Choose Your Own Adventure: Financial, Medical and/or Emotional Well-Being

The Market, Covid-19 & Lighthearted Happenings

Hey Y’all,

What a(nother) week it’s been. *5 deep breaths*.

This week, I’m using a bit of a different format. So, given your current mood, “choose your own adventure”. Pick a topic below, and dig into 5 quick resources around either your financial, medical and/or emotional well-being.

The Market: This Week (Financial)

1. The Dow Jones had its biggest point drop in history Monday. But that was followed by a couple positive spikes this week.

2. It’s hard to keep up at this point. And frankly, not worth trying to compete with Wall Street (and/or politicians with insider info, for that matter!).

3. Last week, Bitcoin saw a 26% dip. Its biggest dip was from ~$8K to ~$4K in a ~36 hour period.

4. But this week, BTC has rallied about 30% from Monday, March 16th, to today, March 20th (as of noon EST).

5. CNN put together a great list of Stocks, categorically based on the macro-trends. It’s really worth checking out.

   Some category examples: “Stay at Home” (Netflix, Grubhub, etc.), “Work from Home” (Zoom, Slack, etc.), “Stocking Up” (Costco, CVS, etc.), “Hotel/Airlines” (Marriot, Delta), “Macroeconomic Risk Indicators” (Volatility Index, Gold, etc.).

Covid-19: Latest Resources (Medical)

1. This Washington Post article is the most user-friendly visualization of what it means to “Flatten the Curve”. Educate yourself. And let’s all do our part!

2. Below is very practical/tactical information about the Virus. Full thread here. Note: this is not from a doctor, so please consider that as you consider “medical” information)

   David Sinclair, PhD AO @davidasinclair

   Here is a summary of the best information I've seen on corona symptoms, how to prepare, and what to do if you think you have it. #COVID19 #coronavirus #CoronaVirusUpdates #CoronavirusUSA

3. Balaji believes this is going to start “Hygiene 2.0: all elevators, doors, faucets, and handles will go to voice or gesture based activation as standard.”

4. A Cardiac Electrophysiologist, Kashif, superimposed the U.S.’s trajectory on top of Italy’s trajectory. We’re about 10 days behind Italy. Spoiler: our path looks eerily similar.

5. You can now read the Imperial College report on COVID-19 that led to the extreme measures we've seen in the US this week. Here is a summary of that report.

Lighthearted Happenings (Emotional)

1. Fitness instructor in Seville, Spain organized a workout for his neighbors through WhatsApp. Standing on the roof, Gonzalo got everyone exercising with jumping jacks and squats. “Marble Racing” is taking off. And since sports are closed, some people have started betting on the weather.

2. I had a digital movie night with my friends this week. Pro-tip: you can get a Chrome Browser Plugin, called Netflix Party. It allows you to stream, pause/play and chat, while watching together.

3. One Tweet posed the question: “On a lighter note, what are we going to call the generation of kids who were born thanks to all this staying home?” My favorite answers: Zoomers, Coronials, Quaranteens.

4. A guy I met at a party a month ago in SF, found a silver lining (though I get that this argument has holes in it, of course). It shows how humans are positively affecting the earth in these past couple weeks (examples attached in the twitter thread):

   Tom @ThomasSchuIz

   Wow... Earth is recovering - Air pollution is slowing down - Water pollution is clearing up - Natural wildlife returning home Coronavirus is Earth’s vaccine We’re the virus

5. Last, but far from least… my good buddy, Aaron Bailey, did a Bohemian (Coronavirus) Rhapsody remix on Twitter, that was picked up by Newsweek.

Hoping this all passes swiftly, without taking too many more human lives, and without too much economic impact. Though, it’s hard to see an end in sight. In the meantime: here’s What to Watch, Listen to and Read During Your Coronavirus Self-Quarantine.

Stay safe, y’all.

Socially Distanced,

Brendan J Short