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    Employees at plant that ruined millions of J&J Covid vaccine doses failed to shower, change clothes

    In this articleJNJEmployees work in a lab at Emergent Biosolutions on February 8, 2021 in Baltimore, Maryland.Michael Robinson Chavez | The Washington Post | Getty ImagesSome employees at the Emergent BioSolutions plant in Baltimore failed to shower or change clothes, which is required when working in the factory and it likely played a role in ruining millions of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 doses, according to a memo released Wednesday by a key House committee.Inspections of the Bayview facility conducted last year also flagged problems with mold, poor disinfection of plant equipment and inadequate training of employees, staff for the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis said in the memo. The committee is holding a hearing Wednesday examining the biopharmaceutical company’s role in ruining the J&J shots.Even though inspectors found poor conditions at the plant, top executives were awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses last year and were praised by the company’s board for their leadership, according to other documents released by the committee.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:CDC chief says lab-based origin of Covid possible but animal host is most commonEmergent CEO says FDA is holding over 100 million J&J Covid vaccine doses for further testing after botched doses Employees at plant that ruined millions of J&J Covid vaccine doses failed to shower, change clothes60% of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine dose as case counts fall further India’s daily death toll crosses 4,500 as Covid-19 cases stay below 300,000 Texas Gov. Abbott threatens to fine cities and local officials if they impose mask mandatesAs more colleges decide to require Covid vaccines for students, some protest Olympic organizers should mandate Covid vaccines for athletes and fans at Tokyo Games  From employer mandates to TV ads: What full FDA approval could mean for Covid vaccines India Covid variant set to be dominant in UK ‘in a matter of days,’ posing unknown dangersEmergent CEO Robert Kramer received a $1.2 million bonus last year, according to one document, while three other executives received payments of more than $400,000.The U.S. government awarded the company a $628 million contract last year to help make coronavirus vaccines.Emergent did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.The hearing Wednesday comes more than a month after the Biden administration put J&J in charge of the Baltimore plant after U.S. officials learned that Emergent, a federal contractor that had been making key ingredients for J&J and AstraZeneca, cross-contaminated ingredients for the two shots.During the hearing, Kramer said the FDA is holding over 100 million J&J Covid-19 vaccine doses for further testing.”There are a significant number of doses that we’ve manufactured. Again, we manufacture the bulk drug substances,” Kramer told lawmakers. “It has been reported in a number of news agencies that there are probably over 100 million doses of the J&J vaccine that we’ve manufactured that are now being evaluated by the FDA for potential release and availability.”An inspection by the Food and Drug Administration later found the plant was unsanitary and unsuitable to manufacture the shots. In a 13-page report, inspectors wrote that the facility used to manufacture the vaccine was “not maintained in a clean and sanitary condition” and was “not of suitable size, design, and location to facilitate cleaning, maintenance, and proper operations.”FDA inspectors said paint was observed to be peeling in multiple areas and walls were damaged that could impact Emergent’s “ability to adequately clean and disinfect.” They also noted that employees did not follow standard operating procedures in handling waste or vaccine manufacturing materials to ensure they weren’t contaminated.The facility has not been authorized by the FDA to manufacture or distribute Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine, and none of the doses manufactured at the plant have been distributed for use in the United States. Emergent has agreed to pause production of materials until the issues the FDA identified are resolved.Emergent said at the time it was committed to working with the FDA and J&J to fix the problems.”While we are never satisfied to see shortcomings in our manufacturing facilities or process, they are correctable and we will take swift action to remedy them,” it said in a statement on April 21. More

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    Stocks making the biggest moves after hours: Cisco, L Brands, Synopsys & more

    The logo of Cisco Systems is seen at their headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux, near Paris, France.Philippe Wojazer | ReutersCheck out the companies making headlines after the bell on Wednesday: Cisco — Shares of the data center networking hardware maker dropped more than 6% in extended trading after the company issued weaker-than-expected guidance for the next quarter. Cisco said it sees 81 cents to 83 cents in adjusted earnings per share in the fiscal fourth quarter, while analysts had expected 85 cents in adjusted earnings per share. The company’s profits and revenue for its fiscal third quarter came in above expectations, however.L Brands  — Shares of Victoria’s Secret parent fell more than 1% even after a better-than-expected quarterly report. Its adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.25, versus a Refinitiv forecast of $1.21 per share. Revenue also topped analysts’ estimates, driven by momentum across its business and more people paying full price for its products.Synopsys — The software stock popped 2% in extended trading after the company reported quarterly results that blew past estimates. Synopsys reported adjusted earnings of $1.70 a share, above the $1.53 per share expected by analysts polled by FactSet. Sales came in at $1.02 billion for the quarter, ahead of an estimate of $989 million.Shoe Carnival — Shares of the footwear retailer fell more than 4% after the company said its revenue for the second quarter would be less than analysts had expected. Shoe Carnival estimated sales for the next quarter in the range of $268 million to $278 million, missing analysts’ estimate of $282 million per FactSet. More

