(Newsmax) Investing guru Mario Gabelli reportedly is confident the world will ultimately get a vaccine against COVID-19.
The chairman of Gabelli Funds said such a medical landmark will also push stocks higher in the future.
"We assume that a vaccine will come," he said on the CNN Business digital live show "Markets Now."
The 2021 economy could include strong positive revenues for companies in the S&P 500, even though gross margins will narrow and tax rates will go up, Gabelli said.
"There are sectors that we think will be vibrant for 2021 and 2022," Gabelli added, such as autos housing and infrastructure, as well as environmental businesses.
“We love our planet. We love our people. So we are looking at the environment,” he said.
Drugmaker Pfizer on Friday said it could file for U.S. authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine it is developing with German partner BioNTech as early as late November.
That timeline makes it unlikely a vaccine will be available before the U.S. election as President Donald Trump has promised. Pfizer said that it may say if the vaccine is effective as soon as this month based on its 40,000 person clinical trial but that it also needs safety data that will not be available until next month, Reuters reported.
"So let me be clear, assuming positive data, Pfizer will apply for Emergency Authorization Use in the U.S. soon after the safety milestone is achieved in the third week of November," Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said.
Trump has said repeatedly that there would be a vaccine available before the election, but health officials and companies had only said that data might be available this month. The possibility of further delays was raised after trials for two rival vaccines were put on hold in the United States this fall.
The president's rush to a vaccine has also raised concerns that the FDA, acting in haste, might not conduct an adequate review of the vaccine.
U.S. health officials have sought to assuage those concerns out of fear that not enough Americans would take a vaccine early on. Earlier this month, the FDA formalized a requirement that vaccine makers collect two months of safety data on one-half of trial participants.
Pfizer has been trying to demonstrate that its decision making is being driven by science rather than politics, Mizuho analyst Vamil Divan said.
