April 2, 2020

Dear Clients,

As I pen this quarterly letter, I must say, I never thought in my wildest dreams we would be in the current situation we find ourselves in. The world is suffering tremendously as a result of this terrible Covid-19 pandemic. Every day we hear of so much death, destruction, job loss and economic contraction. Social distancing; shelter in place; bending the curve; all terms that never existed just a few short months ago and now they are common phrases. 

Last weekend, the kids and I went over to my parents’ house to say hi. We sat together in their garage, 6 feet apart from each other on lounge chairs since my parents would not allow us in the house. Luckily, no one had to go to the bathroom because I don’t know what we would have done. I had to pinch myself numerous times to remind myself I wasn’t in a dream. 

The month of March ended the worst month and the worst first quarter ever for the markets in recorded history. As a result, I wanted to warn you that your 1^st quarter and March statements are not going to look pretty. We took 12 years to climb up Mount Everest and 3 weeks to slide down it. Now, the question is do we slide further down to sea level or do we start climbing the next highest mountain? Unfortunately, nobody knows and only time will tell.

With all the negative news bombarding us minute by minute and hour by hour I thought it would be a good time to remind everyone of some positive things that are happening in the world.  By forcing everyone to stay home, most families are bonding in ways they have never done before. Kids are spending more time with their working parents and home cooked meals have become the norm. With sheltering in place now extended through the end of this month, the amount of pollution being produced has decreased significantly. Communities and neighborhoods are rallying together to try and keep life as normal as possible. Our community put Christmas lights back up on our houses to spread cheer. Other communities have put bears or rainbows in their windows to provide entertainment for kids taking walks around the neighborhood. 

I have faith in technology and the human spirit of innovation. Every pharmaceutical and biotechnology company in the world is working on coming up with a therapeutic or vaccine and I believe it’s only a matter of time before a cure is found. When this happens, life will slowly go back to normal and our strong economy should recover. We just must be patient because things may get worse before they can get better.

Thank you,

Craig Rosenblatt, CPA

Financial Advisor

California Insurance License #0E18620