Taking Stock of School Influence on the COVID Economy

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Excerpt: 

One driver of equity price moves has to do with schools and how students are learning, whether in person or online, writes Barry L. Star, CEO and founder of Wall Street Horizon. Online schooling also impacts corporations, because they cannot effectively bring workers back to the office when kids are relegated to at-home learning. This in turn affects consumer spending and creates winners and losers, he explains.

Most schools across the nation switched from traditional in-person learning to virtual classes to stem the spread of COVID-19. Corporate America is forced to delay the return to the office due to kids learning at home. There is hope that the spring semester could feature a gradual transition back to traditional learning for kids and a return to the office for parents. For the financial markets, the “COVID-Trade” has been in place since February as online retail stocks and ‘stay-at-home’ plays have soared. There could be an unwind of that investing theme should more positive vaccine news come about through year end. Risks lie in the time until a vaccine, however. Finally, a short run burst of economic activity is likely to occur in 2021 due to pent-up demand.