Traders Make a 180

Black Friday not only had below-average shopper turnouts, it also saw the most significant one-day drops of the year for the stock market.

The major indexes tumbled over 2% after scientists in South Africa identified a new covid-19 variant. The initial fear is that it could be more contagious and resistant to current vaccines.

On Friday, the Wall Street Journal said on the front page, "investors feared the strain could set back months of efforts to revive the world economy and save lives."

What is the Wall Street Journal saying now? "Oil prices and US stock futures gained, recouping some losses from Friday's selloff, with investors betting that the impact of the Omnicon Covid variant will be less profound than initially feared."

This is a classic case of "sell first, think later."

We must accept that Covid is going to be with us for a long time, just like the flu. No one even questions getting the flu shot. Getting the flu is not pleasant, but it doesn't crash the market.

In the long run, scary headlines and knee-jerk reactions to more pandemic news will be a blip on the radar.