Trading Halted as Stock Market Plunges
This is very bad:
BREAKING: Trading halted as Dow Jones plummets nearly 2,000 points on coronavirus fears and oil price uncertainty. https://t.co/x0crZ12iqa pic.twitter.com/tMXn4CgeQy
— ABC News (@ABC) March 9, 2020
The Saudi actions sent an extra shock wave through the market, but I think the market is also adjusting to the new reality. The coronavirus is going to change a lot of things about daily life, relatively soon. Travel will continue to slow rapidly. Businesses will fail. Major businesses will be badly hurt and may fail. There will be ginormous government bailouts.
It could take years to recover.
Donald Trump is not responsible for the coronavirus, but he has given the country an absurd vision of “containment,” telling our citizens eleven days ago that the number of cases would soon be “close to zero:”
Donald Trump, February 27. https://t.co/3tTtpNlpsF pic.twitter.com/CAM9nW1q9a
— Patterico (@Patterico) March 8, 2020
Donald Trump can’t bullshit his way out of what the coronavirus is going to do. His absurdly rosy predictions of how he “contained” the virus in the U.S. will haunt him through November.
UPDATE: The trading halt was brief, and there may even be sharks willing to take advantage of those who are panic-selling, which could minimize the damage of the day’s open. Me, I sold a chunk at the beginning of the year and am planning to continue dollar cost averaging every month, but I’m still expecting stormy times ahead.
Trading was halted for 15 minutes when the Nasdaq fell 7%. It started again after the time-out expired and is now up a bit. Markets now down about 5.5%.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:30 amI really hope I’m wrong about this.
I don’t think I am.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:30 amDuh Donald will emerge looking like a dangerous fool, presiding over an incompetent bureaucracy.
Both of which are true.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:32 amTurns out lying all the time is bad for credibility
Dustin (646336) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:35 amThis really isn’t about Trump, though. I doubt that any president this side of Josiah Bartlet or Jack Ryan could have prevented the mass panic we are seeing wrt CV. When people are raiding Costco for toilet paper — which is in no danger of short supply — there is really not much you can say to them. The fact that Trump is incompetent is neither new nor meaningful in this instance.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:36 amUPDATE: The trading halt was brief, and there may even be sharks willing to take advantage of those who are panic-selling, which could minimize the damage of the day’s open. Me, I sold a chunk at the beginning of the year and am planning to continue dollar cost averaging every month, but I’m still expecting stormy times ahead.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:36 amI really hope I’m wrong about this.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:37 amThe problem with Trump is not that he has failed to prevent panicky behavior. It’s more what Dustin said.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:37 amOK, so you’re mocking what I’m saying as panic on my part. You don’t think this is going to get much worse before it gets better? You don’t think it will have a devastating impact on businesses?
I had a planned trip overseas later this month with my mom and sisters. We are almost certainly not going now. Multiply that by thousands upon thousands of similar choices, and ask yourself how business will be affected.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:40 amKevin,
Look back to George W Bush on 9/12/2001. A leader doesn’t need to be perfect to show a little empathy and compassion for his country, unite us, and get us through a scary challenge. A leader doesn’t need superhuman intellect to outthink all problems to do it.
This really captures Trump’s core problem. He doesn’t care about you. You know it. Perhaps because you’re politically savvy and cynical you just assume none of them care, so this is some kind of refreshing honesty, but for the nation at large, where Trump support is largely an expression of hostility, he has no traction to lead. We are leaderless as a people.
I also wonder if there are real differences within the bureacracy. There’s no way to spin this against Biden, so what are Trump’s staff going to do to organize more tests and quarantines and treatments? Do they care? I submit very, very few people remaining in this administration are psychologically normal.
Dustin (646336) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:42 amI’ll be shocked if at least one airline doesn’t go under as the result of this.
They are trying to lock down 16 million people in northern Italy.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:43 amHere is the existential problem with the Donald Trump Presidency. At a time when we need to be governed, rather than entertained, we have someone who does not govern, or step out of the way of people who can. The display Trump put on here in Atlanta is instructive. He appoints Pence head of the coronavirus effort. But he doesn’t bring him to Atlanta. He instead undercuts him with his comments on the Washington governor. He tells absolute/transparent lies about the availability of testing kits, cutting off his HHS Secretary.
And he does all this during ATL’s rush hour, snarling further our famous snarled traffic, at the worst time, and in the worst places.
