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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
April 8, 2020
From Vox:
Coronavirus, anxiety, and the profound failure of rugged individualism
The coronavirus is making us all more anxious and depressed. Here’s what we can do about it.
By Roge Karma on March 28, 2020 9:30 am
I never had serious problems with my mental health before the coronavirus hit. But over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself struggling: the constant sinking feeling in my stomach, difficulty falling asleep at night, crippling mental and physical fatigue out of nowhere. I had heard all of these symptoms described to me by depressed and anxious friends before, but this is the first time in my life I’ve truly felt them for extended periods of time. And I’m not the only one. Usage of mental health apps and chatbots has gone up in recent weeks, as have mental health-related social media posts — and dozens of friends and colleagues have relayed similar experiences.
Through it all, the book that’s been at the front of my mind is Lost Connections: Why You’re Depressed and How to Find Hope (audiobook) by Johann Hari. Drawing on interviews with dozens of neuroscientists, biologists, and social scientists, the book advances an argument that is both radical and obvious: Depression and anxiety are more than just chemical imbalances in the brain; they are also products of our distinct social environments — social environments that have left our core psychological needs unmet.
Over the last few weeks, there have been — and will continue to be — some fundamental shifts in the social landscape within which we live our lives. Unemployment applications have reached record highs. Small businesses are shuttering by the day. Entire cities are being told to “shelter in place.” Social distancing has become the new normal. And there’s no telling when any of it will end. ........(more)
https://www.vox.com/2020/3/28/21196268/coronavirus-johann-hari-lost-connections-anxiety-depression-failure-rugged-individualism
Coronavirus, anxiety, and the profound failure of rugged individualism
From Vox:
Coronavirus, anxiety, and the profound failure of rugged individualism
The coronavirus is making us all more anxious and depressed. Here’s what we can do about it.
By Roge Karma on March 28, 2020 9:30 am
I never had serious problems with my mental health before the coronavirus hit. But over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself struggling: the constant sinking feeling in my stomach, difficulty falling asleep at night, crippling mental and physical fatigue out of nowhere. I had heard all of these symptoms described to me by depressed and anxious friends before, but this is the first time in my life I’ve truly felt them for extended periods of time. And I’m not the only one. Usage of mental health apps and chatbots has gone up in recent weeks, as have mental health-related social media posts — and dozens of friends and colleagues have relayed similar experiences.
Through it all, the book that’s been at the front of my mind is Lost Connections: Why You’re Depressed and How to Find Hope (audiobook) by Johann Hari. Drawing on interviews with dozens of neuroscientists, biologists, and social scientists, the book advances an argument that is both radical and obvious: Depression and anxiety are more than just chemical imbalances in the brain; they are also products of our distinct social environments — social environments that have left our core psychological needs unmet.
Over the last few weeks, there have been — and will continue to be — some fundamental shifts in the social landscape within which we live our lives. Unemployment applications have reached record highs. Small businesses are shuttering by the day. Entire cities are being told to “shelter in place.” Social distancing has become the new normal. And there’s no telling when any of it will end. ........(more)
https://www.vox.com/2020/3/28/21196268/coronavirus-johann-hari-lost-connections-anxiety-depression-failure-rugged-individualism
April 6, 2020
(Market Watch) In some corners of Wall Street, investors are casting doubt on the notion that the economy will switch back to high gear after the coronavirus pandemic passes.
The worry is that the battle with COVID-19 could leave a more cautious consumer even after the pandemic is brought under control. If changes in human behavior stemming from efforts to contain the disease persist, it could portend a more gradual economic recovery and a more bumpy road for stock-markets this year.
“It’s too soon to tell, but I think it’s going to be a slow grind higher for markets. I’m trying not to stay fixated on the economic path, all I can say with confidence is markets will be very volatile in the short term,” said Anwiti Bahuguna, head of multiasset strategy at Columbia Threadneedle, in an interview. .......(more)
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-market-headed-for-choppy-waters-amid-worries-return-to-normal-will-elude-us-economy-2020-04-04?mod=home-page
Stock market is headed for choppy waters amid worries that a return to normal will elude the U.S. ec
(Market Watch) In some corners of Wall Street, investors are casting doubt on the notion that the economy will switch back to high gear after the coronavirus pandemic passes.
