How Serious Are These Covid-19 Spikes For The Market?
If the headlines are right, the market is down again on Thursday because of a new spike in coronavirus cases throughout the American south. AppleAAPL +0.9% said yesterday it was closing even more stores. Macy’sM -0.5% says it was laying off over 3,500 people who thought they were getting their jobs back this year. And Chuck E. Cheese is filing for bankruptcy because, unlike places like Dominoes and mom and pop pizza joints, the pizza is secondary to the experience and you cannot take out an experience. Rest in Peace, Chuck E. Cheese.
Covid-19 has been a blessing for the market. The government is experimenting with what looks like Modern Monetary Theory, printing money to support the securities market from a blood bath. And a never-before-seen bailout of Main Street with record high unemployment benefits, payroll protection plans for the self-employed — including UberUBER -0.8% drivers — and small business owners. Not to mention the individual checks cut to every adult in the country, a good month’s worth of grocery bills for a family of four. (Unless they’re shopping at Whole Foods and everything has to be organic.) The market loved all of this stimulus and the lows, reached in March, didn’t last long at all. The U.S. stock market is off maybe 12% from its pre-pandemic highs.
Covid-19 has also been a disaster for the market, with long term implications everyone is still getting their heads around.
