It's All Hands On Deck!
28/02/20 07:01
This coronavirus thing is something else. We have but a handful of cases here in the U.S. but I'm starting to hear the expression "community transmission" more and more. I think that means that once it gets into your community it spreads like wild fire. It reportedly has a mortality rate of 2-3% but who believes the Chinese when it comes to anything? They've been inflating their records in the financial markets for years.
Both China and South Korea are stacking up corpses like cordwood these days and there doesn't seem be any end to the crisis as cases are on the increase in countries around the world. The contagion has now spread to financial markets around the globe and here in our country we saw an 1,100+ point drop in the Dow just yesterday. I think that is the largest one day drop in terms of points (not %) in the history of the stock market. It's probably not a bad time to sit this one out if you still can.
The stock market rout is likely to continue for a while until sanity is restored and calmer heads prevail. Is it possible to see another 10% drop from where we are today? If we're to believe what we're hearing about the disruptions in the global supply chain then I would say that the answer to that question is an emphatic "yes." In the meantime, there will no end to the drip drip drip of dreadful stories of death and despair and that will do nothing to ameliorate the fears of the common man.
We've bought a few extra things just in case. Nancy went shopping for pharmacy related items so we'll have plenty of cough medicine, hand soap, etc. If and when panic sets in you want to make sure you're not one of hundreds or more standing in line for hours on end hoping to get the very last of something that may not be available by the time you get to make your selections. If and when we're forced to stay at home for an extended period of time we want to have some of the basic necessities at our fingertips.
If and maybe even when things go sideways, we'll be eating a lot of soup and peanut butter. Nancy said something about buying another freezer but I'm thinking that won't be necessary. Our experience with freezers is that when things go in there they are out of sight and out of mind. In other words, you just forget what you have and sooner or later you have to go in and just start throwing things away.
President Trump was on television the other night surrounded by health professionals talking about the coronavirus. If it was his intention to calm fears and calm financial markets he failed miserably. It's just not his strong suit. He's not a big science guy as one might have guessed from listening to him talk over time about things like climate change, etc.
He is an absolute master when it comes to holding pressers so taking questions from the press went about as well as you might expect. He just seems to be uncomfortable in his own skin when talking about the coronavirus itself and that came through in spades when discussing our country's prospects for surviving it longer term. He didn't offer a dire picture nor did he paint too rosy a picture which I suppose was good. But his whole demeanor and tone was somewhat dismissive and that was not well received by either the financial community or the general community at large.
I do hope that he has not surrounded himself with a bunch of science sycophants who are unwilling or simply not wanting to tell him the truth about this potential pandemic coming down the pike. That would be a disservice to all Americans. President Trump did not appoint a czar which is what one might have expected under the circumstances but rather he assigned the task of leading the charge to Vice President Pence. Pence is a good man and will do a good job.
We're now hearing that all communications or updates on the virus have to go through the Vice President's office. Messaging is critical so that may not be a bad thing. You simply can't have your people offering differing or opposing views day after day in the press on this subject. We are in an election year so the other side of the aisle has weighed in with their criticisms albeit in a measured way.
The democrats do not want to be seen as obstructionists at a time when we as Americans all need to be pulling in the same direction. It seems the Main Street Media (MSM) has not yet received that memo so continue as they have since Trump came down the escalator three years ago to rip him a new one at every turn.
They are overdue for a comeuppance of sorts although I'm not certain where that might come from. Trump winning a second term might well do the trick since they (MSM) have spent the last four years aiding and abetting the democrats to obstruct Trump's presidency in every way possible. They have failed miserably and his re-election, if successful, will be yet one more example where Trump wins the day. He did warn us that we would get tired of winning and he was right.
Lastly, the South Carolina primary is on tap for today and Sleepy Joe Biden is expected to come in first place with Bernie Sanders coming in perhaps a distant second place. On the republican side of the ballot, SC is not having a primary this year since Trump is the runaway favorite as the sitting president and there wasn't a need to entertain any challengers. I think he took the state by a considerable margin in 2016. Not having a republican primary saves money and coalesces all of the energy around one candidate for the election in November.
Trump held a rally in South Carolina last night on the eve of today's primary. He is if nothing else a troll of epic proportions. Nobody trolls their opponents better than Trump. He asked the crowd who he thought might be the stronger opponent between sleepy Joe Biden and Crazy Bernie and then proceeded to instruct his wildly enthusiastic followers in attendance to go out and vote for Bernie in the primary today. That could have a material impact on the outcome and trajectory of the race and could result in sleepy Joe dropping out. Trump would clearly prefer to run against a declared socialist so that's the game plan for now.
