· Business Insider asked 14 investment strategists and analysts to share one crucial metric, index, or signal they're closely tracking as the novel coronavirus throws markets and economies into disarray.
· Their answers illustrate where experts are looking to gauge when the worst may be over for investors.
· "What matters for the market right now is the cresting of virus cases — not PMI data, not earnings revisions, and certainly not GDP estimates," one chief investment strategist said.
· Visit BI Prime for more investing stories.

The novel coronavirus, with the devastation it's inflicted on economies around the world, has created a chaotic environment for investors that's virtually unparalleled.

In the US, the longest bull market in history ended, only to re-enter one within weeks. Amid those price swings, a widely used measure of expected market volatility shot up to its highest level on record.

The Federal Reserve attempted to stabilize the market with two emergency interest rate cuts in March. That lowered borrowing costs and was designed to stimulate economic activity at a time when officials mandated quarantines, businesses shuttered, and experts forecasted a skyrocketing unemployment rate.

Now, as markets whip around into early April and the investment community expects further deterioration of economic growth, investors are on edge amid a highly uncertain environment. After all, there is no real COVID-19 playbook to consult.

For a window into how strategists are judging the unprecedented macroeconomic environment, Business Insider asked 14 investment strategists and analysts to share one crucial metric, index, or signal they're closely tracking as they assess the ultimate damage the coronavirus will inflict.

For the sake of drawing from a wide range of economic and market gauges, we asked experts to provide a response other than the widely cited US jobless claims, which hit 6.6 million last week, bringing its two-week total to almost 10 million.

Their answers illustrate how they're gauging when the worst may be over for investors. Several told us the number of new coronavirus cases is the most important figure to watch — even more so than any core measure of the US economy.

"The current environment has us paying less attention to economic data and laser-focused on the virus data," Ed Campbell, a portfolio manager and managing director at QMA, told Business Insider.

Their responses come just ahead of corporate earnings season, which will give investors early evidence of how the virus has negatively impacted a wide range of public companies. First-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are expected to decline 7.3%, the largest year-over-year drop since falling 15.7% in the third quarter of 2009, according to FactSet. 

Here are the singular measures more 14 experts told us they're watching now:

-Lisa Emsbo-Mattingly, Fidelity: The Commodity Research Bureau's raw industrials spot price index-

Lisa Emsbo-Mattingly, the director of research for global asset allocation at Fidelity Investments, is keeping a close watch on commodities of all kinds. 

She's carefully monitoring the Commodity Research Bureau's raw industrial price index, which tracks the direction of widely used commodities including copper scrap, lead scrap, steel scrap, cotton, burlap, and rubber, according to Yardeni Research.

The index, constructed in the 1950s, takes a look at the price of commodities harnessed in overall industrial activities. On Friday, the measure was around a four-year low.

Emsbo-Mattingly finds the measure reliable because it's a real-time indicator of global economic activity and the strength of the US dollar.

"When we see the CRB raw industrials begin to move consistently up, we will feel more confident on the outlook for US and global growth," she told Business Insider.

 -David Aurelio, Refinitiv: Semiconductor equipment-

Digital dependency has already exploded in recent years, but the pace has picked up through the pandemic. Consumers are relying heavily on technology for connection as they spread away from peers and their workplaces. 

"At the heart of this expansion are semiconductors," said David Aurelio, the senior equity markets research manager at Refinitiv, referring to the components and circuits found in many of our devices and computers. 

"If semiconductor equipment companies are expected to grow, then expect to see economic expansion to follow," he said.

The S&P 500 semiconductor equipment sub-industry is expected to report a rise in earnings this year of 16.8%, and by nearly 24% next year, Aurelio noted, outpacing the broader market's earnings expectations.

With analysts' expected growth of 5G capabilities, too, the overall health of the semiconductor sector indicates "there is reason to be optimistic about economic expansion," Aurelio told Business Insider. 

The VanEck Vectors Semiconductor ETF has fallen about 22% this year, roughly in line with the S&P 500's decline. 

He's also keeping a close watch on analysts' earnings revisions for companies first-quarter earnings results.-Solita Marcelli, UBS Wealth Management: Areas of the market that may be oversold-

"Throwing the baby out with the bathwater."

