Grab Yourself a Snickers… Because most of us won’t be going anywhere for a while. Talk about a marketing campaign that keeps on giving! The impossible has become the inevitable, with some companies going split teams and most sending everyone to work from home. Schools have been closed and will continue to be so for likely much longer than initially anticipated and bars/restaurants are following suit, with talk of a national curfew possibly going into effect. Get comfortable.

It started off well, and…  Things started off nicely today with markets bouncing after yesterday’s big drop.  Most sectors were trading higher (except Homebuilders, which has underperformed all session), but an announcement that Trump was going to hold a 3pm news conference to declare a National Emergency took some of the bid out.  As the US waits, equities are rallying once again, with the S&P +3% from the European close. Leading that rally, Banks (+3.3% from EU cls), Transports (+3.3%) and Biotech (IBB +3.7%).

Short and sweet (sour) today…

Nothing is in the green – Risk-off is now in every asset as investors move to cash.  With little guidance from Washington, and events/ schools/ countries (Italy) shutting down, the economic impact is not even close to being felt.  Sell first and then ask questions reigns. Investors want to see fiscal support, and they are not getting it yet.

Live to fight another day…

Pandemic Pandemonium…Policy stimulus is supportive in general, but seemingly not enough until we get the so-called Corona pandemic under control.  The House of Reps is expected to announce an economic relief package including insurance, paid sick leave, and family and medical leave in the bill today. However, The Dems don’t love President Trump’s tax cut proposal (“non-starter”). Oh well. But markets are not feeling any relief. Only a select, expected few — USD, Bonds and The Vix (and nat gas actually) are in the green.

Short-Circuiting – It’s never a good sign when everyone is brushing upon the circuit-breaker rules pre-mkt. US indices were open for ~4 minutes before the halts came into play. It was the first time they’ve been triggered since Dec, 2008. When the defensive sector are yielding losses of 4-5%, you know things have gone really sour. 4 different sectors are currently seeing DOUBLE-DIGIT losses. We did see some brief bargain-hunting in travel-related names and the oils; BRIEF. About that…