Government Combats Coronavirus, Big Data Week
Monday, March 30, 2020
Over the weekend, a major change on a national level to deal with the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has at last been enacted: a stay-at-home order through April 30. This is expected to keep social distancing in place, which has been proven effective in limiting the spread of the disease, so as to keep from overwhelming hospitals charged with treating patients with coronavirus.
Also, last Friday’s signing of a $2 trillion relief package for businesses and many households, known as “Phase 3,” in taking action against the detrimental effects of coronavirus on the U.S. economy. A $366 bailout for small businesses and $500 billion for big businesses join the Fed’s earlier efforts to increase liquidity, help keep company owners from shedding employees (at the unprecedented rate we’ve already begun to see) and send $1200 checks to homes in need of near-term bill paying and consumer staples.
As a result, the tumultuous stock market we’d nearly grown accustomed to over the past several weeks has finally found a lukewarm temperature, in the green slightly 45 minutes before the opening bell. It’s a reflection on the positive measures taken by American individuals and government bodies to join together in what President Trump calls “a war” to fight coronavirus.
That said, COVID-19 cases have yet to peak in the U.S., which now easily surpasses the amount of confirmed cases anywhere else in the world: today, more than 150K confirmed cases will have been realized, with 2600 people already having succumbed to the disease and thousands more in serious condition all across the country, and yet without suitable amounts of beds and ventilators to service the growing number of confirmed cases.
The national stay-at-home order comes more than a month after the initial case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the U.S. It is also a far cry from the much more draconian orders enacted in places like South Korea, which has more successfully curtailed the spread of the disease. And Congress’ new bill just passed does allow some provisions to deal with this crisis, but not enough for experts to have yet been satisfied. Long story short — we’ve still got a long way to go until this pandemic is in our rear-view.
We also have plenty of economic data on tap this week, though nothing of note ahead of today’s market open: Case-Shill home prices for January, Consumer Confidence for March, ADP employment, PMI & ISM Manufacturing and Non-Manufacturing/Services, Trade Deficit, Factory Orders, Jobless Claims and, of course, the big one to end the week: monthly non-farm payrolls and the Unemployment Rate. By this time next week we will have a much more tactile sense of where our economy had been, where it currently stands and where it’s going.
Mark Vickery
Senior Editor
Questions or comments about this article and/or its author? Click here>>
Free Book: Finding #1 Stocks
In this 300-page hardcover, Zacks' Executive VP Kevin Matras reveals almost every stock-picking secret he’s learned from the system that since 1988 has more than doubled the average yearly gain of the S&P 500. Learn more now >>
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY): ETF Research Reports
Invesco QQQ (QQQ): ETF Research Reports
SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA): ETF Research Reports
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment Research
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
