Markets: Coronavirus boosts contrarians

Recent years have been challenging for market doomsayers, with big equity markets steadily rising and volatility dampened across asset classes. The spread of the coronavirus and understandable fear of its impact has given a boost to professional controversialists.

Covid19_shutterstock-600x150

It didn’t take long for Nouriel Roubini, the economist known as Dr Doom, to warn that the stock market selloff in late February was a signal of much worse to come, as he ranked the coronavirus among the “white swans” of 2020, meaning causes for financial crises that are predictable.

This approach does not always take into account the policy reactions to serious problems, which complicates the real-world task of hedging and positioning for the impact of an epidemic.

Thanks for your interest in Euromoney!
To unlock this article: