The world is a big place and there is always something going on. The flavor of the month these days is the Coronavirus (COVID). If you have not heard about it, its merely a deadly and contagious flu in a section of China. As the media and financial analyst often do, the have a tendency to over blow just about anything to make you think they actually know how markets work.

First let’s put the flu in perspective. Every year according to the CDC in the US alone the flu affects about 30 million a year which results in roughly 30k to 40k deaths a year. The World Health organization tells us that worldwide the flu deaths range between 250K to 500K per year. As of today, in China, and we do know that Communists lie there are 30,000 + confirmed cases with 1000+ death. This is well within the range and data provided by the CDC and World Health organization.

Here is why you as a real investor shouldn’t freak out. If you are our client, if you have a real portfolio, if you follow real asset allocation, your portfolios are built to withstand these things. As one area of your portfolio might be affected, there is another area that is helping to protect the downside volatility. In addition, this also affords us the opportunity to rebalance and buy into dips in some areas and take advantage as those areas recover.

Also always understand that no matter what happens companies need to make money to survive and to provide jobs. Short-term the Coronavirus (COVID) will have an impact to some companies and will also be a great opportunity for others. But at the end there will be some point where people get back to work, companies begin to recover, and the cycle corrects itself all by itself.

In a very fast news cycle its very important to sometimes take a deep breath and have real perspective and understand that there is not much of any news that actually will affect your portfolio over the long-term.

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