Tag Archives: accelerates

Business

Dow Jones Futures: Volatile Stock Market Continues As Russia-Ukraine Crisis Accelerates

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Dow Jones futures were higher following Monday’s volatile stock market action, as the U.S. relocated its embassy in Ukraine amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. Arista Networks (ANET) and Continental Resources (CLR) were key earnings movers after the close, while Huntsman (HUN) will report early Tuesday.




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Amid a volatile and struggling stock market rally, BHP Group (BHP), Deere (DE), Palo Alto Networks (PANW) and Stifel Financial (SF) are among Monday’s top stocks to buy and watch. All four stocks are in or near new buy zones.

On Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.5%, while the S&P 500 lost 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite inched lower.

Among the Dow Jones leaders, Apple (AAPL) rose 0.1% Monday, while Microsoft (MSFT) edged lower in today’s stock market. American Express (AXP), a Dow Jones stock to watch, is in buy range after last week’s breakout.

Electric-vehicle leader Tesla (TSLA) rallied 1.8%, snapping a two-day losing streak.

Microsoft, Stifel and Tesla are IBD Leaderboard stocks. BHP was featured in this week’s Stocks Near A Buy Zone column. Deere is an IBD SwingTrader stock. Palo Alto Networks was Thursday’s IBD Stock of the Day.

Dow Jones Futures Today: Ukraine-Russia Crisis

After the stock market close Monday, Dow Jones futures moved up 0.1% vs. fair value, and S&P 500 futures rose 0.2%. Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.3% vs. fair value.

U.S. Stock Market Today Overview
Index Symbol Price Gain/Loss % Change
Dow Jones (0DJIA) 34565.78 -172.28 -0.50
S&P 500 (0S&P5) 4401.55 -17.09 -0.39
Nasdaq (0NDQC ) 13790.92 -0.23 +0.00
Russell 2000 (IWM) 200.70 -0.68 -0.34
IBD 50 (FFTY) 37.15 -0.40 -1.07
Last Update: 4:30 PM ET 2/14/2022

Among exchange traded funds, the Nasdaq 100 tracker Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) rose 0.1% Monday, and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) moved down 0.35%.

The 10-year Treasury yield briefly moved back above 2% Monday before settling at 1.99%. Meanwhile, U.S. oil prices advanced around 2%, as West Texas Intermediate crude traded above $95 a barrel.

On Monday, the U.S. closed its embassy in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, relocating to Lviv near the Polish border. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement, “We are in the process of temporarily relocating our Embassy operations in Ukraine from our Embassy in Kyiv to Lviv due to the dramatic acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces.”

Stock Market Rally Struggles

The stock market posted mostly disappointing action Monday, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 ended squarely lower. Amid the recent volatility, now is an important time to read IBD’s The Big Picture column.

Friday’s The Big Picture commented, “The distribution-day count since late January remains tame. But more importantly, traders who gained market exposure after a follow-through day on Jan. 31 are now under water. You can call that an expectation breaker.”

If you’re new to IBD, consider taking a look at its stock trading system and CAN SLIM basics. Recognizing chart patterns is one key to the investment guidelines. IBD offers a broad range of growth stock lists, such as Leaderboard and SwingTrader.

Investors also can create watchlists, find companies nearing a buy point, or develop custom screens at IBD MarketSmith.

Four Dow Jones Stocks To Watch Now

Stock Market Earnings: Arista, Continental,

Arista Networks and Continental Resources provided insight to two very different industries after the close Monday.

Cloud software leader Arista reported strong fourth quarter earnings and sales results, sparking an 8% surge in extended trade. ANET shares found stout resistance at their 50-day line last week, but may be set to reclaim that level on Tuesday if the extended session’s gains persist.

Continental, a leading shale oil producer, dropped around 1% late Monday after the company’s better-than-expected fourth quarter results. CLR shares ended Monday extended past a cup-with-handle’s 53.76 entry.

Chemicals maker Huntsman ended out of buy range past a 34.57 flat-base entry Monday. The company is expected to earn 90 cents per share on sales of $2.16 billion.

Dow Jones Stocks To Buy And Watch: American Express

American Express broke out past what IBD MarketSmith chart analysis plotted as a cup-base buy point at 189.13 and is in the 5% buy range that tops out at 198.59. AXP stock traded up 0.3% Monday.

