The following infographic from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) shows some of the facts about the novel coronavirus COVID-19:
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Source: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
Earlier:
The Many Ideas That Led To The Modern-Day Smart Phone: Chart
I came across an interesting chart while reading a research paper on innovation multipliers by Vanguard. The study notes that the smart phone is based on hundreds of ideas or patents that were invented before. This is surprising indeed. For the average user it looks the smart phone was invented from scratch just a few years ago. But that is not the case. Some of the features that are in a smart phone today were invented many decades ago all the way back to 1960s.
The below chart shows the number of patents referenced in the original iPhone development by Apple(AAPL):
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Source: Megatrends – The Idea Multiplier: An acceleration in innovation is coming, Vanguard
An excerpt from the study:
The creation of the modern-day smart phone, for example, relied on hundreds of previous discoveries, many outside of the United States, in fields ranging from automatic data compression to zooming functionality (see Figure 5). A key component of all modern-day smart phones is the alkali-aluminosilicate sheet glass used on the touch screen. This innovation was developed in the 1960s but had little practical use until the consumer electronics industry experimented with the chemically strengthened glass in the mid-2000s (Gardiner, 2012).
The entire paper is a fascinating read.
Disclosure: No Positions
Major World Epidemics and Global Stock Market Performance : Chart
Global equity markets have been relatively immune to past epidemics according to an article by Jeffrey Kleintop at Shcwab. The chart below shows the performance of the MSCI World Index mapped with all the epidemics since 1970 including Zika, Ebola, SARS from the recent past.
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Source: Will the Coronavirus Outbreak Lead to a Market Breakdown?, Schwab
Knowledge is Power: Virus Shock, Stable Dividend Stocks, Bottom-Up Investing Edition
Equity markets worldwide are in panic mode. US markets took a turn for the worst in the past few days. The dramatic selloff continues with no end in sight. However the key to surviving this carnage is to be patient and not panic. It is wise to keep monitoring the markets and track any specific stocks for picking up if they fall to dirt cheap levels.
With that said, below are some interesting reads for the day:
- David Stevenson: the real virus shock may yet shake markets, Citywire
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Market panics like this one can be fertile ground for ‘bottom-up’ investors, Financial Post
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These stocks have been crushed since the coronavirus began to take down the U.S. market, Marketwatch
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As Markets Shudder, Individual Investors Stand Their Ground, WSJ
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The changing nature of the U.S. listed market, Canadian Investment Review
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Never Bet Against America, Nicholas Vardy, Liberty Through Wealth
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Coronavirus: the investment impact in seven charts, Schroders
The famous tilting building in Prague, Czech Republic
Coronavirus Compared to Other Infectious Diseases: Chart
The following chart shows how the coronavirus(COVID-19) compares to other viruses from the past such as Ebola, SARS and MERS:
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Source: RFE/FL