When you forget you have an Uncle named Sam
Hey Snackers,
French restaurants are giving away free cheese, pâté, and other delicacies that will eventually spoil, as businesses shut for France's nationwide lockdown. The EU closed its borders, and Canada is banning entry to all non-citizens, except for Americans.
Stocks rallied on word the White House is proposing a $1T stimulus package — the Dow jumped over 1K points from its brutal Monday drop. More stimulating news below.
The trifecta is nearly complete... to fight COVID-19 and all its very real, negative fallouts. The Fed came in hard with the monetary policy, state/local governments are going big on public health policy, and now the White House might come through with a big fiscal policy boon — a $1T stimulus plan. The goal = Get cash into Americans' pockets when many really need it.
You probably want to hear more about the checks... The direct payments will be means-tested to make sure they don't advantage wealthier citizens. They don't include tax cut savings (also on the table). Treasury Secretary Mnuchin says the gov hopes to send the first batch out by the end of April. Also, the proposal still needs to pass Congress.
'Flattening the virus curve' means hurting the economy... More states/cities are shutting down businesses and forcing people to stay home (aka, spend less money) — then add in the social distancing. All these spread-stopping steps are crucial to avoiding an even greater crisis – but the economy is still suffering right now. That's why it's up to government and business leaders to help it survive until the crisis passes — hopefully this stimulus can help.
Hands off the rolls... In this coronavirus-buying panic, we've focused plenty on sanitizing products like Clorox (now being held safely behind the CVS sales counter along with pricey whiskey and cigarettes). While hand sanitizer sales have surged 470%, the surprise star of panic-buying is... toilet paper. From convenience stores to grocery aisles, not a roll in sight.
TP-makers are asking whyyy?... Drugs stores and groceries aren't shutting down. Toilet paper will always continue to be produced/shipped. Many TP-creating mills were already operating 24/7 before the pandemic — their capacity is fixed at "max." Producing TP is pretty easy, but it takes time to get it shipped to warehouses/retailers and then onto shelves.
A surge in demand isn't necessarily good... The TP-pocalypse may raise sales in the short-term, but:
Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Amazon and Disney
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