As shops re-open in the UK and many businesses return, this week will start on a negative note I’m afraid, due in no small part to the collection of idiots that we see, both here and overseas, taking to the streets and attending illegal gatherings like lemmings.
I may sound a little tetchy, for which I apologise, but as I learned on Friday to my dismay, the virus is still very much out there and catchable. An elderly client of mine (with a lung condition) contracted it last week on a trip to hospital and for me it’s like a scene from Groundhog day, as the system seems to have changed little from what I witnessed several weeks ago, with the client being sent home…yes, you heard that correctly, he has Covid19 and is being sent home from hospital, to protect the same facility in which he caught the virus!
So to investment markets, well as I mention above, we have a negative end to last week and regrettably a negative start to this one, due to concerns about a second spike in the virus in the US; although it is not clear whether it is really a second spike, or just a failure in the containment of the original outbreak, with people taking to the streets en-masse in protests not helping, as well as some states reopening their businesses before infection rates had reduced.
The reality is that we always needed to test both the return to work scenario and also the second spike concerns and it appears that whilst the return to work process is now underway and should have been a hurdle which could be addressed with some clarity and sensible progress, the idiots have spoiled the party, by having their own. So now we have both situations to address in the same week; the perfect storm!
Hopefully it will not deter ‘back to work’ progress, but the next few days will be key. One thing is for sure, if we come through this well on both counts, then hopefully we can progress with better clarity. I will keep you updated!