Juggling Dynamite

Evidently masks can help contain the virus spread, and making our own means we are not taking supplies from front line workers.

According to CDC and World Health Organization guidelines, only the sick, and their caretakers, should wear face masks. Here’s why University of San Francisco research scientist Jeremy Howard thinks otherwise. Here is a direct video link.

And this one is good on making masks from vacuum bags.

A doctor explains how to make the safest face mask. This is a safe face mask that if built properly should be donated to your local emergency services. It utilizes a HEPA filter, which is much, much better than a cotton mask.Here is a direct video link.

And lastly, this one makes them from paper towels and paper around the house. Here is a direct video link.

Michael Osterholm appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast on March 11 which I posted here. At that point, reported COVID-19 infections worldwide were 121,000 compared with 838,061 today as per the latest John Hopkins update here.  In this new discussion, Dr. Osterholm updates on the latest developments in our global pandemic.

In this episode, Michael Osterholm, Ph.D. Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and author of Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs, provides an overview on the COVID-19 pandemic in regards to what has happened to date, what we’ve learned about how the disease spreads, and his optimism and pessimism about what potentially lies ahead. Michael gives his take on the true case fatality rate, why it differs around the world, and which underlying conditions, such as obesity, impact risk of severe illness and death. We also discuss the outlook regarding vaccines, repurposed drugs/antivirals for treatment, and Michael’s growing concern about supply chain limitations with respect to drugs, vaccines, n95 masks, and testing kits.

Here is a direct audio link.

There are many teachable moments in the present financial distress.  For one, it should be noted that long-always funds and managers did not stop accepting new client money nor piling it into recklessly priced assets in the last few years, but now that prices have begun plummeting they are decrying ‘irrational markets’ and, where possible, freezing redemptions to “protect” their fees “all of the Fund’s investors”.  Classic!

See WSJ Credit Hedge Fund suspends redemptions in time of market stress:

Hedge fund EJF Capital LLC told clients it was suspending redemptions from one of its funds for the foreseeable future because it didn’t want to be a forced seller in what it called “dysfunctional” credit markets.

The $7 billion EJF, founded by Emanuel “Manny” Friedman, told clients in a letter Friday it was preventing investors from withdrawing their money from its Debt Opportunities Fund. That fund managed $2.5 billion at the end of February. While the fund received redemption requests totaling only 6% of its assets under management for March 31, the letter said, it wanted to “protect all of the Fund’s investors by not selling assets into a nonfunctioning market.”

The fund will reassess the suspension quarterly, the letter said, adding it was unlikely to be lifted in time for June redemptions because of the advance notice clients are required to give.

…Several investors said they were bracing for additional managers in structured credit to make moves limiting clients’ ability to get back their own cash. One fund executive described the dynamic as a “death spiral” where margin calls were causing forced selling, which in turn was causing additional margin calls and more forced sales.