Your Money

The economy is getting crushed so why is the stock market bouncing so hard off the March lows?

It's a good question, especially in light of the fact that unemployment will likely cross 15% and 2nd quarter GDP will fall at an annualized rate of roughly -30%.

The key here is that investors don't buy shares of GDP, they buy ownership in a distinct set of companies.  Many of those companies are doing quite well despite general economic carnage.

In many ways, the spread of the Coronavirus has given larger well-capitalized companies, particularly technology companies and big box stores that were allowed to stay open, an advantage over Main Street competitors.

In the March panic, the stock market was pricing in as much as an 80% decline in corporate profits.  It may still take 12 to 18 months to get the whole US economy back to pre-shutdown levels, but an 80% profits decline was just way too pessimistic for the publicly traded companies.

S&P 3100, Dow 25750
by Brian Wesbury and Robert Stein

Your Life

Stay-at-home or shelter-in-place orders around the country are being lifted in some states and extended in others as the coronavirus pandemic continues to upend life as we know it.

To date in the US, there are over 1.3 million cases with more than eighty-one thousand deaths.  Millions of people have filed for unemployment.  A total of 48 states and DC have ordered or recommended school closures through the end of the academic year.  Colleges and universities are still considering how classes and college life will function once they open, or if they should even open, for the Fall semester—which is 3-4 months away.

Worries for the economy -- and people's mental health -- are raising the questions: When will things go back to normal? And what will that normal even look like?  Health experts say that expanded testing, tracking contacts of people who had the virus, improved treatment options and vaccine development are important factors for states reopening.

This is a great resource on where all 50 states stand on reopening:

Jump to State

Complexity Simplified

7 awesome apps to optimize your quarantined life

1. Trello
2. Brain.fm
3. Super Auto Refresh Plus
4. Boomerang for Gmail
5. Adobe Fill & Sign
6. Expensify
7. Nike Training Club
    

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