The mood in China is becoming more positive. The economy is gradually being revived. Even Wuhan, by now probably the gateway to the Silk Road and a city of over a million inhabitants, is open again. The economic upswing in China can be seen in the purchasing managers' index for the manufacturing industry. In February, the index fell sharply, but now it is rising again. The same applies to the indicator regarding the service sector.

Just now, when many want to buy gold bars, three of the most important producers of gold bars in the Canton of Ticino have had to close down - because of Corona. 30 to 50 percent of all newly cast gold bars come from Switzerland. There is a shortage of gold bars, even of otherwise not so popular historical gold bars with such common weights, as well as coins.

In the first crash sales of the Corona crisis gold held up well and the price of silver fell. The gold-silver price ratio rose to over 120. It's never been this high before. At the end of 2019, it was still at around 90 and thus far from the previous all-time high of a good 100 from the early 1990s. The long-term average - since the 1970s - is around 60.

Gold has impressively returned as the crisis metal in the Corona crisis. Surprisingly, this is shown by the fall in the price of gold in the course of the sell-off on the stock markets. This is because gold had already been at a higher level before and even in the days of the crisis it lost comparatively little. This meant that investors who needed liquidity could fall back on their gold treasures and obtain liquidity through gold sales. This will stick in the minds of investors worldwide and will revalue gold as a depository building block. In any case, gold has little or even negative correlation with other asset classes. This makes gold the natural hedge for moments of crisis.

It doesn't make sense to despair over low stock prices. Escape is not an option. Even if there are expeditions to the lowest point of the world's oceans. In the Mariana Trench, travellers can dive down to a depth of 10,928 metres. A peaceful and relaxed area awaits the stressed out there.

The US Federal Reserve does everything it can to counteract a recession, for example by facilitating financing and buying bonds. The FED's efforts are now even more massive than during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, with rescue packages being put together in this country and in the USA. For the situation is serious, but at least for gold anything but hopeless.

The virus could send us a message: Civilization has become too fast, too dense, too hectic, and too damaging to nature. A deceleration has now begun. CO2 emissions are decreasing due to the economic slowdown, because the world is at a standstill. Empty streets and ports, the air is cleaner over China or Italy and dolphins return to the ports, nature thanks. This is how the European Space Agency (ESA) was able to report the decline in air pollution.

Especially in times of low or punitive interest rates, companies that pay dividends and do so as regularly as possible, especially investors, are delighted. Estimates put the dividends paid out last year worldwide at a good 1.4 trillion dollars. Never before has such a large amount of dividends been paid out. The largest dividend payments on the globe come from Royal Dutch Shell.

Buffet sees an opportunity for private investors in particular to invest in shares. They should also not overestimate the situation. There have already been several market collapses in the history of stocks. That the situation is bad is also clear to Buffet. Worldwide progress is being interrupted, but even the pandemic will not stop world progress. So Buffet is involved with airlines and also in the oil market. But he will not sell shares. Moreover, although current demand for oil has changed, long-term demand has not.

The fear of a global recession is spreading. Demand for the cyclical metal copper is currently low. Production stops at major car manufacturers, because they are also among the copper consumers, are causing demand to fall. But before the virus crisis, the reddish metal was in a supply deficit. At the current copper price, production is declining. Workers in several mines have also become infected and production will fall.