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Omicron runs rampant, Evergrande suspended, and Tesla’s blockbuster deliveries. Cases surge10 million people globally tested positive for Co [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Omicron runs rampant, Evergrande suspended, and Tesla’s blockbuster deliveries. Cases surge 10 million people globally tested positive for Covid-10 in the [seven days through Sunday](, almost double the previous weekly record for the pandemic. While the number of deaths continues to drop, the [disruptions to economic activity]( from absent employees and possible [further government restrictions]( remain a concern for investors. The very rapid spread of the omicron variant is fueling expectations that it may also burn out quickly, with authorities in Denmark [seeing a peak this month](. U.S. employers including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have [pushed back plans]( to get employees to return to the office. Purchasing Managers Index reports for Europe and Asia showed that while [output remained robust in December](, there is continued concern about the impact of the pandemic. Halt The other big fear from 2021 that is rearing its head early in the new year is concerns around the health of China’s property market. The country’s developers saw their shares [slump in Hong Kong trading]( after media reports that China Evergrande Group has been ordered to tear down apartment blocks in a development in Hainan province. Trading of shares in Evergrande [was suspended](. The under-pressure developer last week reduced the amount it would pay back to investors in wealth management products as its liquidity crisis showed [little signs of easing](. Deliveries Tesla Inc. smashed Wall Street estimates in the fourth quarter, [delivering 308,600 vehicles worldwide in the period]( for a 2021 total of 936,000. Shares in the company surged in pre-market trading and were 6.5% higher at 5:50 a.m. Eastern Time. The market value of the company passed [$1 trillion in 2021]( as the electric car manufacturer saw a 50% annual gain in its share price despite supply-chain difficulties. Elsewhere in corporate news this morning, a year-end order bonanza put Airbus SE in position to pass Boeing Co. to win the [2021 battle for aircraft orders](. Markets rise With equity markets closed in the U.K., Japan and China for a holiday, volumes are relatively light so far for the session. Overnight the MSCI Asia Pacific ex-Japan Index was broadly unchanged. In Europe, the Stoxx 600 Index had gained 0.6% by 5:50 a.m. as investors in the region got the new year off to a positive start on optimism the current pandemic wave will peak soon. S&P 500 futures [pointed to gains at the open](. With London closed there was no trading in Treasuries, which ended last week with the 10-year yield at 1.514%. [Oil rose]( and gold slipped. Coming up... The final reading of December U.S. manufacturing PMI is at 9:45 a.m. with construction spending for November at 10 a.m. The U.S. sells a combined $111 billion in short-term bills at 11:30 a.m. President Joe Biden is expected to [announce measures]( to combat the market power of giant conglomerates that dominate meat and poultry processing. There are no earnings of note scheduled for today. What we've been reading Here's what caught our eye over the weekend. - Odd Lots: Understanding [Turkey’s bold plan]( to stabilize the lira. - Here’s (almost) everything Wall Street [expects in 2022](. - Goldman calls out active fund managers over [missed opportunities](. - U.S. [catches Kremlin insider]( who may have secrets to 2016 hack. - Billionaires are embracing crypto in case money “[goes to hell](.” - 2021 was the [year of the multibillionaire](. - We may finally be able to test one of Hawking’s [most far-out ideas](. And finally, here’s what Joe’s interested in this morning One of the big stories from late 2021 was the plunge of the Turkish Lira. In the middle of December, the government revealed a new plan to stabilize the currency by offering to essentially [pay Lira depositors a higher interest rate]( as compensation in the event that the currency tumbled further. The lira rallied after the announcement. [On the latest Odd Lots podcast](, our guest Lütfullah Bingöl, an economist at the bank Albaraka Türk, explained the basics of how it's designed to work. The core issue is that Turkey is a heavily dollarized economy. As Bingöl argues, Turkish citizens hold dollars as, basically, a tail risk hedge against a domestic currency collapse. This means standard measures like rate hikes don't make the lira more attractive even when it's paying marginally higher yields. In recognition of this, he says, the government is attempting to offer citizens the opportunity to get a tail risk payoff without having to go into dollars. Essentially the idea is that if you're willing to lock up your lira in a special account for some pre-determined period of time, then in exchange for this loss of liquidity, the government will pay you a bonus interest rate if the lira tumbles too far. Or to put it another way, the government is offering citizens a free dollar-lira call option in exchange for holding Lira. If the tail risk insurance is a compelling enough offer, then at the margin, that should encourage people to maintain their holdings in lira, and if enough people hold their money in lira, then presumably the government won't have to make the payout. Obviously to work it will require some level of collective confidence. And already, as you can see on the chart above, the lira has weakened significantly again since rallying in late December. It's a fascinating experiment in, basically, how to undollarize a heavily dollarized economy. If the public is looking for a tail risk hedge, or a de facto lira put option, can the government offer it to them directly? Listen to the full episode at the link above [or on Apple here](. Follow Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal on Twitter [@TheStalwart]( Like Bloomberg's Five Things? [Subscribe for unlimited access]( to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Follow Us Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Five Things - Americas newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox. [Unsubscribe]( [Bloomberg.com]( [Contact Us]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10022 [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( [Ad Choices](