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    Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Target, Lowe's, Tesla and more

    In this articleCOINMSTRTSLA9618-HKTTWOTGTLOWTJXA woman leaves Target store on March 02, 2021 in New York.Emaz | Corbis News | Getty ImagesCheck out the companies making headlines in midday trading.Target — Shares of the retailer advanced 6% after Target’s first-quarter results beat analysts’ expectations on the top and bottom line. The company earned an adjusted $3.69 per share on $24.2 billion in revenue. The Street was expecting the company to earn $2.25 per share on $21.81 billion in revenue, according to estimates from Refinitiv. Target’s comparable sales grew 22.9% year over year.Take-Two Interactive — Take-Two shares jumped about 7% following the video game company’s latest quarterly results. Take-Two earned an adjusted 94 cents per share, compared to the 67 cents analysts had been expecting, according to estimates compiled by Refinitiv. The company also topped revenue estimates.Lowe’s — Shares of the home improvement retailer fell roughly 1% despite beating on the top and bottom lines of its quarterly earnings. Lowe’s reported earnings of $3.21 per share on revenue of $24.42 billion. Wall Street expected earnings of $2.62 per share on revenue of $23.86 billion, according to Refinitiv. Same-store sales rose 24.4%, higher than the forecast 20.3%.TJX Companies — TJX shares dipped more than 5% despite reporting better-than-expected quarterly results. TJX earned 44 cents per share, topping estimates of 31 cents per share, according to Refinitiv. The company made $10.09 billion in revenue, higher than the $8.62 billion forecast on Wall Street.JD.com — The Chinese e-commerce company’s shares rose 0.8% after the firm reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for the first quarter. JD’s active customer accounts grew by 29% in the quarter compared to a year earlier, thanks to an expanded product lineup.Tesla — Shares of the electric vehicle company, which holds a large amount of bitcoin, dipped about 2.5% amid Wednesday’s cryptocurrency selloff. Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a tweet later Wednesday morning implied Tesla is not selling its bitcoin amid the cryptocurrency’s drop.Microstrategy — Microstrategy shares sunk 6.6% as bitcoin fell. The business analytics company holds a large amount of bitcoin in its corporate treasury.Coinbase — Shares of the largest U.S. crypto exchange dropped about 6%. The exchange’s website experienced a brief outage amid the crypto selloff before resuming service a few hours later, Coinbase said. The company debuted around the time Bitcoin’s price peaked at $65,000 five weeks ago.Become a smarter investor with CNBC Pro. Get stock picks, analyst calls, exclusive interviews and access to CNBC TV. Sign up to start a free trial today— CNBC’s Maggie Fitzgerald, Pippa Stevens and Yun Li contributed reporting More

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    The Fed hinted it could reconsider easy policies if economy continues rapid improvement

