Biden's first stimulus plan may be a skinny one, Goldman says

• Assuming that the Republicans keep control of the Senate, some Wall Street strategists expect that Joe Biden, as president, will only be able to get a stimulus bill of $500B-$1T through Congress.
• That's significantly below the $3T package the House passed in May and the $2T plan that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi floated on a compromise plan with the Trump administration before the election.
• “We think the base case is a fiscal stimulus package of around $1 trillion,” Goldman Sachs Chief economist Jan Hatzius wrote in a note to clients.
• Overall, the strategists hold little hope of a new stimulus bill passing during the remainder of President Trump's term.
• As for the next administration, expect a trimmed-down relief bill to focus on measures that will help households in the near-term, they say.
• Hatzius expects such a package to include expanded eligibility and extended duration of unemployment insurance, along with a supplemental payment of ~$400 per week; new funding for the Paycheck Protection Protection Program; aid for state and local governments; and more funding for COVID-19 public health efforts. Another round of stimulus checks to individuals also may be possible, he wrote.
• Meanwhile, markets are looking to a vaccine to control the coronavirus after Pfizer/BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine candidate shows 90% effectiveness seven days after a second dose in a Phase 2/3 clinical trial.
• The companies are expected to apply for emergency use authorization once the required safety milestone is reached, expected in the third week of November.
• https://seekingalpha.com/news/3633572-president-elect-bidens-first-stimulus-plan-may-be-skinny-one-goldman-says