🇺🇸Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States, taking control of a nation wracked by a deadly pandemic, persistent unemployment and growing social unrest: http://bloom.bg/2XYcn41

🚫China imposed sanctions on former Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and other Trump administration officials, saying they had made “crazy moves” that harmed U.S.-China ties: http://bloom.bg/3p6RWOc

📈U.S. stocks rallied as investors grew optimistic that recent federal spending will revive growth and bolster corporate earnings: http://bloom.bg/2Y19dfQ

📩 President Joe Biden said Donald Trump left him a "very generous letter" before leaving Washington on Wednesday. https://bloom.bg/2M7g4BN (If you missed it, watch our two-minute inauguration recap here: https://bloom.bg/2LHfye5)

🚫 Twitter locked the official account for the Chinese embassy in the U.S. after a post defended Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang. Critics say China is engaged in the forced sterilization of minority Uighur women there. https://bloom.bg/39PsaHR

💉 New York is looming toward a vaccine shortage, Hong Kong is set to approve Pfizer’s shot and Biden will re-engage with the WHO. Here's the latest virus news: https://bloom.bg/2Kx2MOv

😷 Joe Biden will issue a sweeping set of executive orders to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic. The new president will seek to overhaul testing, stabilize the supply chain and boost vaccine distribution. https://bloom.bg/3qGjQRK

✈️ Biden will also order people to wear masks in airports and on planes, and enforce quarantines for international travelers. A negative Covid-19 test will be required before flying to the U.S. https://bloom.bg/35VvgJp

⛽ And a Bloomberg analysis finds that total direct emissions from the world's biggest oil company may be twice as much what it reports publicly.
https://bloom.bg/3sEod1v

📉 Bitcoin tumbled below $30,000 from recent record highs. Analysts warn the drop below the key level could be a sign of further losses ahead. https://trib.al/toAL46m

⛽ Millions of barrels of Venezuelan crude, embargoed by the U.S., have been surreptitiously going to China. Documents reviewed by Bloomberg show the lengths to which some traders disguised the oil’s origin and got it to Asia. https://trib.al/3tG92dD

🔍 These are the 50 companies worth watching in 2021. We tracked about 2,000 companies in fields including finance, retail and technology, and came up with a shortlist. Explore: https://trib.al/Z4g3E0V

Hello 👋 Here’s what we're following right now:

💰 China's growing power is scaring ordinary savers out of Hong Kong. Outflows this year could reach $36 billion to the U.K. alone, says Bank of America. https://bloom.bg/2KIQu5J

🇲🇽 Mexico’s president says he’s infected with Covid-19. The nation has seen record increases in cases and fatalities in the past week. https://bloom.bg/3ofbuyH

💹 Robinhood saw a huge boost among rookie traders. But now they’re giving up the DIY investing apps and turning to financial advisers for help instead. https://bloom.bg/3qSzdXp

💉 As Covid-19 rages, governments are debating whether to prioritize giving as many people as possible a first shot of vaccine, or to reserve supply for a second dose. Here's why delaying the second shot is messy. https://bloom.bg/3cf2t6F

⚠ The world is witnessing the greatest rise in inequality on record, according to Oxfam. While the rich have already bounced back, the world's poorest are likely to feel the effects of the pandemic for years. https://bloom.bg/3sOl92V

📈 Cryptocurrency enthusiasts counting on Bitcoin to surge back above $40,000 face faltering demand for the biggest fund tracking the digital asset, according to JPMorgan Chase. The pace of flows into the fund "appears to have peaked." https://bloom.bg/3og91nF

🇺🇸 House Democrats triggered the start of an unprecedented trial by delivering a single article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate. https://bloom.bg/36flPo6

🌎 Ice melting has accelerated so much over the past 30 years that it’s now in line with the worst-case climate warming scenarios outlined by scientists. https://bloom.bg/36cpcfG

🇹🇼 And a shortage of auto chips has made global leaders realize how dangerously dependent they are on Taiwan for semiconductors. Meanwhile, China is pushing the world to avoid official dealings with the island democracy. https://bloom.bg/3oiywF0

🇩🇪 Germany is urging the EU to limit vaccine exports as a standoff with drugmaker AstraZeneca worsens. AstraZeneca has said that planned deliveries of its Covid-19 jab would face delays. https://bloom.bg/3sROxFv

💰Private equity titan Leon Black paid Jeffrey Epstein $158 million between 2012 and 2017 — after the sex offender pleaded guilty to felony charges. Here's what Black, one of America's richest men, got for his money. https://bloom.bg/3a5VutL

😄 And it seems that money can buy happiness after all. A new study refutes the theory that above a certain income level dollars don't help your sense of well-being. https://bloom.bg/3qPHEm8

📈 Hello, here’s what we’re following in markets right now:

• On any given day, there may be a dozen tiny, profitless companies that mysteriously go from obscure penny stocks to viral sensations. Here's how it happens. https://bloom.bg/3pquPi2

• GameStop’s surge accelerated as shares nearly doubled on Tuesday. Michael Burry of “The Big Short” fame called the rally “unnatural, insane and dangerous.” https://bit.ly/2YeTD0t

• And short-squeezed hedge funds are now getting hit on their bullish bets too. https://bloom.bg/3pmhSWv

💉 French drugmaker Sanofi has agreed to produce 125 million doses of BioNTech and Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine in an unusual collaboration to speed vaccinations efforts in the EU. https://bloom.bg/3qZmpya

