Ten Facts About Wuhan, China

In a recent New York Times article Thomas Friedman on the impact of globalization on the Coronavirus pandemic asked this interesting question:

Who knew that there were regular direct flights from Wuhan, China, to America?

Of course, not many Americans knew there were direct flights from “over there” to here. In fact, it can be safely assumed less than 1% of the population even knew that a place called Wuhan actually existed.

This led to me to think maybe its a good time to learn more about other major cities starting with Wuhan. With that said below are xx facts about Wuhan:

  1. Between 2000 and 2018, the population of Wuhan grew from 8 million to 11 million. Population wise, Wuhan is bigger than New York.
  2. The Wuhan subway line was opened in 2004 with a single line and 10 stations. Today the Wuhan Metro has 9 lines and 228 stations.
  3. 228 million tourists visited the city in 2018.
  4. In 2009, Wuhan was linked to Guangzhou in Southern China with a high-speed rail service.
  5. Today 25 major cities are connected to Wuhan with the hi-speed train service.
  6. In 2009, the third passenger railway station was opened in the city.
  7. The travel time is just 5 hours between Wuhan and Beijing on the hi-speed train.
  8. Wuhan Tianhe International Airport had direct flights to 52 global destinations and 84 domestic cities in 2018. International cities reachable by flights include New York, San Francisco, Dubai, Milan, Paris, etc.
  9. The distance from Wuhan to Beijing by road is 750 miles and it now takes 12 hours on the G45 expressway.
  10. The world’s largest power station, The Three Gorges Dam is located near Wuhan.

Sources: Global Viral Outbreaks Like Coronavirus, Once Rare, Will Become More Common and High-Speed Trains, International Flights: How the Coronavirus Spread, WSJ and Wikipedia

Easyjet and Carnival To Drop From The FTSE 100 Index

UK-based discount airline Easyjet PLC (LON: EZJ.L and US  OTC: ESYJY) and cruise company Carnival PLC (LON: CCL.L and US NYSE: CUK)  will drop from the FTSE 100 Index on June 19, according to a press release by FTSE Russell. This is a followup post to an earlier today where I discussed about Lufthansa getting kicked out of DAX Index.

After dropping from FTSE 100, Carnival will be added to the FTSE 350 Index.

The 5-year return of Easyjet and Carnival stocks trading on the US markets are shown in the chart below:

Click to enlarge

Source: Yahoo Finance

Despite a recent jump, both stocks are down significantly.

Airline and cruise sectors are high risk plays now as nobody knows when these industries will fully recover.

Disclosure: No Positions

 

Average Stock Holding Periods for NYSE 1929 to 2018 : Chart

The average holding period for stocks continues to decline globally. In the US it is getting especially worse with the introduction of commission-free trades by brokerages last year and millennials’ propensity to trade often with apps like Robinhood and others. According to a report by Ted Maloney and Robert Almeida, Jr at MFS, the average holding period for a stock listed on the NYSE is approximately nine months. The following chart shows the continuous decline in stock holding periods since the 1960s:

Click to enlarge

Source: Lengthening the Investment Time Horizon, MFS

For more details on this topic you checkout my earlier article: Duration of Stock Holding Periods Continue to Fall Globally