Market Insights

According to the May 8, 2020 news release by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the US unemployment rate reached 14.7% in April as the world continues to grapple with the fallout from COVID-19 and the near-shutdown of entire swaths of the global economy.

Over the last couple of weeks, we have all had to make major adjustments to our daily lives to collectively address
the societal health risk posed by the COVID-19 virus. What started as a highly localized outbreak in Wuhan, China
has now developed into a truly global pandemic impacting 195 countries and nearly 400,000 people.

Since the end of February, equity markets continue to experience massive daily price fluctuations as anxious investors react to a constant stream of coronavirus (aka “COVID-19”) headlines. Last week’s surprise decision by the Fed to cut rates not only failed to alleviate investor concerns, but may have actually fueled them further.

The coronavirus has had an impact on the markets the last few days. Our Investment Committee provides their insights.