I think part of it might be, where else can you put your money? 1/3 of people in the U.S. didn't pay rent this month? Hmm, maybe I should put my money elsewhere. Well, the rest of the world is going through the same shit. The few places that seem to be taking the right steps, well, it's a global economy, and the second wave could always take those places out too. Every time this shit goes down I think to myself "wish I had a tank farm" 'cause they're runnin' out of places to put petrol products. I can't miracle my liquidated portfolio into a bigass steel tank though. HOA would have my ass...
If it becomes clear that the U.S. is willing to just inflate the shit out of the money supply to give people months and months of living expenses, then U.S. company stock is what you want to be holding, not dollars.
Or maybe this is just happening so close to the 2009 recession that the only money still in the market is us "don't time the market" folks.
I have a theory that the crash isn't happening because most of the stock is held by old people who are quarantined and can't visit their broker to panic sell (the joke being old people can't use a computer), old people who are dead already and with probate courts being closed their estates can't liquidate, or old people on life support with no vehicle set up for a power of attorney to mess with their finances.
Doctors are all busy doctoring. Lawyers are all busy trying to get their tenants to pay rent. Accountants won't emerge form their January-April tax season bubble to realize there's a crisis going on until Thursday. Engineers are just working from home/going about their usual business (because social distancing is a life goal for any decent engineer). Architects spent all their money on glasses and skinny jeans.
Every rich person with a few billion shares is busy fashioning facemasks out of fund prospectuses. Prospectii? Prospectives?
In all seriousness though, I hope you all stay safe, healthy, and navigate this thing without too much heartache or hardship. I'm riding out this particular apocalypse in South Korea, which was surprisingly fortuitous. Who knew?