I barely care about the stock market, and those that do already know this...

[LuckyCharms]

but some people I talk to do not realize this intuitively.

AS THE MARKET TRENDS LOWER, A LARGE SINGLE DAY POINT DROP IS MORE SIGNIFICANT PERCENTAGE WISE THAN IT WAS THE DAY BEFORE.

Here's the numbers for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA):

DJIA on Feb 12 29,551
DJIA yesterday Mar 11 23,553

Point drop since Feb 12 5,998
Percentage drop since Feb 12 20.3%

Hypothetical 1,000 point drop on Feb 12 = 3.4% drop (1,000 divided by 29,551)
Hypothetical 1,000 point drop on Mar 11 = 4.2% drop (1,000 divided by 23,553)

As the base DJIA becomes smaller, the actual percentage impact on the market becomes larger. Therefore, when looking at daily stock market activity, look at the percentage drop instead of the point drop.

I can remember the days when a 100 point drop in one day was huge for investors (ie: 2% in one day) because the DJIA base was much lower than it is now.

All that being said, the above information is merely trivia to me at this point. I don't care about the stock market, I care about my health and the health of our fellow world citizens.

The Corona Virus has been gnawing at my psyche for some time now, but today is the first time I am actually scared shitless. I have been slowly taking measures to self-quarantine at some point in time, and that point is close to arriving. I'll be 62 this year, and my health is compromised. If/when I get the Corona Virus, there's a good chance that I'm fucked. This reality is hitting me very hard this morning after watching the speech last night in disbelief. Like most of us, I have people who depend on me, and I worry about their long term safety too.

Do your best, everyone. Be prudent. Keep as safe as you can. Minimize your risk in every way possible. Good luck to us all.

[beachbumbob]

1. the driving forces of the market is completely uncharted waters and not tied to "normal"

economic factors and why attempts to work with it defies everything we "know"

We are living in historic times and "rules" do NOT APPLY

[duforsure]

2. Thanks for the post

I think trump is going to do things helping the wealthy because of their losses, not ours, and most aren't invested in the markets like they are, so watch how long before he starts trying to funnel them directly using our money to decrease their losses, not ours. Trump is more worried about himself and his wealthy donors, then the American people. He'll continue using our money to pump the markets up, inflating it unrealistically, creating a false impression it's good when it isn't. To everyone out there be safe, be considerate of others, and be prepared, this could be more severe and longer lasting than we now are thinking. It also shows the economy wasn't nearly as good as trump claimed it was, again proving he's a liar.

[Ilsa]

3. Interesting take by Anand and Carl:

Link to tweet

?s=09

‐---------------------------------------

Anand Giridharadas: After this week, everybody is a socialist. There’s just some disagreement about for whom.

Carl Quintanilla: stock market feared Bernie Sander's Socialist agenda now hinges on hopes for corporate rescue packages.