Thoughts on the Corona Virus stock market crash

Key takeaways on White house press releases

  • White house has taken very decision steps since the start of the spread in China to limit the import of viruses within the US
  • It has followed through with further travel bans of air travel from Europe
  • The next step is the 15 day shelter at home notices as of 15th March 2020
  • Its a trade off between financial markets turmoil and health system turmoil
  • To reduce maximum potential casualties, White house has opted to drag out the time it takes for the virus to spread throughout the community through social distancing measures.
  • The process can be modified to have each state go through its own bell curve of peaking
  • When health facilities are not overload, healthcare workers can afford to provide the necessary level of care to patients so as to limit the number of fatalities
  • In times of crisis, democratic systems after much bickering will align and perform execution with tremendous velocity. Private sectors will get mobilized to deal with the crisis as well.
  • Crisis are opportunities to remove red tapes and refresh platforms that are otherwise outdated. This makes the system more robust and able to handle future scenarios
  • Media do not always accurately report what is the official communication from the White House. When possible always seek out the original communication.
  • Targeting to reopen the country by 12th April 2020, Easter

Stock market price actions

 

  • In prior two pandemics (2003 SARS, 2009 H1N1), the height of the shock was experienced during the month of March before a subsequent rebound was observed
  • Federal reserve announcements of interest rate cuts ironically caused markets to dip
  • During period of turbulence, euphoria and subsequent price spikes due to government promise of bail out will not be long lasting
  • Oil is a leading indicator
  • Percentage coverage of media on pandemic is also a leading indicator of drops in markets
  • SPY might go through periods of denial before acknowledging pandemic is cause for concern
  • Gold which is considered a safe haven during time of crisis will dip when traders experiencing margin calls on their equity positions start unloading their gold to fulfill margin calls
  • US Treasury yield curve will start steepening when Federal reserve starts lowering interest rates and performing quantitative easing
  • Gold and bond prices decline will quickly follow the steepening of the yield curve.
  • Global markets will experience sharp retreat as funds exit from global markets for US treasury when steepening compared to negative interest rates worldwide
  • US dollar exchange rates will start surging as liquidity exit from emerging markets
  • Execution of fiscal policies will usually lag monetary policies
  • Share prices levels of directly impact companies can be seen trading at
    • ratios on 19th March 2020
      • PE ratio: 1.5 – 2.5X
      • PB ratio: 0.25-0.30
      • Discount from peak: 80-90%
        • 2020 Corona Pandemic: NHCL, RCL, CUK, CAR, MGM
        • 2019 California forest: PCG
    • affected industries: cruises, hotels, airlines

Related references

 

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