Der Stand der Dinge - 17.6.2020

News: At last: there is some good news on the Covid-19 front! The steroid Dexamehtasone in validated clinical trials has been proven to ameliorate the symptoms of Covid-19. While the drug is not a vaccine, it is effective in reducing the negative effects when the human body goes into overdrive as it is fighting the virus. The drug reduces mortality rates by 17%.

How potentially helpful this could be is illustrated by the story of the Million Dollar Man in the US. It highlights the importance of having health insurance in the US, something that I highlighted in this blog a couple of months ago. Luckily Michael Flor does have health insurance that covers his $1.1m hospital bill. The bill makes for interesting reading. There were two days during which he managed to rack up $100,000 worth of treatment…

The diagnosis of two new Covid-19 cases in New Zealand, after the country was free of the virus for a month, illustrates how ill-guided the UK’s quarantine rules for arriving air passengers are. It is not arriving travellers that need to be put into quarantine, it is the ones departing. But what else would one expect from a country led by a career politician who caught Covid-19 because he did not heed his medical advisors’ social distancing advice, spent two weeks on a ventilator, disappeared for a month as he tried to recover and judging from his recent TV appearances (and his haircut) still is not 100 % corpus mentis? His behaviour is anything but statesman-like (“Let’s put a tiger in the tank" @ 0:15) when he refers to his negotiating partners. He’s fast becoming a liability. At least the UK Government’s Corona strategy is consistent in its on/off switcharoo approach. The latest U-turns relate to the elimination of school meals for children during the summer term (thank you Michael Rashford) and cancelling the requirement that foreign national NHS staff pay for treatment out of their own pocket in case they contract the disease.

In the US, it’s business-as-usual: Rayshard Brook, a black man was shot (in the back and buttocks) and killed by police in Atlanta over the week-end as he was running away from police. The video of the arrest is easily available on line. It does make one wonder why the police officer felt it necessary to use deadly force on someone running away from him.

Trump is busy Making America Great Again: his re-election campaign is organising a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma despite local officials begging the President to observe social distancing rules as Covid infections in the city and the state of Oklahoma are on the rise again. The organisers’ response: attendees are required to sign a disclaimer stating that participants will not hold the campaign or Trump responsible if they catch the virus during the campaign.

Bayern München won its eighth (!) consecutive Deutscher Meister title last night by beating Werder Bremen away (who look like they will be relegated) with two games left to play.

Financial Markets: Stock markets in Europe and the US closed up between 2 and 3% on the back of hopes that economic stimuli will give a boost to economic growth while overnight in the Far East markets were mostly unchanged. HSBC is reviving a plan to reduce its global workforce by 35,000. The UK inflation rate dropped to 0.5% in April, mostly because of lower oil prices. If you’re planning a business trip to Australia, take your time: trade minister Simon Birmingham announced the country’s borders will remain shut until 2021. Looking at the global Covid numbers it is difficult to see the economic environment changing for the better soon: global infection rates are still going up in a lot of places and as the NZ example has shown, international travel needs to be closely monitored if the spread of Covid-19 is to be kept under control. That makes for a very difficult balancing act between stimulating economic growth and protecting citizens’ well-being.

Check here for Regulatory News. The Finnish regulator fined Evli Fund Management for late filing. It’s neither difficult nor expensive to do so, with the right support. The fine would have paid for several years of our service… Japan is tightening the rules governing investment in its Sensitive Sectors, again. Watch out!

Stay safe!