This is an interesting question that was on Market’s Live Blog this am and I thought I would share it out today on my post to get the benefit of some seasoned readers views. Yesterday I posted on ‘Dr Copper’s’ remedy for the Wuflu and how, so far, initial signs were good. Global equities have been leading the way with a strong recovery since Monday on rumours of a vaccine very close to being developed. The market is shrugging off the Wuflu worries amidst two different narratives. Narrative 1 is that this is no worse than the flu. Narrative 2 is that this is an underreported killer. Most people I am reading on the flu have either of these narratives or a bit of a blend. Narrative 1 is winning for now.

A number of economists have been trying to asses the impact of the coronavirus. The main question is this,  ‘has this coronavirus outbreak been a blip in the year that we can just ignore?’Are we back to how it was before the coronavirus now? Or will there be knock on effects down the line?’ 

In other words has the recent rally in commodities and equities been on relief that the coronavirus will be contained rather than on its actual impact ?

What about the potential supply disruptions to factories that is still to come from countries with China as a key part of the supply chain? Has this been overlooked in relief that it now appears the globe is not going to be consumed by a killer virus.