From the desk of Steve Strazza @Sstrazza
Lots of charts are being shared showing the exponential growth in trading activity, new accounts, and anything else that might paint a story of euphoria at retail and discount brokerages since the pandemic broke out.
Here is some personal background only to provide context for what I’m about to discuss.
I live on an island. It is tiny, about 4 square miles. In fact, I live on an obscure island just above Key West which is technically much smaller than that. As a “Census Designated Place” it’s really just a collection of roads and canals, a village of about 4,400 people.
It’s nice, but it comes at the cost of an economy that relies almost entirely on Tourism. The people who live here are more or less fishermen or workers at the many hotels, bars, and restaurants in what’s generally a booming downtown area. Since shutting down our borders months ago, the local unemployment rate has spiked to an estimated 50%.