. European policymakers, however, consider the supply cut to be a political maneuver designed to sow uncertainty across the 27-nation bloc and boost energy prices amid the Kremlin's onslaught against Ukraine.

Russia's energy weapon is going to become moot.

Agathe Demarais Global forecasting director at The Economist Intelligence Unit

Agathe Demarais, global forecasting director at The Economist Intelligence Unit, a research and advisory firm, told CNBC that the Kremlin appeared to be weaponizing energy supplies and "burning bridges" with Europe while it still could. Asked whether Russia's energy influence over Europe may be coming to an end, Demarais replied, "Yes. Actually, very much so." "Europe is heading towards a very difficult winter, probably two years of a very difficult adjustment with a lot of economic pain. But then Europe is essentially going to become more independent with a more diversified mix," Demarais said. "And what that means is that Russia's energy weapon is going to become moot," she added. "Our view is that Russia knows that and that's why it is already killing off gas supplies or inflicting uncertainty because it knows that if it wants to do damage to Europe it has to do it now. It is a now or never question."

Race to fill gas storage

Germany, until recently, bought more than half of its gas from Russia. Yet, Europe's largest economy is currently ahead of schedule in its race to fill underground gas storage facilities in order to have enough fuel to keep homes warm during the colder months. Analysts told CNBC that Germany has been able to rapidly fill its gas stocks in recent weeks because of several factors. These include strong supply from Norway, the Netherlands and other countries, falling demand amid soaring energy prices, businesses switching from gas to other types of fuel, and the government providing more than 15 billion euros ($15.06 billion) in credit lines to replenish storage facilities.

The latest estimates from the power industry association BDEW show that German gas consumption from Russia fell to 9.5% in August. That's down from a whopping 60% during the same period last year. Norway has stepped in to become Germany's biggest supplier of gas, BDEW data shows, providing almost 38% of German consumption last month. The Netherlands, the second-biggest supplier of Germany, was estimated to have delivered roughly 24% of German gas in August. Ian Bremmer, president of the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, said via Twitter last week that it "increasingly looks like Germany can get through the winter without severe rationing" even in the worst-case scenario that Russia turns off the taps completely. That's "very good news," Bremmer said. "Russia's energy influence over Europe is nearly over."

'Winter has yet to come'

While the EU is on track to beat targets for filling gas storage facilities, analysts warn that this alone will not be enough. Demand reductions are expected to be necessary to ensure that the stored fuel lasts long enough to adequately support households and businesses through the winter. Jacob Mandel, senior associate for commodities at U.K.-based consultancy Aurora Energy Research, said that should the EU fill its gas storage facilities completely ahead of winter, the best-case scenario would see these reserves last approximately three months. "The threat of shortages remains," Mandel said. "An unexpected cold snap could quickly drain inventories if imports do not keep pace."

While the EU is on track to beat targets for filling gas storage facilities, analysts warn that this alone will not be enough. Picture Alliance | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

The latest data compiled by industry group Gas Infrastructure Europe shows that the EU's overall storage levels are at an average of over 80% full, while Germany's underground storage is 84% full ahead of winter. Andreas Schroeder, head of energy analytics at ICIS, a commodity intelligence service, told CNBC via telephone that Russia's leverage over Europe's energy "is not yet ending, but it is fading — slowly but surely." However, "we are still in a record high price environment, so clearly, the reduced flows do influence European markets to the extent that we have super high prices," Schroeder said. "This is still not over even with Germany being slightly ahead of its storage target and the whole European Union also filling its storage [levels]. And having reduced the reliance on Russian flows, it has brought very high prices."

"Winter has yet to come," Schroeder said. "If the winter is mild, we need less consumption cuts but if the winter is severe, we need more. It all hinges on [the] weather now."

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Stock futures fall after Wall Street closed out August with losses

U.S. stock futures fell on Thursday morning after the major averages closed out August with losses and investors considered the Federal Reserve's fight against inflation. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell by 140 points, or 0.44%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures declined 0.71% and 1.19%, respectively. Those moves follow four straight days of losses in the major averages. On the final day of August, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid nearly 0.9%. The S&P 500 lost about 0.8%, and the Nasdaq Composite fell roughly 0.6%. The Dow closed the month down about 4.1%, while the S&P and Nasdaq recorded losses of 4.2% and 4.6%, respectively. Investors are debating whether stocks will again challenge the June lows in September, a historically poor month for markets, after weighing recent hawkish comments from Fed officials who show no signs of easing up on interest rate hikes. On Wednesday, Cleveland Federal Reserve President Loretta Mester said she expects interest rates to rise above 4% before the central bank can start pulling back. The current fed funds rate is 2.25%-2.50. "If we retest the lows, I think it happens in September," SoFi's Liz Young said Wednesday on CNBC's "Closing Bell: Overtime." However, she added, "I think in order to do so, something would have to get materially worse than it was on June 16," when stocks bottomed, such as earnings revisions that come in worse than investors are expecting.

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Biden touts law enforcement plan while attacking 'MAGA' lawmakers

President Joe Biden had a message for lawmakers who defended the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol as he touted his Safer America Plan Tuesday. "Let me say this to my 'MAGA Republican' friends in Congress," the president said, referring to former President Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan. "Don't tell me to support law enforcement if you won't condemn what happened on the sixth." "For God's sake, whose side are you on?" Biden said. Biden admonished the lawmakers as he called for more funding for police before a crowd at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Investments in community policing and crime prevention are key policy components of his Safer America Plan, and the president urged communities to use federal funds to supplement local police as early as May. Biden also chided Trump's supporters in the GOP for claiming the mantle as the "law and order" party while defending the insurrectionists who attacked police officers in Washington, D.C., last year. "You can't be pro-law enforcement and pro-insurrection," he said. "You can't be a party of law and order and call the people who attacked the police on Jan. 6, patriots. You can't do it." Biden recently slammed the "MAGA philosophy" as "like semi-fascism," which angered the Republican National Committee. RNC spokesperson Nathan Brand called the president's remarks "despicable."

Biden also renewed his commitment to banning assault weapons, saying America's lax gun laws contributed to mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas; Newtown, Connecticut; and Buffalo, New York, among other locations. "It's time to hold every elected official's feet to the fire and ask them, 'Are you for banning assault weapons? Yes or no?' The answer's no, vote against them," he said. Biden ended his speech by asking the crowd to vote for Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. and Democratic senatorial candidate, John Fetterman. Fetterman is running against Trump-endorsed candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz in a highly publicized Senate race.

The president is scheduled to return to Pennsylvania Thursday for a prime-time speech on the "continued battle for the soul of the nation" at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia.

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Cramer says avoid all speculative investments like crypto as the Fed stays hawkish

CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday implored investors to stay away from speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies, warning that they will continue to struggle during the ongoing Federal Reserve tightening cycle. "Look, Fed chief Jay Powell told us that we need to stop doing stupid things with our money. That was the thrust of his speech on Friday," the "Mad Money" host said, referring to the top U.S. central banker's Jackson Hole address, in which Powell warned the Fed's commitment to squashing inflation could bring "some pain" to American businesses and households. Wall Street has finished lower in three straight sessions as investors digest Powell's Friday morning remarks. Powell is "going to bring the pain until it puts an end to the gambling," Cramer said. "Of course, he'll also hurt some good investments in the process ... but we won't see the end of this decline until we get a giant washout of all things that are speculative." That includes, but is not limited to, cryptocurrencies, said Cramer, who also acknowledged he no longer believes in the argument that bitcoin is a store of value. In Cramer's opinion, other speculative parts of the market to avoid are money-losing firms that went public via special purpose acquisition companies and meme stocks. "This is what it looks like when the Fed gets serious," Cramer said. What matters is that we just have to get through it intact. Don't get memed. Don't get SPAC'd. Don't get crypto'd. And you'll get through this thicket and find yourself in a much better time when we are sufficiently oversold for a huge bounce."

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#Cramer #avoid #speculative #investments #crypto #Fed #stays #hawkish https://www.globalcourant.com/cramer-says-avoid-all-speculative-investments-like-crypto-as-the-fed-stays-hawkish/?feed_id=18016&_unique_id=630e9a08015cd

Mississippi governor declares emergency amid Jackson water crisis

An SUV rests in flood waters in this northeast Jackson, Miss., neighborhood, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022. Rogelio V. Solis | AP

Residents of Jackson, Mississippi, the state's capital and largest city, do not have access to reliable drinking water for the near future after the city's main water treatment facility failed on Monday. The state has issued a state of emergency for Jackson and has activated the Mississippi National Guard. It's also distributing drinking and non-drinking water to up to 180,000 people until the system is fixed. Gov. Tate Reeves said during an emergency briefing Monday night that the city would be without "reliable running water at scale" indefinitely and that there isn't enough water to flush toilets or fight fires. "Do not drink the water. In too many cases, it is raw water from the reservoir being pushed through the pipes," Reeves warned residents. "Be smart, protect yourself, protect your family." Officials blamed the problem on longstanding issues at the O.B. Curtis water treatment plant, which has been in crisis for years due to old infrastructure and inadequate resources to update it. The city also said that recent rainfall and flooding of the Pearl River caused complications at the plant. City officials said the flooding had created issues at the plant, which is located near a reservoir that flows into the Pearl River. City residents have been subject to a boil-water notice since last month after tests found cloudiness in water samples. The water problem grew worse this week when businesses and homes endured little to no water pressure and officials warned that the water from the taps was untreated. Officials on Monday said the water shortage is likely to last the next couple of days.

Reservoir police observe the water release from the Ross Barnett Reservoir Spillway onto the Pearl River, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022, in Rankin County, Miss. Rogelio V. Solis | AP

The governor said the exact cause of failure was unknown, adding that the treatment plant had been inadequately staffed and operated for years. Reeves said the plant's two primary pumps had stopped working, which left the system to depend on unreliable backup pumps. "It's not operating anywhere near capacity," Reeves said of the plant. "We might find out [Tuesday] it's not operating at all. We'll find out." The water crisis is affecting the roughly 150,000 people who live in Jackson and the 30,000 who live in surrounding communities that rely on the same water treatment facility. Jackson is about 82% Black, according to U.S. Census data. In addition to the unreliable water system, the city has been grappling with crime and problematic infrastructure.

The Mississippi Emergency Management Agency is distributing water to residents and the state is overseeing efforts to begin emergency repairs and maintenance to get the water system up and running, the governor said.

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Secret Service official involved in Jan. 6 retires from agency

Secret Service agents stand guard as Former President Donald Trump sits for a deposition at the office of the NYS Attorney General on August 10, 2022 in New York City. A top Secret Service official who previously served in a political position in the Trump White House left the agency Monday for a job in the private sector. Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images News | Getty Images

A top Secret Service official who served in a political position in the Trump White House left the agency Monday for a job in the private sector. Tony Ornato, who was an assistant director at the Secret Service, said his departure was planned more than a year ago, before explosive congressional testimony this summer about former President Donald Trump's actions on Jan. 6. "I did retire today to pursue a career in the private sector," Ornato told NBC News. "I retired from the U.S. Secret Service after more than 25 years of faithful service to my country, including serving the past five presidents. I long-planned to retire and have been planning this transition for more than a year." Secret Service Special Agent Kevin Helgert said Ornato retired "in good standing." Ornato led Trump's protective detail and made the unusual move to a political position as the White House deputy chief of staff for operations in 2019 before he returned to the Secret Service to help oversee its office of training. Ornato became a key figure in the House Jan. 6 committee's investigation into the insurrection when former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson testified at a public hearing that Ornato had described to her an incident inside the armored SUV carrying Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. Hutchinson said Ornato described Trump's lunging at the driver and insisting they go to the Capitol, where his supporters were gathering. Hutchinson's account has been disputed by some people familiar with the matter. His departure from the Secret Services comes amid other high-level changes at the agency. James Murray announced his retirement as director last month, before the congressional uproar over missing Secret Service text messages from Jan. 6 became public. President Joe Biden last week appointed Kim Cheatle as Murray's successor.

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Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a member of the Jan. 6 committee, said in an interview Sunday on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that the panel was looking into the missing text messages and would likely be able "to get answers to that" by the time it restarts public hearings next month.

Ornato has already testified to the House panel behind closed doors, according to an aide.

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Dow futures sink 300 points as Friday's rout on Wall Street looks set to continue

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on August 26, 2022 in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images

Stock futures fell on Sunday evening as investors tried to shake off a sharp decline in stocks at the end of last week. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 300 points, or about 0.93%. Those for the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 dropped 1.18% and 1.6%, respectively. The moves in futures come after a brutal sell-off for Wall Street on Friday, when Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's short and blunt remarks in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, appeared to extinguish hopes of the central bank changing its aggressive course of rate hikes in the months ahead. The Dow fell 1,008 points, or just over 3%, for its worst day since May. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite fell 3.4% and 3.9%, respectively, for their worst days since June. The drop erased the August gains for all three averages. "Investors again cut back on their recent Risk-On positioning, supporting our view that it is way too soon to call their recent risk appetite a more permanent stance, and now one more likely to have cost them badly," Rick Bensignor of Bensignor Investment Strategies said in a note to clients.

The coming week brings more Fed speeches, including Vice Chair Lael Brainard on Tuesday, before August's nonfarm payrolls report on Friday.

#Dow #futures #sink #points #Fridays #rout #Wall #Street #set #continue https://www.globalcourant.com/dow-futures-sink-300-points-as-fridays-rout-on-wall-street-looks-set-to-continue/?feed_id=17190&_unique_id=630c1d127b49a

Judge plans to appoint a 'special master' to review documents in Trump's records case

An aerial view of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home after Trump said that FBI agents raided it, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. August 15, 2022. Marco Bello | Reuters

A federal judge in Florida told the Justice Department on Saturday to provide her with more specific information about the classified records removed from former President Donald Trump's Florida estate and said it was her "preliminary intent" to appoint a special master in the case. The two-page order from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon signals that she's inclined to grant a request from Trump's lawyers, who this week asked for the appointment of an independent special master to review the records taken from Mar-a-Lago and identify any that may be protected by executive privilege. The judge scheduled a Thursday hearing to discuss the matter further. A special master is often a former judge. Cannon also directed the Justice Department to file under seal with her more detailed descriptions of the material taken from Trump's property. The former president's lawyers have complained that investigators did not disclose enough information to them about what specific documents were removed when agents executed a search warrant on Aug. 8 to look for classified documents.

The special master appointment, if it happens, is unlikely to significantly affect the direction of the Justice Department investigation, though it's possible an outside review of the documents could slow the probe down.

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Playing the sustainable energy transition

Earlier this month, the Biden administration took a major step in combating the climate crisis with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes roughly $370 billion in energy and climate incentives – mostly in the form of tax credits, according to Goldman Sachs. But with potential ripple effects on global supply chains as the domestic economy shifts toward a more energy-efficient era, strategic ETF investors can stand to benefit from the advances. "It's very clear that the administration is using the carrot," Tim Johnston, partner at Blue Horizon Capital and co-founder of Li-Cycle, told Leslie Picker in an interview Monday on CNBC's "ETF Edge." "Trying to incentivize people to domesticate or at least work with fair trade countries in order to bolster the supply chain." Johnston said that incentives are decisive in building infrastructure for a sustainable energy generation, and how we use that energy all the way through. "This capital that's flowing in through the administration, it's not just coming from the form of loans and grants," he said. "It's also coming through in the form of tax incentives, so all we're expecting to see is a structural benefit that's geared towards some of these companies that are really helping with this overall transition." And with a recent push toward sustainable ETFs, the move could double as a catalyst to drive further flows in those clean energy companies and industries that stand to benefit. "It's not as though clean energy is new to the ETF space," Tom Lydon, vice chairman at VettaFi, said in the same interview. "There have been some great ETFs have been around for over a decade." Two of the biggest, Lydon said, are the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN) and the Invesco Solar ETF (TAN). The two funds collectively have $9 billion in assets and are up year to date. "Most of those ETFs that we have today tend to be cap weighted, so there's more invested in fewer companies," he said, which leaves less allocation to bolster up-and-coming companies in the clean energy space. Beyond the dominating ETFs in the clean energy sphere, Lydon said that strategic investors need to look at other areas like smaller and overseas companies, and producers of lithium cobalt – not just battery or solar companies. "We're going to need those minerals as we continue to move this clean energy process forward," Lydon said. Among the funds driving the transition to new energy is the Blue Horizon New Energy Economy ETF (BNE), which acts as a single index solution to gain global exposure to clean energy themes. Johnston said that Blue Horizon looks at the transition as being broken out across five broad segments: energy generation, distribution and storage, as well as e-mobility and performance materials – commodities like lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earths. "This transition is really broad based, it's not just here in North America," he said. "And what we're trying to do is identifying what we consider the leaders." That includes staple companies like Tesla that most every ETF investor has, Johnston said, while also incorporating areas like new types of battery technology subgroups and solar power. "We see them as being an important part of this transition as we go forward," he said.

