Hedge funds don't get the respect they used to get. Nowadays investors prefer passive funds over actively managed funds. One thing they don't realize is that 100% of the passive funds didn't see the coronavirus recession coming, but a lot of hedge funds did. Even we published an article near the end of February and […]

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Quidel Corporation's (NASDAQ: QDEL) development of an antigen test for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is a "game changer" in the world's fight against the pandemic, former Food and Drugs Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CBS on Sunday.The test was given emergency use authorization by the FDA late Friday.'Quick And Cost Effective'"I think this kind of technology is a real game changer…it's a very rapid test that could be used in a doctor's office," Gottlieb said at CBS "Face The Nation.""Doctors now have about 40,000 of these Sofia machines already installed in their offices. And you do a simple nasal swab and the test itself scans for the antigens that the virus produces."Gottlieb noted the test is cost-effective and quick to return results. "It'll probably be about five dollars a test and you can get a result within five minutes," he told CBS.According to the former FDA chairman, the test gives accurate results about 85% of the time. Those who don't return coronavirus positive from the test can then see an additional screening through PCR-based tests, which take up to 24 hours to give the results."For those [85%] patients that you could screen out right away, you're getting a very fast result and you can start to take action immediately," he said at the CBS show.CDC Guidelines Will Dictate Adoption If Quidel is able to produce 200,000 testing kits right away, and 1.5 million a week in the coming weeks, as it has suggested, it will "dramatically expand testing capacity in the United States, Gottlieb noted.The physician said that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and other health authorities would need to come up with proper guidance to ensure that the doctors don't hesitate to test coronavirus patients using the antigen tests."If turning over a positive case in your medical office means that you have to do a deep cleaning and quarantine your nursing staff and close your office, doctors aren't going to be testing," he told CBS.Why It Matters There are more than 1.3 million confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S. at press time, and the death toll is nearing 80,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Health experts have warned of a worse second wave, if adequate preventative measures aren't put in place.Multiple vaccines, including those of Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ: MRNA) and Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INO), are currently seeing clinical trials.Even a rapidly developed and approved vaccine is unlikely to be available until next year, according to White House Coronavirus Task Force lead member Anthony Fauci and others, making widespread testing the best-available preventative measure to curb the spread of the virus.Price Action Quidel shares closed 3.3% higher at $158.60 on Friday. The shares traded slightly lower in the after-hours session at $158.See more from Benzinga * Trump, Intel, TSMC Plan US 'Self-Sufficiency' In Semiconductors As Coronavirus Gives Supply-Chain Scare * Tesla's China Sales Dropped 64% In April, Even As Wider Market Recovered, CPCA Says * Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt Cut Last Ties With The Company: Report(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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(Bloomberg) — In the equity market, fear of missing out seems to be overshadowing fear of all that’s wrong with the economy. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says pessimism will soon get the upper hand and send the S&P 500 Index down almost 20% in the next three months.Fiscal and monetary support over the past few weeks of the coronavirus pandemic successfully warded off a financial crisis, but a return to economic normalcy is still a long ways away and investors have gotten ahead of themselves, the bank’s chief U.S. equity strategist, David Kostin, wrote in a report.Financial, economic and political risks darken the outlook for domestic equities, Goldman warns. The bank cites the lack of flattening in the U.S. infection curve outside of New York, what promises to be a lengthy re-start process, a 50% hit to buybacks in 2020 and the risk of higher corporate taxes and de facto consumption taxes if U.S.-China trade tensions bubble up again.“A single catalyst may not spark a pullback, but a number of concerns and risks exist that we believe, and our client discussions confirm, investors are downplaying,” Kostin wrote. Goldman says the S&P 500 will probably drop to 2,400 over the next three months before it rebounds to 3,000 by year end.The index slumped 0.5% Monday to 2,914 as of 9:45 a.m. in New York.Kostin notes that large swaths of the investor community have failed to cash in on the S&P 500’s 31% surge since its trough on March 23. He points out that most mutual funds have underperformed since the bear market low, with long/short and macro hedge funds posting single-digit returns as a group, and investors may face pressure to chase the rally.“The ‘fear of missing out’ best describes the thought process,” Kostin said.But he warns that it’s a risky move. Even with measures of the breadth of the recent rally improving in recent days — potentially signaling more buy-in on the idea the gains will last — Goldman Sachs’ sentiment indicator has barely improved since mid-March.“Skepticism abounds regarding the likelihood the rally will continue,” the strategist writes.Kostin is pessimistic on the outlook for corporate profits, citing frozen growth plans and capital expenditures will drop 27% this year. He points out that the only encouraging driver for earnings is the swelling federal deficit, which in effect acts as substantial support for demand.Caution on equities may also be warranted in the face of stretched valuations — to the extent that anything about 2021’s bottom-line outlook can be discerned.The benchmark U.S. stock gauge trades at 19.5 times the buy side’s estimate of next year’s earnings, Kostin concludes, the highest level since 2002.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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