Dear All,
I hope this finds you safe and in good health. Today I was invited to participate in a conference call with Blackrock Funds and to hear the insights of the Chief Executive Officer, Larry Fink, and the Chief Investment Officer, Rick Rieder.
These two gentleman are among the brightest and well tuned-in men on Wall Street. I am happy to share their thoughts with you.
According to Larry Fink:
As it relates to the Coronavirus and the effects on the market, he sees this as a twelve to fifteen week process to return to normal. That is how long it will take to get the number of new cases to peak, and then to finally abate.
This is not a financial crisis. Banks across the world are acting together in a coordinated effort to keep liquidity going.
It will take about three trillion dollars from our government to help individuals, small businesses, and corporate bail outs to the industries that need it most.
The opportunities in the market are substantial right now. This is not the time to be selling, but the time to be accumulating cash and jumping in once the virus numbers start to decline in America.
Some companies are positioned to prosper in this period, such as Kroger, Netflix, Amazon, Walmart, and McDonalds, to name a few.
The industries that have been hit the hardest will bounce back (ex. airlines, hospitality, cruise lines, insurance companies)
According to Rick Rieder:
The Fed is not out of tools to help the economy, and they are doing a very good job in providing liquidity to financial institutions.
The Markets will potentially fall some more. However, once we reach stability, we will then see the rebound.
The bond market has seen unprecedented volatility, but this will also begin to stabilize.
As far as it goes at Lebenthal Financial, we all have begun to work from home and to follow the protocols suggested. Rest assured we are fully functional, and have been preparing for this possibility for several weeks. Your portfolios have held up well during this period, and I am happy to review your account in detail at any time.
Stay safe and out of harms way,
Michael
