The mother of all grizzly bears is mauling global stock markets. When will she go back into hibernation?
- Dow Jones Industrial Average in US is on track for its worst month since the Great Depression
- Hang Seng has seen five 900-point drops since mid-January amid virus-sparked volatility
The mother of all grizzly bears is mauling stock portfolios around the globe.
Many investors – grappling with stocks that have been ripped to pieces in just weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic – have been left shell-shocked. Their anxious question: When will this bear go back into hibernation?
Just about everybody – from mom-and-pop investors to seasoned pros – agrees the bottom hasn’t been reached. But no one knows when it will be.
“Everyone is looking for a bottom,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst, Asia Pacific for foreign exchange company OANDA. “The coronavirus recession has the potential to be with us for a long time to come. And there is no playbook in modern times for an event like this on this scale. Not even Sars.
“Thus, we have no one-size-fits-all model for when a bottom is forming. What I’m sure we will get are many FOMO [fear of missing out] false down rallies,” he said.
Everything from stocks to commodities, including oil, to traditional safe havens, such as bonds and gold, has been smacked around by this fierce momma bear, plunging across the globe as investors frantically flee to the seeming safety of cash.