I am willing to believe that our hair on fire media is making things worse than they are. Trump won’t calm it down. He can’t. He’ll lie, get found out, and make everyone believe things are far far worse.
Appalled (1a17de) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:43 amI’ve been mostly out of the market for a year now. Maybe 10% invested (well, 9% now). But with interest rates crashing down to zero, what are we supposed to do with our cash? It’s all going back into the market soon enough.
The lows today were just under a 20% drop from the highs on the 3 major indexes. It could go lower, of course, but how much lower?
As for Trump … yes, he’s a buffoon, but he’s OUR buffoon. He at least doesn’t hate capitalism like the
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:45 amSocialistDemocrat Party does. A Democrat president and Congress who were competent at getting their agenda (e.g. the Green New Deal) across would not necessarily help markets any.Dustin,
Beyond a few appointees, the permanent bureaucracy has been there for years. They were there before Trump and they will be there after Trump. The Iron Law captures most of them in the end, and they care far more about their little satrapy’s health than about what their satrapy is supposed to do.
Yes, Trump is completely self-involved. It’s not good, but I’ll take that over politicians who are focused on making me do stuff I don’t want to do.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:51 amOil prices are plunging, so maybe the airlines are spared. I would worry more about cruise lines.
Appalled (1a17de) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:52 am“Turns out lying all the time is bad for credibility”
Dustin (646336) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:35 am
The coronavirus is just waiting for someone credible to tell it to go away.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:55 amHe at least doesn’t hate capitalism…
He doesn’t hate crony capitalism a.k.a. fascist economics. He does hate real capitalism where you and I choose with whom, where, and how we deal.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:55 amI’ll be shocked if at least one airline doesn’t go under as the result of this.
This has been clear for several weeks. The Dow Transport average is off 25% since Feb 20. I’d expect the commuter airlines to have the most problem since driving is going to look like a better choice for a while.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:55 amDonald Trump didn’t cause this problem. But to the extent that clear and accurate information can help people he’s failed to provide it.
An alternative approach would have been to present an outlook that more closely matched what we’re seeing as well as the outlines of our response plan with some explanation for how the response could be scaled if the facts come in better / worse then expectation. Part of this would have been to convince the public that the administration took this seriously and cared primarily about public well being. To the extent he and his surrogates didn’t do that it’s made this worse.
I honestly hope he’s more correct than he is wrong, but I’m not confident of that. I’m also not confident that he’ll admit that he made a mistake an and aggressively correct course if needed. In past situation he’s refused to admit error doubled down and attacked anyone from his team that contradicted him.
It affects me personally. I flew home from LAX last week. Should I avoid people from the high risk groups for 14 days or is that unnecessary. I think it’s unnecessary, but I don’t know, and I’m not confident the current administration will give me an honest answer.
Time123 (f5cf77) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:57 amHe does hate real capitalism where you and I choose with whom, where, and how we deal.
He prefers to have a captive market, sure. Who wouldn’t? But most of his investments are in competitive markets (e.g. hotels and office rentals). Compare this to those who think there should be one (government) brand of toothpaste.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:58 amRemember how the Collectivists have big plans to compel us into cities and mass transit?
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:59 amAOC wants to end air travel. That would hurt airline stocks more.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:00 amI havent seen this yet, but…when well-dressed well-adjusted people are cleaning the shelves at the semi-holy trinity of Familiy Dollar, Dollar Tree and Dollar General – thats when things are truly t^ts-u/FUBAR/SHTF.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:01 amHas Trump blamed Cruz and Gosar yet? (For announcing their self-imposed quarantines?) Don’t worry, he will.
nk (1d9030) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:02 amCompare this to those who think there should be one (government) brand of toothpaste.
I have. I hate, loath, and despise them all. T-rump is my nominal president because he holds the office. He’s my enemy because of who he has chosen to be.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:04 amSure, of course. You could say the same about FEMA and Katrina to a point.
Yet poor decision making and awful leadership, including issues of consistent mistakes and over-partisanship, matters.
This is largely about Trump’s consistent aversion to risk (and therefore his aversion to reward, which is a part of risk). Trump doesn’t care about us, and therefore why go out and take the early risk of saying this is a real problem and he wants his administration, other government, and the American people to do many things to improve the situation? Why not just do as little as possible and tell us there’s no problem?
Indeed, disease is something people are smart enough to have some control over. Trump’s an infamous vaccine skeptic so he and his people have wrap their political identity in denying reality. But yeah, elections have profound consequences. If you’re impressed with Trump’s performance, vote for him. You will again be voting against most Americans.
