The owner of an ice cream company giving vaccinated employees a $1-an-hour pay raise says he's been inundated with emails from anti-vaxxers, including one likening the policy to Nazism

The owner of an ice cream company that's giving vaccinated employees a pay raise says he's been inundated with emails from anti-vaxxers.

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• The owner of an ice cream company says some anti-vaxxers have likened his vaccine policy to Nazism.
• Chapman's is giving vaccinated employees a $1-an-hour pay raise.
• Owner Ashley Chapman says he's been inundated with emails and calls attacking the policy.

The owner of an ice cream company that's giving vaccinated employees a pay raise says he's been inundated with emails from anti-vaxxers.

Canadian ice cream company Chapman's started giving vaccinated workers a pay raise of 1 Canadian dollar an hour ($0.78) last week.

Ashley Chapman, vice-president and owner of the Ontario-based company, told CBC Radio that the external reaction to the policy was "very, very aggressive" and that he'd been sent "hate packages" in the mail.

He said that his 78-year-old father got a voicemail "telling him he was like Hitler, and obviously a Nazi, and we should be convicted of war crimes, essentially."

Chapman told The Globe and Mail that the company had received at least 1,000 negative e-mails and "so many terrible, cruel comments on our Facebook group."

"One e-mail asked us why we are employing segregation tactics," Chapman said. "The exact words were: 'Kudos on implementing Nazi-ism into our modern day.'"

The Globe and Mail reported that a photo of Chapman's vaccine policy had been spread in anti-vaccine groups on social media, with some people urging a boycott of the brand.

Chapman said that news coverage of the backlash led to emails, phone calls, and social-media posts from people praising the pay raise and encouraging other companies to introduce similar incentives for vaccinated workers.

"Overall, the ratio of good comments to bad comments is now about 20 to 1," Chapman told The Globe and Mail. The company's sales hadn't been hit by the boycott, and it had actually got multiple requests from Americans asking where they could buy its ice cream, he said.

Chapman told CBC that before introducing the pay raise he had been paying for unvaccinated staff to get two COVID-19 tests a week, which he said cost around 40 Canadian dollars ($31.35) per person.

"It just felt like we were treating the unvaccinated better than we were the vaccinated," he told the radio station. "So we said, 'You know what? Let's try and be equitable to both sides.'"

Around 100 of his 850 employees aren't fully unvaccinated, Chapman told CBC on Tuesday. He said he expected this figure to roughly halve over the next month as more staff members get their first and second shots.

As of November 19, 78.2% of Canadians had had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, rising to 89% among people aged 12 and older, government data shows.

More and more companies are mandating vaccines for their employees, and some governments are rolling out similar policies, too.

Ontario is requiring people to be fully vaccinated to visit some indoor venues like restaurants, nightclubs, gyms, and cinemas. Police in Toronto will be placed on unpaid leave if they don't provide proof of full vaccination by the end of November

In the US, President Joe Biden is requiring all companies with more than 100 employees to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for their staff or implement weekly testing.

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Hai Dinho

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2. A Federal court in Miami this month dismissed a class action lawsuit by retail investors claiming Citadel Securities and Robinhood conspired to halt GameStop trading. Many meme-stock traders believe the two companies worked together to halt the trading of certain stocks on January 28. "Internet conspiracies and Twitter mobs try to ignore the facts," Citadel wrote in response when #CitadelScandal trended on Twitter. The judge said that while some of the emails between the two firms were suspicious, they did not constitute overwhelming evidence of unlawful activity. 

3. This 26-year-old built a $1 million real estate portfolio after starting out with an $18,000 loan. James Walker III told Insider he looks for tenant-friendly laws in areas where he purchases property. This allows for a more conducive environment to create positive cash flow. He explained his strategy, and why beginners should purchase their first homes through FHA. 

4. What is a DAO and why did one just try to buy the US Constitution? A group of internet friends came together to form a DAO, or a decentralized autonomous organization, in a bid for an original copy of the US Constitution. Together they crowdfunded $46 million for the auction. They were in the running to win it, but Citadel's Ken Griffin outbid them. Still, the group's rapid fundraising has made the DAO the next big thing in the world of crypto. 