    Federal Reserve officials at their April meeting said a strong pickup in economic activity would warrant discussions about tightening monetary policy, according to minutes from the session released Wednesday.”A number of participants suggested that if the economy continued to make rapid progress toward the Committee’s goals, it might be appropriate at some point in upcoming meetings to begin discussing a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchases,” the meeting summary said.Markets have been watching closely for clues about when the central bank might start tapering its bond purchases, which currently are at least $120 billion a month. The Fed balance sheet is just shy of $7.9 trillion, nearly double its level before the Covid-19 pandemic.Fed officials have been steadfast that they won’t change policy until their economic goals, particularly regarding employment and inflation, have been hit. The discussion revealed in the minutes is the first time that central bankers have indicated that a reduction in purchases could happen ahead, though there was no timetable.Stocks briefly added to losses following the release and government bond yields remained mostly higher on the session.Chairman Jerome Powell said after the meeting that the recovery remains “uneven and far from complete” and the economy was still not showing the “substantial further progress” standard the committee has set before it will change policy.However, since then the consumer price index showed inflation rising at a 4.2% year over year pace, GDP is expected to show growth approaching 10% in the second quarter, and indicators in manufacturing and spending are showing strong upward momentum.The one exception was a stunningly slow pace of hiring in April, with nonfarm payrolls rising just 266,000 against expectations for a 1 million gain.At the April session, the policymaking Federal Open Market Committee voted to hold benchmark short-term borrowing rates near zero and keep the bond purchase level intact.Along with that decision, the Fed upgraded its view on the economy, saying growth has “strengthened” and inflation was rising.The April meeting was held before inflation and employment numbers for the month were released.Fed officials took a largely sanguine view of inflation at the meeting, anticipating that near-term price pressures would fade as the year goes on.Those at the April 27-28 session said they expected rising demand with an economic reopening to combine with supply chain issues to push prices above the Fed’s 2% inflation target.”After the transitory effects of these factors fade, participants generally expected measured inflation to ease,” the minutes said.The minutes stated that “various participants” anticipated that it will “likely be some time until the economy had made substantial further progress toward the Committee’s maximum-employment and price-stability goals relative to the conditions prevailing in December 2020 when the Committee first provided its guidance for asset purchases.”The Fed has set an ambitious and somewhat ambiguous goal for when it will change the ultra-loose policy it put into place during the pandemic’s early days.Central bankers are looking for full and inclusive employment and say they will allow inflation to run somewhat above their 2% target in a new policy regime that looks for an average around that level, rather than using it as a maximum benchmark before tightening.Become a smarter investor with CNBC Pro.Get stock picks, analyst calls, exclusive interviews and access to CNBC TV.Sign up to start a free trial today. More

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    CDC chief says lab origin of Covid is 'one possibility,' but animal host is most common for coronaviruses

    Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Dr. Rochelle Walensky testifies during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing to examine the FY 2022 budget request for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 19, 2021 in Washington,DC.Jim Lo Scalzo | AFP | Getty ImagesCenters for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky on Wednesday did not discount that Covid-19 could have originated in a laboratory, saying it “certainly” was “one possibility.”Most coronaviruses, however, “generally come from an animal origin,” Walensky said in Senate testimony after saying she had not seen enough data to give her opinion on how the current pandemic originated.The remarks from the top Biden administration health official came amid growing calls to investigate whether the virus had zoonotic, or animal, origins or came from a lab in Wuhan, China.The World Health Organization said in a report in March that it was “extremely unlikely” that the virus was introduced to humans through an accidental lab leak. But that conclusion has been heavily criticized, and other scientists have since come forward calling for more investigation.”Theories of accidental release from a lab and zoonotic spillover both remain viable,” said a letter from 18 scientists published in the journal Science last week. Other scientists have criticized that letter for drawing a false equivalence between the likelihood of a lab leak versus a natural-origin scenario, The New York Times reported.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:CDC chief says lab-based origin of Covid possible but animal host is most commonEmergent CEO says FDA is holding over 100 million J&J Covid vaccine doses for further testing after botched doses Employees at plant that ruined millions of J&J Covid vaccine doses failed to shower, change clothes60% of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine dose as case counts fall further India’s daily death toll crosses 4,500 as Covid-19 cases stay below 300,000 Texas Gov. Abbott threatens to fine cities and local officials if they impose mask mandatesAs more colleges decide to require Covid vaccines for students, some protest Olympic organizers should mandate Covid vaccines for athletes and fans at Tokyo Games  From employer mandates to TV ads: What full FDA approval could mean for Covid vaccines India Covid variant set to be dominant in UK ‘in a matter of days,’ posing unknown dangersThe CDC’s website currently says that while the exact source of the outbreak is unknown, “we know that it originally came from an animal, likely a bat.”Covid-19 was first detected in Wuhan, in the Hubei province of China.The origin of the virus has increasingly become a hotly discussed topic in American politics as well.In Wednesday’s hearing on the CDC’s budget for the next fiscal year starting Oct. 1, Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked Walensky for her opinion on where the pandemic started.”I don’t believe I’ve seen enough data, individual data for me to be able to comment on that,” Walensky said.Asked what the possibilities are, Walensky said, “Certainly the possibilities of, that most coronaviruses that we know of are of origin from, that have infected the population — SARS CoV-1, MERS — generally come from an animal origin.”Kennedy responded: “Are there any other possibilities?””Certainly a lab-based origin is one possibility,” Walensky said.Covid-19 grew into a pandemic in March 2020. The virus has now infected more than 164 million and killed more than 3.4 million people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.Robert Redfield, the former CDC director who worked on the U.S. response to the pandemic under ex-President Donald Trump, said in March he believes the coronavirus originated in a Wuhan lab. More

