A U.S. outbreak is increasingly likely.
“We could have spread here in the United States and not be detecting it at this point,” said former U.S. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said, as quoted by CNBC.
“We don’t have a diagnostic test that works right now,” he added. “South Korea’s tested about 35,000 people to find their 900 cases. We’ve tested, cumulatively, about 500 people; our diagnostic capability probably isn’t more than maybe 50 to 100 tests a day at best because all the tests need to be shipped to the CDC right now.”
Analysts at Jefferies Warn a U.S. Outbreak is Likely
“We increasingly find it hard to believe that USA cases are as low as reported, and believe that given the flow of Chinese, Korean and Iranian nationals into North America, a large USA community-based outbreak is increasingly likely,” said the firm.
Even Dr. Nancy Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases has noted, “We’re not seeing community spread here in the United States, yet, but it’s very possible, even likely, that it may eventually happen. Our goal continues to be slowing the introduction of the virus into the U.S. This buys us more time to prepare communities for more cases and possibly sustained spread.”
With fear in the markets only mounting, some investors have turned to volatility trades:
ProShares Ultra VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (UVXY)
The ETF was designed to match two times (2x) the daily performance of the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index.
VelocityShares Daily 2x VIX Short-Term ETN (TVIX)
This ETF tracks an index of futures contracts on the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index.
iPath S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures (VXX)
The VXX ETN provides exposure to the S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures Index Total Return. As volatility shoots higher, so does the VXX.
