From Equity Research
During February our disease vocabulary unfortunately expanded beyond coronavirus to the even more scary sounding COVID-19 as the epidemic moved from China to virtually all corners of the planet. With the spreading virus came concerns around health, supply chains, energy, and global GDP as both the total number of cases and deaths rapidly increased. Not surprisingly, equity markets shuddered from the onslaught with fear spiking and stock markets slumping. The VIX Index or ‘fear gauge’ which started the month at about 18 reached levels not seen since the financial crisis hitting 40 by the end of February. For the full month of February, all three major equity indexes declined with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 10.07%, the S&P 500® index down 8.41%, and the smaller cap weighted Russell 2000® down 8.53%.