Right now investment markets are obsessed with the new Omicron variant. Last night the Dow reversed by almost 1,000 points – from up 520 to end 461 down – on news that Omicron had been picked up in California after a recent visitor to SA tested positive.
The S&P500 index has now lost 4% since Omicron emerged. Pundits say investors are nervous at fresh supply chain disruptions and, as a consequence, new threats to a global economic recovery.
This reaction should also warn us about where we are in the cycle. When prices are running, all news is interpreted as an excuse to push them higher. That’s when you stay on the Bull. The reaction to Omicron suggests those days are gone.
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Underlying all of this is a growing and very legitimate concern about the return of inflation. Because broad price escalation takes time to reveal itself, inflation is akin to a very slow burning fuse. Like the smoker contracting emphysema, most observers only react when it’s too late. Have a read of the FT View below. It’s sobering.
More to read today….
*Â First US Omicron Case Is California Patient. Infected person, a San Francisco resident, returned from South Africa on Nov. 22, CDC says
* Working From Home Has All Sorts of Annoyances. Here’s How I Solved Them. Remote work specialist Dr Alexander Samuels on “Slow Wi-Fi. Tied to my desk. I lose track of time. I keep eating…..It doesn’t have to be this way.”
* Ghislaine Maxwell’s Lawyers Challenge Accuser’s Memory of Sexual Abuse. In the just started Trial of the Decade, witness ‘Jane’ accuses Jeffrey Epstein’s long-time companion of grooming her then 14yo self for sex – introducing her to Donald Trump, Prince Andrew.
PS: Don’t miss shopping centre owner Jason McCormick’s eye popping #BNIC2 presentation on July’s “72 Hours of Anarchy”. The recording, a marathon production effort, is now available for all. It exposes brutal truth about what went down and who was behind it. Click here.
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