On Friday morning local time, China reported that industrial profits crash the most on record in January-February, both due to the Lunar new year, but mostly due to the virus outbreak and the government's restrictive measures to contain the virus.
"While long term we can't be sure how this will play out, we want to commit to you that there will not be a reduction in force at Morgan Stanley in 2020."
No tax rebate, low-interest loan, or cheap mortgage refinancing will convince people to resume normal economic activity if they still fear for their own health...
"In the space of a week, the retail landscape has changed from being fairly normalized to being absolutely disrupted beyond what we’ve ever seen before outside of the Second World War."
The adoption of massive inflationary and demand-driven measures in a shock to supply is not only a mistake, but is the recipe for stagflation and guarantees a multi-year negative impact...
...the best anyone can hope for is a recession deeper than that following the 2008 financial crisis. But given the flailing policy response so far, the chances of a far worse outcome are increasing by the day...
"...PMI is roughly indicative of GDP falling at an annualised rate approaching 5%, but the increasing number of virus-fighting lockdowns and closures mean the second quarter will likely see a far steeper rate of decline.”
