A very strange Asia-Pac session, with the....>

STOCKS: A very strange Asia-Pac session, with the initial lead being provided by

the worst session on Wall St. since 1987 (% losses). There has been an article

passed around which notes "A Canadian company has claimed it's found the cure

for the deadly coronavirus. Medicago, a biopharmaceutical company in Quebec City

funded by the Pentagon, said that it has produced a COVID-19 vaccine just 20

days after receiving the coronavirus' genetic sequence, using a unique

technology that they soon hope to submit for FDA approval. The company's CEO,

Bruce Clark, said his company could produce as many as 10 million doses a month.

If regulatory hurdles can be cleared, Mr Clark said on Thursday, the vaccine

could become available as soon as November." I'm not sure that drives moves of

the magnitude that we have seen, or even how credible it is. Thin markets &

de-leveraging into the weekend also touted. It is probably a mix of the above,

with the potential for asset allocation flows also mixed in. Some of the moves

are that large that they are hard to justify. Aussie stocks drove the bounce,

reversing early losses of ~8.0%. U.S. equity index futures also surged.

- Nikkei 225 -3.2%, Hang Seng -1.6%, CSI 300 -1.9%, ASX 200 +4.4%.