As said above, #Pandemic is trending, and the market has been hovering between 500 and 1,000 points down after two days of 1000 point drops already this week. Last night, for the first time, a case of Coronavirus unrelated to travel was documented in the U.S.. Now there is even worse news. The patient went to the hospital on February 19th, and was sent home.

This same person has had at least 5 days, minimum, to spread a highly contagious virus around his or her community. Yesterday, South Korea, a nation every bit as sophisticated as the United States, reported a massive overnight increase in the number of cases seen. Italy found the same just two days ago.

It likely means that even the CDC numbers have yet to catch-up to the reality. We certainly haven’t been preventing travel from South Korea, or Europe.

It is exceedingly difficult to panic the people of the United States. We are relatively sophisticated, well-educated, and wealthy. We are used to having a government that is one of the world’s elite in anything it does with seriousness. And, for better or worse, most Americans aren’t that attentive to the news. They are busy with busy lives.

It is hard to spread panic in the U.S.

Trump is one of the few who could do it. They say that a rogue wave is one where three or more crests meet by chance at any given point. Trump is a rogue wave, bringing a unique capacity to lie such that people fear that the truth is far worse than what he’s said. He is one that will always himself first, last and always. We have seen the utter incompetent when faced with something he can’t lie has ass out of. Three crests there, and everyone knows there are more.

He cannot run to bankruptcy court if he tanks the United States. We are the ones that could be left in a bankruptcy court, or a hospital.

There is an old stock trader cliché that perfectly captures the difficulty in facing hidden trouble one fears: “Don’t panic. But if you do panic, panic first.”

Right now, the entire United States feels on the verge of feeling trapped in such a no-win situation. It is dangerous to overreact. At the very least one looks stupid, or worse, one might miss out on opportunities. No one wants to underreact and do something too late.

It is very hard to create a panic across the United States. We have lifted up a leader who is one of the very few who could pour gas upon what otherwise might not have been a fire. It is scary.

Scary as it is, don’t panic yet. Suck in real information, react responsibly and cautiously. Just don’t mirror Trump’s reaction, or you might find yourself standing there as the crowd rushes by, scared by something very real.

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Peace, y’all

Jason

[email protected] and on Twitter @MiciakZoom