UP NEXT, W >>> THIS MORNING U.S. STOCK
FUTURES ARE POINTING TOWARD YET
ANOTHER LOW OPEN.
A DAY AFTER THE DOW BRIEFLY
DROPPED DOWN SO LOW IT ERASED
ALL OF ITS GAINS DURING THE
TRUMP PRESIDENT CITYCY.
AND YOU ARE PEA AN
EUROPEAN MARKETS ARE OFF TO A
STRONG START AS THEY ANNOUNCE
THAT THEY WILL BUY BONDS TO EASE
MARKETS.
MARKETS. BUT EASED OFF THROUGHOUT THE
DAY.
DAY. AND YESTERDAY THE ASIAN STOCK
MARKET INDEX REACHED AS LOW AS
4.1%, ITS LOWEST POINT SINCE
2016.
2016. JOINING US NOW FINANCIAL EDITOR
OF THE "WALL STREET JOURNAL"
CHARLES PHARRELL AND ALSO ZANY
BEDDOWS.
BEDDOWS. >> AND WHAT DOES THE CENTRAL
BANK LOOK TO DOING IN THE COMING
WUK
WUK WEEKS TO CALM THE JIT TERSE AND
IS THERE A FEELING THAT EUROPE
IS HANDLING THIS ECONOMIC VICIS
ANY BETTER THAN THE UNITED
STATES?
STATES? >> WELL, THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL
BANK AS YOU SAID CAME IN BIG
LAST NIGHT WITH A 750 BILLION
EURO PROMISE TO BUY MORE BONDS.
AND THAT WAS IN SOME WAY MAKING
UP FOR THE FACT THAT AT THE END
OF LAST WEEK, THE PRESIDENT OF
THE CENTRAL BANK HAD NOT REALLY
HELPED MATTERS BY SOUNDING LESS
THAN EQUIVOCAL ABOUT DOING WHAT
IT TAKES TO HOLD EUROPE
TOGETHER.
TOGETHER. AND NOW SOUNDING MUCH STRONGER.
BUT I’M NOT SURE THAT EUROPE IS
HANDLING THIS.
HANDLING THIS. YOU CAN SEE I’M COMING TO FROM
YOU HOME.
YOU HOME. THIS IS THE FIRST WEEK THAT
WE’VE PUT ECONOMISTS TOGETHER
COMPLETELY REMOTELY.
COMPLETELY REMOTELY. AND THERE ARE A LOT OF
DISCUSSIONS OF LOCKDOWN WITHIN
24 HOURS.
24 HOURS. AND SO GOES IT ACROSS EUROPE.
ITALY AS YOU KNOW IS THE
EPICENTER AND EUROPE GOVERNMENTS
ARE WAY BEHIND THE CURVE IN
TERMS OF THE AMOUNT OF ESTIMATES
>> AND CHARLES, PROPOSALS THAT H
FLOATED OUT THERE.
WE’RE A $21 TRILLION ECONOMY.
IF THAT ECONOMY IS SHUT DOWN FOR
THREE OR FOUR MONTHS, $1
TRILLION SUDDENLY, I CAN’T
BELIEVE I’M SAYING THIS, AS A
SMALL GOVERNMENT CONSERVATIVE,
BUT A $1 TRILLION RELIEF PACKAGE
SUDDENLY SOUNDS LIKE A DROP IN
THE BUCKET FOR A $21 TRILLION
ECONOMY SHUT DOWN FOR HALF A
YEAR.
YEAR. >> THE NUMBERS ARE SIMPLY BEYOND
ANYTHING THAT ANYBODY HAS SEEN
OR REALLY CAN CONCEIVE.
IT’S AN ENORMOUS STOP IN THE
ECONOMY.
ECONOMY. IT’S A REAL STOP.
IT’S NOT JUST THAT THERE ARE
SOME SECTORS SLOWING.
IT’S A FULL-ON STOP.
AND IT’S GOING TO BE VERY
DIFFICULT TO FIGURE OUT HOW YOU
FIND THE DEMAND, HOW YOU FIND
THE MONEY TO TIDE THE ECONOMY
OVER DURING THAT PERIOD.
THE REAL QUESTION, I THINK, IS,
LET’S ASSUME THAT THINGS REOPEN
AND WE DON’T END UP IN A VERY
BAD SPIRAL.
BAD SPIRAL. WHAT DOES THE ECONOMY LOOK LIKE
WHEN IT GETS BACK, AND WHAT CAN
YOU DO NOW TO MAKE SURE WHEN IT
DOES REOPEN AND REOPENS IN AS
GOOD A POSITION AS IT CAN BE.
IT’S GOING TO BE HARD.
THE NUMBERS ARE ENORMOUS.
>> IT’S JONATHAN LEMIRE.
WE HEARD SENATOR MANCHIN SUGGEST
THAT WALL STREET CLOSE FOR A
COUPLE OF DAYS.