Bullishly, the stock’s relative strength line is at new highs, indicating significant stock market outperformance.

3 Top Growth Stocks To Buy And Watch In The Current Stock Market Rally

Stocks To Buy And Watch: BHP, Deere, Palo Alto, Stifel

Mining giant BHP Group fell further below a cup-with-handle entry at 69.66 following Monday’s nearly 1% descent, according to IBD MarketSmith chart analysis. The relative strength line continues to ascend but remains far from its old highs, so that’s a technical metric to watch.

IBD SwingTrader stock Deere is just below a cup-with-handle’s 388.20 buy point after last week’s breakout move. The 5% buy zone goes up to 407.61. Shares dropped 1.4% Monday.

Thursday’s IBD Stock Of The Day, Palo Alto Networks, is moving up the right side of a consolidation with a 572.77 buy point. Shares rebounded from Friday’s sharp losses, moving up 2.1% Monday and ending just below the 50-day line. The cybersecurity leader will report earnings on Feb. 22, so an early breakout move will carry more risk.

IBD Leaderboard stock Stifel Financial fell further below its 78.70 buy point in a consolidation following Monday’s 1.6% drop. Its RS line hit a new high last week.

Join IBD experts as they analyze leading stocks in the current stock market rally on IBD Live

Tesla Stock

Tesla stock climbed 1.8% Monday, recovering a part of Friday’s 4.9% fall. On Monday, the China Passenger Car Association said Tesla sold 59,845 China-made vehicles in January, down from December’s 70,847 vehicles.

The stock is again approaching its long-term 200-day line after finding support there previously in late January. Tesla shares remain sharply below their 50-day moving average. There is no proper entry in sight, as the stock continues to consolidate.

The stock traded as high as 1,243.49 on Nov. 4, but ended Monday about 30% off that all-time high.

Dow Jones Leaders: Apple, Microsoft

Among Dow Jones stocks, Apple stock reversed from early losses to move up 0.1% Monday, but remains below its key 50-day moving average line. A new consolidation shows a buy point at 183.04, but a decisive move above last week’s high of 176.65 could be an early entry for aggressive investors.

Software leader Microsoft edged lower Monday, as the top Dow Jones stock looks for support around its long-term 200-day line.

Be sure to follow Scott Lehtonen on Twitter at @IBD_SLehtonen for more on growth stocks and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

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Business

MongoDB shares jump as revenue growth accelerates

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Dev Ittycheria, CEO of MongoDB

Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Shares of database software maker MongoDB were up as much as 18% in extended trading on Monday after issuing fiscal third-quarter results.

Here’s how the company did:

  • Earnings: Loss of 11 cents per share, adjusted, vs. a loss of 38 cents per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.
  • Revenue: $226.9 million, vs. $205.2 million as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv.

Revenue grew 50% year over year in the quarter that ended Oct. 31, compared with 44% growth in the prior quarter, according to a statement. Revenue from the company’s Atlas cloud database service grew 84%, compared with 83% growth in the previous quarter.

But the company’s total net loss widened to $81.3 million from $72.7 million in the year-ago quarter, with sales and marketing expenses totaling more than half of quarterly revenue. Competitors include top cloud providers such as Amazon and Microsoft, as well as database incumbents such as IBM and Oracle.

MongoDB raised its guidance for the full 2022 fiscal year. It now expects an adjusted net loss per share of 74 cents to 71 cents on $846.3 million to $849.3 million in revenue, compared with a loss of $1.20 to $1.13 on $805.0 million to $811.0 million in revenue. Analysts had expected a loss of $1.13 per share and $813.0 million in revenue.

Travel, events and other business expenses came in lower than the company had predicted as the Covid pandemic continued during the quarter, Michael Gordon, MongoDB’s operating and finance chief, said on a conference call with analysts.

Many large Atlas cloud customers renewed contracts early, boosting deferred revenue in the quarter, Gordon said.

Coinbase is moving more workloads to the Atlas service, said MongoDB CEO Dev Ittycheria. The cryptocurrency exchange operator had “some pretty unique requirements when it comes to performance and scale,” he said. “As you can imagine, in their market, they have a lot of periods where they have some intense trading days.”

WATCH: MongoDB CTO on software company benefits, remote and hybrid work solutions

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Business

Tesla shares drop as sell-off accelerates

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Tesla stock was down by as much as 11% in mid-day trading on Tuesday, extending losses for a second day, after CEO Elon Musk over the weekend proposed selling 10% of his shares in the electric vehicle business.

