Here's a statement of the obvious: The opinions expressed here are those of the participants, not those of the Mutual Fund Observer. We cannot vouch for the accuracy or appropriateness of any of it, though we do encourage civility and good humor.
Support MFO
Donate through PayPal
davfor
Thanks. She is well now and back to her daily volunteering.....
I suspect the global economic recovery from the pandemic will be slow enough that a significant additional amount of fiscal and monetary stimulus will wind up being supplied. The larger that total amount winds up being, the greater the odds it will…
@LewisBraham It may make sense to consider at least part of the message even if the messenger refers to an academic theory that has limited applicability in our very messy and ever changing world. This is a "all hands on deck, don't worry about to…
@bee Tourists are now even being paid to leave....
Hawaii's tourism industry, which normally welcomes tourists to the popular vacation destination, is offering visitors who disobey the state's self-quarantine order a financial incentive to leave.
…
@Crash Thanks for the update. Hawaii has quite a challenge ahead of it since it is soooo dependent on tourism to supports it economy.
A note about the "small town" island of Molokai with it 8000 person population and its 15 bed hospital (a very v…
Plus, from across the pond:
The European Central Bank said on Wednesday it would let banks post collateral that was downgraded to junk during the coronavirus outbreak to prevent a credit squeeze in the euro zone.
https://reuters.com/article/ecb-pol…
Here are some of the results of a nationwide poll conducted between April 16 and April 20:
From:
apnorc.org/projects/Pages/Is-America-Ready-to-Re-Open-.aspx
Here is another discussion of the poll results:
https://apnews.com/9ed271ca13012d3b7…
Donald Trump has been voicing a little frustration recently about how "his" network has been behaving. I take that as being a positive sign:
https://salon.com/2020/04/20/trump-warns-americans-that-fox-news-is-on-a-bad-path-after-nancy-pelosi-appea…
@Mark I hope so too. Actually, I think Norah O'Donnell has been doing a good job now that she has settled in at the CBS Evening News.
https://latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-norah-odonnell-cbs-evening-news-20190714-story.html
@davidrmora…
@davidrmoran It makes little sense to me to label 1/2 of Trump supporters as being deplorable human beings -- even if they may harbor one or more of a shopping list of prejudices (let he who is without sin cast the first stone). That is what I th…
They blew them off a carton at a time (with perhaps a thousand or more firecrackers per carton). And several cartons going off at once. It was amazing!
@Crash Yes. Our first New Years Eve in a condo in downtown Lihue, Kauai in 1984 was a night we will never forget. The decibel level became almost unbearable as midnight approached! Fortunately, we had moved into a small house we built in the hil…
@Mark There are at minimum economic, racial, cultural, and religious aspects to this (politics gets layered on top of the mix). What I have encountered on the racial and cultural side has included a less pervasive version of what you described. U…
I think about two groups of Fox news "followers" when I consider this topic. First, several (probably most) of our neighbors in the gulf coast Florida neighborhood where my wife and I owned a winter home for several years. Second, most of my wife'…
I found it encouraging that 50 members of congress have come up with a fairly comprehensive, detailed, and forward looking bipartisan plan this quickly. Here is some of the issues it addresses:
...at the top of the list for bipartisan lawmakers' ch…
So who is right???
For now I am sticking with radical uncertainty as a good answer.
The stock market currently appears to be acting mostly as a sentiment driven voting machine. By the time a couple of "post pandemic onset" earnings seasons have c…
Recent massive central bank and fiscal policy interventions -- and the promises of more to come if needed -- appear to make it less likely the stock market will move dramatically downward over the next several weeks. But, it will take the passing o…
@Old_Skeet OK. I understand. My personal uncertainty relates to the near term path the stock market will take before it resumes a long term upward trend (and from how low a point the rebuilding process will commence). The balance point in my por…
The phrase "radical uncertainty" towards the end of this article struck a cord with me. The global economy has been severely shaken over the past couple of months and the storm is still raging. The probable duration of the negative shock is hard t…
Here is a little more detail on the types of high yield bonds and about other financial products the Fed will now be buying:
In a move that surprised some investors, the central bank will also expand its bond-buying program to include debt that was …
Here's a little more detail about the high yield investments. It sounds like they may not be directly picking individual winners and losers for now:
the Fed indicated that it would begin to dip its toes into the high yield bond market with SMCCF pu…
Perhaps the Fed is hoping its aggressive actions will help keep it from having to decide about purchasing stocks (via an index). My hunch is they will seriously consider doing that if the S&P drops below about 2000. It is my understanding it w…
This quote about how to do implementation paints a useful mental picture (somewhat akin to Baby Steps):
Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark was more explicit: “It’s like walking a tightrope,” she said. “If we stand still, we may fall. If we …
@catch22
My wife and I owned a small winter home for several years in a middle class neighborhood adjacent to Lemon Bay in the village of Englewood along the gulf coast of central Florida. Our neighbors were in general very "down to earth", frien…
@MikeW You are welcome. I had been thinking about that topic in relation to medical staff and senior housing care providers. So, it was of interest to me too.
@rono Good to read you have a soft spot for non technical writing by well qualified ec…
I accessed the article by typing the article name into an incognito window. Then, I clicked on the link to the article. Then, I closed an ad asking me to subscribe. Then the article was available. Apparently Barrons isn't concerned about people …
Yes. Perhaps it would. But, considering that approach makes particular sense to me when thinking about staff hires in hospital and nursing home settings (until a reliable vaccine becomes widely distributed).
Here is one approach being considered in Italy: The scientific and political communities there are looking seriously at utilizing antibody testing to help determine who will be permitted to go back to work and move freely in public.
Having the righ…
Life in a Covid-19 world....
CROWD CONTROL: Walmart still wants customers, just fewer of them at a time. The nation’s largest retailer said it will now allow no more than five customers for each 1,000 square feet at a given time, roughly about 20% …
I just talked to my wife about our bill. She spoke to Medicare. The test should have been covered in our case (Oregon). The doctors office will submit the bill again. Hopefully, it will process properly this time.
The Feds activist policies helped to create this situation. They have been aware of the problems and have thought they were not excessive. This pandemic is a black swan event. The Fed has indicated they will do whatever it takes to keep the econo…
Just to provide a little color for our particular situation. My wife has a compromised immune system. She exhibited most of the symptoms for covid-19. She volunteers on a daily basis with a veterans group. She has frequent contact with a nearby …
My wife was tested for covid-19 a couple of weeks ago. Fortunately, she doesn't have it. (It took about a week to get the results.) We had understood Blue Cross/Medicare would pick up the tab for the test. But, we got a bill for about $250 for th…
The range of uncertainty becomes quite large as June 1 approaches. My assumption is that the model doesn't really have much to it to say about what might happen after the first wave dissipates....
