Gabelli – November Review

03.12.2020 13:18 - GAMCO International SICAV

Gabelli – November Review

U.S. equities railed sharply in November with many of the well-known indices setting record highs as the prospects for improved economic growth next year were spurred by progress on many vaccines, expectations for more government fiscal stimulus, and a continued U.S. Federal Reserve ultra-easy monetary policy. The potential political effects of the U.S. presidential election results are rapidly unfolding and the U.S. stock market has responded.

While financial markets have looked past the renewed spike in Covid-19 cases, the focus will likely turn to the dynamics of distribution and vaccination rates. Delivery delays and unwillingness to be vaccinated may chill the 2021 outlook. Fed Chair Powell addressed this issue in testimony at a congressional hearing on December first when he said, “A full economic recovery is unlikely until people are confident that it is safe to re-engage in a broad range of activities."

Gabelli Funds held its 2nd Annual Columbia Business School Healthcare Symposium (virtually) in mid-November. The agenda was divided into three panel segments, each with three distinguished speakers from industry and academia, and a Gabelli Funds equity research analyst (Biotech, Healthcare) or a Gabelli Funds healthcare portfolio manager as the moderator. The three panel discussion topics were: Vaccines & Therapeutics to Treat COVID-19, Health Policy & Reimbursement Trends, and Healthcare Delivery in a Virtual World.

Big deals are back as the consolidation of the financial information services industry creates an artificial intelligence and machine learning business data giant with the announced 2020 record $44 billion stock acquisition of IHS Markit by S&P Global. The deal tops the London Stock Exchange Group’s $27-billion bid for Refinitiv and will provide a catalyst for more financial data provider deals. GAMCO’s risk arbitrage team looks for increased deal activity among the biotech’s to build up depleted drug pipelines, further oil industry consolidation, and more transactions involving the specialty semiconductor companies.