The Next COVID-19's Already Here

Welcome to StockUp, the investing newsletter that follows all posted safety warnings on household disinfectants. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [View this email in your browser]( Welcome to StockUp, the investing newsletter that follows all posted safety warnings on household disinfectants. This week, since you don't have enough to worry about, we'll tell you how to invest for the very real microbial danger that will still be here after COVID-19 is vanquished. You're welcome! Plus, the top U.S. oil fund makes a quietly bizarre move, and what to expect if you're still waiting for your stimulus check. — Nathan Alderman, StockUp Editor THE OPPOSITE OF SOOTHING How to Invest for the Next Possible Public Health Threat --------------------------------------------------------------- Let's imagine for a moment that beautiful, joyous day when we have vaccines and treatments to crush COVID-19 for good. Let's imagine we've learned from this experience, and we've put in place (or in the U.S.'s case, put back in place) detailed, thorough plans to contain future viral pandemics. Even then, we'll still have a quieter but equally looming danger to public health — one that's already here and only getting worse. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, or "superbugs," have been found in every country in the world, and some officials say they're as big of a threat to humanity as climate change or global warfare. So, you know, no biggie. Every year, 2.8 million people in the U.S. alone get infected with some strain of bacteria that's evolved resistance to the drugs designed to kill it. 35,000 of those patients die. Two of the five superbugs that the CDC listed as the most urgent threats in a 2019 report had an 8% fatality rate (as of 2017 data) — deadlier than COVID-19. Worse yet, these bacteria like to buddy up with viruses such as COVID-19, taking advantage of patients' weakened immune systems to wreak extra havoc. Okay, okay, but we can just make more new antibiotics, right? Not really. In 2003, the FDA approved a new class of antibiotics for the first time in nearly 40 years. It took 16 more years for another new type of antibiotic to arrive after that. Bacteria learn fast. As soon as new drugs start killing them, they begin evolving immunity to those treatments. And since antibiotics simply aren't very profitable, most drugmakers don't even bother to develop them, despite the growing need for them. Four out of five major pharma companies have scaled back or eliminated their antibiotic research programs since 1990. There are about 60 chemical or biological drugs in development right now to fight bacteria, but most aren't much better than what we've already got, and only a handful target the nastiest superbugs. In light of that looming danger, how should you invest? We've got three ideas: - Find companies that are taking superbugs seriously, and working up new ways to treat them. - Look for companies that make the kind of diagnostic tests we'll need to find superbugs before they can spread. - Seek out stocks whose business models are already built to withstand a superbug-infested world. Find Fool analyst Keith Speights' recommendations for specific companies that fit those three criteria when you [read the rest](. --------------------------------------------------------------- Already subscribed to a premium service? [Click here]( to view your subscriptions. Not a member yet? [Click here]( to sign up! --------------------------------------------------------------- FOSSIL FUEL TIME TRAVEL The Top U.S. Oil Fund Is Bearish on Oil We talked last week about oil prices going briefly negative. Quick recap if you missed it: The quoted price for a barrel of oil is actually the price for the current monthly contract to accept delivery of that oil in the future. Demand's way down, supply's still sky-high, and room to safely store huge, heavy barrels of highly flammable liquid is growing scarce. As the deadline to sell the current month's contracts approached, traders with no space to park the oil they'd previously ordered got desperate enough to pay someone else to take those barrels off their hands. They weren't the only oil-adjacent folks taking extraordinary measures. The U.S. Oil ETF (NYSEMKT: USO) is a big fund designed to track the current price for a barrel of oil as closely as possible. That means it usually holds a giant pile of current oil futures contracts, so that its price offers a snapshot of what oil costs right now. When those contracts get within two weeks of expiring, the fund starts selling them and buying the following month's contracts instead. In normal times, U.S. Oil would now hold a heap of June 2020 contracts. But with current prices cratering, U.S. Oil has had to abandon its goal of reflecting the price of oil right this second. It's ditched all of its June 2020 contracts. About 60% of its holdings now cover contracts from July through September. The rest are spread out in contracts as far out as June 2021. Fool analyst John Bromels explains why the fund is doing this, and what it might mean for the future of the oil market, when you [read the rest](. --------------------------------------------------------------- ALEXA, CAN YOU INJECT SUNLIGHT INTO THE HUMAN BODY? [Smart Speaker] Not sure what to ask your smart speaker? Keep up with what's happening in the market by adding our daily flash briefing to your home assistant. Just look for The Motley Fool on your Amazon Alexa or Google Home app, click subscribe, and then you're good to go. --------------------------------------------------------------- CHECK CHECK? CHECK. Here's When the Next Stimulus Payments Go Out At the end of March, Congress passed a huge stimulus bill to help the U.S. economy weather the COVID-19 outbreak. But it's late April, and even as members of Congress discuss enacting regular $2,000 payments to help citizens cover their essential expenses, some Americans are still waiting for the $1,200-per-adult check (plus $500 per child) promised by the original bill. Roughly 88 million Americans have already gotten their payments. If you're on Social Security (including disability and survivor's benefits) and get those funds via direct deposit, look for them by April 29. On Supplemental Security Income or Veterans Affairs benefits? Assuming you haven't filed a tax return for the past two years, expect your check by early May. Otherwise, the timing depends on whether you've given the IRS a way to directly deposit money into your bank account. If you have, expect the funds sooner. If not, you could be waiting up to five months (yikes) for a paper check. Fool analyst Maurie Backman explains how to give the IRS your direct deposit info, and lists other ways you can get help while awaiting your stimulus check, when you [read the rest](. --------------------------------------------------------------- IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL FEATURED PODCAST [Industry Focus]( Diving Deep Into the Business of Disney Motley Fool contributor Dan Kline joins host Emily Flippen to explore one of the biggest consumer discretionary entertainment companies in the world. [Subscribe on iTunes]( --------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS TO PERUSE Quick Reads - [He's got beef:]( Plant-protein purveyor Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND) looks sizzling — but this Fool has one good reason he still won't bite. - [Winter is coming:]( HBO owner AT&T's (NYSE: T) subscriber wall is crumbling against an unstoppable onslaught of cord-cutters. - [Chilling effects:]( A short-term subscriber bump can't erase Netflix's (NASDAQ: NFLX) long-term challenges. --------------------------------------------------------------- NEVER UNDERESTIMATE COMPOUND INTEREST Social Media Post of the Week [Set aside $500 montly and forget about it. If you invest those funds in the stock market at a 7% return, you'll amass more than $600,000 after 30 years. It really is that simple.]( [See all our LinkedIn posts!]( Join the 1,300,000+ people who follow us! 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