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Stocks face more volatile week, after hawkish Fed puts focus on jobs

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California bans the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035

A charging port on a 2022 Lincoln Corsair Grand Touring plug-in hybrid vehicle during AutoMobility LA ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles, California, Nov. 18, 2021. Bing Guan | Bloomberg | Getty Images

California, the country's most populous state and the center of U.S. car culture, is banning the sale of new gasoline-powered vehicles starting in 2035, marking a historic step in the state's battle against climate change. The rule, issued by the California Air Resources Board on Thursday, will force automakers to speed up production of cleaner vehicles beginning in 2026 until sales of only zero-emission cars, pickup trucks and SUVs are allowed in the state. The unanimous vote comes after Gov. Gavin Newsom set a target in 2020 to accelerate the shift away from internal combustion engines. The transportation sector represents the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California, which has suffered from record-breaking wildfires, droughts and air pollution worsened by climate change. The decision is expected to have sweeping impacts beyond California and will likely pave the way for other states to follow suit. At least 15 states, including New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, have adopted California's vehicle standards on previous clean-car rules. Liane Randolph, chair of the California Air Resources Board, said the rule is one of the state's most important efforts yet to clean the air and will lead to a 50% reduction in pollution from cars and light trucks by 2040. The policy will not ban people from continuing to drive gas cars or from buying and selling them on the used market after 2035. The rule will also allow automakers to sell up to 20% plug-in hybrids, which have gas engines, by 2035. But the rule does phase out such vehicles over time, requiring 35% of total new vehicle sales to be powered by batteries or hydrogen by 2026 and 68% by 2030. More than 16% of new cars sold in California in 2022 were zero-emissions vehicles, the state said, up from 12.41% in 2021 and 7.78% in 2020. "California is once again leading the way by establishing commonsense standards that will transition to sales of all zero-polluting cars and light-duty trucks in the state," said Kathy Harris, clean vehicles advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Motor vehicles drive on the 101 freeway in Los Angeles, California. Robyn Beck | Getty Images

California, home to congested freeways and the smog-filled skies over Los Angeles, has considerable authority over the country's auto industry. A federal waiver under the Clean Air Act allows the state to adopt stronger fuel economy standards than those of the federal government and it has set the precedent for the rest of the country on how to curb vehicle emissions.  California's ability to control vehicle emissions has spurred innovations like catalytic converters that convert toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas into less-toxic pollutants, as well as "check engine" lights. The state established the nation's first tailpipe emissions standards in 1966. The Trump administration in 2019 revoked California's authority to regulate its own air quality, but the Biden administration restored that authority earlier this year. State officials said the rule is critical to meeting the state's goal of transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2045, adding that resulting emissions declines would lead to fewer cardiopulmonary deaths and improved health for those suffering from asthma and other illnesses.

However, meeting the timeline will face challenges, including installing enough charging stations across the state and having adequate access to materials needed to make batteries for electric vehicles. John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents major automakers, said California's mandate would be "extremely challenging" for automakers to meet. "Whether or not these requirements are realistic or achievable is directly linked to external factors like inflation, charging and fuel infrastructure, supply chains, labor, critical mineral availability and pricing, and the ongoing semiconductor shortage," Bozzella said in a statement. "These are complex, intertwined and global issues." The rule comes after President Joe Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act earlier this month, which provides funding for electric vehicle tax credits and clean vehicle manufacturing facilities. The Biden administration also issued new nationwide limits on tailpipe emissions last year for new cars and light trucks made through 2026. Environmental groups praised the decision on Thursday, though some argued that the board needed to set even tougher targets to meet the urgency of the climate crisis. Some groups had previous urged the board to impose a rule to achieve 100% zero-emission vehicle sales by 2030, five years earlier than the actual regulation. "This rule needed to match the urgency of the climate crisis and instead leaves Californians making sputtering progress in the slow lane," Scott Hochberg, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute, said in a statement. "California needs to act strongly on gas-powered cars instead of ignoring them, and shift to EVs much sooner or watch our climate stability slip away," Hochberg said. Daniel Barad, California senior policy advocate at Sierra Club, said in a statement that the rule is "a major step towards breathable air in California communities, and will be critical for the state to meet its climate goals and emission reduction targets."

"Other states should move swiftly to join California and adopt this life saving rule, which will improve air quality and help slow the climate crisis," Barad said.

