1/ FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK

What's Happening

Global equity markets are flat-to-lower this morning, with Hong Kong’s HangSeng Index down nearly 1% on its first day of trading this week. Indian markets are mostly higher with the Nifty 50 up 1.24% and the Sensex higher by 1.26%. The Reserve Bank of India left its key policy rate unchanged at 4% and reiterated an accommodative stance "as long as necessary" to sustain growth.

That’s been the message from central banks, and we’ll hear more of the same when the Federal Reserve releases minutes from its late-March meeting on interest rates, later this afternoon. Dovish monetary policy, unprecedented government spending, and a faster-than-expected vaccine rollout are reasons the IMF and investment banks are ratcheting up their growth forecasts for global GDP in 2021. 

Jamie Dimon, the Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, joined the chorus of those with great expectations for economic growth. In his annual letter to shareholders out this morning, Dimon said robust consumer savings, expanded vaccine distribution and the Biden administration’s proposed $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan could lead to an economic "Goldilocks moment" — fast, sustained growth through 2023, alongside inflation and interest rates that drift slowly upward. That's pretty optimistic, especially coming from Dimon, who warned of a brutal recession about this same time a year ago. His bank is still holding a lot of capital, just in case.

Chart courtesy: JPMorgan Annual Report

2/ QUICK HITS

Today’s Headlines

• U.S. President Biden has moved up the date all American adults will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine to April 19 from May 1. The U.S. has administered 150 million shots during the first 75 days of his administration. Biden's target is 200 million shots by the end of April or 100 days in office. 
• Plant-based meat maker Beyond Meat has opened its first end-to-end manufacturing facility outside the U.S. in Jiaxing, China. It said the new plant (sorry) is expected to significantly increase the speed and scale in which it can produce and distribute its products within the region. "We are committed to investing in China as a region for long-term growth," said CEO Ethan Brown.
• Shares in Envista Holdings and InterDigital are surging pre-market on news they will join the S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600 indexes, respectively. The change scheduled for April 12 is triggered by American Industrial Partners acquiring SEACOR. Yesterday Cara Therapeutics soared 14% as investors celebrated it being added to the S&P SmallCap 600.
• Toshiba confirmed it received an initial acquisition proposal from private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, and reports suggested the deal could be worth around $20 billion. The Japanese multinational said it will ask for further clarification and give the offer careful consideration. The stock jumped almost 19% in Tokyo today. It could be the largest private equity-led buyout since 2013.
• PG&E has been charged with 5 felonies and 28 misdemeanors in a complaint filed by California's Sonoma County for its role in the 2019 Kincade Fire. The company said it accepts the fire department's finding that its transmission line was the cause, but it is disputing the criminal charges. The fire seriously injured six firefighters, burned 78,000 acres, and destroyed 374 structures, including 174 homes.

·         U.S. stock dividend increases totaled $20.3 billion in Q1, the largest quarterly figure since the start of of 2012 ($26.1 billion), says S&P Dow Jones Indices. The net dividend change last quarter was $18 billion. On a per share basis, S&P 500 dividend payments last quarter increased 0.2% to $14.68 from Q4 2020’s $14.64 and were down 4.2% from the record $15.32 payment a year ago in Q1 2020.

• Forbes’ annual World's Billionaires list saw a record 493 newcomers in its 35th edition released yesterday. That's one new billionaire minted every 17 hours, including 210 from China and Hong Kong and 98 from the U.S. The newbies include China's first vaping billionaire Chen Zhiping, Carvana founder Ernest Garcia III and Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel. Together the 2,755 billionaires on the list are worth $13.1 trillion, up from the total $8 trillion of the 2020 list.

Image courtesy: Forbes