The old saying refers to getting rid of something valuable in an unavoidable — yet mistaken — fashion while you were trying to reject something more broadly unfavorable.

There's been a lot of that during the severe market sell-off, said Solita Marcelli, the deputy chief investment officer for the Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management.

She pegged that dynamic — companies of all fundamentals being bought and sold indisriminately, regardless of underlying strength — as one major theme she is closely monitoring to gauge the sell-off's condition. 

"Many stocks that have strong balance sheets and long-term cash generation power have been hit just as much as those that are much weaker," she wrote in a recent note to clients. "This has created an enormous opportunity to own high-quality names that will differentiate themselves once dust settles."

Just consider the median return for names with varying S&P quality rankings from the market's high on February 19 through March 20. They show a brutal sell-off that hasn't spared many.

For instance, stocks with A+, A, and A- rankings have returned roughly -32 to -36% during that time — a showing not much better than names with the far weaker B- and C rankings, which have returned -44% and -31% during the same time, per a UBS and FactSet analysis. -Sam Stovall, CFRA Research: The S&P 500's rolling 15-day average intra-day percentage price change-

One popular way to measure stock price swings is the Cboe Volatility Index, known as the "VIX"— and even better known as the market's "fear gauge." 

The forward-looking index takes S&P options' implied moves and conveys the level of expected volatility over the next 30 days, rather than "realized," or actual volatility. 

As the markets have gone haywire, the VIX spiked just above 80 last month in its highest reading on record, falling in recent weeks to around 50 on Friday.

Still, these figures are elevated; the index stayed below 20 for most of 2019. For a more granular look, the VIX is hardly the only way to look at how wildly stock prices are moving. 

Sam Stovall, the chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, told us he is looking to another measure of equity market swings to gauge "when the worst may be behind us." He watches the rolling 15-day average intra-day percentage price change on the S&P 500. 

We checked in with Stovall on March 30, when US stocks rose on the back of the Trump administration's expanded social-distancing measures.

During that Monday session, his measure was "still on the ascent," so he didn't think the worst was over "just yet." The index's average intra-day change, on a percentage basis, stood at 6%, the largest such mark since the 2007-2009 financial crisis. 

On Friday, April 3, we checked in for an update. 

"My volatility measure has been on the descent" since Friday, March 27, Stovall said, "implying that the worst may be behind us." -Frank Cappelleri, Instinet: The NYSE TICK index-

As a technical analyst, Frank Cappelleri spends a lot of time examining the minutae of markets.

Cappelleri, Instinet's chief market technician, regularly sends clients market snapshots throughout the trading session, detailing key levels to watch on the S&P 500 and providing historical context around the market's moves.

He told Business Insider that lately he's paying attention to one investors might be missing out on: the NYSE TICK index, which measures the difference between stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange moving higher and those moving lower at any point in time.

During periods of relative market calm, the index is generally between -1,000 and +1,000, he noted. For instance, the average TICK range between last October and February 19 — the S&P 500's closing high — the index's average range was 1,700.

Since then, the average has been 2,700, marking a rise of nearly 60%, he noted. As long as that range remains wide, investors can expect conditions to remain stressed. 

By design, the index can highlight a situation that the widely used VIX may not fully be able to show. 

While investors know volatility as measured by the VIX has "exploded," Cappelleri said, it only spikes during severe market sell-offs, while the NYSE TICK index "reveals acute intra-day activity in both directions by displaying outsized movement in both buying and selling surges."-Emily Roland, John Hancock Investment Management: The US dollar's direction-

Through the market's recent chaos, Emily Roland — the co-chief investment strategist of John Hancock Investment Management — told us she's closely watching the US dollar's direction. 

"It will provide important clues to cross-asset class performance," Roland said.

The US dollar index measures the greenback's value against a basket of other currencies, most heavily against the euro. In March, it shot up to the highest point in more than three years as "investors frantically raised cash," Roland pointed out. It's risen by roughly 4% this year. 

The strategist believes the US will emerge from the coronavirus crisis in a more resilient fashion than other economies, and expects the dollar to maintain strength as volatility subsides across currency markets.-Amanda Agati, PNC Financial: Sub-investment grade bonds-

Last month, alongside two emergency interest-rate cuts, the Federal Reserve announced a laundry list of new measures to aid the economy through the economic damage the coronavirus crisis is causing.

