Coronavirus: Markets Awaken in Fright | Nucleus Investment Insights

Damien Klassen
Damien Klassen
Nucleus Wealth

Stock Markets have been the last to catch onto the economic impacts of Coronavirus, and are now beginning to feel the full effects. Join us for an update as we discuss the progression of Coronavirus outside China, and the resulting reaction of bond and equity marks. 

Discussion ranges from the corporate debt cycle nearing its peak (leaving lots of dry tinder for Coronavirus economic impacts) cases outside china doubling every 5 days, mortality rates increasing tenfold when hospitals become overwhelmed, comparing the economic impacts of Coronavirus to SARS & Spanish Flu, and as always our investment wrap up; noting how we've pivoting portfolios to deal with the risk. 

In today's webinar, hear from Nucleus Wealth’s Head of Investment Damien Klassen, Chief Strategist David Llewellyn Smith and Head of Operations Tim Fuller, as they cover "Coronavirus: Markets awaken in fright." 

If this episode sounds of interest to you, watch in the YouTube player below or in podcast form here (links are featured at the bottom right of the player if you wish to listen on your preferred platform). 

Patrick Fresne

When the Covid-19 situation started to emerge earlier this month, there were widespread concerns that the disease would spread to Indonesia or the countries of sub-Saharan Africa, regions which were considered poorly equipped to tackle the coronavirus situation. Yet weeks have passed now, and there have been hardly any evidence of coronavirus in Indonesia or Africa. Admittedly, there are probably some cases in Indonesia or Africa that haven't been picked up. But the same seems to be true for nearby neighbouring countries: Indonesia's neighbour, the Philippines, for example, has seen only three cases so far, according to the John Hopkin's University site. This is despite the fact that the dense population of the Philippines would seem to be ideal for the spread of a virus such as Covid-19. The same goes for populous India, which has also seen only three cases so far. It is very hard not to shake the suspicion that the reason Covid-19 is not taking hold in these countries is simply because the virus can't handle the heat in these tropical regions. The prevailing 'market' narrative at the moment seems to be that Covid-19 is an unstoppable wrecking ball throughout the global economy, hence the plunge we have seen in the major stockmarkets over recent days. Yet the current evidence suggests that the consensus view is wrong: it seems a large number of countries, including India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Brazil, not too mention numerous smaller countries in Africa, are probably not going to suffer much disruption from the coronavirus, as they are seem to be just too hot for the virus to handle.