Fed Vice Chair Richard Clarida may be the next to “retire” (perhaps he too is on a kidney transplant list) following the revelation that he was trading in and out of millions in securities on February 27, 2020 just one day before Fed Chair Powell issued an (extremely bullish) emergency statement hinting at possible policy action as the pandemic worsened.
According to the disclosure, just as markets were starting to freak out about the Covid pandemic, Clarida shifted anywhere between $1 and $5 million out of a Pimco bond fund (the Pimco Income Fund PIMIX) on Feb. 27, 2020, and on the same day buying between $1 and $5 million of the Pimco StocksPlus Fund (PSTKX) and the iShares MSCI USA Min Vol Factor exchange-traded fund (USMV). Aside from these three trades, Clarida had a grand total of two more trades in 2020, the sale of $500K-$1MM of the Shwab SCHK ETF on August 3 and another purchase of the USMV ETF to the tune of $250K-$500K.
The trades took place just a day before Powell issued an emergency statement on Feb 28 at 2:30pm with which he sought to reassure suddenly panicking markets that the Fed has their back (something he would amply demonstrate a few weeks later when the Fed nationalized the corporate bond market). Specifically, Powell said that the virus poses “evolving risks to economic activity” adding that the Fed was “closely monitoring developments and their implications for the economic outlook.”
Statement from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome H. Powell
The fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong. However, the coronavirus poses evolving risks to economic activity. The Federal Reserve is closely monitoring developments and their implications for the economic outlook. We will use our tools and act as appropriate to support the economy.
Olympic Media, a direct-response ad agency located in Arlington, Virginia, announced today that it will not mandate COVID-19 vaccines for its employees.
Olympic Media CEO Ryan Coyne announced that “under no circumstance, at any time nor for any reason, will an employee of Olympic Media be compelled to disclose personal medical information to the company as a condition of employment.”
“Olympic Media stands in awe of the world-class scientific and medical communities that have created, produced and distributed these vaccines,” Coyne said. “We also strongly encourage vaccines for those who may be at an increased mortality risk from the virus. We support vaccines, however, we absolutely stand against mandating the disclosure of medical information as a condition for earning a living.”