Coronavirus, Protest, Graduation, Economy - What A Week!

If there was a single week that would make Coronavirus an after thought it was last week. Why? Momentous life events happened!

For a large group of Americans, the most important issue last week were the protests against racism across the country brought about by George Floyd and other black Americans who have recently been killed.

Whether you were you someone who could identify with the protestors, or were a business owner who saw their livelihood go up in flames, or were a protestor, this significant event has shaken the whole of America. On the fishing boat last week, a younger fisherman asked an older fisherman, is this like the Rodney King riots. The older man reiterated what I had told my sons the day before, "No. These protests are much more widespread. They are occurring across cities and towns throughout the United States. The King protests occurred in only a handful of big cities and looting occurred in even fewer." One side effect of the protest, is that more people are outside and mingling with others. For coronavirus numbers this is bad, but it shows the humanity of people, in that people of all colors are willing to face personal health risk to protest against an injustice.

For many students it was a week of finishing school. Seniors in high school and college graduated - remotely. Other students technically finished - although many were done when the coronavirus shut their schools down in March. Students missed Spring Break, Proms, Grad Nights, and all of the other fun end-of-year activities. Schools scrambled to try to make the end of the school special for their seniors whether it was a drive through celebration or zoom interactions. For non-seniors, like mine, it ended with a whimper. The principal emailed a congratulations to the students and staff for overcoming the challenges of the coronavirus these past three months and she looked forward to the Fall school year whatever it may look like.

Investor's Business Daily

Finally, for investors the big issue wasn't just the ongoing incredible "V" rebound in the stock market, but the drop in unemployment from 19% to 13% in May. On this news Friday, the stock market zoomed up 800 points. That brings the market to almost pre-coronavirus levels. Still, protests are raging across the U.S., there is no cure for the coronavirus, and new cases of coronavirus infection are soaring so I find the rapid rebound quite surprising. People with 401ks are definitely breathing a mighty sigh of relief.

Did you think less about the coronavirus last week?

Take care everyone.

Posts Tuesday and Saturday

(Painting the bathroom took longer that expected yesterday, so I am a day late.)