Timing & trends

‘They are just doing stupid things, and in my opinion, this will end in tears,’ — Leon Cooperman

on Tuesday, 16 June 2020 6:04

Billionaire Leon Cooperman on Monday said that the emergence of individual investors eagerly scooping up stocks that have been rocked amid the coronavirus-induced downturn will ultimately not end well for those individual investors.

The ‘Robinhood markets are going to end in tears,” said Cooperman during CNBC’s show “Halftime Report” on Monday, referring to the popular online trading platform.

Critics like Cooperman say that a dearth of diversions due to COVID-19 lockdowns and unemployment have created a perfect environment for newly minted day traders to wreak havoc on Wall Street.

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Worst Day until the next one….

Posted by Bill Blain

on Friday, 12 June 2020 6:31

 

“When Black Friday comes, I’ll stand by the door, and catch the grey men when they dive from the fourteenth floor.”

“The worst day since March!”  The commentariat is full of stuff like “markets got creamed”, a “new sell off to new lows is coming”, and “market froth blown away”. Whatever. Yesterday’s 6% market stumble on the back of Fed Chair Powell’s comments about economic and jobs weakness, and signs of rising virus infections across the US, triggered the biggest market dip in weeks.

Is it a buy the dip or run for the hills moment? Read More

Consumers Demand More Savings As Food Prices Skyrocket

Posted by Jayson Derrick

on Tuesday, 9 June 2020 12:19

Food prices have risen at the fastest pace in more than 40 years and food makers and consumers are scrambling to find ways to mitigate the impact, The Wall Street Journal reported.

What Happened: Store-bought food prices rose at a seasonally adjusted 2.6% in April, marking the biggest monthly gain since 1974, according to WSJ. May data is scheduled to be released Wednesday and could show an acceleration in growth.

Food prices rose 5.8% for the 13-week period ended May 30, according to data from market research firm Nielsen.

This is partly due to companies buying new equipment, remodeling factories and configuring stores to better keep people safe from the COVID-19 pandemic…CLICK for complete article

COVID-19 Is Fueling A Global Video Game Boom

Posted by Oxford Business Group

on Tuesday, 9 June 2020 8:47

Mobile games drive expansion

Globally, Covid-19 has accelerated an increase in consumer engagement with mobile games.

According to figures from Newzoo, the mobile games market will generate revenues of $77.2bn in 2020, representing year-on-year (y-o-y) growth of 13.3%. At the same time, the total of global smartphone users will grow to 3.5bn.

In terms of production, mobile games are relatively less affected by Covid-19 containment measures, as the development process for individual applications is simpler than for more complex platforms, and hence less prone to disruption.

Much growth in mobile gaming is coming from ‘mobile-first’ emerging markets.

This is partly attributable to the low barrier to entry in this segment, as there is no need to invest in equipment such as a gaming console, and many games use a free-to-play monetisation model.

Read More

Researchers Uncover Which Blood Type Is Most Resistant To COVID-19… And Another Malaria Link

Posted by ZeroHedge

on Monday, 8 June 2020 10:51

Genetic testing firm 23andMe have discovered that Type-O blood is particularly resistant to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19. In a Monday statement, the company said that preliminary results from over 750,000 participants have revealed  clues as to why some people experience little to no symptoms from coronavirus, while others become gravely ill, according to Bloomberg.

Perhaps most interesting is that Type-O blood is also associated with a 66% reduction in the odds of developing severe malaria compared to the non-O blood types, according to a 2007 study.

This might explain why Hydroxychloroquine and other anti-malarial drugs have shown efficacy in treating COVID-19

Last week, peer reviewed research which analyzed the genes of more than 1,600 coronavirus patients in Italy and Spain who experienced respiratory failure suggested that blood type may play a role in the severity of the disease. The found that patients with Type-A blood were linked to a 50% increase in the likelihood they would require a ventilator. The results were similar to an earlier Chinese study regarding susceptibility to COVID-19….CLICK for complete article

Posted by Steve Breen

on Sunday, 31 May 2020 12:29

Steve Breen https://townhall.com/political-cartoons/2020/05/23/173994