That’s how many Americans filed for unemployment insurance over the past two weeks.
And the week before last week was especially a doozy… with 6.6 million people registering as out of work.
It’s hard to overstate how high a number that is.
The worst week for job losses before the pandemic was in 1982. Fewer than 1 million Americans – 695,000, to be precise – lost their jobs.
The second-highest weekly spike in job losses was 665,000 in March 2009. That was five months after the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
With crushing numbers like these, it’s natural to feel frightened for the economy… and for the stock market.
But today, you’ll hear from our tech expert, Jeff Brown, on why we’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel sooner than most folks think.
You’ll also see why one disruptive tech trend Jeff has been tracking for his readers – 5G – is accelerating as a result of the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Cable news is good at bombarding you with scary numbers about the coronavirus.
But the coverage is short on insight… and devoid of sensible solutions.
That makes the independent ideas and insights we share with you at The Daily Cut more important than ever.
I (Chris) show you how to protect your wealth… take advantage of speculations… and stay rational as others succumb to panic.
I do that by plugging you into the latest research, ideas, and insights from Jeff, Teeka Tiwari, E.B. Tucker, Bill Bonner, Doug Casey, and the rest of the Legacy team.
Jeff is our go-to guy on all things tech-related. He’s a former Silicon Valley insider with 25 years’ experience as a high-tech executive at some of the world’s most successful tech companies.
And as Jeff’s readers know, he believes mainstream media is doing a huge disservice by focusing on unrealistic worst-case scenarios.
Apart from the fear and panic it’s causing… it’s leading millions of investors to miss out on opportunities to profit.
It’s a medical devices company out of Lake Bluff, Illinois.
As Jeff reported in these pages earlier today, Abbott has released a new rapid test for COVID-19.
The test runs on the company’s existing ID NOW device. It’s about the size of a toaster. And it’s already in use to rapidly test for the seasonal flu and strep throat.
The ID NOW device reports test results in minutes. Source: Abbott
Abbott says its modified ID NOW device can deliver positive results for COVID-19 in just five minutes. Negative results will take 13 minutes.
Abbott says it will deliver 50,000 of these tests a day. And it says it’s on track to deliver 5 million tests this month.
Right now, we’re flying blind on how many people the coronavirus has already infected.
This is leading us to overstate the mortality rate (the percent of people who get infected that die). This ignorance breeds fear. Here’s Jeff with more on that…
The mortality rate for COVID-19 is typically cited as 2-3%. But this rate is based on confirmed cases, not on the total infected population.
These numbers do not account for the number of people who have contracted the virus but have either no symptoms… or mild symptoms that don’t require medical care and a test.
When we take the real number of infections into account, the death rate may be far lower… perhaps even lower than 0.1%. That’s close to the mortality rate from influenza in the 2017-18 season (0.14%).
To get the fatality rate of any virus, you need two things…
First, you need a denominator: How many people are infected?
Second, you need the death toll: How many of them die as a result?
It’s simple math…
Numerator (number of deaths) / denominator (number of people infected) x 100 = infection fatality rate
If the denominator is artificially small (not enough people are getting tested), the death rate will be artificially high.
Their denominator blindness is causing them to spread unnecessary fear and panic.
That doesn’t mean the coronavirus is not serious. Or that we should immediately abandon social-distancing rules.
It simply means we’re getting an overly gloomy picture every time we tune in to the mainstream news or hear from organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO). Jeff again…
Yes, we should all take this pandemic seriously. But based on what I’m seeing, I believe there are plenty of reasons to be hopeful.
Rational and logical decision-making can come only from objective analysis. It doesn’t come from media that stokes panic and fear in hopes of higher advertising revenues.
I expect we’re going to see the peak of the outbreak within the next few weeks. No more than 45 days, from my estimates – and likely within 30 days.
In the Northern Hemisphere, as the weather gets warmer, I predict we’re going to be back to work by the end of May or early June. And although it’s going to be a bit weird, with modified social distancing things are going to spring back quickly.
Most investors are over-optimistic at the top of a bull market. And they’re over-pessimistic at the bottom of a bear market.
This causes them to lose money hand over fist.
If you don’t believe me… just look at what happened after the 2008 global financial crash.
Home prices fell in 2006… triggering subprime mortgage defaults.
But the S&P 500 – our regular bellwether for U.S. stocks – didn’t peak until October 2007.
From there, the S&P 500 plunged 57% to an intraday low of 666 on March 6, 2009.
You may think that this was when the bad news disappeared and things started to look optimistic.
But that couldn’t be further from the truth. As I mentioned up top, in March 2009 we also saw the second-worst weekly rise in unemployment in more than two decades.
This was the moment of maximum pessimism. And that’s when the S&P 500 bottomed… and began a climb that would take it 400% higher by February 2020.
History doesn’t repeat, of course. But it rhymes.
And that’s how things will play out this time around, too. We’ll hit a bottom for stocks in the darkest hour of the crisis.
He wants as many Legacy readers as possible to be ready to profit.
As regular readers will be aware, 5G is the newest wireless network technology.
It will replace our current 4G wireless networks and deliver speeds more than 100 times faster.
And it’s not just about faster communication speeds. 5G will also make a suite of sci-fi technology possible for the first time at scale.
Self-driving cars… artificial intelligence (AI)… telemedicine… augmented reality… even holographic projection – all need 5G networks’ higher speeds and shorter lag times.
And as Jeff has been telling his readers, this process will create trillions of dollars in new wealth… and be a once-in-a-decade investment opportunity.
The coronavirus panic isn’t slowing the trend down. It’s speeding it up.
The current crisis has made the opportunity with 5G even bigger – and more urgent – than it already was.
As a result, Jeff believes the promise of 5G is even bigger than it was before.
Here’s why…
One-third of the world’s population – including 270 million Americans – is trapped inside its houses.
From Zoom video calls… to kids playing more games online… to even more binge-watching of Netflix shows.
This surge in internet use is emphasizing the need for 5G’s blazing-fast communication networks.
One estimate by Finnish telecom infrastructure company Nokia says wireless networks have seen peak usage jump 20% to 40% over the past several weeks.
Typically, these networks see traffic growth of 30% to 45% – a year.
But the best 5G stocks are still trading at a discount.
This is an extraordinary setup. And it won’t last forever. That’s why Jeff’s hosting a free 5G investment summit this coming Wednesday, April 8.
Jeff’s calling it his “State of 5G” summit. It will kick off at 8 p.m. ET.
During his briefing, Jeff will reveal why the U.S. is not losing the 5G race to China… the exact day we’re set to enter the next phase of the boom… and why you need to be invested before that date.
He’ll also show you the types of stocks set to soar the most in the coming boom.
Jeff will even give you the chance to learn the names of two tiny 5G stocks he believes could soar 10x.
Regards,
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Chris Lowe
April 6, 2020
Dublin, Ireland
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