
Any time large numbers of people congregate in the presence of a contagion, there is always the possibility of a flareup which could be worse than the initial outbreak.Fortunately, the world is forging ahead at breakneck speed on treatment plans, vaccines, and precautionary measures. These include trial drugs which have generated mixed results to date, the use of plasma from recovered patients, antibody testing, viral testing, and massive and unprecedented investments in PPE (personal protective equipment), ventilators, healthcare workers, and safety measures. Put simply, the world is better prepared to deal with a flareup wherever it happens. Government agencies are ready to mobilize at a moment?s notice, and this bodes well for a reset of economic activity for the individual trader and the corporate trader alike.
Industrial and manufacturing activity begins in earnest

As a trader, it’s important to understand the impact that these key economic indicators have on overall trading sentiment.The VIX a.k.a. the volatility index rises when there is tremendous uncertainty in the market and falls when traders and investors start ploughing funds back into US markets like the Dow Jones, NASDAQ, and S&P 500, and European markets like the DAX 30, CAC 40 and, FTSE 100 index. Many industries have been decimated in 2020, with upwards of 30 million people claiming unemployment in the US, and equally large numbers globally. This begs the question: What opportunities are available in the new trading arena? Fortunately, government bailouts, loans, and assistance are being offered across the board. Multi-trillion dollar packages are being used to keep people on payroll, and shore up the interests of companies like Boeing (major US employer). As part of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) of the Cares Act, billions of dollars have already flooded the economy to help small businesses survive.
Geopolitical tensions simmering under the surface
Traders can easily capitalize on the volatility generated by geopolitical tensions (US and China), and global uncertainty, by evaluating current trends across a broad spectrum of the market. These include resurgent industries like the cruise ship industry which has bottomed out, and is now on the mend. Stocks like Carnival (NYSE: CCL), Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE: NCLH), Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL) are slowly starting to set sail. The recovery is likely to be a lengthy one, on the proviso that a massive re-infection does not take place. On the investment front, there is significant promise being shown with pharmaceutical companies like Moderna which claims to have an anti-viral vaccine with lots of promise. In fact, the company announced on May 18, 2020 positive interim Phase 1 data for mRNA-1273.
Share this story