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U.S. stock futures flat after Dow, S&P 500 break three-day slide

Traders on the floor of the NYSE, August 24, 2022. Source: NYSE

U.S. stock futures were flat on Wednesday night after all three major averages ended higher during the daily trading session. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose by 8 points, or 0.02%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.14% and 0.13%, respectively. Shares of Nvidia slid more than 2% on the heels of a quarterly report that missed Wall Street's expectations. Salesforce fell more than 4% after the company provided a disappointing forecast for fiscal 2023. Snowflake jumped 16% after posting a beat on revenue. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 59.64 points, or 0.18%, and the S&P 500 rose 0.29% Wednesday. For both averages, the gains snapped three-day long losing streaks. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite also ticked up 0.41%. The market action occurs as investors await the start of the Jackson Hole economic symposium, which begins Thursday with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell scheduled to speak the following morning. Traders will be listening for more information about how the central bank will combat high inflation and if policymakers may cut rates when the current hiking cycle is over. "It's steady as it goes, it's way too early for the Fed to consider a pivot," said Jim Bianco, president of Bianco Research, on CNBC's "Fast Money." Investors are also waiting for key economic reports scheduled to come out later in the week, including jobless claims Thursday and the personal consumption expenditures Friday. The PCE report is one of the Fed's favorite inflation measures, and it could influence its actions going forward.

Peloton reports quarterly earnings Thursday before the bell, along with Gap, Dollar Tree and Dollar General. Ulta Beauty, Workday and Affirm Holdings will release their own results after markets close Thursday.

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Jerry Nadler beats Carolyn Maloney in NY House Democratic primary

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., Democratic candidate for New Yorks 12th Congressional District, campaigns at the 79th St. Greenmarket on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, on Sunday, August 21, 2022. Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images

Rep. Jerry Nadler will defeat his colleague Rep. Carolyn Maloney in a vicious House primary that locked the longtime New York Democrats in a battle for the heart of Manhattan, NBC News projected. The two lawmakers were pitted against each other after a redrawn district map spurred them to compete for a single seat in Congress. Nadler, 75, and Maloney, 76, have represented adjacent chunks of the island for about three decades. Both hold powerful seats in Congress: Nadler chairs the House Judiciary Committee, while Maloney leads the House Oversight Committee. Nadler's congressional district had included the Upper West Side, while Maloney's covered much of the eastern half of Manhattan. But their separate districts were combined in May, the result of a messy and highly controversial redistricting process. Both Nadler and Maloney announced they would run for the newly formed 12th Congressional District. Suraj Patel, who has challenged Maloney in two previous primary elections, was also on the ballot. Despite their long history, the primary fight between Nadler and Maloney was anything but neighborly. "He said, 'Step aside, I'm running.' And I said, 'Well, I'm running too. I'm not leaving,'" Maloney said in a New York Magazine profile of the race. "He said, 'I'm gonna win.' I said, 'I'm gonna win.' We haven't spoken since," she said. Maloney has also fanned rumors that Nadler won't serve out his full term if elected and that he's senile and unfit for office — charges Nadler's campaign has denied. Nadler has highlighted the differences in their voting records, saying Maloney has been "wrong on very major issues" including her "cowardly" vote for the Patriot Act, New York Magazine reported. Nadler has also made his Jewish faith a central part of his pitch to voters. Maloney, meanwhile, has sought to center her experiences as a woman in politics while touting her record on social issues — including abortion, a galvanizing topic in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to strike down Roe v. Wade. She has been endorsed by famed attorney and feminist activist Gloria Steinem. "You cannot send a man to do a woman's job," Maloney said in a recent television ad.

Correction: This report has been updated to correctly describe the area of Maloney's former congressional district.

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scientists worry virus could infect animals

Monkeypox virus, illustration. Thom Leach | Science Photo Library | Getty Images

In 2003, 47 people across six Midwestern states caught monkeypox from pet prairie dogs that were infected after they were housed with rodents imported from Ghana, Africa. Today's outbreak, which has already infected more than 14,100 people in the U.S. and more than 41,000 across the globe, is spreading mostly through close human contact among gay and bisexual men. But scientists reported the first presumed human-to-pet transmission in a dog in France this month, prompting U.S. and global health officials to step up warnings to ensure the virus doesn't spread to other pets and animals.  The recommendation stems from concerns that monkeypox could spill into wildlife or rodent populations as the human outbreak grows, allowing the virus to pass back-and-forth between humans and animals and giving the virus a permanent foothold in countries where it hasn't historically circulated.  Prior to the global outbreak this year, monkeypox spread primarily in remote parts of West and Central Africa where people caught the virus after exposure to infected animals. The 2003 outbreak, which was contained, was the first documented case of humans catching the virus outside Africa.

The current global outbreak differs dramatically from past patterns of transmission. Monkeypox is now spreading almost entirely through close physical contact between people in major urban areas in the U.S., European nations and Brazil.  But the first presumed case of people infecting an animal in the current outbreak was reported in France this month. A pet dog tested positive for the virus after a couple in Paris fell ill with monkeypox and shared their bed with the animal. 

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WHO officials have said a single incident of a pet catching the virus is not surprising or a cause for major concern, but there is a risk that monkeypox could start circulating in animals if people don't know they can infect other species.  If monkeypox becomes established in animal populations outside Africa, the virus would have more opportunities to mutate, which carries the risk of higher transmissibility and severity. Animals could then potentially give the virus to people, increasing the risk of future outbreaks. "What we don't want to see happen is disease moving from one species to the next and then remaining in that species," said Dr. Mike Ryan, director of the WHO's health emergencies program, said during a press conference in Geneva last week. "It's through that process of one animal affecting the next and the next and the next that you see rapid evolution of the virus." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has not received any reports of pets infected with monkeypox in the U.S., said Kristen Nordlund, an agency spokesperson. But the virus can spread from people to animals or from animals to people, according to the CDC.  "While we are still learning which species of animals can get monkeypox, we should assume any mammal can be infected with monkeypox virus," Nordlund said. "We do not know if reptiles, amphibians, or birds can get monkeypox, but it is unlikely since these animals have not been found to be infected with viruses in the same family as monkeypox." Dr. Rosamund Lewis, the WHO's lead monkeypox expert, said it's important to dispose of potentially contaminated waste properly to avoid the risk of rodents and other animals becoming infected when they rummage through garbage. "While these have been hypothetical risks all along, we believe that they are important enough that people should have information on how to protect their pets, as well as how to manage their waste, so that animals in general are not exposed to the monkeypox virus," Lewis said. Ryan said that while vigilance is important, animals and pets do not represent a risk to people at the current time. "It's important that we don't allow these viruses to establish themselves in other animal populations," Ryan said. "Single exposures or single infections in particular animals is not unexpected."