Dustin (646336) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:05 am@19: You’re more likely to die from twisting your brain into logical contortions to somehow blame Trump than from CV.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:11 amOver-centralization can be a killer…
https://nypost.com/2020/03/07/overregulation-is-making-the-coronavirus-outbreak-even-more-dangerous/
Don’t rely on Big Brother.
I was impressed (again) with the leadership shown by a Walmart CEO in response to Katrina. He told his people to use their initiative. Then he stepped out of their way.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:15 amThis is a buying opportunity, The virus will be brought under control and business will return to normal. The underlying fundamentals are sound. The panicky idiots will lose $$, those who take the long view will clean up.
rcocean (1a839e) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:16 amOil prices are plunging.
And Putin smiled.
rcocean (1a839e) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:17 amI expect that Walmart will have toilet paper when I want toilet paper. It’s not a last-moment item for me though.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:19 amIf only Joe Biden was in charge there would be no virus. Oh for the days of Obama, when we had a wise man at the Top. Sadly, we have Trump – who made the mistake of trying to get people not to panic. Obama would’ve understood that screeching hysteria is what people need. After all, as all lawyers know, you can cure a virus by talking about it.
rcocean (1a839e) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:20 am…twisting your brain into logical contortions to somehow blame Trump than from CV.
And you’re more likely to die from asphyxia from being so far up…the lazy river.
Nobody has blamed your cult leader for CV. We do blame him for his conduct. Well, and foisting his grave personality disorder off on the US and world.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:21 amThis one is more on Putin than the virus, but he made this decision when the markets were already in a volatile state.
Paul Montagu (d6528e) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:21 amAlso, this could say more about the weakness of Putin’s Dutch-diseased economy, that he’s unwilling to cut production.
This will be the Democrats new “BIG LIE”. That Trump somehow refused to recognize the virus was deadly and dragged his feet, thereby killing people. Or as the NYT’s put it: Its the Trumpvirus.
Its the Katrina Playbook all over again. I wonder how many boobs will buy it.
rcocean (1a839e) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:23 amWe do blame him for his conduct. Well, and foisting his grave personality disorder off on the US and world.
His constant inability to find a clue is also a problem. Then again he provides a useful service — demonstrating that we really don’t NEED a secular god in D.C. to help us live our lives.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:25 amRemember the flu deaths in 2009? How Obama mastered the whole situation despite thousands dying and Round the clock coverage by the MSM?
Yeah neither do I. Cause it never happened. The MSM minimized that flu outbreak.
rcocean (1a839e) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:25 amI wonder how many boobs will buy it.
None that didn’t think of it by themselves.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:26 amThe virus is suspiciously well-timed. I suspect it was engineered and intentionally deployed in, but not by, China.
Make America Ordered Again (23f793) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:26 amobsession with personality over policy is the mark of a superficial mind.
rcocean (1a839e) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:26 am“It affects me personally. I flew home from LAX last week. Should I avoid people from the high risk groups for 14 days or is that unnecessary. I think it’s unnecessary, but I don’t know, and I’m not confident the current administration will give me an honest answer.”
Time123 (f5cf77) — 3/9/2020 @ 7:57 am
Oh please.
My kids essentially take several flights every day they go to school, like they did today. This, after a case of CV was reported at a neighboring school just this weekend. Many of these kids come in contact with high risk groups at home or when they go out. The local school district is keeping the schools open.
If we are waiting for the government to stand in for what should be common sense, and assuage irrational panic, then you deserve the sort of nanny state that requires.
Munroe (dd6b64) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:26 amThe Dow has dropped more than 4,000 points in the last one month. That’s because people and institutions who invest in blue chip stocks are stupid and easily fooled by the Democrat Katrina-strategizing #FakeNewsMedia.
nk (1d9030) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:28 amobsession with personality over policy is the mark of a superficial mind.
You found that in your cookie from the Fang STUPID Chinese restaurant.
Tell the truth now…
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:30 amWe have a flu vaccine and several anti-flu drugs. And yet we will have 40K+ deaths this year due to the flu (and underlying conditions).
If Coronavirus, for which there is currently no vaccine or active treatment, becomes as widespread as the flu generally does we will probably have more deaths. That’s not clear, though, as we have no good numbers on mild infections, even in the US, and unreliable information on anything in China. It might even be that some of the deaths already attributed to “the flu” were really CV. Just now getting workable test kits (and thank you Bill Gates).
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:31 am#42: No, it’s because they know better than to “fight the tape.”
