Thursday March 12 - DOWn DOWn, Prices are DOWn, page-17

I'm loading up. The maximum fear factor is in. Triple whammy this week. Even if things get worse from here, it will be expected. Bargain shoppers will move in next week, probably. All this fear and spending is for nothing. This coronavirus will pitter out in the northern hemisphere very soon, just like sars did. Look at Singapore - very few cases there and no deaths. Yet, Singapore is the most densely populated place on the planet and it is a major international travel hub too? Answer: because it is warm there and this virus needs water droplets to survive and transmit. When the temperature is above 20degC the water droplets in your breath evaporate almost immediately after leaving your mouth killing the virus. So when the summer arrives in the northern hemisphere the virus will completely die out there. In the southern hemisphere, the impact will be minimal, if anything. If we do get significant cases in Australia, it wont matter because our market follows the US market, which will cheer when the virus numbers go down and travel reopens with China. Very little is being reported on this virus in India, Africa, Indonesia. Why? - same reason - warm climates. Besides that, I would estimate that 99.9% of transmissions is from eating contaminated food prepared by infected persons in humid kitchens, and not caused by the air breathed in. Its a coronavirus which are primarily gut bugs transmitted via feces. That's why cruse ships, food crazy cities (like Wuhan), religious groups, etc. can become super spreader places. Cook gets infected, no wash hands, breaths on food, etc. and infects 10,000s people. Crazy that the experts can't figure that out!