Are Things Really this Bad?

What’s in Today’s Report:

• Bottom Line: Are Things Really this Bad?
• The Oil Price War Explained

U.S. equity index futures up well over 4% in early trade this morning as investors bet on government stimulus efforts to ease the negative impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

President Trump and VP Pence announced “very dramatic actions to support the economy” in a press conference late on Tuesday which triggered broad risk-on money flows.

Economically, Q4 Eurozone GDP was 1.0% vs. (E) 0.9%, and the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index was 104.5 vs. (E) 103.7 in February; both are helping investor sentiment today.

Looking into today’s session, there are no economic reports and no Fed speakers however price action is expected to remain volatile amid the uncertainties related to the coronavirus outbreak.

Any positive news regarding U.S. government stimulus measures could help sustain this pre-market rebound in stocks while, if the accommodating measures are underwhelming or there is any incrementally negative news regarding the outbreak statistics, it could rekindle fear among investors and see stocks pullback towards yesterday’s trading range.