Rodents in Africa

Although scientists have done some research on monkeypox in Africa, where it's historically circulated, their work was limited due to a lack of funding. So scientists don't know how many different species of animals can carry the virus and transmit it to humans. Scientists have only isolated monkeypox from wild animals a handful of times in Africa over the past 40 years. They included rope squirrels, target rats and giant pouched rats in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as two types of monkeys in Cote d'Ivoire. Rodents, not monkeys, are thought to be the host animal population in Africa, though the precise animal reservoir is unknown. Public health officials don't know whether the types of animals in close proximity to people in urban settings in the U.S. -- racoons, mice and rats -- can pick up and transmit the virus. Some types of mice and rats can get monkeypox but not all species are susceptible, according to the CDC. "We know this is a virus that's transmitted from rodents in West Africa," said Dr. Peter Hotez, an infectious disease expert at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas. "Could rats or other rodents in urban environments mean that it gains a foothold there and it also becomes more of a permanent fixture — we don't want that to happen," he said. The CDC recommends that people who have monkeypox avoid contact with animals — pets, livestock, domestic animas and wildlife. If a pet becomes sick within 21 days of contact with someone who has monkeypox, the animal should be evaluated by a veterinarian. Waste contaminated with monkeypox should go into in a lined, dedicated trash can and shouldn't be left outside because wildlife could potentially become exposed the virus, according to CDC.

U.S. outbreak in 2003

In the 2003 outbreak, the CDC was able to quickly administer vaccines and quarantine patients before the virus could spread farther. There were no cases of monkeypox spreading between people. The CDC then banned the importation of rodents from Africa. Containing the 2003 outbreak took 10,000 hours of work to trace the virus back to Gambian rats and other rodents imported from Ghana to an animal distributor in Texas, according to Marguerite Pappaioanou, a former CDC official who worked on the outbreak. The Food and Drug Administration banned the importation of all African rodents in the wake of the 2003 outbreak. The agency also prohibited the interstate distribution of prairie dogs and their release into the wild over concerns monkeypox could become established in wildlife populations. The U.S. Georgical Survey and Department of Agriculture subsequently trapped 200 wild animals in Wisconsin at sites close to where humans contracted monkeypox from pet prairie dogs. They did not find any evidence that the virus had spread into wild animals, and the FDA lifted the ban on distributing prairie dogs between states. It's still illegal to import rodents from Africa.

Wastewater worries

Scientists in California detected monkeypox DNA in sewage samples this summer. New York is also conducting wastewater surveillance for the virus, according to the state health department, though results have not been publicly released yet. The wastewater findings in California have raised concern among some health experts that the virus could infect rodents through the sewage. "There is the risk because of the widespread nature of infections and the fact that it's sewage and wastewater," said Dr. James Lawler, an infectious disease expert at Global Center for Health Security at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. "That's a concern, about getting into an animal population and having a zoonotic risk reservoir and honestly, if that's the case that I think it's game over for us." But it's not clear if live virus is present in wastewater. The study measured monkeypox DNA in sewage samples, not whether the virus was still infectious, according to Marlene Wolfe, a scientist at Emory University who is working on the project. Wastewater is treated in most urban areas so the probability of the virus surviving and replicating in such an environment is low, according to Amira Roess, a former official with the CDC's Epidemiological Intelligence Service. Roess said garbage that contains contaminated materials such as bedsheets or towels likely poses a higher risk than wastewater. "There are wildlife species that rummage in your garbage and then they're more likely to pick up virus that is able to replicate. "There's a lot of ifs, but it happens," said Roess, who is now a professor of epidemiology at George Mason University.

Low probability

Several steps would have to take place for the monkeypox virus to spill over from humans into animals and then spill back into people causing another outbreak, according to Richard Reithinger, an epidemiologist at RTI International. The virus would have to circulate in an animal population with a wide geographic distribution, but not cause so much mortality in the species that the train of transmission is snuffed out, Reithinger said. Humans would also need to have some level of regular contact with animals. "Each step has a certain probability. Once once you kind of add up all the probabilities of these steps, the probability actually becomes quite low," Reithinger said. It's also possible that monkeypox might be transmitting more efficiently among people in the current outbreak due to some sort of viral mutation, Roess said. If the virus has adapted to humans, it could be more difficult for people to give the disease to animals, she added. It also depends on what kind animal comes into contact with the virus, according to Pappaioanou. "All animals are not susceptible. We don't even know which ones are," said Pappaioanou, who is now an affiliate professor at the University of Washington.

