WASHINGTON – Once again, it’s leaks, fake news, anti-drug and anti-Trump propaganda. Plus blatantly obvious, ham-fisted international political maneuvering by Communist China and their pathetic lackeys in the World Health Organization. Both planted Friday’s market action firmly in the wobbly zone before stocks managed to recover to end the afternoon on a positive note.
Operation Chaos hit stocks hard Thursday, but failed to prevail in Friday trading action
Want to see the results of China and WHO's latest left-wing Operation Chaos? Let’s take a look at Thursday’s anti-remdesivir caper, brought to you by Communist China and their paid, anti-Trump, anti-American stooges at WHO. Leaks, fake news and propaganda were under full sail. Again.
“Stocks were taken for a wild ride on Thursday that showed just how important finding a treatment for the coronavirus is for Wall Street.
“The Dow Jones Industrial Average slashed a 400-point gain and nearly went negative after The Financial Times said — citing documents accidentally published by the World Health Organization — that Gilead Sciences’ drug remdesivir did not improve patients’ condition or reduce the coronavirus pathogen in their bloodstream. Those findings, according to the report, came from a clinical trial in China.
“The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite cut their gains on the report, while Gilead [trading symbol GILD] was briefly halted for volatility.
“But the major averages rebounded after Gilead took issue with the report, saying: ‘Because this study was terminated early due to low enrollment, it was underpowered to enable statistically meaningful conclusions. As such, the study results are inconclusive, though trends in the data suggest a potential benefit for remdesivir, particularly among patients treated early in disease.’”
The Financial Times story began to hit the wires in the US early Thursday afternoon. Right after Mr. Market was happily extending a rally in stocks that had begun Wednesday. Within moments – BANG – stocks began a hasty retreat once the “failure” of remdesivir became the news of the day. But Gilead's vigorous defense of its drug, and conservative media's exposure of another big time falsehood, obviously leaked — not "accidentally published" — sowed the seeds of Friday's rally. And justified as well President Trump's de-funding of that now wholly China-owned UN "Agency."
Sanity returns after another barrage of leaks, fake news and propaganda
Fortunately, sanity somehow returned to the market Friday, dispelling the Gilead fake news and phony leaks, the latest in an ongoing barrage of this, instigated by Communist China. With some states launching their "re-opening" efforts this weekend and with many others to follow, traders and investors continued to see a very real possibility that we might be able to return to Trumpian prosperity later this year. That is, unless tyrranical, overreaching blue state governors overreach yet further and screw things up again, figuring that's the best way to win Election 2020. Hint: it's not.
What I think the market has begun to grasp — despite the ruthless, relentless and remorseless 24/7 anti-Trump obsession in the media — is that both the average American and the average American company are just about done with the coronavirus hysteria. America can't simply sit on its hands and watch nearly 250 years of nearly uninterrupted freedom, progress and growth go down the crapper forever due to a 3-month panic attack over the statistical equivalent of a novel flu virus. And the lies, fake news and propaganda used to perpetuate this panic are becoming increasingly obvious to nearly everyone.
Time for America to get back to work
America must simply ignore the constant leaks, lies and fake news. We must open the country back up and get back to work. As the Tylers of ZeroHedge duly note. They point out that Jeff Bezos, the liberal of all liberals, is getting Amazon.com back to work out of sheer necessity.
"There is a new report that as many as 30 Amazon employees have contracted COVID-19 at a warehouse in New Jersey. Despite the transmission risk of the virus rising at some Amazon facilities, the company has requested all US warehouse workers who have sheltered at home to return to regular shifts beginning on May 1, reported Bloomberg."
Of course. With Amazon incapacitated, how else are Americans going to buy things they need. Save for grocers and drugstores, merchants have shut down across the country as if preparing for a riot. Plus, how can Amazon make a profit if it can't deliver. So quarantining is pretty much over for this retail and computer goliath. Many other companies will follow, and soon. Defying local government edicts for the most part.
California Dreamin' become reality on the beach
Meanwhile, in very, very sunny California, citizens decided to head for the beaches and casually flip the bird at Governor Newsom, one of several blue state governators jumping the shark by flexing their authoritarian muscles.
"Thousands of people hung out at Newport Beach and Huntington Beach to escape the heat.
"Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency because of the Coronavirus on March 4 and issued an authoritarian lockdown order on March 19.
"1,600 people have died from the Coronavirus in California out of a 40 million population so people are fed up with the tyranny and heading out to the beaches.
"Newsom on Friday begged Californians to stay home amid the heatwave but they didn’t listen to him."
Yes, even the Commies in California have had enough. They want their beaches and their livelihoods back. Now. And, for once, they have a lot of company across the nation in this regard. America is opening back up for business and for life. And America's elected officials can jump in and help. Or get the hell out of the way.
What Mr Market is trying to say
I think this is what Mr Market is trying to tell us. The message is clear, although the bears will still try to kill off this irresistibly bullish and All-American response. The proof: After taking another propaganda hit, all three major averages rallied Friday, with each closing up 1% or more. Traders and investors have actually begun to ignore the leaks, fake news and propaganda. IT's obviously meant to damage not only President Trump, but companies, investors and American workers as well.
Best advice at this point: ignore the hype and the fake negativity.
Mr Market is a renowned predictor of the future. He’s been trying to tell us throughout this wobbly rally that we should be back close to normal. By the end of this year or sooner. True, 2020 is likely a lost year at this point. We all know why. Yet there’s no reason why we can’t resume, and soon, the business, enthusiasm and prosperity that flourished in January 2020. Americans were growing accustomed to prosperity, long denied under Barack Obama but flourishing over the clearly pro-American President Trump.
But this is a prosperity we can’t hope to regain under a seriously ill President Biden. Or his handpicked successor should the former Veep's very own, heretofore ignored #MeToo scandal finally manage to make the front pages. Even blue America is starting to wake up. Or at least enough of them to make a difference.
Stay tuned.
*– Headline image: Montana National Guard soldiers screen out-of-state travelers at the Amtrak station in Shelby, Montana.*
Photo by Staff Sgt. Brandy Burke. US Government employee photo, in the public domain.
