Everybody everywhere heads to the bomb shelter for a few days / weeks.

Then what?

People will venture out ... carefully ... still don't see how demand doesn't crater in the near / mid term. A cure / vaccine will do wonders for confidence. How long till that occurs?

"Nearly 17 people have been tested."

Like 16 and one-half?

We are living "Idiocracy" in real-time. Mike Judge was a prophet.

I don't believe my lyin' eyes.

My screen says 30yr yield down 35 bps.

No way that doesn't blow up some folks.

Don't worry guys!!! Boston Fed chief is now calling for "We should allow the central bank to purchase a broader range of securities or assets... Alternatively, the Federal Reserve could consider a facility that could buy a broader set of assets."

What rate cuts won't fix, direct money printing and buying ETFs ala the Japanese will do.

Then again this virus is fatal to the Ok Boomer generation. What? You think draining the swamp won't come with a cost? By end of the year, this country might actually be great again, and even Social Security might be flush with surpluses. Remember, if you owe people money and if the later goes away, the liability goes too.

My take on this is that TPTB are going to let the virus rip through the population. These people are not so stupid that they think they are doing much to prevent the spread. Hand washing is not going to stop it. Local quarantines are not going to stop it. It does not appear to be stoppable in any case. So, it seems to me that they are going to get it over with, instead of dragging it out over many months or several years.

After everyone gets it that's going to, things will return to normal rather quickly. The future of COVID19 will be a case of the sniffles in children. Since everyone will have had it at a young age, there will be very few deaths.

Is everyone getting ads for masks on this page or just me?

I don't understand the extreme response by governments to this virus. the impact is way less than the common flu yet the response is 1000x greater. Make me think there is something more they know that they are not telling us. perhaps if you are over 60 and catch the virus you will likely die. if that was the case and they told everyone then society would panic and completely breakdown.

the simple explanation is that this is just mass hysteria over something that is no worse than the flu

"Clearly a fantastic job, or you don't understand fantastic. And I can prove it."

When trump says 'fantastic', he means 'pure fantasy' and when he says 'unbelievable' it means what he's describing is a lie. trumplings love being lied to, so these are dogwhistles for them.

Late last year we all got sick with the flu, except for my son, who showed no symptoms whatsover. During this latest pandemic, this 'anomaly' was explained that people can get the illness without having any symptoms.

I later found out that prior to COVID-19 the flu season was considered to be a pretty bad one already.

As other stories have noticed, the virus could have been around the Seattle area for over 6 weeks without being detected.

@AWC and others with no math skills. The death rate from the flu is 0.1% or less. That's less than 1 death per thousand infected. So, the 44million cases of flu this year resulted in about 44000 deaths. The death rate from COVID-19 is estimated to be 3.4% or 34 deaths per thousand infected. It is estimated that about 2/3 of the population will eventually become infected. In the US, that's about 220million people. If 3.4% of them die, that is 7,480,000 dead. Read it SEVEN MILLION FOUR HUNDRED EIGHTY THOUSAND DEAD. That is why there is a panic.

@awc13 The note above is intended for you. My apologies to AWC

Even if COVID-19 were "just like the flu" (humor me), wouldn't COVID-19 + the flu together do double the damage as the flu alone -- which kills tens of thousands every year in the US?

I might just tool on over to Seattle (a five+ hour drive) to check out those freeways. They're normally AWFUL. I might be even able to cruise at the speed limit! Crazy. I'll feel like Charleston Heston in Omega Man! Now I just need a hot mustang.

During the last bear market, the FTC banned short selling to reduce selling pressure. This time around I expect that will be on of the first actions taken to calm markets. If that doesn't work, then the FTC could close the market for a couple months until the virus passes. A group of banks tried to stop the market crash in 1929 by purchasing stocks, and it didn't work. Buying futures when the market is closed is not a cure-all. There is not enough money for the FED to purchase all the highest rated corporate bonds, and the social justice warriors would cry corruption.

Classy moves of the day in crisis management on the teevee.....

Pence announces to the world about the confirmed cases on the SF cruise ship before the people on the ship are told...

Trump says they should be held on the ship indefinitely because if they let them back on land, it'll "make our numbers look bad"...

On the boob tube.

This virus is not a problem if you are generally healthy, and not old and feeble or in a nursing home, and so why are Mish's followers so concerned about it?......Ohhhh....