Today it was announced that Tesla was finally accepted into the S&P 500 index. Becoming part of one of the most popular indices in the world has been a goal for Tesla for a while. The company got rejected earlier in 2020, but thanks to its great performance during the third quarter, the index decided that it will add it on December 21. This will cause some reshifting of funds (reportedly around 51 billion USD) from investors who already have poured money into the S&P 500.
Tesla shares increased sharply in price after this announcement. So far, the electric car maker has gained 14% and could grow more before the end of the day.
As for the legal disputes surrounding the 2020 Presidential election, one of Trump’s most important cases will be going to court tomorrow. This lawsuit aims to prevent the Pennsylvania Secretary of State from certifying the state’s results. According to legal experts, nothing fraudulent went on in Pennsylvania and even if the small number of ballots the lawsuit pertains to is excluded from the total count, Biden will still win Pennsylvania by a wide margin.
Nevertheless, if Trump officially loses all lawsuits in Pennsylvania, it is possible that we may finally see him concede the election. There was no way for Trump to get to the number of electoral votes required without winning Pennsylvania.
Aside from this, Donald Trump is also trying to make last-minute changes in US politics. The President is reportedly working on plans for withdrawing more US troops from Afghanistan and Iraq. This has drawn criticism from both Democrats and Republicans, with Sen. Mitch McConnell warning that this move would make the region a brewing ground for terrorist organizations.
Trump is also trying to reshuffle some of the Federal Reserve’s board of governors but also does not seem to have enough support even among Republicans to accomplish that.
While the US President is concerned with withdrawing troops from the Middle East and his legal disputes with Joe Biden over the elections, the coronavirus pandemic seems to have dropped from the agenda even though it has gotten worse.
The United States had its second-highest daily increase in the number of Covid-19 cases, adding another 162,000 to its tally yesterday, bringing the national total to 11.5 million.
The pandemic is also still quite serious in Europe, though there are signs that the lockdowns are working. The number of new cases registered daily appears to be going down in France, Spain, and Germany, as well as several other countries that have been in lockdowns even longer.
