(03-31-2020, 09:08 AM)The Real Marty Wrote:

(03-31-2020, 08:52 AM)Byron LeftTown Wrote: The 2nd pandemic is the "economic collapse" pandemic, followed by the "empty shelves" pandemic, then the "9 meals from anarchy" pandemic, then the "3 weeks from cannibalism" pandemic.

So yeah, the Dow could go lower.

I'm surprised people don't see the possibility.   A lot of people seem to think everything is just going to snap back to normal in a couple of months.  That's impossible.  Thousands upon thousands of small businesses are going to be wiped out, and lots of people will be unemployed for a long period of time, no matter what happens from here.  Meanwhile, we are going to be left with 6 or more TRILLIONS of additional dollars in US government debt, and trillions of additional dollars in private debt.  People will max out their credit cards to put the next meal on the table.   Do people actually think this pandemic is going to be without cost beyond the lives lost???  There will be HUGE costs, and I don't think the stock market reflects that.  Yet.

It depends on how big companies react. If CEOs and c-suite take the approach to only care about their bonus based on the share price, then we are all in trouble. If the companies take the approach that they care about their employees and will work to stay in business versus showing growth for the shareholders then it will recover. Small businesses may struggle, but if they have equipment or products, someone will be there to pick it up. Hopefully a lot of lenders and landlords take the approach that they can either lose out on 1-2 months worth of payments or lose a lot more if the business goes under and they have to try to find another company to purchase/lease.

My company has at least paused any firings, but that may end quickly depending on the revenue. It was already bad, but it would be bad PR to fire people right now.

---