💸 GameStop has continued its skyward march in U.S. premarket trading after an Elon Musk tweet. The stock rose as high as $260, up 76% from the last close. https://bloom.bg/3cc8mBv

⛏ And the conviction of billionaire Beny Steinmetz has been hailed as a milestone in the fight against corruption in mining. But it's not clear whether he'll ever set foot in prison. https://bloom.bg/3sZy8Pe

📈 In 11 hours of pure market mania, a new band of day traders sent a range of fringe stocks to gains of 100% or more. We tracked what happened in real time: https://trib.al/2utSoai

🤔 You might be wondering whether you should also buy GameStop, AMC and other Reddit-hyped stocks. This is what some financial pros say: https://trib.al/14AMN5I

🇨🇳 And in pandemic news: After strict border curbs, mass testing and hard lockdowns, China is using a new method to tackle coronavirus outbreaks: anal swabs. https://trib.al/az9KVer

🇬🇧 Britain may help the EU shore up its Covid-19 vaccine supplies as AstraZeneca faces severe disruption. The EU failed to convince the drugmaker to divert doses from the U.K. to make up for a production glitch in Europe. https://bloom.bg/39nYt1A

📈 GameStop resumed its rally in early U.S. trading, after a brief outage of the Reddit forum whose users have fueled the stock’s surge. The shares were up 24% at $431 at 6:15 a.m. New York time. The stock has advanced more than 1,700% this year.
https://bloom.bg/3ou8jmS

⛽ And oil and gas companies knew they would face a fight with President Joe Biden, who had campaigned on tackling climate change. But nobody expected fossil fuel to come under such an immediate attack. https://bloom.bg/3ooqH0n

💹 Robinhood drew down some of its bank credit lines to ensure it has enough cash to clear trades, sources say. https://bloom.bg/2Yqot6o

In a Bloomberg TV interview, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said the company did so to protect its financial position. Watch the clip below, or the full video here: https://bloom.bg/3r7q5hL

It’s tapped at least several hundred million dollars, a significant amount of money for a firm that was valued at about $12 billion a few months ago, according to one of the people.

📈 GameStop and other day-trader favorites surged back after Thursday’s tumble as brokerages said they would start to ease trading restrictions, setting the scene for another wild day on the markets. https://bloom.bg/3punZbl

💰 Meanwhile Robinhood raised more than $1 billion from existing investors and drew millions more from bank credit lines to weather the storm. https://bloom.bg/36lqMvI

📮 And away from markets: Poland has a new billionaire — thanks to a pandemic-fueled boom in postal lockers. https://bloom.bg/2NN9ykA

Hello, here's what we're following right now:

🇲🇲 In Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi and other top leaders were detained by the army in an early-morning raid, said the country’s ruling party. According to reports, the military has taken power for one year. Lines of communications were spotty, making it hard to get information. https://bloom.bg/3rai7V2

📈 The price of silver surged as the Reddit-inspired stock market frenzy spills over into commodities. Retail sites were overwhelmed with demand for bars and coins over the weekend. https://bloom.bg/39CBwYR

🏢 And Hong Kong’s notorious subdivided flats — crowded and sometimes no bigger than a single bed — are sparking a Covid crisis. https://bloom.bg/3amxVgp

💉 Few people care who made their flu shot or other immunizations. Covid changed that, turning vaccine makers into household names. But for now most people won't get to decide which shot they get.
https://bloom.bg/36xKQLv

🇺🇸 Joe Biden must decide whether to break up a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief proposal after the GOP offered a $600 billion deal. Biden will meet with Republicans to discuss it on Monday. https://bloom.bg/36v7JPU

🐵 Elon Musk says one of his startups has a monkey with wires going into its brain that’s able to play video games. "He’s a happy monkey," said the Tesla CEO. https://bloom.bg/36sQxdO

Hello! Here are our top markets reads today.

🌽 China is in export overdrive — and hogging shipping containers. That's sparked turmoil in supply chains worldwide, with food piling up in all the wrong places. https://bloom.bg/3pEPcYF

🛑 GameStop mania was tempered by a largely invisible Wall Street instrument that emerges when things get wild. https://bloom.bg/2Ld9FFa

🏹 And here's how much investors could have lost from Robinhood's trading restrictions. https://bloom.bg/2YD7RIt

👍 An early but positive milestone in the fight against Covid-19: More Americans have now received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine than have tested positive for the virus. https://bloom.bg/2YyG6ko

📉 GameStop's spectacular rally unwound further Tuesday, after bearish investors appeared to cover their positions and trading volume shriveled. https://bloom.bg/3tlkciT

🇺🇸 And Joe Biden has signaled he's intent on a large pandemic relief bill, potentially without Republican support, even after a White House meeting with GOP senators on Monday. https://bloom.bg/3jb03Y3

🚨Amazon said Jeff Bezos will transition to the role of Executive Chair in the third quarter of 2021 and Andy Jassy will become Chief Executive Officer at that time.

“In the Exec Chair role, I intend to focus my energies and attention on new products and early initiatives,” Bezos said in a letter to employees: http://bloom.bg/39LMtaF

📉 The meme stocks that Robinhood originally restricted have lost $167 billion in a matter of days, and there’s little sign the pain is easing. https://bloom.bg/3cwY7YF

🇰🇷 Our annual innovation index is here. The U.S. dropped out of the top 10 while South Korea returned to first place. https://bloom.bg/36E36Tt

☁ Amazon’s incoming CEO Andy Jassy is arguably the most important person in tech over the past decade — and uncannily similar to Jeff Bezos. https://bloom.bg/3aup4JD