Both China and South Korea are stacking up corpses like cordwood these days and there doesn't seem be any end to the crisis as cases are on the increase in countries around the world. The contagion has now spread to financial markets around the globe and here in our country we saw an 1,100+ point drop in the Dow just yesterday. I think that is the largest one day drop in terms of points (not %) in the history of the stock market. It's probably not a bad time to sit this one out if you still can.
The stock market rout is likely to continue for a while until sanity is restored and calmer heads prevail. Is it possible to see another 10% drop from where we are today? If we're to believe what we're hearing about the disruptions in the global supply chain then I would say that the answer to that question is an emphatic "yes." In the meantime, there will no end to the drip drip drip of dreadful stories of death and despair and that will do nothing to ameliorate the fears of the common man.
We've bought a few extra things just in case. Nancy went shopping for pharmacy related items so we'll have plenty of cough medicine, hand soap, etc. If and when panic sets in you want to make sure you're not one of hundreds or more standing in line for hours on end hoping to get the very last of something that may not be available by the time you get to make your selections. If and when we're forced to stay at home for an extended period of time we want to have some of the basic necessities at our fingertips.
If and maybe even when things go sideways, we'll be eating a lot of soup and peanut butter. Nancy said something about buying another freezer but I'm thinking that won't be necessary. Our experience with freezers is that when things go in there they are out of sight and out of mind. In other words, you just forget what you have and sooner or later you have to go in and just start throwing things away.
President Trump was on television the other night surrounded by health professionals talking about the coronavirus. If it was his intention to calm fears and calm financial markets he failed miserably. It's just not his strong suit. He's not a big science guy as one might have guessed from listening to him talk over time about things like climate change, etc.
He is an absolute master when it comes to holding pressers so taking questions from the press went about as well as you might expect. He just seems to be uncomfortable in his own skin when talking about the coronavirus itself and that came through in spades when discussing our country's prospects for surviving it longer term. He didn't offer a dire picture nor did he paint too rosy a picture which I suppose was good. But his whole demeanor and tone was somewhat dismissive and that was not well received by either the financial community or the general community at large.
I do hope that he has not surrounded himself with a bunch of science sycophants who are unwilling or simply not wanting to tell him the truth about this potential pandemic coming down the pike. That would be a disservice to all Americans. President Trump did not appoint a czar which is what one might have expected under the circumstances but rather he assigned the task of leading the charge to Vice President Pence. Pence is a good man and will do a good job.
We're now hearing that all communications or updates on the virus have to go through the Vice President's office. Messaging is critical so that may not be a bad thing. You simply can't have your people offering differing or opposing views day after day in the press on this subject. We are in an election year so the other side of the aisle has weighed in with their criticisms albeit in a measured way.
The democrats do not want to be seen as obstructionists at a time when we as Americans all need to be pulling in the same direction. It seems the Main Street Media (MSM) has not yet received that memo so continue as they have since Trump came down the escalator three years ago to rip him a new one at every turn.
They are overdue for a comeuppance of sorts although I'm not certain where that might come from. Trump winning a second term might well do the trick since they (MSM) have spent the last four years aiding and abetting the democrats to obstruct Trump's presidency in every way possible. They have failed miserably and his re-election, if successful, will be yet one more example where Trump wins the day. He did warn us that we would get tired of winning and he was right.
Lastly, the South Carolina primary is on tap for today and Sleepy Joe Biden is expected to come in first place with Bernie Sanders coming in perhaps a distant second place. On the republican side of the ballot, SC is not having a primary this year since Trump is the runaway favorite as the sitting president and there wasn't a need to entertain any challengers. I think he took the state by a considerable margin in 2016. Not having a republican primary saves money and coalesces all of the energy around one candidate for the election in November.
Trump held a rally in South Carolina last night on the eve of today's primary. He is if nothing else a troll of epic proportions. Nobody trolls their opponents better than Trump. He asked the crowd who he thought might be the stronger opponent between sleepy Joe Biden and Crazy Bernie and then proceeded to instruct his wildly enthusiastic followers in attendance to go out and vote for Bernie in the primary today. That could have a material impact on the outcome and trajectory of the race and could result in sleepy Joe dropping out. Trump would clearly prefer to run against a declared socialist so that's the game plan for now.