Coronavirus (COVID-19) has certainly taken the world by storm and there is an eery feel around how bad it really is. Videos emerging from China that were wiped off the internet, streets being blocked out completely in the United States and people dropping like flies, it comes to wonder if it is worse than the media is making out. The toilet paper crisis of Australia brings to question the virus’s effect on the brain and with Italy being locked down there are some serious concerns of what we aren’t being told.
Italy is in lockdown, China is crumbling and was Wuhan the target of a bioweapon attack as part of a tactical trade war move?
While our health is important, for many of us, our finances help define our lifestyle. The markets are going crazy and the ASX200 has dropped significantly of late, along with basically every other asset that does not say “I am a safe haven”.
The perfect storm of all time highs in February, followed by crashing lows, the release of a virus on the people of Wuhan and the inability to keep the infected in their own geolocation will certainly be identified in documentaries and conspiracies. The virus came out during a heavy foot traffic period leading to an epic spread globally. It is a little too much like the mobile app game called Plague Inc. It wasn’t too long after the Hong Kong riots (China’s “this’ll teach them” moment) and the ongoing Trade War that was already creating some global tension.
Throw in the OPEC decisions with oil supply and you have yourself an insanely volatile market worldwide. The question is, how long will it continue and how far will it go down by?
The world is now on sale! Cheap stocks, currencies flying and the timing of it all a little suspicious. Are we seeing the start of a Financial Crisis in 2020? With a move of over 1300 points in a couple of weeks on the Australian Stock Market, compared to the initial move of around 1800 points in the GFC over a couple of months, we might be in for one hell of a ride.
Since the GFC there have been multiple occasions of algos trading rampantly to drop markets off the charts and they would have made a fortune recently. These trading robots, simply adding to the fuel and thrashing the economy hard.
While series like The Walking Dead and Van Helsing are a little to close to what’s going on in the world right now, the world will continue on. Some of the videos from China, and perhaps what will still be coming seem scary, particularly after watching these series. And unfortunately we cannot rely on a global policy to stay the f*** away from public places when infected so we have to look after ourselves and take reasonable precautions. The governments won’t stop infected from travelling the globe and spreading the love, but we can do our best to stay healthy, be clean and self quarantine where possible.
Dean Koontz wrote a book in 1981 called “The Eyes of Darkness” that refers to Wuhan-400 being released in 2020. Originally aimed at the Soviet Union (Russia), the book was re-written to target the US political enemy in 1989 as it was more reflective of the agenda that needed to be positioned against. The predictions here are close to what has happened and as though there was a change in agenda long term, back in 1989 to cause ‘history’ to be re-written.
Patience is critical, stocks are becoming cheap and may create even more opportunity and value for your every dollar in the near future.
Once this all blows over, as it always does, the markets will return to being a tool for investors looking to make a return. That is how they are designed. Media helps to create fear and pressures investors to sell at cheap prices, a bit like going into a store and enforcing a cheaper price with the threat of a weapon. Markets are made to increase over time. Now is a sale period, not the end of the world.
Or, if you are not patient and want to go ham, you can even short the market and trade with leverage through this platform.