The drop is on pace to be the largest of the year for the stock, and comes after a fall of nearly 5% on Monday, tempering a mostly upward trend for the year. Overall, Tesla shares are up more than 47% in 2021 and have more than doubled from one year ago, as the company reported improved automotive margins and navigated a chip shortage to ramp production while competitors faltered.

Current and former board members including chairwoman Robyn Denholm, Elon Musk’s brother Kimbal Musk, Ira Ehrenpreis and Antonio Gracias have also offloaded hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Tesla shares since Oct. 28 after Tesla’s market cap surpassed $1 trillion.

Musk was awarded a hefty options package as part of a CEO performance plan in 2012. Because he doesn’t take a salary or cash bonus, his wealth comes from those stock awards and gains in Tesla’s share price. The 2012 award was for 22.8 million shares at a strike price of $6.24 per share. Those are due to expire on Aug. 13, 2022.

He has additional options from an unprecedented 2018 CEO pay package as well.

The iconoclastic CEO has pledged at least 92 million of his Tesla shares to lenders for cash borrowing. As CNBC previously reported, Musk may want to sell some shares to pay down his debt, and he faces a potential $15 billion tax bill on his windfall as he exercises his options and sells shares.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

–Yun Li contributed to this story

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Science

Machine-learning system accelerates discovery of new materials for 3D printing

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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The growing popularity of 3D printing for manufacturing all sorts of items, from customized medical devices to affordable homes, has created more demand for new 3D printing materials designed for very specific uses.

To cut down on the time it takes to discover these new materials, researchers at MIT have developed a data-driven process that uses machine learning to optimize new 3D printing materials with multiple characteristics, like toughness and compression strength.

By streamlining materials development, the system lowers costs and lessens the environmental impact by reducing the amount of chemical waste. The machine learning algorithm could also spur innovation by suggesting unique chemical formulations that human intuition might miss.

“Materials development is still very much a manual process. A chemist goes into a lab, mixes ingredients by hand, makes samples, tests them, and comes to a final formulation. But rather than having a chemist who can only do a couple of iterations over a span of days, our system can do hundreds of iterations over the same time span,” says Mike Foshey, a mechanical engineer and project manager in the Computational Design and Fabrication Group (CDFG) of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), and co-lead author of the paper.

Additional authors include co-lead author Timothy Erps, a technical associate in CDFG; Mina Konaković Luković, a CSAIL postdoc; Wan Shou, a former MIT postdoc who is now an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas; senior author Wojciech Matusik, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT; and Hanns Hagen Geotzke, Herve Dietsch, and Klaus Stoll of BASF. The research was published today in Science Advances.

Optimizing discovery

In the system the researchers developed, an optimization algorithm performs much of the trial-and-error discovery process.

A material developer selects a few ingredients, inputs details on their chemical compositions into the algorithm, and defines the mechanical properties the new material should have. Then the algorithm increases and decreases the amounts of those components (like turning knobs on an amplifier) and checks how each formula affects the material’s properties, before arriving at the ideal combination.

Then the developer mixes, processes, and tests that sample to find out how the material actually performs. The developer reports the results to the algorithm, which automatically learns from the experiment and uses the new information to decide on another formulation to test.

“We think, for a number of applications, this would outperform the conventional method because you can rely more heavily on the optimization algorithm to find the optimal solution. You wouldn’t need an expert chemist on hand to preselect the material formulations,” Foshey says.

The researchers have created a free, open-source materials optimization platform called AutoOED that incorporates the same optimization algorithm. AutoOED is a full software package that also allows researchers to conduct their own optimization.

Making materials

The researchers tested the system by using it to optimize formulations for a new 3D printing ink that hardens when it is exposed to ultraviolet light.

They identified six chemicals to use in the formulations and set the algorithm’s objective to uncover the best-performing material with respect to toughness, compression modulus (stiffness), and strength.

Maximizing these three properties manually would be especially challenging because they can be conflicting; for instance, the strongest material may not be the stiffest. Using a manual process, a chemist would typically try to maximize one property at a time, resulting in many experiments and a lot of waste.

The algorithm came up with 12 top performing materials that had optimal tradeoffs of the three different properties after testing only 120 samples.