The worry is that the battle with COVID-19 could leave a more cautious consumer even after the pandemic is brought under control. If changes in human behavior stemming from efforts to contain the disease persist, it could portend a more gradual economic recovery and a more bumpy road for stock-markets this year.
“It’s too soon to tell, but I think it’s going to be a slow grind higher for markets. I’m trying not to stay fixated on the economic path, all I can say with confidence is markets will be very volatile in the short term,” said Anwiti Bahuguna, head of multiasset strategy at Columbia Threadneedle, in an interview. .......(more)
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/stock-market-headed-for-choppy-waters-amid-worries-return-to-normal-will-elude-us-economy-2020-04-04?mod=home-page
April 5, 2020
(Market Watch) Everyone wants to know what impact the coronavirus and the government response to it will have on housing markets. While it is too early to hazard a guess, some things are becoming increasingly clear.
Already, it looks as if the U.S. is moving towards a temporary moratorium on mortgage payments. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unveiled an emergency program which provides a two-month deferral of mortgage payments for any homeowner who claims to be facing a hardship because of the virus. The payments will be tacked on at the end of the mortgage term.
....(snip)....
It is not much of a stretch to say that this virus has changed everything. Many of you may sense that the virus has undermined what you thought was still a fairly strong housing market around the country.
In truth, the so-called housing recovery since 2010 has been little more than a carefully constructed illusion. The belief in a strong housing recovery was carefully devised using a strategy of misleading information, withheld data and false impressions. .......(more)
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-the-hard-truth-about-the-mortgage-markets-that-isnt-being-told-2020-04-02?mod=home-page
This hard truth about the mortgage markets isn't being told
(Market Watch) Everyone wants to know what impact the coronavirus and the government response to it will have on housing markets. While it is too early to hazard a guess, some things are becoming increasingly clear.
Already, it looks as if the U.S. is moving towards a temporary moratorium on mortgage payments. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unveiled an emergency program which provides a two-month deferral of mortgage payments for any homeowner who claims to be facing a hardship because of the virus. The payments will be tacked on at the end of the mortgage term.
....(snip)....
It is not much of a stretch to say that this virus has changed everything. Many of you may sense that the virus has undermined what you thought was still a fairly strong housing market around the country.
In truth, the so-called housing recovery since 2010 has been little more than a carefully constructed illusion. The belief in a strong housing recovery was carefully devised using a strategy of misleading information, withheld data and false impressions. .......(more)
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-the-hard-truth-about-the-mortgage-markets-that-isnt-being-told-2020-04-02?mod=home-page
April 3, 2020
(Business Insider) The fate of the restaurant industry is uncertain as the coronavirus outbreak keeps customers home and forces the closure of thousands of locations.
The impact has already been devastating across the industry.
11% of the more than 4,000 restaurant owners and operators surveyed by the National Restaurant Association (NRA) last week said that they anticipate they will permanently close within the next 30 days. 3% said that they had already permanently closed their doors.
If these figures are applied to the more than one million restaurants that the NRA estimates exist across America, that would mean 30,000 restaurants are already gone. Roughly 110,000 more are expected to go the same way within the month, based on these calculations. ........(more)
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-restaurant-industry-faces-down-apocalypse-2020-3
RESTAURANT APOCALYPSE: More than 110,000 restaurants expect to close up forever in the coming weeks,
(Business Insider) The fate of the restaurant industry is uncertain as the coronavirus outbreak keeps customers home and forces the closure of thousands of locations.
The impact has already been devastating across the industry.
11% of the more than 4,000 restaurant owners and operators surveyed by the National Restaurant Association (NRA) last week said that they anticipate they will permanently close within the next 30 days. 3% said that they had already permanently closed their doors.
