WASHINGTON – We’ve been playing hooky for a few days. Objective: buying a long-needed late model used car to replace an old DOA Saturn Ion we got rid of last summer. No point buying another car then. Covid-19 = nowhere to go. Logic: So why incur new car payments in 2020? Fast forward to July, 2021. Due to well-known microchip shortage problems, few deals exist in used-car land. But we still found a reasonably priced 2018 Ford, so that’s done at least for now. Meanwhile, even amidst personal financial improvement for us and for the middle class in general as house arrest Covid precautions ease in most states, the government and its media allies seem to be cranking up to push Phase II of their latest Covid terrorism campaign. If they’re not restrained, look for mask mandates and shutdowns to begin anew. Friday markets ignored it all. As for Monday?
Covid terrorism returning? Maybe we should change the narrative
As per the following CNBC Friday headline, perhaps meant to ensure we’ll get hit with another wave of selling next Monday, Friday markets notwithstanding:
Covid cases are rising again in all 50 states across U.S. as delta variant tightens its grip
Here’s a thought. Markets need to start trading on fundamentals again rather than subjecting themselves to nonstop nonsense like this overhyped headline. Sure, Covid is serious for some, but not all. So let’s cut out the freakazoid reactions and Covid terrorism campaigns that erupt in the media (and in Fauci’s CDC) at every hint that the original “novel” coronavirus is morphing again. Hell, that’s what viruses do, right? Do we need to freak out over every one? All of them are guaranteed to be way more “contagious” than their predecessors. Isn’t that the way the regular old flu has operated since, oh, 2017 or so?
The constant WuFlu paranoia and scare headlines all seem like one unbroken circle of craptastic nonsense. In truth, much of the never-ending government and media hyped hysteria are meant to keep everyone masked, silent, confused, rootless and unable. That makes many people frightened and afraid to respond to the Biden Interregnum’s relentless attacks on America’s Constitutional government and laws.
Delta nonsense and Mr Market
The latest Covid terrorism nonsense whacked Mr Market earlier this the week, resulting in the Monday Market Massacre. But the snapback rally that began Tuesday after that Monday market faceplant thus far has managed to ignore the latest Covid-Delta Variant frenzy. That snapback continued right up to Friday’s closing bell. Friday markets seemed oblivious to the latest Covid nonsense.
The Dow Jones Industrials eked out a modest gain as that large cap average continued to recover. Better yet, the perpetually sick NASDAQ continued to climb out of its deep 2021 hole. Mid-Friday afternoon, it was up roughly 140 points for a nearly 1% gain on the day.
Finally, the broader-based S&P 500 average, for its part was up about 1% before the close, gaining over 40 points on the day.
(UPDATE: Friday markets remained positive. All three averages closed in the green and all three even gained a bit of traction, though we had the usual selling and portfolio adjusting in the last 10 minutes of trading.)
Even more about the ongoing Covid terrorism that continues to roil stocks
I call this Covid terrorism pure nonsense. Apparently, this largely manufactured meme topic has apparently replaced deposed President Donald Trump as the media and the Democrats’ latest obsession. Their declining viewership strongly indicates it’s not working. But that doesn’t matter to the current crop of media morons. They’ve entirely lost whatever authority they once had.
To paraphrase a famous clip from an old Vicks TV commercial (below), I’m not a doctor. And I don’t play one on TV. But plain old common sense can still give people like you and me confidence in their own insights. And people sure need to rely on their s___ detectors these days to arrive at rational observations and solutions on our current, fabulated political situation involving Covid and its variants. Allegedly “settled science” offers no help, as it’s hopelessly politicized.
As I’ve stated numerous times here – and as genuine medical science and the Wall Street Journal’s editorial pages finally confirmed this week*, Covid is here forever. It’s a fact we need to face, but don’t need to fear. Vaccinations remain available, the Biden Interregnum is hawking them like used car salesmen, and we’ll have annual updates every year. It’s the New Flu. And like the Old Flu, we’ll have a newly updated vaccine every year or so. Rinse, repeat.
Some of us will get sick and recover. Some of us won’t come down with the latest New Flu, whether vaccinated or not. And a bunch of us – usually those who are old or are in very ill health – won’t make it to the next calendar year, with or without vaccines. That’s it. The situation is permanent. The New Flu is like the Old Flu that way. So it’s time to stop obsessing, ignore the politicized hype and move on.
Focusing on the real, including P&L statements in earnings season. And ignore the government and the media
The problem with Democrats, leftists and woke oligarchs and their media stooges (or is it the other way around?) is that they need to scare us about something every day. If they don’t, they won’t get free camera time. This week’s latest chapter in the ongoing Covid terror campaign offers us more evidence supporting this observation.
As for the rest of us, after wasting an entire year under house arrest due to Covid terrorism (and Chinese amorality), Americans need to ignore the scary propaganda. They need get back to business, get back to school (except for enduring rising CRT racist propaganda) and get back to life.
Yes, it’s unfortunate that we now have another annual viral scourge to guard against. But, unlike plague victims in the middle ages and later, we do have tools to fight this stuff. And we know what it is, even if governments don’t want to acknowledge where it came from.
Freaking out over every single Covid variant – and there will be many – is not a productive way for any of us to spend our time. It is not good for business or employment. Nor is it a smart way to motivate endless buying and selling in a confusing stock market. We need to obsess about something else.
Let’s see what Monday brings. Meanwhile, let’s enjoy the weekend, ignore the media, and tune out Washington’s 24/7 disinformation / misinformation campaign.
*No link, editorial behind WSJ’s paywall.
Headline graphic link: Cartoon by Garrison, reproduced with permission and by arrangement with grrrgraphics.com.
