I sent an email to a client (and friend) this morning, congratulating him on his company’s decision to provide insurance coverage to furloughed workers during the crisis we face today. I sent that email right after I had an email exchange with a friend in Italy. He has been in lockdown for several weeks in a much more difficult environment.
Both asked me about our current situation, compared with being at the NYSE on 9/11.
I understand the comparison, and I understand the market reaction.
But the events are so different. The events of 9/11 were quickly realized to be the work of a very visible enemy – one we had the opportunity well before 9/11 to take down and didn’t, both because of our President’s unwillingness, and our inattention to details that could have uncovered the terrorists’ plot. Our surveillance and caution around security issues has changed dramatically post 9/11.
This current killer is invisible. But, like 9/11, it will forever change some of our habits and aspects of social interaction…and – my guess – where some of our biopharma companies invest in the future. I can envision investors (and governments…and insurers) funding research and discovery that can identify where the “next” COVID-19 might come from, and vaccines that can prevent transmission.
Col. Jack Jacobs is a very dear friend. Sitting here in quiet Tewksbury is a blessing compared to what he went through in Vietnam. And none of us are trying to charge up the cliffs on the beaches in Normandy.
Yes, this is difficult…but there are many worse things we’ve been confronted with.
I’d rather be faced with having the virus than standing in a window on the 98th floor of the World Trade Center, knowing my choice was to burn or jump.
And financially, we will survive. One of the first (and one of the smartest) guys I ever worked for on Wall Street was Paul Tudor Jones. He was on an extended interview on CNBC this morning. It was excellent. He captured it perfectly. Here’s a link: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/26/tudor-jones-says-this-is-the-greatest-fiscal-monetary-bazooka-ever.html
To everyone out there, be safe!
(and – for the record – to me at least, 9/11 was much worse.)
Posted by Bob Zito on 3/26/2020