If these figures are applied to the more than one million restaurants that the NRA estimates exist across America, that would mean 30,000 restaurants are already gone. Roughly 110,000 more are expected to go the same way within the month, based on these calculations. ........(more)
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-restaurant-industry-faces-down-apocalypse-2020-3
April 3, 2020
by Wolf Richter • Apr 2, 2020 •
Loading up on Treasury securities, mortgage-backed securities, repos, “central bank liquidity swaps,” and “loans” to keep the Everything Bubble from imploding further.
By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET:
Total assets on the Fed’s weekly balance sheet – mostly composed of Treasury securities, mortgage-backed securities (MBS), repurchase agreements (repos), “foreign central bank liquidity swaps,” and “loans” – spiked by $557 billion in just one week, to $5.81 trillion, according to the Fed’s release Thursday afternoon.
This doesn’t yet include about $200 billion in MBS that the Fed bought over the past three weeks but whose trades have not yet settled (the Fed will book them later when they settle). With those MBS included, the Fed now holds over $6 trillion in assets.
....(snip)....
Loans”: The newly hot bailout
“Loans” is a group of asset accounts on the Fed’s balance sheet that had been essentially asleep since Financial Crisis 1. But over the past three weeks, they jumped from near-zero to $129 billion. This is what the Fed has lent out as part of its new bailout liquidity programs and direct lending programs, by category:
- Primary credit: $44 billion
- Primary Dealer Credit Facility: $33 billion
-Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility: $53 billion
The chart is on the same scale as the charts for swaps and repos above, giving these loans room to grow into as Wall Street gets more of its helicopter money: .......(more)
https://wolfstreet.com/2020/04/02/helicopter-money-for-wall-street-1-5-trillion-in-3-weeks-of-fed-bailouts/
$1.5 Trillion Helicopter Money for Wall Street in 3 Weeks of Fed Bailouts
by Wolf Richter • Apr 2, 2020 •
Loading up on Treasury securities, mortgage-backed securities, repos, “central bank liquidity swaps,” and “loans” to keep the Everything Bubble from imploding further.
By Wolf Richter for WOLF STREET:
Total assets on the Fed’s weekly balance sheet – mostly composed of Treasury securities, mortgage-backed securities (MBS), repurchase agreements (repos), “foreign central bank liquidity swaps,” and “loans” – spiked by $557 billion in just one week, to $5.81 trillion, according to the Fed’s release Thursday afternoon.
This doesn’t yet include about $200 billion in MBS that the Fed bought over the past three weeks but whose trades have not yet settled (the Fed will book them later when they settle). With those MBS included, the Fed now holds over $6 trillion in assets.
....(snip)....
Loans”: The newly hot bailout
“Loans” is a group of asset accounts on the Fed’s balance sheet that had been essentially asleep since Financial Crisis 1. But over the past three weeks, they jumped from near-zero to $129 billion. This is what the Fed has lent out as part of its new bailout liquidity programs and direct lending programs, by category:
- Primary credit: $44 billion
- Primary Dealer Credit Facility: $33 billion
-Money Market Mutual Fund Liquidity Facility: $53 billion
The chart is on the same scale as the charts for swaps and repos above, giving these loans room to grow into as Wall Street gets more of its helicopter money: .......(more)
https://wolfstreet.com/2020/04/02/helicopter-money-for-wall-street-1-5-trillion-in-3-weeks-of-fed-bailouts/
April 2, 2020
https://m.
Mortgage Defaults Could Pile Up at Pace That Dwarfs 2008
Mortgage lenders are preparing for the biggest wave of delinquencies in history. If the plan to buy time works, they may avert an even worse crisis: Mass foreclosures and mortgage market mayhem.
Borrowers who lost income from the coronavirus -- already a skyrocketing number, with a record 10 million new jobless claims -- can ask to skip payments for as many as 180 days at a time on federally backed mortgages, and avoid penalties and a hit to their credit scores. But it’s not a payment holiday. Eventually, they’ll have to make it all up.
