canuckian

The current political division in this country coupled with all the biased media coverage could make this worse economically.
Nobody really knows what to believe. Every time you hear a politician speak about the virus you question their motives.
Every time you see a frightening headline you wonder if it’s for the ratings.
At least in China it was a unified voice and they quickly quashed any rumors. It may not have always been the most truthful reporting but it probably helped to minimize the economic fallout.

rickair7777

On the positive side...

1. We've been down this road before and it did not result in a zombie apocalypse. I think most people will take a more realistic approach this time.
2. The market was pretty warm anyway, some part of the loss was likely an invertible correction just waiting for a precipitating event. Personally I was mentally discounting the value of my portfolio by about 15% for that reason... fortunately I had sold my wife on that outlook a few months ago.
3. US airlines (most of them) are fundamentally healthy and well-structured.
4. Many US airlines are now too big to fail, federal help will be forthcoming.
5. There are no fundamental structural weaknesses in the economy (that we know about yet anyway). Case in point China is now trending in the right direction.
6. The cause of all this appears to have a finite timeline, with a little luck things will quickly recover on their own once the virus subsides.

These are reasons I'm not as worried about this as I was in 2008... I was worried then, enough to double-down on my military career at the expense of airlines. Time will tell.

contrails12

Weakness in the structure of the economy IMO response to point number 5

corporate, personal, and government debt levels are at astronomical levels.

also the soft underbelly of complex global supply chains without commensurate global cooperation

tnkrdrvr

Yes, the music has stopped. TBD if the band is taking a smoke break out back or dying. Good luck

Andy

I think the band's in quarantine for another 13 days...

Aviatormar

bingo- the last time we had a nasty collapse one saying they got old quick “your house is an investment- it’ll never go down”. Right. Tell that to the foreclosed people who lost everything. And before we jump on them, greedy bankers allowed it to happen. It’s awfully tough to predict what’ll take down the economy and start shedding jobs. Subprime auto loans(no ride to work no job...)? Student debt load? Who knows. Time to clean up the balance sheets friends and live like an FO.

Surprise

Live free or die.

rickair7777

There's the answer... repeal the first amendment.

China also is now blaming the US military for starting the epidemic in Wuhan. A paragon of upstanding sobriety and responsibility the PRC is...

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-h...-idUSKBN20Z196

canuckian

Definitely not suggesting that but you’ve got to admit that it gave them a significant advantage in containing this. They locked down 60 million people. Try doing that here.

kaputt

I think most would take the added freedom during normal periods of life than the brief added safety during a pandemic.

But who knows these days considering some of the politicians people are voting for.