We asked readers Friday to write in with their observations on labor shortages where they live. Our first contributor says: “I was at a Cracker Barrel near Tampa, Florida. The manager stopped by our table, and we told him it looked like business was thriving.

“He said their customers had come back but employees had not. ‘Why would they come back when they can make more money staying home?’ he asked.

“The manager also said they were trying very hard to find new employees, but very few were applying. What Cracker Barrel can pay employees is much less than what they can make collecting unemployment benefits.”

For another perspective, a reader says: “The ‘severe labor shortage’ corporate America is bitching about pretty much boils down to people not wanting to go back to work for crappy wages, while their corporate masters rake in the profits.

“Want people to come back to work? Raise their pay so that they can actually earn a living wage.”

Want to respond to our contributors today? Keep the conversation going…

Send your opinions to, TheRundownFeedback@StPaulResearch.com

Your Rundown for Monday, June 14, 2021…

NVAX: At last…

As part of the Covid-19 vaccine effort -- “Operation Warp Speed” -- the federal government awarded Novavax (Nasdaq: NVAX) $1.6 billion last year to test and scale production of a vaccine. It was the largest grant given to any pharmaceutical manufacturer, in fact.

Now almost a year later, the Maryland-based biotechnology company announced its Covid-19 vaccine shows 90% effectiveness overall, and is 93% effective against the most dominant strains of the virus. “It also provided 100% protection against moderate and severe disease,” says CNBC.

On the news, Novavax shares rallied 10.4% in premarket trading this morning…

The Rundown first told you about Novavax back in Jan. 2020; at the time, the company was preoccupied developing a targeted flu vaccine when COVID-19 was just some virus plaguing Wuhan, China.

But if you bought NVAX shares then -- and held them -- you’d have been on a rollicking ride. In early 2021 alone, shares climbed 140%… only to whipsaw for the last four months. But if you stayed the course this year, and held onto your shares, you’d be up more than 70% overall.

So, what’s next for Novavax? CFRA analyst Sel Hardy says: “The easier storage and handling conditions offer a competitive advantage to NVAX, particularly in an environment where the main competitors… [Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca] are facing issues regarding blood clots following inoculations and halted their distribution.”

And even though Novavax lags Moderna and Pfizer, it might have the upperhand when it comes to Covid-19 boosters -- something the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NAIAD) says is most likely on the horizon.

Apart from Covid-19, Ms. Hardy says: “The [Novavax] influenza vaccine, NanoFlu, in Phase 3 clinical trials, offers vast market opportunities.”

She concludes NVAX shares are still  “attractively valued” and “there is still a strong upside potential.” She sets a 12-month price target at $250 per share.

Market Rundown for Monday, June 14, 2021

The S&P 500 is stuck in neutral at 4,245.

Oil is up almost 1% to $71.60 for a barrel of WTI.

Gold is down 1.2% to $1,857.40 per ounce.

Bitcoin is up 8.3% to $40,618.90.

Send your comments and questions to, TheRundownFeedback@StPaulResearch.com

Take care, reader! We’ll talk more Wednesday…

For The Rundown,

Aaron Gentzler
Editor, The Rundown
TheRundownFeedback@StPaulResearch.com