As many as 30% of Americans with home loans – about 15 million households –- could stop paying if the U.S. economy remains closed through the summer or beyond, according to an estimate by Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics. .........(more)
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/home-lenders-brace-for-up-to-15-million-u-s-mortgage-defaults
Hang on, this is gonna be bad......
https://m.
Mortgage Defaults Could Pile Up at Pace That Dwarfs 2008
Mortgage lenders are preparing for the biggest wave of delinquencies in history. If the plan to buy time works, they may avert an even worse crisis: Mass foreclosures and mortgage market mayhem.
Borrowers who lost income from the coronavirus -- already a skyrocketing number, with a record 10 million new jobless claims -- can ask to skip payments for as many as 180 days at a time on federally backed mortgages, and avoid penalties and a hit to their credit scores. But it’s not a payment holiday. Eventually, they’ll have to make it all up.
As many as 30% of Americans with home loans – about 15 million households –- could stop paying if the U.S. economy remains closed through the summer or beyond, according to an estimate by Mark Zandi, chief economist for Moody’s Analytics. .........(more)
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/banking-law/home-lenders-brace-for-up-to-15-million-u-s-mortgage-defaults
April 2, 2020
(Bloomberg) State and local governments are eliminating jobs as they brace for the financial impacts of the coronavirus, offering a potential early glimpse of the steps they may have to take as the unprecedented shutdown of local economies devastates tax collections.
The swift action stands in contrast to the approach during the last recession, showing the severity of the revenue losses that some governments expect as businesses are shuttered, millions of workers are idled and tourism grinds to a halt. The shift from a record-setting expansion to a deep contraction in a matter of weeks has caused surpluses to turn into deficits and left mayors and governors racing to gauge the impact, even with Congress discussing a fresh round of stimulus spending that may pump at least $760 billion into local infrastructure projects.
....(snip)....
This week, Cincinnati, Ohio, decided to furlough as many as 1,700 workers after revised budget estimates projected a $27.5 million deficit, a stark reversal from the previous estimate of a $24 million surplus. Mayor John Cranley fought back tears as he announced the decision.
Pennsylvania laid off 2,500 seasonal, temporary and part-time employees, along with interns, due to the “unprecedented impact” of the virus. Wichita, Kansas, has implemented a hiring freeze and a furlough that will affect roughly 300 employees, according to the city. ........(more)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-02/states-cities-already-cutting-jobs-with-financial-toll-mounting?srnd=premium
States, Cities Already Cutting Jobs With Financial Toll Mounting
(Bloomberg) State and local governments are eliminating jobs as they brace for the financial impacts of the coronavirus, offering a potential early glimpse of the steps they may have to take as the unprecedented shutdown of local economies devastates tax collections.
The swift action stands in contrast to the approach during the last recession, showing the severity of the revenue losses that some governments expect as businesses are shuttered, millions of workers are idled and tourism grinds to a halt. The shift from a record-setting expansion to a deep contraction in a matter of weeks has caused surpluses to turn into deficits and left mayors and governors racing to gauge the impact, even with Congress discussing a fresh round of stimulus spending that may pump at least $760 billion into local infrastructure projects.
....(snip)....
This week, Cincinnati, Ohio, decided to furlough as many as 1,700 workers after revised budget estimates projected a $27.5 million deficit, a stark reversal from the previous estimate of a $24 million surplus. Mayor John Cranley fought back tears as he announced the decision.