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'A black Black Friday': Here's what analysts are saying as global stocks plunge on fears about new COVID variant

Global stocks plunged Friday.

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• Global stocks are cratering after a new, highly mutated COVID variant was discovered in South Africa.
• Analysts said volatility would be worsened by poor liquidity, with US trading limited by Thanksgiving.
• Another said investors are simply taking no chance as they wait for more details about the new variant.

Global stocks are being hammered on Friday after a new, heavily mutated COVID variant was identified in South Africa, causing countries to limit travel and sparking fears of another wave of cases.

Scientists are racing to find out whether the new variant, called B.1.1.529, is more infectious or deadly than previous strains. South Africa has confirmed around 100 cases, but it's already been found as far away as Hong Kong.

Global investors are not liking what they're seeing. S&P 500 futures were last down 1.73%, suggesting stocks will plunge at the start of a Thanksgiving-shortened trading day. Dow Jones futures dropped 2.16%.

In Europe, the continent-wide Stoxx 600 tumbled 2.57% in morning trading after Tokyo's Nikkei 225 dropped 2.53% overnight. Oil prices have cratered more than 5% as investors weigh the chances of more lockdowns and travel bans.

Commerzbank analysts called it a "black Black Friday." Here's what others are saying as the new variant shakes markets.

Poor liquidity is driving volatility

"US equity futures shot lower from the moment they opened overnight on the new Covid variant news," said Steen Jakobsen, chief investment officer at Saxo Bank.

"Given poor liquidity today in the US, as many are away from their desks for a long holiday weekend and the market is only for a half session, any significant flows by traders looking to reduce risk could mean significant volatility."

Markets are taking no chances

"Investors are voting with their feet this morning," said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst at trading platform Oanda.

"The one bull in the china shop that could truly derail the global recovery has always been a new strain of Covid-19 that swept the world and caused the re-imposition of mass social retractions.

"Markets are taking no chances, equities are falling, haven currencies such as the US dollar, Japanese yen and Swiss franc are rallying... US 10-year bond yields have moved sharply lower, and oil has slumped."

Growth and central banks should provide cushion

"With equity markets at all-time highs, thin year-end liquidity and COVID cases up again, a pull-back seems logical," said Emmanuel Cau, head of European equity strategy at Barclays.

"But we believe resilient growth and patient central banks should continue to provide cushion on a medium-term horizon, while investors have dry powder to buy dips.

"What is key is to find out whether current vaccines remain effective against the variants, or not. COVID uncertainty might force central banks to err on the side of caution."

Travel industry hits violent storm

"Fear has gripped the financial markets with the travel industry flying into another violent storm, after the discovery of a new COVID strain which could be far more contagious and may render vaccines less effective," said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at broker Hargreaves Lansdown.

"There are now fears that the highly mutated COVID strain discovered in states in Southern Africa will prompt fresh shutdowns.

"The decision by the UK government to impose stringent quarantine rules on six southern African countries within hours has severely rattled the travel and tourism industry."

Read more: Jay Powell's renomination as Fed chair will keep inflating a stock market bubble that is a systemic risk to the economy, Stifel's top strategist warns. He shows why stocks haven't been this overextended since 1929 or 1999 — and shares when he thinks the bubble will pop.

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Oil tumbles by the most in 4 months after new Covid variant heightens fears over global demand outlook

Oil wells at near Moorpark, California.

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• Oil fell by more than 6% on Friday, as investors ditched riskier assets after the emergence of a new Covid variant.
• Both Brent and WTI futures were heading for their largest one-day fall since mid-July this year.
• "We can very, very quickly go from a very tight market to an oversupplied market," Saxo Bank's Ole Hansen said.

Oil prices were already heading for a weekly loss, after the United States released some crude from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to try to temper sky-high energy prices.

But after South African scientists said they had detected small numbers of a new variant of COVID-19 that could prove more transmissible, investors dumped crude oil futures and equities on Friday in favor of perceived safe-haven assets.

