The market in equities fell off a cliff
Yields on the Treasuries dropped close to zero
The Standard Poor index quite nearly now sits
Within bearish country. It could go tomorrow
Why, then, such behavior; what’s causing this dive?
Some blame the new virus how spooked the stocks are
But not the pandemic itself, come alive
But how it’s been sorely mishandled so far
That’s clearly the case, but wait, wait there’s much more
Involving the Saudis and Russians alike
With oil economies, they joined in force
Controlling production to yield a good price
Meanwhile, American frackers were shipping
Maximum crude, chipping at Russian markets
This plus the virus were causing a crippling
Of their economy. Shallow their pockets
Russia’s response was to break with the Saudis
And ship out their maximum; prices be damned!
The Saudis, unhappy with Russia so haughty
Reduced prices so much, the stock-drop it fanned
This got the attention of Trump and his cohorts
Ever concerned for his fate twenty twenty
That should this extend, his next term could abort
Despite his corruptions he’d still come up empty
Trump now wants to goose the economy somehow
A stimulus package, reduce payroll taxes
They won’t solve the problem: it’s not lack of cash now
The people are frightened; the plain, simple fact is
The people aren’t traveling, nor are they gathering;
Spending as little as they have to do
And Trump helps us not with his incessant blathering
Stiff upper lip and we’ll all make it through
3/9/20.
I agree. Trump’s singular focus in the stock market Indices as a comprehensive measure of his success is myopic and inhumane.
A stiff upper lip but not so much kissing for those at risk 😉
Thanks, Josh, for your insights. In addition to the Israelis and the Chinese, major US bio labs are also working around the clock to develop a vaccine and appropriate medicines. This process will take more than a year, including the testing that must be done. The big push now is to flatten the incidence rate curve to where our medical facilities can handle it. For this, we need much more testing than is currently available thanks to Administrative bungling.