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:33 amBTW, is some comrade here (I’m not mentioning any names) who believes someone created and disseminated the virus in order to create chaos from which they will emerge in control of a New World Order?
nk (1d9030) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:34 amOil prices are plunging. And Putin smiled.
Naturally. It isn’t like Russia’s economy has anything to do with oil or gas.
Jeeebus…
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:52 amDonald Trump claims the market plunge is ‘GOOD for the consumer’ because oil prices are coming down and blames ‘fake news’ for historic sell-off saying: ‘Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on’
Dave (1bb933) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:56 amThe Saudis and the Russians are trying to maintain income be increasing sales volume as they lose sales that normally would go to China. So both boost production to cut their prices in hopes of stealing away clients of other oil producers.
But they can’t do that for very long, because the Russian and the Saudis’ break-even costs have to factor in how much their oil industry is subsidizing other sectors of the economy. The best Saudi oilfield might have a break-even of $15 a barrel, but add on all the benefits, subsidies and other payments the Kingdom shells out to keep down any internal unrest, and you’ve likely doubled their real break-even point, and gotten it to where it’s on-par with the best-producing areas in the U.S. fracking zones.
So the oil drop has a floor. how fast it goes back up will depend on how fast China returns to production and how fast the coronavirus panic elsewhere subsides (i.e. — the panic right now is about the deaths that might happen — if we’re in early May and those deaths haven’t played out any worse than a normal flu season, people are simply going to go back to their normal routines as the weather warms up).
John (c7bcb1) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:58 amI’m looking forward to the low petrol prices on our 3,000-plus mile road trip down and up the west coast, which we’re not canceling.
Paul Montagu (d6528e) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:04 ammr. president trump, who is the donald except in the files of the gehlen bureau where he is brunhilda, is making america great again
that’s all that matters
nk (1d9030) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:05 amThe virus will be brought under control and business will return to normal. The underlying fundamentals are sound. The panicky idiots will lose $$, those who take the long view will clean up.
When you use terms like “the underlying fundamentals”, it gives the false impression you know some damn thing about what you are bloviating about. Several businesses have very precarious “fundamentals” just now, and they could easily go belly-up in the next few months.
In “the long view” everything will reach some equilibrium. (The NYSE had substantially recovered only months after the Crash.) In the meantime, millions of people will be hurt, and the investors are only a tiny fraction. Of course “investors” includes anyone with a pension plan, retirement account, etc.
Now, that’s not entirely on T-rump.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:06 amAh, the dummy reads my post dumbly. Shocking. But that’s for the info, Captain obvious.
PS – Look up sarcasm in the dictionary.
rcocean (1a839e) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:09 amI confess, I never had rcocean pegged as a Keynesian: “In the long run we’re all dead.”
Dave (1bb933) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:16 amThat’s a fairly insane thing to think with no evidence beyond suspicious timing.
Time123 (457a1d) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:17 amNo one said you can cure a virus by talking about it. But Trump’s attempts to reduce panic don’t seem to have worked. While talking can’t cure a virus, it can align people’s valid concerns with the actual facts and help them make the best decision possible for them. Trump and his administration haven’t done that yet.
As I said up thread
Time123 (457a1d) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:23 amWhen would be an innocent time for a virus like this to appear, I wonder?
Dave (1bb933) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:23 amFound a photo of Donald Trump battling COVID-19 (RIP Max Von Sydow). Wishing health safety and blessings on all.
https://reynoldsukmedia.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/screen-shot-2014-08-14-at-15-03-58.png
JRH (52aed3) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:24 amWhen would be an innocent time for a virus like this to appear, I wonder?
2024, perhaps… By T-rump reckoning, at least.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:26 amNot sure if this big drop has much to do with corona virus… its the Saudi kicking of oil wars with Russia imo, which is huuuuuge. Yes, oil prices are dropping, but it’s the uncertainty in the oil market that is driving this.
Also, lower oil prices may impact jobs sustained by fracking here in the states… if the prices remains low, those jobs may be lost…
whembly (51f28e) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:31 am…its the Saudi kicking of oil wars with Russia imo…
One would expect that this would result in rising prices for most American stocks (transportation especially), with a fall in the energy sector. We aren’t seeing that.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:42 amRIP Max Von Sydow
I enjoyed him in Crowe’s Robin Hood, which is one of my favorite renditions of the tale.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:45 amThe Dems who were praying for a stock market nosedive are getting exactly what they wished for. Unfortunately so is everyone else.
harkin (b64479) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:45 amRIP – Max Von Sydow
“What the stink are they doing in there?” – Brewmeister Smith.