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    Ford to halt production of F-150, Bronco Sport and other vehicles due to chip shortage

    In this articleFThis photo shows Ford 2018 and 2019 F-150 trucks on the assembly line at the Ford Motor Company’s Rouge Complex on September 27, 2018 in Dearborn, Michigan.Jeff Kowalsky | AFP | Getty ImagesDETROIT – Ford Motor will halt or cut production at eight North American plants for varying periods of time through June due to an ongoing shortage of semiconductor chips impacting the auto industry.Affected vehicles range from the Ford Mustang and Escape crossover to the highly profitable F-150 pickup and Bronco Sport SUV, the company confirmed following an internal memo of the plans that was obtained by CNBC.”Our teams continue making the most of our available semiconductor allocation and will continue finding unique solutions to provide as many high-quality vehicles as possible to our dealers and customers,” Ford said in an emailed statement.The shutdown announcements come a day after President Joe Biden visited a Ford plant in Dearborn, Michigan, where he voiced support for more domestic chip production so something like the current shortage doesn’t happen again.Biden visited a new plant that will produce Ford’s upcoming electric F-150 beginning next year. It’s connected to Ford’s Dearborn Truck plant, which is one of two facilities that produce the full-size F-150 pickup.The impacted plants are as follows:Chicago Assembly Plant in illinois will be down the week of May 31 and will operate on a reduced schedule the week of June 7.Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Michigan will be down the weeks of May 31 and June 7.Dearborn Truck Plant in Michigan and Kansas City Assembly Plant in Missouri– truck line – will be down the weeks of May 31 and June 7 and will operate on a reduced schedule the week of June 14.Hermosillo Assembly Plant in Mexico will be down the weeks of June 21 and June 28Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky will be down starting the week of May 31 through mid-July, which includes an already-scheduled summer shutdown period.Oakville Assembly Complex in Canada will be down the weeks of May 31 through June 28.Ohio Assembly Plant will produce only Super Duty Chassis cabs and Medium Duty trucks the weeks of May 31, June 7 and June 14.The cuts come weeks after Ford CEO Jim Farley warned investors that the company expected to lose about 50% of its planned second-quarter production, up from 17% in the first quarter.Ford expects problems from the chip shortage to reduce its earnings by about $2.5 billion in 2021, the high end of its previous guidance for the year. More

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    Taxes would likely rise for the wealthy regardless of Biden's plans

