Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Fear of a new variant

The US will require airline passengers coming from China to show negative Covid-19 tests as health experts fear the virus’s unchecked spread across that country could imperil the world. Since Xi Jinping abruptly dropped his restrictive “Covid-zero” policies amid protests and economic worries, tens of millions of Chinese have been infected daily while scientists predict millions may die. The Biden administration has been especially concerned about a lack of transparency coming from China, where Covid-19 first appeared three years ago. The high number of people affected over a very short period of time raises the chances of a new variant emerging, one that could possibly circumvent defenses in nations that have already suffered multiple infection waves and millions of deaths. The US said it will also expand its viral genomic surveillance program of travelers to keep watch for new versions of the pathogen. The new testing requirement will apply to all passengers regardless of nationality or vaccination status and will go into effect Jan. 5. But the fallout from Beijing’s decision to suddenly lift precautions is already spreading: In Milan, Italian authorities said 50% of people arriving from China tested positive. —David E. Rovella 

Stocks fell for a second day as investors grew worried about the global implications of the surge in Covid-19 cases across China. Hopes of ending 2022 on a high note may seem increasingly misplaced. Global equities have lost one fifth of their value this year, the largest decline since 2008 on an annual basis, and an index of global bonds has slumped 16%. Here’s your. markets wrap.

US companies had a lot to overcome in the latter half of the year, what with rising interest rates, budget-conscious consumers and a sagging stock market. That’s left some of them in very tough spots for the start of 2023. These five should be watched closely.

Multiple stress points are emerging in credit markets, from banks stuck with piles of buyout debt to a UK pension blow-up and real-estate troubles in China and South Korea. With cheap money a thing of the past, those problems may be just the start. Distressed debt in the US alone jumped more than 300% in 12 months, high-yield issuance has become more challenging in Europe and leverage ratios have reached a record by some measures. Globally, almost $650 billion of bonds and loans are in distressed territory. It’s all adding up to the biggest test of corporate credit since the financial crisis—and it may spark a wave of defaults.

Solana, the cryptocurrency backed by indicted crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, tumbled 12% on Wednesday amid concerns that large holders may be about to dump the token.

Exxon Mobil is suing the European Union in a bid to kill a new windfall tax on oil groups. The fossil fuel industry has reaped record profits this year thanks to Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine. If successful, the oil giant could jeopardize the levy, which is aimed at bringing down skyrocketing consumer energy costs. 

South Africa’s power utility Eskom has had 13 chief executives in the past decade. Now, after a year in which the nation saw 200 days of power cuts, the debt-ridden state utility is looking for a new CEO. But finding someone who can do the job and actually wants it is another story.

After Xi Jinping ordered his unprecedented assault on China’s housing market, restrictions on developer borrowing managed to lower financial risk, kneecapping over-leveraged companies like China Evergrande. But when it comes to the key metric of housing—affordability—the results are mixed. For all the pain inflicted on bondholders and real estate companies, housing remains stubbornly expensive in the world’s most unaffordable market. Now China homebuyers are questioning if it was all worth it.

Bloomberg continues to track the global coronavirus pandemic. Click here for daily updates.

• One of the planet’s most congested cities finally gets commuter rail.
• Ukraine is discussing plans to rebuild the country—with BlackRock.
• US pending home sales fall to second-lowest level on record.
• The big reason why Southwest Airlines couldn’t handle Christmas. 
• Virgin Islands sues JPMorgan for facilitating Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse.
• New GOP lawmaker who falsified background under criminal scrutiny.
• Bloomberg Opinion: The five big political questions for 2023 America.

Crypto started 2022 as the future of finance, replete with star-studded Super Bowl ads and galactic valuations. It ended the year under the basement. After eight years of illegally occupying Crimea and fueling a proxy war in Donbas, Russia launched a bloody, botched invasion of Ukraine, killing tens of thousands of civilians. And Xi Jinping shattered decades of succession rules to consolidate his grip on the Communist Party, only to suddenly add fuel to a pandemic fire still burning three years on. That barely scratches the surface of all the major events to impact the globe in 2022. And while pictures are supposedly worth a lot of words, nothing explains the news like the maps, charts and visuals produced by Bloomberg’s Data Visualization team.

The 2022 Chinese Politburo Standing Committee (above), from “How Xi’s Shakeup Shattered Decades of Succession Rules in China.”

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