The role he was born to play.
harkin (b64479) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:48 am_
You don’t think this is going to get much worse before it gets better?
In what way? I don’t think that it is bad now. Except for the panic-mongering and the freak-outs. The harm is self-inflicted, and to some degree hyped. Think “Carmageddon” or “Y2K”
Flu-like viruses kill tens of thousands every year in the US. Old strains, new strains, whatever. It will turn out that this virus is not noticeably different.
The wild mortality rates reported will be seen to be bad statistics based on a failure to count mild cases. If we judged the flu by dividing deaths by hospitalizations, it would have a 10% mortality rate. This IS dangerous to the elderly or otherwise compromised, and perhaps more so than the simple flu. But the reaction is way overboard. You’d think this was Ebola.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:51 amI remember him best as the assassin in “Three Days of Faye and Robert”.
nk (1d9030) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:52 amPS – Look up sarcasm in the dictionary.
Some things actually need a “sarc” tag.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:54 amKevin @65. I suspect part of the reason for the panic is that the people most at risk, old men, are also, for the most part, the ones in charge of the response.
nk (1d9030) — 3/9/2020 @ 9:55 amExcept for the panic-mongering and the freak-outs. The harm is self-inflicted…
I’m sure the airlines, cruise lines, and tourism industries will take comfort at your tough love! All that self-inflicted freak-out.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 10:01 amBTW, Patterico, I was not mocking you. I was, however, suggesting that you were letting the situation get the best of you. As we all have at some point.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 10:06 amnk,
I think that the lack of knowledge, the media’s need for a story, China’s veracity problem (and Trump’s) all combine to feed people’s fear of something unknown. Fear, uncertainty and doubt.
Everything I see says that this really should not scare healthy individuals. Sure, a URI is no fun and this might be a harsh one. I’d really rather not get it myself. But I wouldn’t miss something important for fear of it.
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 10:12 amI’m sure the airlines, cruise lines, and tourism industries will take comfort at your tough love! All that self-inflicted freak-out.
There are obviously casualties of even a freak-out. In October 2001 airlines fared poorly even though there was no real threat of hijacking. And you can REALLY get a deal on a cruise this summer!
Kevin M (ab1c11) — 3/9/2020 @ 10:15 amHe only really came into his own in The Force Awakens.
/sarc
Dave (1bb933) — 3/9/2020 @ 10:29 am/sarc
/sarc
Dustin: “Turns out lying all the time is bad for credibility”
Even if the bottom line is true, especially if you tell something that’s basically true in such a way so that it sounds like a lie!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/08/us/politics/trump-coronavirus.html
here are elements here that are lies. It wasn’t a hunch it was a very informed opinion
But Trump doesn’t want anyone to say he was wrong. So he downgraded it to a hunch, in case that estimate turned out to be wrong. He also gave nobody else any credit.
It’s not enough to know that Trump is lying. You have to know in what way he is lying.
Now another official would have said: The assessment among most U.S. government epidemiologists is that the World Health Organization’s statistic is way too high, and the fatality rate is way under 3.4% and that it can be, at most, 1%. And then maybe explain why.
Sammy Finkelman (9570ad) — 3/9/2020 @ 10:32 amSammy, great analysis. Thank you.
Time123 (f5cf77) — 3/9/2020 @ 10:39 am39. rcocean (1a839e) — 3/9/2020 @ 8:17 am
Just the opposite.
Saudi Arabia wanted OPEC to agree to production cuts. Russia is not a member but it acts in concert with OPEC. Russia refused to agree to production cuts.
So Saudi Arabia took the opposite tack, and increased production, ad on top of that offered discounts to refiners who would take their oil which means taking some business away from Russia)
I also think Russia and Saudi Arabia are probably on different sides of some wars going on in the Middle East. Although I don’t think I’ve read Saudi Arabia’s name mentioned in connection with Libya and Syria. But it may be backing Turley (Erdogan)
Sammy Finkelman (9570ad) — 3/9/2020 @ 10:42 amFor God’s sake:
‘The current world population is 7.8 billion as of March 2020 according to the most recent United Nations estimates elaborated by Worldometer. The term “World Population” refers to the human population (the total number of humans currently living) of the world.’ -source worldmeter
‘As of 7 March 2020, more than 102,000 cases [of coronavirus] have been confirmed, of which 7,100 were classified as serious. 97 countries and territories have been affected, with major outbreaks in central China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran.’ source, wikicoughcount
Do the math.
