- The major news networks called the U.S. Presidential race for Joe Biden Saturday as results emerging from Pennsylvania suggested Biden was certain to win the state.
- President Trump is refusing to concede, awaiting recounts in Wisconsin, Georgia, and possibly Nevada and Pennsylvania. The Trump campaign is filing lawsuits alleging tens of thousands of votes in swing states were admitted illegally from dead, late, or out-of-state voters. The state of Arizona is still counting and Biden’s lead there continues to dwindle. Trump is now planning public rallies in swing states to be held soon. Mandatory recounts will be held in Wisconsin, Georgia, and probably in at least one other state.
- Final results have not been certified from any states, and the winner of the electoral college is not ratified until next month.
- Stock markets have continued to rally strongly on the news of near-certainty in the U.S. election result, with the Nikkei 225 stock index trading at an all-time high today. The major U.S. indices the NASDAQ and the S&P 500 are trading very close to their all-time highs made a few weeks ago.
- Generally, “risk” assets are strong while safe havens are weak. The U.S. Dollar is clearly the weakest major currency, while the Australian Dollar and the British Pound look to be the strongest. Precious metals such as Gold have also risen. This trend appears poised to continue today.
- Last Friday saw 623,365 confirmed new coronavirus cases diagnosed worldwide – a record high.
- Coronavirus daily global death tolls are rising sharply, with deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean continuing to fall, while the U.S.A. accounts for about 18% of the global total, and Europe 37%.
- The European Union is now seeing more new coronavirus cases and deaths than any other area, about double that of the U.S., with a short-term average of over 200,000 new cases daily. The death rate there is exceeding that in the U.S.A quite strongly with approximately 2,350 deaths per day. Deaths are also continuing to rise strongly in the U.K.
- Total confirmed new coronavirus cases stand at over 50.4 million with an average case fatality rate of 2.49%.
- India has more than 8.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases, more than any other nation except the U.S.A. which has confirmed more than 9.9 million cases.
- The rate of new coronavirus infections appears to now be increasing most quickly in Albania, Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, Nepal, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, U.S.A., Ukraine, the U.K., and Uruguay.