Vaccine mentions surge after Lancet study, signals based on RavenPack sentiment outperform, panic spikes in Ukraine

Key Takeaways:

• News the leading drug in the vaccine-race is both safe and effective revives vaccine chatter.
• Signals based on RavenPack data perform well versus broker recommendations
• The Ukraine panic index peaks boding ill for the spread of the virus

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VACCINE RACE

Vaccine co-mentions in the news are surging again accounting for 15.33% of worldwide news about coronavirus, at the time of writing, and topping the league table of COVID-19 relevant topics on our news monitor.

The rise has come after the publication of promising results from early human trials of the leading frontrunner in the vaccine race AZN1222, which was developed by scientists at Oxford University in collaboration with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.

Results published in the scientific journal the Lancet this week generated optimism after they showed the drug to be both safe and effective. The final 3rd stage of trials, involving a larger sample of 30,000 people, is underway and includes subjects in India, Brazil, and South Africa.

Yet, despite the breakthrough, questions still remain over whether the vaccine will provide enough immunity, whether it is long-lasting enough, and whether it will provide resistance to a broad enough cross-section of different people. It is also true that statistically, the odds are against it proving successful as only 1 out of every 10 vaccine programs crosses the finish line.

RECOMMENDATIONS BASED ON RAVENPACK DATA OUTPERFORM

A report on how well broker recommendations performed during the COVID crisis shows signals based on RavenPack news sentiment data performed relatively well, coming 4th out of a list of 150, according to research firm Invisage Alpha.

The RavenPack signals generated a 16.84% return during the period between February 1 and June 15, which when considering the large sample - over 6800 signals in all - reflected a statistically robust outcome.

For more details of the study read our blog post or access the white paper here.

UKRAINIAN PANIC AT RECORD HIGH

A key record high and low on the monitor is the spike in the Panic Index in Ukraine which has risen to an all-time high.

This bodes ill for the country since from past experience panic often ‘precedes pandemic’ with a sharp rise in the index often foreshadowing a similar increase in COVID cases.

Whilst this has not yet happened in Ukraine where daily cases have not risen to record highs so far, there is a risk the spread of the disease could worsen over the coming days.

For more information or to find out how you can use RavenPack news analytics to power your decision-making, head to our website, and request a free trial of our platform or contact one of our representatives.

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