The variant — called B.1.1.529 — has a "very unusual constellation" of mutations, meaning the body's immune response may not kick in and vaccines may be less effective against it, scientists told reporters at a news conference, according to Reuters. The World Health Organization has called a special meeting Friday to discuss the new variant.

The UK banned flights from six African countries in response, underlining worries about the impact of the new variant on economic growth. In recent weeks, Europe was the focus of concern as COVID-19 cases surged, leading to lockdowns and restrictions in Austria, Italy and other countries. Earlier this week, the WHO warned the coronavirus could claim another 700,000 victims by March. 

Brent crude futures were last down 5.7% on the day, set for their biggest one-day fall since mid-July, while West Texas Intermediate crude was 6.8% lower at $73.00 a barrel. 

"The SPR release we had earlier in the week was a small factor. But what really could have an impact is if we start to see another lockdown and thereby see demand getting hurt, because we can very, very quickly go from a very tight market to an oversupplied market," Saxo Bank commodities strategist Ole Hansen said on the bank's daily podcast Friday.

"It just makes it that much more difficult for OPEC+ when they meet next Thursday," Hansen added.

A number of other countries aside from the US are considering freeing up some strategic inventory of their own. 

But the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners, such as Russia and Oman, have been wary of stepping up coordinated output increases, given that market watchers widely expect an overhang of unwanted fuel to develop next year. 

The group of major oil producers, which meets next week to discuss supply policy, has agreed to raise crude production by a joint 400,000 barrels a day a month. But given OPEC itself is highly cautious on the demand outlook, it's unlikely to increase the pace, especially now in light of a new variant that could threaten activity such as air travel. 

Commerzbank noted that OPEC's advisory board believes the surplus could grow in February to as much as 3.7 million barrels a day.

"This could prompt OPEC+ at its meeting next week to decide not to step up its oil production any further in January and to consider expanding supply by a smaller amount in the months thereafter," strategist Carsten Fritsch said in a note.

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Israel has reported its first COVID-19 case involving a 'worrying' new coronavirus variant that's spreading fast in southern Africa

An Israeli woman receives a third Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in Ramat Ha Sharon on July 30, 2021.

AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner

• Israel has reported its first COVID-19 case involving a "worrying" new coronavirus variant.
• The B.1.1.529 variant was detected in a person traveling to Israel from Malawi, the Israeli health ministry said.
• The variant, which appears to have emerged in southern Africa, is concerning experts.

Israel has identified its first COVID-19 case involving a "worrying" new coronavirus variant that is spreading fast in southern Africa.

The variant, known as B.1.1.529, was found in an individual who returned to Israel from Malawi, Israel's health ministry announced Friday.

Two other people who have returned from abroad could also be carrying the coronavirus variant, the ministry said. They have been put in quarantine, the ministry said.

Health officials in South Africa said Thursday that 82 cases of the B.1.1.529 variant had been detected in South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong, Insider's Dr Catherine Schuster-Bruce reported.

The variant has a high number of mutations in a combination that experts haven't seen before, per Insider's report.

Experts are concerned the variant's unusual mutations may make it more infectious and able to escape antibodies produced by vaccines and in antibody treatments.

The B.1.1.529 variant has spread rapidly across South Africa, becoming the most common cause of new COVID-19 cases in fewer than two weeks, according to a graph tweeted by the director of the country's Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation.

Ravi Gupta, a professor of clinical microbiology at Cambridge University, said on Twitter on Wednesday that the new coronavirus variant was "worrying, and I've not said that since Delta." 

Israel announced on Thursday that it was restricting travel to and from southern Africa because of the B.1.1.529 variant, Reuters reported.

Israel has reported more than 1.3 million COVID-19 cases and over 8,000 deaths since January 2020, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).

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Airline shares tumble as new Covid variant triggers travel restrictions

Prospect of return to widespread curbs on international travel raises new concerns for sector

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U.K. Set to Deploy Merck's Covid Pill in 10,000-Person Study

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