It is not bubonic plague. Nor an ELE. It’s an irrational, emotionally driven response to yet another facet of modern life absurdly politicized then stirred into the entertainment mix of the cable news stew that’s fed to the public hou aftr hour.
“It was the TV.” – Nurse Diesel [Cloris Leachman]’High Anxiety’ 1977
____
‘•The odds of being the victim of a shark attack are 1 in 11.5 million worldwide. Although there are 65 annual shark attacks each year, only a handful are fatal. Compared to this, a person is 3 times more likely to drown and 30 times more likely to be hit by lightning.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/9/2020 @ 11:57 am•Compared to being killed by a dog, the likelihood of which is 1 in 18 million, a person is twice as likely to win the lottery and 5 times as likely to be struck by lightning.
•One in 8 men and 1 in 24 women over the age of 40 will die from a sudden heart attack, while 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women will die from cancer.
•Worldwide, 1 in about 2,050 people will die each year from unclean water, which carries numerous, life-threatening diseases. Each year, more people die from a lack of clean water than from wars.
•The chances of being killed in a terrorist attack are about 1 in 20 million. A person is as likely to be killed by his or her own furniture, and more likely to die in a car accident, drown in a bathtub, or in a building fire than from a terrorist attack.
•The chances a person will be killed by an asteroid are 1 in 200,000, which is much higher than the odds of being killed by hail, which is 1 in 734,400,000.
•Each year, 1 out of 100,000 people die in a skydiving accident, which is 17 times lower than the risk of dying in a car accident.
•11 out of every 100,000 women in the United States will die after giving birth, which is ranked ahead of 40 other countries in maternal mortality. Obesity and the prevalence of C-sections have contributed to the increase in maternal mortality rates.
•The odds of dying in a severe storm are 1 in 68,388. A person is more likely to die slipping in his or her bathtub, which occurs at a rate of 1 in 11,469.
•A person’s chances of dying in an elevator are 1 in 10,440,000. Due to successful elevator brake systems, an elevator has plunged only once—in the Empire State Building in 1945.
•The lifetime probability of dying in a car accident is 1 in 100, which is 200 times higher than the probability of dying in a plane crash.
•While 1 out of 5 people fear the possibility of being murdered, the odds that a person will be murdered in any given year are about 1 in 18,690. According to the FBI, violent crime is now at a near-historic low.
•According to the CDC, the infant mortality rate is about 6 for every 1,000 live births, which is more than 10 times higher than the mortality rate of the county with the highest vehicle mortality rate—San Bernardino, California—in the country.
•The chance of being killed by a bear while visiting Yellowstone National Park is 1 in 2.1 million. As a park visitor, a person is more likely to die from drowning or burns sustained from falling into a thermal pool.’ – source, lifeinsurancequotes.org
And you can REALLY get a deal on a cruise this summer!
I know that was just tongue-in-cheek, but the cruise lines can only operate at a given price floor.
Ragspierre (d9bec9) — 3/9/2020 @ 12:38 pmVividly recall standing at the window of my Midtown office back on October 19, 1987, around lunch time, listening to WCBS Newsradio88, looking down 6th Avenue toward Lower Manhattan and literally watching ‘panic’ move uptown from Wall Street as the Reaganomics market collapsed. This was before cells were commonplace so it was mostly word of mouth, yuppies wired to their Walkman radios and people scurrying to and lined up at pay phone locations. You could actually see it move up the street– then into the buildings, up floor by floor, as people began to buzz, walk a little faster– then race to desk phones and clicked on to their Macs. It was emotionally compounded and computer-trade generated. By closing bell commuters were fixed with furrowed brows as they headed home– and it was only Monday.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/9/2020 @ 4:02 pmAgree to disagree, I guess.
Patterico (aca8cf) — 3/9/2020 @ 5:12 pmThe entire nation of Italy is on restricted travel. I don’t think suggesting this is going to have a huge economic impact is overwrought.
Patterico (aca8cf) — 3/9/2020 @ 5:31 pmI thought about it, Herr Drumpfenschnitzel. 22 out of 546 is 4%. You’re an idiot.
nk (1d9030) — 3/9/2020 @ 5:50 pmTrump just went on teevee to announce a tax cut to save us from the economic crisis he said didn’t exist twelve hours before.
Dave (1bb933) — 3/9/2020 @ 6:20 pm