Ironically, I scheduled my vacation this week and sure enough what happened… my state government practically shuts down the entire state. Thanks, governor DeWine, for closing all schools and colleges too. Restaurants, theaters, gyms, and bars are all shut down at least until the end of the month. I already have enough toilet paper (lol, see https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/16/us/newport-911-toilet-paper-trnd/index.html and https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/business/toilet-paper-shortage.html for more details) all joking aside we did buy some extra food though. I have enough regular food for 1 month and enough “near food” stuff (protein powder) for at least another extra month.

So, what did I do this morning? I turned on the TV to CNBC and tried to determine the emotion of the masses in hopes of determining how long this downturn might last, and if I should start stepping up my purchases of stock (I’m already taking small nibbles now since most brokers have no commission fees for trades). Traditionally, I’m always early when I jump back into the stock market after a deep dip (I was a month and a half early calling the bottom in 2008).

So even though the mortality rate is not that high (around 2%, and could actually be less), and the young age groups up to the start of 60 aren’t affected much, the country is talking about shutting down everything except “needs” related businesses (grocery stores mainly). The reasoning is not without merit, it isn’t so much that a country shutdown prevents the spread of the virus, it just slows the rate of spread so the hospitals can accommodate the surge in patients. I put forth the argument that the virus is already more widely spread than we believe, but without data, there is no way of knowing.

A new game changer is that Regeneron has come up with a treatment (not a vaccine) that could treat the coronavirus and possibly help prevent it with an existing cocktail of drugs. Hard to say, we’ll see but it’s believed that it might be in circulation more quickly than a coronavirus vaccine. Too bad I didn’t hear about this treatment until after the market was closed! Regeneron – REGN, was up over 11% today…

I’m hoping that if what Regeneron is working on does the trick, then there is a good change that the downturn might start to cease by the end of the second quarter. Hard to say, well see.

Just to end with a little bit of humor, check out this video from Ginger Billy

How Rednecks prepare for the Coronavirus

Stay safe and sane during these very odd, but hopefully short, strange times.

Don