02-28-2020, 12:17 PM
Quote:Only a week ago market pundits were still telling investors to fade the panic from the COVID-19 outbreak. But Tracy Chen didn’t share in the optimism. The fund manager for Brandywine Global said an array of “alternative” datasets which offered frequent updates of how swiftly Chinese workers were returning to the factory floor painted a more dire picture of the world’s second largest economy. Based on such sources, hopes for China to see a V-shaped recovery — a sharp rebound of economic growth after a first-quarter slowdown — are going to be dashed, said market participants.
“One third are still getting back, one third is getting quarantined, and another third is at home because there’s no demand,” said Chen. Investors have employed high-frequency data like traffic congestion and coal consumption that isn’t offered by government statistics agencies to get a pulse on China’s economy, as official data releases can take longer to be published. How investors are using ‘alternative’ data to track China’s recovery from coronaviru - MarketWatch