It has now been several months since the first case of coronavirus was identified in Wuhan China, and its impact has been gigantic. Over 130,000 people have been infected and nearly 5,000 people have died from the disease. This pandemic has led to a large sell-off in stocks because of an overall decrease in consumer spending and declining sales for companies involved in the travel industry. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are each down over 20% and have erased nearly 3 years of gains. President Trump has attempted to halt the destruction of one of his proudest accomplishments by lowering interest rates, creating a 200 billion dollar economic stimulus package, and asking Congress for over 50 billion dollars to combat coronavirus throughout the country. Despite all of this, the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped nearly 9% today. As travel has begun to stop, airlines, hotels, and cruise ship companies have begun to feel the effects more than others. American Airlines, Marriott, and Disney are down around 70%, 35%, and 35% respectively. At the same time the NHL, NBA, and MLB have all suspended their seasons due to the coronavirus. There is no telling how many different industries the coronavirus will affect, as the United States goes into lockdown. China has had nearly 63,000 recoveries out of 80,000 cases. If the United States follows a similar trajectory in the coming month's things may be up and running again soon, but little can be known for certain as to what the United State’s coronavirus recovery will look like.
By: Ben Butcher
