By Guest Blogger Doug Rowat
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Let’s drill down through a few more nerd layers with this TI blogger.
Growing up, I was a fan of all things G.I. Joe—action figures, TV shows, movies and, naturally, comic books.
Almost everything related to G.I. Joe was, of course, pure farce, and in more recent years this has continued to be the case. (2013’s G.I. Joe: Retaliation starred Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, for instance, and has a 29% Fresh Tomatoes score.)
However, Marvel Comics’ G.I. Joe issue #21, “Silent Interlude”, somehow managed to break with the franchise’s cheesy tradition and become iconic for its originality. It was an issue without words. No dialogue whatsoever. Just visuals…and almost complete silence. To this day, it’s considered groundbreaking.
Snake Eyes/ silent airdrop
Source: Google images
Needless to say, there has been enough media ‘noise’ surrounding the Coronavirus. Investors have been loudly pumped up with more fear than a teenage girl at Camp Crystal Lake. So, in the spirit of G.I. Joe issue #21, I present a blog post with a minimum of words. Instead, just the most compelling images that I’ve come across in the past month. ‘Nuff said. Enjoy the silence.
Epidemics and the S&P 500: history suggests markets will sort themselves out
Source: FirstTrust, *12-month data not available for June 32019 measles
An overreaction? Week-on-week % change in S&P 500 – only four events since 1940 have resulted in worse sell-offs… and one involved Hitler
Source: Refinitiv
‘Epidemic’ news-cycle lifespans tend to be incredibly short. A few examples:
Source: Bloomberg, Turner Investments; number of Bloomberg news stories with keyword “Ebola” and “Swine Flu” respectively
Timing the market is pointless: hypothetical investment of $100,000 in the S&P 500 index over the last 20 years (2000-2019) – a few missed good days will cripple performance.
Source: Blackrock. Missed days refers to top-performing days
Fed cut its overnight rate 50 bps earlier this week. Previous instances where the overnight rate was already this low (or close to it) followed by a 50 bp cut each proved to be positive catalysts for the market
Source: Bloomberg, Turner Investments. Reflects past 30 years of Federal Reserve action.
Finally, the news media will never keep things in perspective. Ignore them.
Source: CD, American College of Cardiology, Turner Investments
Next up: the comment section. Thus ends the silence.
Doug Rowat, FCSI® is Portfolio Manager with Turner Investments and Senior Vice President, Private Client Group, Raymond James Ltd.