    Anna Moneymaker | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden wants to raise taxes on wealthy households to fund part of his infrastructure agenda.But some of those tax hikes are poised to happen even if Biden’s legislative push isn’t successful. That’s due to the way in which lawmakers structured the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.That law broadly cut taxes for individuals — for example, by lowering the top income-tax rate and exempting more estates from tax. The benefits largely accrued to the top 1%, according to the Tax Foundation.More from Personal Finance:What we learned from Biden, Harris 2020 tax returnsBanks to offer credit cards to people without credit scoresStudents protest mandatory Covid vaccinations at collegesBut the tax provisions for individuals are scheduled to lapse after 2025 and revert to prior law. That means taxes would likely rise for the wealthy absent congressional intervention. (The law’s cut to the corporate tax rate, to 21% from 35%, is permanent.)”That’ll happen if everything remains as it’s scheduled,” said Paul Auslander, a certified financial planner and director of financial planning at Clearwater, Florida-based ProVise Management Group, of the reversal.Expiration of tax cutsIn 2026, the top marginal income-tax rate would jump to 39.6% from the current 37% — one of Biden’s infrastructure-related policy proposals.Further, estates of single taxpayers that exceed roughly $5.5 million to $6 million would be subject to federal tax — about half the current threshold. A reduction to the alternative minimum tax would expire, as would a new 20% tax deduction for pass-through businesses. A doubling of the child tax credit to $2,000 per kid would also lapse.  The top 1% saw the biggest growth in after-tax income as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, according to the Tax Foundation.Their income increased 3.8%, on average, in 2018, according to the analysis. Those in the bottom fifth saw theirs rise 0.8% that year.Biden tax planSenate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said last week that rolling back any of the 2017 tax cuts to fund Biden’s infrastructure agenda is a “red line.”Biden’s American Families Plan seek to raise $1.5 trillion over a decade via higher taxes on the top 1%. The revenue would fund initiatives like expanded education, child care and paid leave, which Democrats say factor among U.S. infrastructure.The plan would raise the top tax rate to 39.6%. It would also roughly double the tax rate millionaires pay on appreciated stock and other assets — the so-called capital-gains tax. It would also impose a capital-gains tax on certain asset transfers at death.Two-thirds of taxpayers in the top 1% would see their taxes increase as a result of the Biden proposal, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. (This group has an average income of $2.2 million, according to the analysis.)However, Biden’s plan faces headwinds in Congress.If it doesn’t succeed, the top 1% will see their after-tax income fall a slight 0.1%, on average, due to the expiration of Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provisions, according to the Tax Foundation.The rich aren’t the only ones who’d see a tax increase — all income groups would see their after-tax income fall to a similar degree as a result of the expiring provisions.And not all expiring provisions would necessarily raise taxes on the rich. A $10,000 cap on the state and local tax deduction, for example, would also be repealed, for example.Some tax experts think it’s possible Congress will choose to extend the temporary tax breaks.”Politicians generally want to extend tax cuts,” said Steven Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. “It’s hard once you introduce a tax cut temporarily not to extend them permanently.”Financial planningThe tax uncertainty makes big financial-planning decisions challenging — and individuals shouldn’t make knee-jerk moves due to what they think might happen, according to financial advisors.That’s especially true with irreversible transactions, like the sale of a business an owner had planned to hold long-term to avoid a potentially higher capital-gains tax, Auslander said.”It’s a moving target,” Auslander said of taxes. “I wouldn’t make too many long-term bets right now, unless you’re planning to give money away to kids or gift to charities.”That’s a slam dunk and makes sense no matter what.” More

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    60% of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine dose as case counts fall further

    A healthcare worker from the El Paso Fire Department administers the Moderna vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a vaccination centre near the Santa Fe International Bridge, in El Paso, Texas, May 7, 2021.Jose Luis Gonzalez | ReutersCenters for Disease Control and Prevention data published Tuesday shows 60% of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine.The milestone comes roughly six weeks ahead of July 4, the deadline for President Joe Biden’s latest vaccination goal of getting 70% of adults to receive one dose or more.U.S. case counts fell further Tuesday, with the seven-day average of daily new cases now at about 31,200, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.U.S. share of the total population vaccinatedAbout 48% of the U.S. population has received one dose or more of a vaccine and 38% is fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsOf those age 18 and older, 60% are at least partially vaccinated, and in some places that figure is even higher. In seven states — Vermont, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Maine, and New Jersey — more than 70% of adults have received at least one dose.U.S. vaccine shots administeredThe country is reporting an average of 1.8 million vaccinations per day over the past week, federal data shows. That figure has been on a mostly downward trend from its peak level of 3.4 million daily shots on April 13.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsCDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Tuesday that more than 600,000 kids ages 12 to 15 — the most-recently eligible age group — had received Covid vaccine shots in the past week.U.S. Covid casesThe latest seven-day average of daily new Covid cases in the U.S. is 31,200, according to Hopkins data. That’s down 18% from a week prior. The country was reporting an average of more than 71,000 cases per day about a month ago.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsCase counts have declined by 5% or more in 40 states over the past week.U.S. Covid deathsThe U.S. is reporting 614 Covid deaths per day, based on a seven-day average of Hopkins data.Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsMore than 587,000 total deaths have been reported in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:CDC chief says lab-based origin of Covid possible but animal host is most commonEmergent CEO says FDA is holding over 100 million J&J Covid vaccine doses for further testing after botched doses Employees at plant that ruined millions of J&J Covid vaccine doses failed to shower, change clothes60% of U.S. adults have received at least one vaccine dose as case counts fall further India’s daily death toll crosses 4,500 as Covid-19 cases stay below 300,000 Texas Gov. Abbott threatens to fine cities and local officials if they impose mask mandatesAs more colleges decide to require Covid vaccines for students, some protest Olympic organizers should mandate Covid vaccines for athletes and fans at Tokyo Games  From employer mandates to TV ads: What full FDA approval could mean for Covid vaccines India Covid variant set to be dominant in UK ‘in a matter of days,’ posing unknown dangers More