Economic Update and the Stock Market

Well, I liquidated a position in big oil as the dividend cuts stating rolling out. This company in particular hadn't cut it's dividend since World War 2 and it cut its dividend.
After reviewing the financial information, I now recommend you hold on to cash until there is more certainty. Right now the number of supply and demand shocks occurring in the world economy are too numerous and varied to account for. Suffice it to say we are looking royally screwed economically.
Unemployment claims are about 30 million. Which puts us at about 19.2% unemployment. The second highest in history behind The Great Depression.
We have multiple supply shocks in our food supply with meat processors shutting. A never been seen before supply shock in big oil that has sent oil demand to historical lows. Multiple supply chains disrupted due to shut down in global supply chains, the most concerning being PPE and drug production which we source either the item itself or materials for the item outside the nation. Supply shock in the airline industry from airlines to production never before seen. Restaurants haven't reported earnings, so not sure how terribly the big chains have been hit, but we all know small businesses are going bankrupt or just closing by the day. Even surprisingly Google laid off part of their marketing department and is preparing for a downturn in online ad revenue.
The main companies doing well at the moment are mostly gig economy companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Google (for now) and maybe grocery stores.
The expected GDP contraction for the first quarter is 4.8%.
This is with about one month of lock down and about 2 weeks of the unemployment included in the numbers. That small amount included in the first quarter caused a 4.8% contraction. The second quarter will include the month of April lock down and the extension of the lock down into May. So depending on what happens with re-opening, the second quarter will be the hardest hit by the coronavirus. That is when we'll see the downturn in demand from a 19% unemployment rate and all the supply and demand shocks. We'll have more info on this as we get into June. I'd be real surprised if we didn't contract by over 10%.
Suffice it say we are screwed. The stock market is reacting slowly as some people think now is a great time to jump in and it isn't. This is like what happened before the 2001 Tech Crash and the 2008 Mortgage crash. The surge before the true crash comes when the really bad news starts to hit during the second quarter earnings season. We have real bad news coming. You should tread carefully with your money.
After reviewing the financial information, I now recommend you hold on to cash until there is more certainty. Right now the number of supply and demand shocks occurring in the world economy are too numerous and varied to account for. Suffice it to say we are looking royally screwed economically.
Unemployment claims are about 30 million. Which puts us at about 19.2% unemployment. The second highest in history behind The Great Depression.
We have multiple supply shocks in our food supply with meat processors shutting. A never been seen before supply shock in big oil that has sent oil demand to historical lows. Multiple supply chains disrupted due to shut down in global supply chains, the most concerning being PPE and drug production which we source either the item itself or materials for the item outside the nation. Supply shock in the airline industry from airlines to production never before seen. Restaurants haven't reported earnings, so not sure how terribly the big chains have been hit, but we all know small businesses are going bankrupt or just closing by the day. Even surprisingly Google laid off part of their marketing department and is preparing for a downturn in online ad revenue.
The main companies doing well at the moment are mostly gig economy companies like Amazon, Facebook, and Google (for now) and maybe grocery stores.
The expected GDP contraction for the first quarter is 4.8%.
This is with about one month of lock down and about 2 weeks of the unemployment included in the numbers. That small amount included in the first quarter caused a 4.8% contraction. The second quarter will include the month of April lock down and the extension of the lock down into May. So depending on what happens with re-opening, the second quarter will be the hardest hit by the coronavirus. That is when we'll see the downturn in demand from a 19% unemployment rate and all the supply and demand shocks. We'll have more info on this as we get into June. I'd be real surprised if we didn't contract by over 10%.
Suffice it say we are screwed. The stock market is reacting slowly as some people think now is a great time to jump in and it isn't. This is like what happened before the 2001 Tech Crash and the 2008 Mortgage crash. The surge before the true crash comes when the really bad news starts to hit during the second quarter earnings season. We have real bad news coming. You should tread carefully with your money.