Foshey and his collaborators were surprised by the wide variety of materials the algorithm was able to generate, and say the results were far more varied than they expected based on the six ingredients. The system encourages exploration, which could be especially useful in situations when specific material properties can’t be easily discovered intuitively.

Faster in the future

The process could be accelerated even more through the use of additional automation. Researchers mixed and tested each sample by hand, but robots could operate the dispensing and mixing systems in future versions of the system, Foshey says.

Farther down the road, the researchers would also like to test this data-driven discovery process for uses beyond developing new 3D printing inks.

“This has broad applications across materials science in general. For instance, if you wanted to design new types of batteries that were higher efficiency and lower cost, you could use a system like this to do it. Or if you wanted to optimize paint for a car that performed well and was environmentally friendly, this system could do that, too,” he says.

Order up! AI finds the right material

More information:
Timothy Erps, Accelerated Discovery of 3D Printing Materials Using Data-Driven Multi-Objective Optimization, Science Advances (2021). DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abf7435. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abf7435
Provided by
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Citation:
Machine-learning system accelerates discovery of new materials for 3D printing (2021, October 15)
retrieved 15 October 2021
from https://phys.org/news/2021-10-machine-learning-discovery-materials-3d.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.



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Business

FedEx Earnings Growth Accelerates After XPO Stock Breakout Fizzles

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FedEx (FDX) reported better-than-expected fiscal third-quarter earnings as vaccine shipments ramp up. FedEx stock rose in late trade as it works toward a buy point.




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Earlier, XPO Logistics (XPO) takes a key step toward spinning off its logistics business, with XPO stock briefly breaking out before reversing lower amid the broad market sell-off.

Transportation and logistics firm XPO announced a new company, GXO Logistics, Thursday that will house its logistics business after a planned spinoff of that business. It also revealed a confidential Form 10 filing tied to the spinoff, calling the move a significant milestone. The three letters GXO stand for “game-changing opportunities” for customers, it said.

GXO will become the second largest contract logistics provider in the world, the company said.

XPO Logistics disclosed the proposed spinoff last December to unlock value. It will focus on less-than-truckload freight transportation after the separation, which is set to complete in the second half of 2021.

Find Today’s Best Growth Stocks To Watch With IBD 50

FedEx Earnings

Estimates: Wall Street expected FedEx earnings to soar 128% to $3.21 as revenue grows 14% to $19.97 billion.

Results: FedEx earnings surged 146% to $3.47 a share. Revenue swelled 23% to $21.50 billion. That’s the third straight quarter of accelerating growth for both.

Outlook: FedEx sees fiscal 2021 EPS of $17.60 to $18.20 a share excluding a variety of items, including retirement plan accounting and TNT Express integration costs.

“We expect demand for our unmatched e-commerce and international express solutions to remain very high for the foreseeable future,” Chairman and CEO Fred Smith said in the FedEx earnings release.

IBD Live: A New Tool For Daily Stock Market Analysis

FedEx Stock, XPO Stock

FedEx stock rose 4% in extended trade. Shares closed off 0.9% to 263.51 in Thursday’s stock market trading. Its stock is forming a cup base with a 305.76 buy point after clearing the 50-day line, according to MarketSmith chart analysis. Archrival UPS was little changed late. UPS stock edged down 0.3% on Thursday after dipping below the 50-day line on Wednesday.

XPO stock fell 1.6% to 126.30 on Thursday. after rising intraday to 131.42, just topping a 128.67 buy point off a flat base or shallow cup base. FedEx stock and UPS have lagging RS lines, while XPO’s relative strength line is near the consolidation peak.

Like rival UPS (UPS), which beat Q4 views in February, FedEx could gain from coronavirus vaccine shipments and a holiday shipping season fueled by e-commerce volumes.

FedEx said March 1 it’s preparing for vaccine volumes to grow throughout the spring and summer, after the U.S. started distribution in December. It also began shipping the third approved vaccine, made by Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and distributed by drug wholesaler McKesson (MCK).

“As manufacturers obtain approval to ship Covid-19 vaccines with greater temperature ranges and varying dosing allotments, we anticipate more of these packages moving to more places through our global network,” FedEx CEO Don Colleran said.

FedEx earnings have accelerated for two quarters, capped with a 92% gain in the second quarter. The pandemic lockdowns unleashed a flood of online shopping, which led to pricing gains across various segments for the shipping giant.

But margins for FedEx and UPS are under scrutiny as less-profitable residential volumes boom.