Better surveillance needed

Although the risk of the virus becoming entrenched in a U.S. animal population and causing future human outbreaks is low, the U.S. needs a more robust surveillance system to prepare for such a possibility, according to Pappaioanou and Roess. There are major gaps in the ability of public health agencies to monitor animal populations for infectious diseases, the former CDC officials said. "It's a very big gap. We don't have a good surveillance system for humans," Roess said. "For wildlife, it depends on who is interested in what pathogen and if they're able to convince someone to fund surveillance. A lot of our surveillance is just really sporadic" Livestock such as cows, sheep and poultry are monitored by the Department of Agriculture, Pappaioanou said. But wildlife surveillance is underfunded and it takes a tremendous amount of work to monitor these animals for infectious disease, she said There's no government agency that overseas the health of dogs and cats, she said. Local health departments may monitor rodents and have population control programs but this also requires funding and significant staffing, she added.

"More and more people around the world are moving to cities," Pappaioanou said. "What would it mean in a highly urbanized city to have a reservoir of infection? We don't know the answer."

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Judge orders Trump to give details about Mar-a-Lago warrant lawsuit

An aerial view of former U.S. President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home after Trump said that FBI agents raided it, in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. August 15, 2022. Marco Bello | Reuters

A federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump ordered him Tuesday to answer several key questions about his new lawsuit related to the FBI raid on his Florida home, including why her court should be the one hearing the case and to more precisely explain what he wants her to do. Judge Aileen Cannon also ordered Trump to tell her how his suit affects another pending case involving the same search warrant before a federal magistrate judge in the same court, and whether the Department of Justice has been served with his lawsuit yet. Cannon also wants to know if Trump is seeking any injunctions related to material seized in the raid until the lawsuit is resolved. Cannon's order came a day after Trump filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, asking her to appoint a so-called special master to review documents seized Aug. 8 in the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago resort residence in Palm Beach.

The judge, whom Trump appointed to that court in 2020, gave him and his lawyers until Friday to answer her questions. Trump wants to block the DOJ from examining the seized documents until a special master looks at them. The step is typically taken when there is a chance that some evidence should be withheld from prosecutors because of various legal privileges. The DOJ is conducting a criminal investigation related to the documents being removed from the White House when Trump left office in January 2021. By law, presidential records are required to be turned over to the National Archives. A warrant authorizing the FBI's search-and-seizure operation at Mar-a-Lago shows that the DOJ is probing potential violations of laws related to espionage and obstruction of justice. Multiple sets of documents marked top secret were seized in the raid. Trump claims the raid was illegal and motivated by a desire to harm his chances of regaining the White House if he decides to run again.

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Cannon in her order Tuesday wrote: "The Court is in receipt of Plaintiff's Motion for Judicial Oversight and Additional Relief." "To facilitate appropriate resolution, on or before August 26, 2022, Plaintiff shall file a supplement to the Motion further elaborating on the following: (1) the asserted basis for the exercise of this Court's jurisdiction, whether legal, equitable/anomalous, or both; (2) the framework applicable to the exercise of such jurisdiction;" Cannon wrote. The judge also told Trump's team to detail "the precise relief sought, including any request for injunctive relief pending resolution of the Motion; (4) the effect, if any, of the proceeding before Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart; and (5) the status of Plaintiff's efforts to perfect service on Defendant." Reinhart signed the warrant authorizing the raid. He is considering requests by media outlets to unseal an affidavit that the DOJ filed, which laid out the need for the search and events leading up to it. Earlier Tuesday, the National Archives posted online a letter that said classified material was found in boxes that Trump turned over to that agency in January.

The material, which spans 700 pages, includes ones related to top secret, sensitive compartmented information and special access programs, the National Archives letter said.

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No appreciable business disruptions over China tensions

Most member companies of the American Chambers of Commerce in Taiwan said there has been no significant disruption to business despite escalating tensions between China and Taiwan in recent weeks, according to a survey.  China started conducting military exercises around Taiwan in recent weeks, but 77% of respondents said they have not faced "appreciable disruption" to their business, said Andrew Wylegala, the president of AmCham Taiwan. China launched military drills after U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan despite warnings from China for weeks not to visit the island.  Taiwan is a self-ruled democracy, but Beijing considers the island part of its territory and a breakaway province. Nevertheless, though there hasn't been "panic" or an "exodus" of business in Taiwan, almost half of its members are predicting "some kind of dislocation and disruption" as China continues its military drills, said Wylegala.  There has been "no panic in the short term, but an appropriate degree of concern going forward,"  Wylegala said on CNBC's "Capital Connection" on Friday.  AmCham Taiwan conducted the survey of 529 member organizations from Aug. 8 to 17, just days after Pelosi's visit to Taipei.  According to the survey, 17% of respondents said they had already experienced disruption to their business, a third of which reported facing higher shipping or insurance costs and supply chain delays.  AmCham Taiwan also said 46% of companies surveyed expect to see increased Chinese military activity from 2022 to 2023 that would affect their operations. The remaining respondents do not anticipate being affected, or are uncertain if they would be.

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According to the business association, respondents raised the following when asked about the specific "spectrum of threats" they were worried about: concerns about disinformation and psychological campaigns targeting Taiwan; constraints or barriers on the island's periphery; and "sanctions, travel bans, boycotts, and embargoes against Taiwan products and people."

U.S.-Taiwan trade talks

The U.S. and Taiwan on Wednesday agreed to start talks on a trade and economic initiative as the U.S. continues to bolster its support for the island in light of rising tensions with China.  However, the likelihood of a free trade deal — which is broader in nature and something that Taiwan has been pushing for — remains unknown.  Wylegala said that Taiwan "has done a wonderful job as a partner of the U.S." and recent tensions have made a stronger case for a bilateral trade agreement. The U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade that was announced in June is "not a free trade agreement per se," Wylegala said, but it is nevertheless a "stepping stone,'' he added.

