Coronavirus and then the markets went bang

[Risk Insights Feb 2020]( [Mail & Guardian Newsletter logo](#) [mg.co.za]( [Divider Strip] Your Daily Briefing [Divider Strip] March 09 2020 | [View in browser]( [Divider Strip] [Facebook icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Instagram icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( Hi there, First let's get the numbers out of the way. The number of novel coronavirus cases globally stood at 109,946, including 3,819 deaths, across 99 countries and territories by 0900 GMT Monday. Since 1700 GMT on Sunday, 914 new cases and 27 new deaths had been reported. In South Africa, there are three confirmed cases and efforts are underway to contain the potential spread through previous contact with these cases. We've put together [a live blog]( you to keep up with the latest news. So, where does this leave us then? We started Monday morning at the Mail & Guardian with news that a conference on narrative journalism in Boston had been cancelled. It's the latest in a slew of conferences and public events that have been cancelled around the world in recent weeks. While we hold the line to cancel airline reservations, and hope our travel insurance takes kindly to this development, we also learned that equity markets around the world have collapsed. [The rand nearly nearly broached the R17/$]( mark overnight and South African shares plummeted this morning as trading floors became scenes of mayhem. The crash which some analysts have likened to bearing some resemblance to conditions that precipitated the 2008 financial crisis, appears to have been spurred by fears that the spread of the virus will derail the global economy. So what are the markets actually doing? As the virus claims more lives around the world, market analysts say dealers are shedding riskier assets for safe havens, sending gold and the yen surging and pushing US Treasury yields to record lows. While governments and central banks have prepared stimulus measures, the spread of COVID-19 is putting a huge strain on economies. The concerns of a worldwide recession are now not altogether misplaced. And it's not coronavirus alone. Saudi Arabia launched an all-out oil war on Sunday with the biggest cut in its prices in the past 20 years. So on top of everything else we've also got a 30% crash in the oil price overnight. The Saudi decision is in retaliation against Russia's refusal to join Opec in a large production cut. So tit for tat, and the markets go bang. Meanwhile what's being read on the Mail & Guardian today [Aisha Bahadur is arguing]( that the R18-billion Eskom is demanding from Soweto residents for their non-payment for electricity services should be deemed a subsidy, an external cost that the government must bear for inadequate service delivery. And then a break from the news, [Zaza Hlalethwa visited an "anti-ageing" restaurant]( Greenside, Johannesburg. There, she spoke with the restauranteur Abdullah Miya who described Clenergy as a "restaurant that is governed by the desire to serve their consumers food that they believe is 'basically guilt free' by making sure it has no refined sugar, no wheat and very few carbs". Thank you for being part of the M&G community! Your commitment to us means that we can pursue a story without fear, hold the powerful to account and ask the difficult questions that need to be asked. [So, please do, subscribe.]( Yours faithfully Khadija Patel [Divider Strip] [Facebook icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Instagram icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( You are receiving this email on {EMAIL} because 1.) You're a member of "Mail & Guardian" or 2.) previously subscribed [M&G logo] 25 Owl St, Braamfontein Werf, Johannesburg, 2092 Want to be removed? No problem! [UNSUBSCRIBE]( Email support: help@media-connect.co.za - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -