Yes, the coronavirus is indeed doing a number on the markets, not to mention the economy. But, remember, we were cautious long before the virus outbreak.
Q4 earnings season (all pre-virus) is essentially over, and the results resoundingly confirmed what we’d been seeing — and reporting — in the data for months leading in.
Here’s our proprietary macro index; the second half of ’19-on boxed in red: click to enlarge…
And, as the above implied, sales and earnings growth among the most economically-sensitive sectors (save for tech) contracted markedly during the 4th quarter of last year:
click to enlarge…