"Four years ago, we had no channels of economic discussions underway. And now we have four separate agreements and others waiting in the wings," he added.

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Stock futures fall as Wall Street looks ahead to Jackson Hole

Traders on the floor of the NYSE, Aug. 9, 2022. Source: NYSE

U.S. stock futures fell on Sunday night following a halt in the summer rally last week, as fears of aggressive interest rate hikes returned to Wall Street. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid by 93 points, or 0.28%. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures dipped 0.35% and 0.53%, respectively. On Friday, the S&P 500 closed down 1.29%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 292 points, or 0.86%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 2.01%. Those moves come ahead of what could be a volatile week of trading on Wall Street. Investors are anticipating Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's latest comments on inflation at the central bank's annual Jackson Hole economic symposium. "We've written a couple of times recently about wait and see trading ahead of key events/releases... and how that can set the stage for greater volatility around the events themselves, and we may see a bit of that play out next week as investors await the symposium," read a Friday note from Susquehanna's Christopher Jacobson.

On the earnings front, traders are expecting Palo Alto Networks and Zoom Video to report results Monday after the bell.

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FDA authorizes emergency use for Novavax Covid-19 vaccine for ages 12 to 17

A box of the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine arranged at a pharmacy in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, US, on Monday, Aug. 1, 2022. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Biotechnology company Novavax announced on Friday that its Covid-19 vaccine has been authorized for emergency use by the U.S Food and Drug Administration for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. In July, Novavax's two-dose Covid-19 vaccine for adults ages 18 and over got its emergency approval from the FDA. Having more vaccine options for adults and children will "hopefully help increase vaccination rates, particularly as we prepare for ongoing surges of Covid-19 with the start of fall and the back-to-school season," Stanley C. Erck, president and CEO of Novavax, said in a statement. Novavax was one of the original participants in the U.S. government's race to develop a Covid vaccine in 2020, receiving $1.8 billion in taxpayer funding from Operation Warp Speed. However, the small Maryland biotech company struggled to quickly get manufacturing in place and its clinical trial data read out much later than rivals Pfizer or Moderna. Dr. Peter Marks, a senior FDA official, has said that Novavax's vaccine would potentially appeal to unvaccinated people who would prefer a shot that is not based on the messenger RNA technology used by Pfizer and Moderna.

How Novavax is different

The Novavax shot is based on more conventional protein technology used for decades in hepatitis B and HPV vaccines, while Pfizer and Moderna are the first FDA-approved vaccines to use mRNA. Pfizer and Moderna's vaccines use mRNA, a molecule encoded with genetic instructions, to tell human cells to produce copies of a virus particle called the spike protein. The immune system responds to these copies of the spike, which prepares the human body to attack the actual virus. Novavax makes copies of the virus spike outside human cells. The genetic code for the spike is put into an insect virus that infects moth cells, which produce copies that are then purified and extracted during the manufacturing process. The finished spike copies are injected into the human body, inducing an immune response against Covid. The Novavax vaccine also uses an additional ingredient called an adjuvant, which is extracted and purified from the bark of a tree in South America, to induce a broader immune response. The shots consist of 5 micrograms of the spike copy and 50 micrograms of the adjuvant.

Effectiveness and safety

Two doses of the Novavax vaccine were 90% effective at preventing illness from Covid across the board and 100% effective at preventing severe illness, according to clinical trial data from the U.S. and Mexico. However, the trial was conducted from December 2020 through September 2021, months before the omicron variant became dominant. Novavax did not present any data on the shot's effectiveness against the variant at the FDA committee meeting in June. However, the vaccine will likely have lower effectiveness against omicron as is the case with Pfizer and Moderna's shots. Omicron is so distinct from the original strain of Covid that the antibodies produced by the vaccines have trouble recognizing and attacking the variant. Novavax published data in December showing that a third shot boosted the immune response to levels comparable to the first two doses which had 90% effectiveness against illness. The company plans to ask the FDA to authorize a third dose of its vaccine. FDA authorization of Novavax's vaccines comes as the U.S. is preparing to update Covid shots to target the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants to increase protection against the virus. Novavax's vaccine, like all the other shots, is based on the original version of the virus that first emerged in Wuhan, China. The effectiveness of Covid vaccines against mild illness has slipped substantially as the virus has evolved, though they still generally protect against severe disease. Novavax presented data at an FDA committee meeting in late June demonstrating that a third dose of its vaccine produced a strong immune response against omicron and its subvariants. Committee members were impressed by the company's data on omicron. The Novavax vaccine also appears to carry a risk of heart inflammation for younger men, known as myocarditis and pericarditis, similar to Pfizer and Moderna's shots. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle and pericarditis is inflammation of the outer lining of the heart. FDA officials flagged four cases of myocarditis and pericarditis from Novavax's clinical trial in young men ages 16 to 28. People who develop heart inflammation as a side effect of Covid vaccines are usually hospitalized for several days as a precaution but then recover. The FDA has issued a fact sheet for health-care providers warning that clinical trial data indicates there is an increased risk of myocarditis with the Novavax vaccine. People who experience chest pain, shortness of breath and feelings of a fluttering or pounding heart should immediately seek medical attention, according to the FDA.

In the case of the mRNA shots, the CDC has found that the risk of myocarditis is higher from Covid infection than vaccination. Myocarditis is usually caused by viral infections.

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