Last December, FedEx acquired e-commerce platform ShopRunner as Amazon.com (AMZN) grows its logistics and delivery business.

Amazon has become less of a customer and more of a rival to UPS and FedEx, which has reduced their relationship with the e-commerce giant.

Find Aparna Narayanan on Twitter at @IBD_Aparna.

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Health

Wisconsin accelerates opening vaccines for medical conditions

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The Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced Tuesday it will accelerate opening COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to residents age 16 and older with certain medical conditions.Continuing Coverage: Coronavirus in WisconsinGov. Tony Evers announced the next group will now be eligible for the vaccine beginning March 22.The original date, announced last week, was March 29.”Our vaccinators across the state are doing great work to get folks vaccinated and get this done, and because of their good work, Wisconsin continues to be a national leader in getting shots in arms,” Evers said. “Moving up eligibility for this critical group will help us get over the finish line and sooner, and get us back to our Wisconsin way of life.”This eligibility group includes individuals with medical conditions associated with an increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19. Based on the recent and anticipated increases in vaccine availability, the DHS said it anticipates the general public will be eligible for the vaccine beginning May 1. The decision to expand eligibility to include individuals with certain medical conditions aligns with recommendations provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and was informed by work by the State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee and guidance from medical experts in DHS.The CDC’s recommendations reflect the best available evidence on conditions that are known to make individuals more vulnerable to severe complications due to COVID-19.The next eligibility group includes individuals age 16 and over with the following medical conditions:Asthma (moderate-to-severe)CancerCerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)Chronic kidney diseaseCOPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)Cystic fibrosisDown syndromeHeart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathiesHypertension or high blood pressureImmunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant, blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids or use of other immune weakening medicinesLiver diseaseNeurologic conditions, such as dementiaObesity (body mass index of 30-39 kg/m2)Overweight (BMI of 25-29 kg/m2)PregnancyPulmonary fibrosis (having damaged or scarred lung tissues)Severe Obesity (BMI 40 kg/m2 or more)Sickle cell diseaseType 1 or 2 diabetes mellitusThalassemia (a type of blood disorder)Due to the limited supply of vaccine and with this next eligible group likely adding more than 2 million individuals in Wisconsin eligible for the vaccine, providers may need to prioritize individuals within this population who are at higher risk. Officials also clarified that members of the clergy, restaurant workers and public safety workers, like judges, prosecutors and public defenders, were also included in the group.Essential healthcare workers, nursing home staff, police, firefighters, teachers, those 65 and older and others remain eligible to receive the vaccine.Those prioritized individuals include individuals with severe medical conditions, those with two or more conditions, older adults or those living in communities that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The DHS said every community is different, but everyone in the group will be eligible for the vaccine. Some vaccinators may ask people to sign a form attesting to their illness while others may just take people at their word. The DHS said it will continue to monitor vaccination coverage statewide and partner with vaccine providers in order to provide an updated vaccination timeline for the general public.Individuals with the outlined medical conditions can access the vaccine through a variety of options, including community-based clinics, health care providers, local and tribal health departments and pharmacies. Wisconsinites with a primary care provider may hear directly from their provider. Visit the Wisconsin COVID-19 vaccine options page or call the toll-free vaccine hotline at 1-844-684-1064 to learn more.In the meantime, officials said it was important to double down on ways to stop the spread of COVID-19 due to emerging strains of the virus. Wearing face masks, staying physically distant, washing hands and getting tested continue to be crucial tools for protecting communities against COVID-19. Individuals who are fully vaccinated can review recently released post-vaccination guidance on the DHS website. As of Monday, 23.1% of people in Wisconsin had received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 68% of people over age 65 had received at least one dose, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.Sign up for coronavirus email alerts from WISNGet breaking news alerts with the WISN 12 app.Follow us: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube

MADISON, Wis. —

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced Tuesday it will accelerate opening COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to residents age 16 and older with certain medical conditions.

Continuing Coverage: Coronavirus in Wisconsin

Gov. Tony Evers announced the next group will now be eligible for the vaccine beginning March 22.

The original date, announced last week, was March 29.

“Our vaccinators across the state are doing great work to get folks vaccinated and get this done, and because of their good work, Wisconsin continues to be a national leader in getting shots in arms,” Evers said. “Moving up eligibility for this critical group will help us get over the finish line and sooner, and get us back to our Wisconsin way of life.”

