I have never been one to be short on words (as most of you know). But I have found starting this quarterly update incredibly hard. What we are all going through and the changes to all of our lives is… hard to have imagined just a few weeks ago.
What was considered China’s problem in January, like SARS before, the COVID-19 coronavirus has turned into a worldwide pandemic and a global financial crisis.
As I write, there are 763,832 confirmed cases in the United States, with over 40,000 deaths blamed on the virus. 2.4 million people worldwide have been infected, with over 165,000 people dying. The general markets shrugged off the beginning of COVID-19. The biggest concern was if the corporate shut downs in China would impact our supply channels.
As the virus spread into South Korea, Iran, Japan, and Italy, the S&P 500 dropped from its February 19th high. What ensued in the days to come was the fastest 30% drop in S&P 500 history (22 trading days). The S&P 500 dropped 33.92% from its high on February 19th to its March 23rd low.
