Today's Topics
3 charts for you exploring:
- Despite scary economic indicators, the stock market has clawed back roughly half of its losses already, but where does it go from here? We look back through history for clues.
- Sitcom Modern Family has come to an end, but what's the best episode out of all 250?
- Trump isn't going to fund the World Health Organization anymore, but who are the other biggest contributors?
|
|
|
With government stimulus on its way and growing optimism for a quick economic recovery, US stock markets have rallied hard – in fact, they’re already up more than 20% from their March lows, meeting the simplest (though hotly debated) definition of a new bull market.
While the 400%, almost 11 year run, from the global financial crisis until coronavirus is freshest in our memories, unfortunately, not all bull markets have been so long and prosperous for investors.
To our surprise, since 1929 almost half of bull markets (46%) have fizzled out in under a year, often during periods of extreme volatility similar to today. This latest bounce could easily be one of those false starts – similar to the short lived run in the midst of the GFC, where stock markets ran up 24%, only to fall to new lows just a few months later.
Where do we go from here?
The 20% threshold we've used is pretty arbitrary, and even analysing 90+ years of stock market data doesn't give us a crystal ball about the future. For now, government stimulus is keeping stocks frothy, even as the data suggests an economic collapse of some sort has already arrived.
That said, whether this "bull market" lasts 10 days, 10 months, or 10 years, if you can afford to invest, automatically setting aside some income and investing on a regular schedule is one of the safest ways to grow that nest egg. As the old adage goes, "time in the market is more important than timing the market".
|
|
After almost 11 years on the small screen, sitcom Modern Family said its goodbyes last week with its two-part finale, leaving it on a tidy total of 250 episodes.
We dug through the IMDB data to see which were the best seasons and episodes, in case anyone wants an easy-to-watch sitcom while they're stuck at home. As with a lot of shows the best days were also the earliest. Season 1 and 2 were the highest rated, before the show settled into a solid rhythm, churning out 4 more seasons with an average IMDB rating of about 8.
It may not have as many die hard fans as Friends or The Office, but for the best part of a decade Modern Family has been a pretty safe bet for a few chuckles. It was also an incredible success for the cast, many of whom were pocketing a cool $500k per episode towards the end of the show. It even made Sofia Vergara the highest paid actress on TV for 7 years in a row.
Connection Lost
If ever there was an episode that was fitting for a watch it would be Season 6 Episode 16 -- "Connection Lost". Not only is it the show's highest rated episode (9.5 / 10), but the entire episode occurs from the perspective of Claire's laptop screen as she tries to track down each member of her family with video calls and texts. You can probably relate to that a lot right now.
|
|
We know you're all stuck at home, self-isolating like heroes. But even heroes need games to play so we've partnered up with Charty Party to get you through the next few weeks.
Charty Party is the adult game of absurdly funny charts!
How to play: The Judge flips over an X-axis chart card (ranging from "Cups of Coffee" to "Number of People in an Elevator") and everyone else competes to play the funniest Y-axis card from their hand to describe what's happening in the chart. It's that easy.
Each pack comes with 44 "Chart cards," 250 hilarious "Y-Axis" cards, and instructions. All printed on high-quality, glossy cards and shrink-wrapped in a custom box.
We've hooked you up with an inside deal as well. Just use the code "CHARTR" at checkout for a 15% discount.
|
|
Earlier this week President Trump announced that he would be halting US funding to the World Health Organization (WHO). According to Trump, the WHO was guilty of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus”.
How much does the US give?
The latest numbers from the WHO show the US giving $893m for its latest 2-year budget cycle. That accounts for about 15% of the group's total funding base, and is about 10x the contribution of China.
It goes without saying that retracting funding for the WHO, in the midst of one of the worst global pandemics for a century, has been roundly criticised by many, although Trump hasn't been the only one to criticise the WHO for its advice and actions earlier in the outbreak.
Who else gives to the WHO?
The contributors to the WHO is an extremely long list. But coming in at #2 probably wasn't who you expected it to be. The Bill & Melinda Gates foundation is actually the second biggest contributor, followed by the UK, the GAVI Alliance, Germany, Japan and a host of other organisations including the World Bank.
Interestingly, China contributed just $86m to the most recent funding cycle. That's an amount on par with Norway, a country with a population about 1/260th of the size.
|
|
Data Snacks
1) Amazon has shut down all of its fulfillment centers in France after a French court ruled that Amazon could be fined €1m per infraction for shipping anything not directly tied to the coronavirus effort (medical supplies, hygiene products etc.).
2) The HR people over at Just Eat (UK food delivery service) have come up with a brilliant innovation for their 3,600 employees. They've launched the Just Eat Power Hour, patent (presumably) pending.
3) Bored at home? Get the Charty Party game with a 15% discount using the code CHARTR.**
4) A second wave of locusts is threatening Africa, and it could be 20 times worse than the one we charted about a few months ago.
5) Andrea Bocelli's "Music For Hope" has now racked up almost 40m hits since premiering on Sunday.
6) China has revised the death count in Wuhan up by 1290, an increase of 50%, citing "incorrect reporting, delays and omissions".
**This is a sponsored snack.
|
|
|
Not a subscriber? Sign up for free below.
|
|
Have a great weekend!
Have some feedback or want to sponsor this newsletter?
|
|
|
|
|
