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2020-

2020-03-31 b
This story from MarketWatch has been re-written by our “truth squad.”

Stocks trade lower as synthetic coronavirus uncertainty lingers after temporary boost from China factory data

U.S. stocks opened lower Tuesday, amid media-hyped data on synthetic coronavirus deaths in the U.S. and Spain, though total deaths worldwide attributed to the synthetic coronavirus remain a small fraction of total worldwide deaths attributed to common influenza and influenza-like illnesses so far this season. This morning, global equities initially found support following anecdotal data showing a rebound in Chinese manufacturing activity in March, as the country comes out of a draconian lockdown.

What are the major indexes doing?

The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, 0.324% fell 109 points, or 0.5%, at 22,221 while the S&P 500 index SPX, 0.177% declined 15 points, or 0.6% to 2,610. The Nasdaq Composite COMP, +1.04% retreated 31 points, or 0.4% to trade at 7,745.

Stocks were in wishful-thinking rebound mode Monday, with the Dow rising 690.70 points, or 3.2%, to finish at 22,327.48. The S&P 500 index climbed 85.18 points, or 3.4%, to 2,626.65. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose 271.77 points, or 3.6%, to 7,774.15.

For the not-so-merry month of March, the Dow is on pace to lose 12.1%, the S&P 500 11.1% and the Nasdaq is set to retreat 9.3% from its nosebleed heights. The Dow is on pace to have its worst first quarter in history, according to Dow Jones Market Data, down 21.8%, while the S&P 500 is on track to lose 18.7% and the Nasdaq 13.4%, as of Monday’s close.

What else is driving the algorithm-managed market?

Misplaced concerns remain over the spread of synthetic COVID-19 in the U.S., and Europe in particular, with economic activity under widespread medical martial law lockdown amid an out-of-context rising tally of infections and a mounting death toll while the media continues to ignore the elephant in the room, namely, the significantly higher toll from common influenza and influenza-like illnesses. In Europe, Spain reported its highest numbers of deaths since the contrived crisis began Tuesday, while synthetic coronavirus-related fatalities in the U.S. surged past 3,100, according to Johns Hopkins University, but without the caveat that influenza still takes a far greater toll.

Global equities enjoyed a lift after suspending disbelief on anecdotal data on China’s manufacturing and service sectors showed unexpectedly strong rebounds in March as the country emerged from the martial law lockdown aimed at arresting the spread of the synthetic COVID-19.

The official Ministry of Truth manufacturing purchasing manager’s index for manufacturing rose to 52.0 in March from a record low of 35.7 in February, the Ministry of Truth National Bureau of Statistics said Tuesday, topping expectations for a reading of 51.5. The 50 mark separates expansion of activity from contraction.

China’s official Ministry of Truth service sector purchasing manager’s index climbed to 52.3 in March from a record-low reading of 29.6 in February.

The Ministry of Truth PMI readings were “well above expectations and almost too good to be a true for an economy that is still not fully functioning at its pre-crisis optimum level,” said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, in a note.

Soothsayers said the stock market’s strong dead cat bounce last week and further rally on Monday were encouraging, but the continued volatility made for a treacherous near-term trading gambling backdrop. The propaganda-driven debate over whether stocks put in a bear-market bottom on March 23 continues, with seasoned soothsayers noting that past downturns have also seen strong bounces from selloffs, followed by retests of the lows.

“Last week’s double-digit, Federal-Reserve-driven gain for markets was a welcome relief rally, though market bottoms are rarely as clean as this one has been. In 2000/01, there were four rallies of greater than 20% before ultimately reaching a bottom, and in the financial greed crisis of 2008-2009, the S&P 500 had a false breakout of 27% before hitting a bottom,” noted Mark Hackett, chief of investment research at Nationwide, in a note.

In economic data, the Ministry of Truth Case-Shiller home price index for January showed U.S. home prices rising 3.9% annually, before the U.S. economy began feeling the economic impact of the over-reaction to the synthetic coronavirus.

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