Brief Analysis of the March 9, 2020, Market ‘Crash’

By Tom Burnett, CFA On March 9, 2020, the global stock markets sold off sharply. Several factors accounted for the sell off, but the two primary culprits were the Corona Virus scare (which will limit travel related business and create supply chain disruptions) and the OPEC-Russia crude oil pricing conflict…

By Tom Burnett CFA On March 6, 2020, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the employment data for the month of February. The growth in jobs was an unexpected 273,000, well above consensus estimates. In addition, the jobs numbers for December and January were revised upwards by a total of 85,000. The…

By Tom Burnett CFA With U.S. Treasury interest rates at record low levels, the Treasury should be planning to issue a large offering of long-term bonds whose low coupon would lock in the low interest payments over a 20- or 30-year period, depending on the bonds issued. The 30-year yield is trading in…

By Tom Burnett CFA On March 3, 2020, the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee decided unanimously to lower the Fed Funds range to 1-1.25%, down 50 basis points from the previous level. The Fed’s press release indicated that it is ‘closely monitoring’ the economic impact of the coronavirus…

By Tom Burnett CFA On March 2, 2020, the OECD (Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development) in Paris issued a special “Interim Economic Outlook” notice warning that the Coronavirus outbreak is putting the global economy at risk. In this Notice, the OECD revised its growth forecasts down…