This eligibility group includes individuals with medical conditions associated with an increased risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

Based on the recent and anticipated increases in vaccine availability, the DHS said it anticipates the general public will be eligible for the vaccine beginning May 1.

The decision to expand eligibility to include individuals with certain medical conditions aligns with recommendations provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and was informed by work by the State Disaster Medical Advisory Committee and guidance from medical experts in DHS.

The CDC’s recommendations reflect the best available evidence on conditions that are known to make individuals more vulnerable to severe complications due to COVID-19.

The next eligibility group includes individuals age 16 and over with the following medical conditions:

  • Asthma (moderate-to-severe)
  • Cancer
  • Cerebrovascular disease (affects blood vessels and blood supply to the brain)
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
  • Cystic fibrosis
  • Down syndrome
  • Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
  • Hypertension or high blood pressure
  • Immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant, blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids or use of other immune weakening medicines
  • Liver disease
  • Neurologic conditions, such as dementia
  • Obesity (body mass index of 30-39 kg/m2)
  • Overweight (BMI of 25-29 kg/m2)
  • Pregnancy
  • Pulmonary fibrosis (having damaged or scarred lung tissues)
  • Severe Obesity (BMI 40 kg/m2 or more)
  • Sickle cell disease
  • Type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus
  • Thalassemia (a type of blood disorder)

Due to the limited supply of vaccine and with this next eligible group likely adding more than 2 million individuals in Wisconsin eligible for the vaccine, providers may need to prioritize individuals within this population who are at higher risk.

Officials also clarified that members of the clergy, restaurant workers and public safety workers, like judges, prosecutors and public defenders, were also included in the group.

Essential healthcare workers, nursing home staff, police, firefighters, teachers, those 65 and older and others remain eligible to receive the vaccine.

Those prioritized individuals include individuals with severe medical conditions, those with two or more conditions, older adults or those living in communities that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

The DHS said every community is different, but everyone in the group will be eligible for the vaccine.

Some vaccinators may ask people to sign a form attesting to their illness while others may just take people at their word.

The DHS said it will continue to monitor vaccination coverage statewide and partner with vaccine providers in order to provide an updated vaccination timeline for the general public.

Individuals with the outlined medical conditions can access the vaccine through a variety of options, including community-based clinics, health care providers, local and tribal health departments and pharmacies.

Wisconsinites with a primary care provider may hear directly from their provider.

Visit the Wisconsin COVID-19 vaccine options page or call the toll-free vaccine hotline at 1-844-684-1064 to learn more.

In the meantime, officials said it was important to double down on ways to stop the spread of COVID-19 due to emerging strains of the virus.

Wearing face masks, staying physically distant, washing hands and getting tested continue to be crucial tools for protecting communities against COVID-19.

Individuals who are fully vaccinated can review recently released post-vaccination guidance on the DHS website.

As of Monday, 23.1% of people in Wisconsin had received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 68% of people over age 65 had received at least one dose, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.

Sign up for coronavirus email alerts from WISN

Get breaking news alerts with the WISN 12 app.
Follow us: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube



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Business

Bitcoin surpasses $60,000 in record high as rally accelerates

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Representation of the virtual currency Bitcoin is seen on a motherboard in this picture illustration taken April 24, 2020.

Dado Ruvic | Reuters

Bitcoin crossed a record high of $60,000 on Saturday morning, continuing its rally as major companies and financial institutions adopt cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency, was at $60,415.34 as of 7:25 a.m. ET, according to Coinbase, recovering from a dip at the end of February that followed a previous record high that month.

The digital currency is up 963% over the last 12 months, according to Coinbase. Its value surpassed $1 trillion last week for the second time this year.

Bitcoin’s rally is driven partly by increased adoption by larger institutional investors and firms and speculative demand. Tesla has purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and plans to accept the digital coin as payment for its products, a decision that sparked more widespread interest.

Mastercard also said it will open up its network to some digital currencies. And PayPal and BNY Mellon have made some moves into the space.

Bitcoin believers argue that the current rally is fueled by demand from institutional investors and is different than past rallies, such as when bitcoin skyrocketed to nearly $20,000 in late 2017 before losing about 80% of its value the next year.

Others argue that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have no intrinsic value and worry that bitcoin could be one of the biggest stimulus-fueled market bubbles on record.

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