Pennsylvania laid off 2,500 seasonal, temporary and part-time employees, along with interns, due to the “unprecedented impact” of the virus. Wichita, Kansas, has implemented a hiring freeze and a furlough that will affect roughly 300 employees, according to the city. ........(more)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-02/states-cities-already-cutting-jobs-with-financial-toll-mounting?srnd=premium
April 2, 2020
(Bloomberg) The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits more than doubled to a second straight record, highlighting the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus as shutdowns widened across the country. ......(more)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-02/u-s-jobless-claims-doubled-to-record-6-65-million-last-week?srnd=premium
U.S. Jobless Claims Doubled to Record 6.65 Million Last Week
(Bloomberg) The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits more than doubled to a second straight record, highlighting the devastating economic impact of the coronavirus as shutdowns widened across the country. ......(more)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-02/u-s-jobless-claims-doubled-to-record-6-65-million-last-week?srnd=premium
April 1, 2020
(WolfStreet) The Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, released by the Dallas Fed on March 31, is one of the first indicators as to what services more broadly – they account for about 70% of the US economy – will look like under lockdown. The data also includes the retail sector that’s an even bigger mess.
This is based on surveys of executives of 248 companies in the Texas service sector and of 56 companies in the retail sector. The companies are unnamed. The data was collected from March 17 through 25. It was on March 19 that Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a comparatively mild lockdown. A few days later, major cities and counties issued tighter “stay at home” orders. All this happened within the survey collection period. Some of the announcements might have come too late to be fully reflected in the survey data. Nevertheless, the results were stunningly ugly.
The Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey’s General Business Conditions Index, which reflects service sector executives’ perceptions of broader business conditions, collapsed by over 85 points to an epic all-time low of -78.8: .........(more)
https://wolfstreet.com/2020/03/31/heres-a-foretaste-of-the-lockdown-driven-collapse-in-the-services-retail-sectors/
Foretaste of the Lockdown-Driven Collapse in the Services & Retail Sectors: Holy Moly, What a Catast
(WolfStreet) The Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey, released by the Dallas Fed on March 31, is one of the first indicators as to what services more broadly – they account for about 70% of the US economy – will look like under lockdown. The data also includes the retail sector that’s an even bigger mess.
This is based on surveys of executives of 248 companies in the Texas service sector and of 56 companies in the retail sector. The companies are unnamed. The data was collected from March 17 through 25. It was on March 19 that Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a comparatively mild lockdown. A few days later, major cities and counties issued tighter “stay at home” orders. All this happened within the survey collection period. Some of the announcements might have come too late to be fully reflected in the survey data. Nevertheless, the results were stunningly ugly.
The Texas Service Sector Outlook Survey’s General Business Conditions Index, which reflects service sector executives’ perceptions of broader business conditions, collapsed by over 85 points to an epic all-time low of -78.8: .........(more)
https://wolfstreet.com/2020/03/31/heres-a-foretaste-of-the-lockdown-driven-collapse-in-the-services-retail-sectors/
April 1, 2020
(Business Insider) The coronavirus outbreak is already devastating the restaurant industry.
Roger Lipton, a restaurant industry analyst, investor, and advisor who recently penned a blog post about the upcoming "restaurant apocalypse," told Business Insider that the restaurant industry is facing an unexpected and unprecedented challenge.
"Any pundit who thinks that they're going to use a recent history — and by recent history, I mean the last 100 years, including the Depression — as a template for what is going to go on here? They're kidding themselves," Lipton told Business Insider on Monday. .....(more)
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-coronavirus-devastating-restaurants-across-us-2020-3
8 figures reveal how the coronavirus pandemic is devastating restaurants across America
(Business Insider) The coronavirus outbreak is already devastating the restaurant industry.
Roger Lipton, a restaurant industry analyst, investor, and advisor who recently penned a blog post about the upcoming "restaurant apocalypse," told Business Insider that the restaurant industry is facing an unexpected and unprecedented challenge.
"Any pundit who thinks that they're going to use a recent history — and by recent history, I mean the last 100 years, including the Depression — as a template for what is going to go on here? They're kidding themselves," Lipton told Business Insider on Monday. .....(more)
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-coronavirus-devastating-restaurants-across-us-2020-3
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Gender: MaleHometown: Detroit, MI
Member since: Fri Oct 29, 2004, 12:18 AM
Number of posts: 77,064