Black Friday is known for big markdowns, but not like these. Stocks, commodities, and bond yields plunged on Friday after news of a new coronavirus variant from South Africa, which was feared to set off the next wave of the pandemic. The question for investors is whether these moves say more about the state of the markets than the potential impact of the variant itself.
As usual, markets were thin on the day after Thanksgiving, with the most important people off for an extended holiday, leaving us plebes to hold the forts….