HE SUGGESTED IT WASN’T AN
ESSENTIAL BUSINESS RIGHT NOW.
THE WHITE HOUSE IS VERY OPPOSED
TO THAT.
TO THAT. WE HEARD TREASURE SECRETARY
MNUCHIN SAY THERE’S SOME TALK OF
PERHAPS REDUCING HOURS BUT HE
DIDN’T WANT TO CLOSE THE MARKETS
FOR FEARS OF WHAT MESSAGE THAT
WOULD SEND.
WOULD SEND. WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON THAT?
SHOULD THE MARKETS CLOSE FOR A
FEW DAYS?
FEW DAYS? WOULD THAT STEADY THINGS AND LET
EVERYBODY COOL OFF?
>> I DON’T THINK CLOSING MARKETS
STEADIES THINGS.
STEADIES THINGS. IT REINFORCES THE FEELING OF
PANIC.
PANIC. CLOSING DOWN FINANCIAL
SYSTEMS -- WHAT WE HAVE RIGHT
NOW, THE REASON EVERYBODY IS IN
A PANIC IS WE HAVE A TOTAL LACK
OF UNDERSTANDING OF HOW FAR THIS
COULD GO AND THE WORLD ECONOMY
IS LITERALLY SHUTTING DOWN, AND
WE DON’T KNOW FOR HOW LONG, AND
WE DON’T KNOW WHEN OR WHEN IT
DOES EMERGE FROM THIS, WHETHER
IT WILL HAPPEN AGAIN.
ONE OF THE STRIKING THINGS WE’RE
LEARNING AS WE FIND OUT MORE
ABOUT THIS VIRUS AND THE LATEST
MODELING THAT’S DONE SUGGESTS
THAT, YES, YOU CAN SUPPRESS
INFECTION RATES IF YOU SHUT DOWN
THE ENTIRE SOCIETY, BUT
PROBABLY, BECAUSE IT’S NOW SO
WIDESPREAD, IT’S GOING TO COME
BACK AGAIN.
BACK AGAIN. SO ARE WE GOING TO HAVE THIS
INTERMITTENTLY UNTIL WE FIND --
NO ONE CAN GET THEIR HEAD AROUND
WHAT THAT MEANS OR IF, AT SOME
POINT, YOU HAVE TO TOLERATE, YOU
KNOW, MORE CASUALTIES FROM THE
VIRUS TO PREVENT THE --
>> CHARLES, IN THE UNITED
STATES, IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT’S
BEEN HAPPENING WITH WALL STREET,
IT SEEMS EVERY MASSIVE DECLINE
IS FOLLOWED THE NEXT DAY BY AT
LEAST A TEMPORARY SPIKE UP.
PEOPLE OBVIOUSLY HAVE BEEN
TRYING TO TIME THE BOTTOM OF
THIS MARKET, AND IT HAS JUST
CRASHED FROM 29,000, 26,000 TO
23,000 AND NOW OBVIOUSLY AT
19,000.
19,000. ARE YOU GETTING A SENSE THAT THE
PEOPLE YOU TALK TO BELIEVE THAT
WE’RE ABOUT TO SETTLE ON THE
BOTTOM OF THIS MARKET OR DO THEY
BELIEVE THERE’S STILL A LONG WAY
TO GO?
TO GO? >> NO, I DON’T GET THE SENSE
THAT PEOPLE BELIEVE WE’RE --
THAT WE CAN KNOW WE’RE AT A
SETTLING POINT.
SETTLING POINT. THERE HAVE BEEN DOWN DAYS AND UP
DAYS.
DAYS. THE DOWN DAYS HAVE GREATLY
OUTNUMBERED THE UP DAYS.
THE VOLATILITY ON THE DOWN SIDE
AND ON THE UP SIDE MAKES TRADERS
AND INVESTORS WORRY.
IT GIVES YOU A SENSE WHAT YOU
THOUGHT THE RISK LEVEL THAT YOU
THOUGHT YOU HAD IN YOUR
PORTFOLIO, YOU THOUGHT THE STOCK
OR THE BOND THAT YOU HELD WOULD
MOVE X PERCENT AND YOU SEE IT
MOVING MANY MULTIPLES OF THAT,
YOU HAVE TO TAKE RISK OFF.
YOU HAVE TO INVEST IN LESS RISKY
STUFF.
STUFF. THAT’S WHY WE SEE THIS FLIGHT TO
CASH.
CASH. SO IN A SENSE, THE SELLING --
STOCKS ARE DOWN BECAUSE PEOPLE
ARE SELLING AND PEOPLE ARE
SELLING BECAUSE STOCKS ARE DOWN.
THERE’S A CYCLE HERE.
NOBODY KNOWS WHEN IT’S GOING TO
BREAK.
BREAK. >> "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL’S"