What's going on?

Apparently Moderna never listened to Nancy as a kid: the American biotech�s shares got totally high on Wednesday after its encouraging coronavirus vaccine trial results were published late on Tuesday.

What does this mean?

Let�s start with a disclaimer: it�s still early days for Moderna�s potential vaccine. But even so, it�s said to have produced a �robust� immune response in all 45 human patients that took part in its early-stage trial (tweet this). More specifically, the vaccine produced antibodies that could potentially neutralize COVID-19 and give participants at least some protection from the virus. Another disclaimer: there are still several unknowns, including how long that protection might last.

Moderna previously announced plans to enrol 30,000 new participants to take part in late-stage vaccine trials later this month. And now � given the early excitement around its initial trials � investors, governments, and exhausted parents worldwide will be watching the results even more closely.

Why should I care?

For markets: Spoiled for choice.

Moderna�s stock initially rose almost 20% on Wednesday, suggesting investors were hopeful this vaccine will be �the one�. That�s despite all the unknowns of drug development and the stiff competition in the market: hundreds of potential vaccines are in development, after all. News even broke on Wednesday that the University of Oxford�s rival vaccine � set to be produced by AstraZeneca � might be even more effective than Moderna�s. Investors who aren�t brave enough to back a single winner might be inclined to put all the vaccine-developing companies into a single basket and buy that instead.

The bigger picture: A collective sigh of relief.

Even economists� and companies� most positive forecasts are heavily caveated with the looming risk of a coronavirus resurgence. But a vaccine could negate that risk and set the global stage for a much-hoped-for � yet increasingly unlikely � V-shaped recovery of both economies and company earnings alike. And that might be why stocks the world over got a nice boost from Moderna�s update.