This is a time for all of us to pay attention – pay attention to our health, the health of those we care about, stimulus programs to help us, and the futures we desire.
The press and our government tell us that this week should be a turning point in the spread and impact of COVID-19. Most of the country is home, and we tip our hats to the essential workers that are still keeping things working, especially health care workers, first responders, truckers, retail workers and so many others.
We too are working remotely, and in the many conversations we’ve had with clients and industry partners, we’re hearing concerns about health, concerns about how the world will look when this passes, and questions about stimulus package details.
What we’re not hearing is outright fear or worry about financial plans or market performance. It seems most of us understand that there is a massive event (coronavirus) that’s disrupting the world and that it will pass.
Our goal as always is to keep you up to date on what’s happening and how decisions and circumstances may be affecting your wealth plans.
Some key shifts that we’re seeing are the possibility of Russia and Saudi Arabia striking an agreement to lower oil production in the face of declining demand, and we’re also seeing that Europe is reporting their first decline in virus-related fatalities in two weeks.
We’re keeping our eye on a few key things:
- The next 2-3 weeks will be telling for the spread and impact of COVID-19 here in the US, and everyone is tracking “the curve” and watching to see if the collective measures that are being taken are going to flatten it.
- Earnings reports over the next 2 weeks will capture a portion of the time that the virus impacted companies in Q1. The virus affected the last 15-30 days so we’ll be looking to see indications of that as earnings are reported.
- The VIX, which is an indicator of volatility in the market, is priced at $45. It was less than $15 in the middle of February and spiked to $82 on March 16th.
It’s reasonable to expect that the financial markets will have more bad news to digest in the coming months, especially as more corporate earnings are reported and with the impact that COVID-19 is having on the economy.
Notwithstanding all of that, it’s key (as always) to keep your attention on what matters most. Your health, the health and safety of those close to you, and your eye out for opportunities to make the most of the situations.