But...but...how does the end of the world affect me?
From MoneyBeat:
Uncertainty has always been an enemy of a rising stock market. And the uncertain outcome of the Ebola pandemic seems to be exacting a toll on Wall Street in recent weeks.No Jim, Ebola is not the biggest worry in the markets right now.
Market volatility has surged over the past few weeks, with stocks suffering their worst pullback of the year. The S&P 500 fell 6.8% from mid-September through Monday’s close, a drop that coincided with increased fear and trepidation surrounding the spread of Ebola.
Slowing global growth, geopolitical turmoil in the Ukraine and Middle East and the end of Federal Reserve stimulus are the most commonly cited catalysts for the market’s pullback. But these are the same catalysts that investors have been worried about for months.
The wild card in the weekslong selloff: Ebola. It’s something traders and investors can’t wrap their heads around. And its impact on economies and earnings is a big unknown.
“This is, by definition, a situation with an unquantifiable outcome and that it would create market uncertainty should hardly be surprising,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief strategist at New York brokerage firm BTIG. “Rational markets, these are not.”
Airline stocks have been pummeled on Ebola concerns, although they bounced back on Tuesday. Small biotech stocks that make Ebola treatments have swung wildly as the Ebola outbreak has spread. But broadly speaking, it’s still nearly impossible to quantify how much Ebola has impacted the overall market....MORE
CNBC’s Jim Cramer said Ebola is the biggest worry in the markets right now and that there is “an overall feeling that something lurks out there we don’t know about.”