Among other programs, the US central bank created credit facilities to support credit going to large employers. One was formed to purchase corporate bonds issued by investment-grade US companies, as well as US-listed ETFs whose purpose is to provide "broad exposure to the market for US investment grade corporate bonds."

But "none of the Fed's tools directly support the below-investment grade fixed-income market," Amanda Agati, the chief investment strategist at PNC Financial, noted to Business Insider.

That's why she's keeping a close watch on how bonds with sub-investment grade ratings, an area which includes high-yield, are faring without that extra injection of support. 

For instance, as Agati noted, more than 10% of the Bloomberg Barclays High Yield index is comprised of names in the energy sector.

The $2 trillion fiscal stimulus package that passed in the US last week did not include language around relief for shale oil producers — a particularly challenged industry with plunging oil prices and slowing global economic growth, she noted.

Agati is also closely watching the Cboe Volatility Index, as well as new cases of COVID-19. Her team believes that number must slow in countries like Italy and US before the market finds a bottom.

"In other words, what matters for the market right now is the cresting of virus cases — not PMI data, not earnings revisions, and certainly not GDP estimates," she said.-Liz Ann Sonders, Charles Schwab: The case curve of COVID-19-

The most important metric for investors to pay attention to is COVID-19's case curve, said Liz Ann Sonders, the chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab.

That's "for every reason, including the health of Americans, the health of our economy, and the health of the stock market," she told Business Insider.

"Until we start seeing a bending of the curve, it's hard to envision a light at the end of the tunnel for either the economy or stocks," she said.

The US has the largest reported virus outbreak, representing more than a fifth of all cases worldwide, Business Insider has reported. 

 -Deepak Puri, Deutsche Bank Wealth Management: Broad US financial market conditions-

A selection of readings reflecting broad US financial market conditions — funding market stress, financial market liquidity, and US corporate credit spreads — are top of mind for Deepak Puri, the chief investment office for the Americas at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management. 

As spreads across the investment-grade and high-yield credit markets have widened to levels not seen since the global financial crisis of 2007-2009, "fixed-income investors have shown a very little appetite for credit risk," Puri told Business Insider. 

"So far, we are encouraged that the 'do whatever it takes' approach by monetary policymakers has helped restore confidence in the credit markets, along with the added liquidity," he added.

 -Tony Roth, Wilmington Trust: Declines in gross domestic product (GDP)-

Tony Roth, the chief investment officer of Wilmington Trust, the investment advisory arm of M&T Bank, is closely watching for declines in US gross domestic product (GDP).

Roth estimates that the precautions states are taking across the US to mitigate COVID-19's spread could lead to a 34.4% annualized rate of decline for the second quarter if the current conditions persisted for three months from early April. 

"That would be by far the worst rate witnessed in US history of GDP data, going back to 1949," he told Business Insider, adding a slow resumption in economic activity during the second half of 2020 would lead to a decline of 2.6% for the year. 

If the entire US were to operate under "stay at home" orders for the next three months, that could lead to a more severe scenario, Roth said, as businesses remain closed and consumers continue curbing spending.

That would lead to a 61% annualized rate of decline for the second quarter and a drop of 8.5% for the year, by his projections. Roth sees markets higher nine months to a year from now.

"Currently, our recommendation to clients is to rebalance, avoid selling if you don't need immediate liquidity, and if you have new cash, average this into the market on a slightly accelerated time frame," he said.-Katie Stockton, Fairlead Strategies: A key technical range on the S&P 500-

Katie Stockton, the founder and managing partner of Fairlead Strategies, an independent research provider with a focus on technical analysis, is laser-focused on key levels for the benchmark S&P 500. 

"As a technical analyst, support and resistance levels are incredibly important as a gauge of risk/reward," she told Business Insider.

Stockton sees the index's risk framed by long-term support around 2,300 to 2,350.

She arrived there after considering a 38.2% Fibonacci retracement level (a term in technical analysis referring to areas of support or resistance), the S&P 500's low in December 2018, and another technical metric called the monthly cloud model. 

"This level is key toward the preservation of the uptrend that began in 2009, in my opinion," she said. 

The dip below that area in March was not a technical breakdown, she said. For that kind of damage, she requires consecutive weekly closes below support, "especially in emotionally-charged environments which are prone to shakeouts," in other words "false breakdowns," Stockton said.-Ed Campbell, QMA: COVID-19 data-

"The current environment has us paying less attention to economic data and laser-focused on the virus data," said Ed Campbell, a portfolio manager and managing director at QMA, the quantitative equities and asset allocation business at PGIM, Prudential's investment management arm. 

With the lockdown measures in place during the coronavirus outbreak, economic data will "cease to have value for markets," so he's watching for the trajectory of new infections to indicate when quarantines will end and economic activity will pick back up.

He believes the path of cases in the US is closely tracking cases in Italy — which has the highest reported death count in the world — with a two-week lag.

"Should Italy's decline in new cases continue and point in the direction of containment, it may lead to the expectation that an apex and containment for other Western countries are not far behind," Campbell said. "This could be an important inflection point for markets."-John Stoltzfus, Oppenheimer: How the spread of COVID-19 is being contained-

John Stoltzfus, Oppenheimer's chief investment strategist, told Business Insider that the most important indicator for a sustainable stock market rally is the progress made in stemming COVID-19's spread.

"At the end of the day, it's a health risk story with economies on lockdown," he said.

The coronavirus has spread to nearly all of the world's countries and territories, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.-Ryan Detrick, LPL Financial: A peak in US coronavirus cases-

Ryan Detrick, the senior market strategist at LPL Financial, said the biggest factor he's watching is a peak in the number of coronavirus cases in the US. 

"While US cases continue to climb, the more countries that reach their peak, the more clarity we gain into what that timing may look like for the United States," Detrick said.

The US has recorded the highest number of cases in the world, with just over 337,000 confirmed cases, according to Johns Hopkins University's database. More than 1.2 million people around the world have been sickened by the coronavirus. 

"Investors have historically been rewarded for investing during these crisis events, and we believe the time for suitable investors to consider adding some risk to their portfolios may be approaching," he said.  Reported by Business Insider 20 hours ago.

U.S. officials on Monday girded the country for a "peak death week" from the coronavirus pandemic as the accelerating American death toll closed the gap with Italy and Spain, the countries with the most fatalities to date. Reported by Reuters 21 hours ago.

· *All three major US indices jumped Monday after reported coronavirus deaths around the world slowed and offered investors new hope for near-term containment.*
· *Spain and Italy announced the fewest deaths in more than two weeks, while New York posted its first single-day decline in new virus deaths on Saturday.*
· *Oil pared overnight losses after Russia's sovereign wealth fund chief signaled the country is nearing a deal with Saudi Arabia to cut production and cushion the sliding commodity market.*
· *Watch major indexes update live here. *

--------------------

US stocks soared on Monday after reported coronavirus death tolls around the world slowed over the weekend.

European markets led the charge, gaining after Spain and Italy announced the fewest deaths in more than two weeks. France and Germany reported their fewest deaths in days, signaling the outbreak may be reaching its peak overseas.

New York posted its first single-day decline in new coronavirus deaths on Saturday, offering new hope for the virus's US epicenter after weeks of social distancing measures and business closures. The White House also offered a slightly more hopeful tone during a Saturday press conference, highlighting signs of slowed contagion in highly affected areas.

*Here's where major US indexes stood shortly after 9:30 a.m. ET on Monday:*

· *S&P 500**:* 2,583.93, up 3.8%
· *Dow Jones industrial average**:* 21,916.70, up 4.1% (864 points)
· *Nasdaq Composite**:* 7,645.73, up 3.7%

*Read more:* 14 Wall Street experts told us the single metric they're each watching to assess coronavirus market fallout — and give their portfolios a leg up

Monday's stock-market rebound follows a negative week to kick off April. Major indexes slipped roughly 2% during the period as labor-market data trounced even the most bearish forecasts. Thursday's jobless claims report notched a new record and brought the two-week total of Americans filing for unemployment to 10 million.

Further, data released by the Labor Department on Friday revealed the US lost 701,000 jobs in the month ended March 14. Economists anticipated a decline of roughly 100,000, as the report didn't include jobs lost after the strictest containment measures went into effect.

The end-of-week reports offered investors some of the first details as to how hard the virus slammed the US and how deep the economy will slide into an all-but-certain recession.

*Read more:* GOLDMAN SACHS: These 13 cheap stocks are poised for years of better-than-expected profits — and they're must-haves as the coronavirus wipes out earnings in 2020

Elsewhere, the much-beleaguered oil market slid 5% after declining as much as 11% overnight on news a meeting between Saudi Arabia and Russia had been postponed. The resource pared losses after Russia's sovereign wealth fund chief said the two nations are nearing a deal to cut production.

The commodity soared last week after President Donald Trump said he expected both nations to deescalate their efforts to flood the market with cheap oil.

*Now read more markets coverage from Markets Insider and Business Insider:*

*Billionaire Bill Ackman says he's 'beginning to get optimistic' about a coronavirus recovery, weeks after saying 'hell is coming'*

*Economists think coronavirus could push unemployment above Great Depression levels. Here's why the pain won't be as prolonged this time.*

*The new CEO of IBM just sent a welcome letter to employees, calling for a 'maniacal focus' on AI and hybrid cloud and a pragmatic approach: 'This is about aiming for speed over elegance'*

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A big-money investor in juggernauts like Facebook and Netflix breaks down the '3rd wave' firms that are leading the next round of tech disruption Reported by Business Insider 20 hours ago.

Canals in Venice are almost empty as Italy's fight against the coronavirus pandemic continues. Since the country went into lockdown on March 9, hotels, restaurants, cafés and most businesses have been shut. (April 6)

 
 
 
 
 
   Reported by USATODAY.com 10 hours ago.

Vatican City, Apr 6, 2020 / 08:30 am (CNA).- A cardinal has criticized the Vatican’s official yearbook after it listed the term Vicar of Christ to a section headed “historical titles” in its latest edition, published March 25. 

Under the heading “historical titles”, the yearbook lists the designations “Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Province of Rome, Sovereign of Vatican City State, Servant of the Servants of God."

On Thursday, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, the Vatican’s former doctrinal chief, described the change as an act of “theological barbarism.”

In a commentary for the German weekly Die Tagepost, the cardinal said that, while the Annuario was issued by the Vatican Secretariat of State via the Vatican Publishing House, it was “only an address book and lacks any teaching authority.”

As in the 2019 edition of the Annuario Pontificio, the new edition has a single page describing the pope as “Francis, bishop of Rome”. But instead of heading a following page with the title Vicar of Christ as it did in 2019, the 2020 edition has the pope’s baptismal name, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, followed by a brief biography.

Mueller argued that the next section, marked “historical titles”, mixed the term Vicar of Christ with designations that “have nothing to do with primacy and have only grown historically but [have] no dogmatic meaning, such as ‘Sovereign of Vatican City State’.”

“It is a theological barbarism to devalue the Pope's titles ‘Successor of Peter, Vicar of Christ and visible head of the whole Church’ as a mere historical ballast,” he wrote.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See press office, told the Italian bishops’ newspaper Avvenire that the yearbook was not declaring that the title Vicar of Christ was merely of historical significance. 

If that were the case, Avvenire reported, the title would simply have been removed. Bruni cited Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to drop the title “Patriarch of the West” from the Annuario in 2006. This was widely understood to be an ecumenical gesture aimed at healing the centuries-long breach between Catholics and other Christians. 

Bruni said that the titles were classified as “historical” because they are tied historically to the title bishop of Rome. A new pope acquires them the moment he is elected in a conclave.  

The Annuario Pontificio, which contains more than 2,000 pages and has a distinctive red cloth binding, contains a directory of the Roman Curia, as well as the names and addresses of the world’s bishops and official Vatican statistics.

The Church has published a yearbook in various forms since 1716. Reported by CNA 20 hours ago.

China's efforts to rebrand itself as a global leader focused on humanitarian relief has hit a major snag and perhaps revealed Beijing's true intentions behind their public relations blitz. After telling the world that it would donate masks, face guards and testing equipment to Italy, China quietly backtracked and sold Italy desperately-needed medical equipment. What's worse is that the personal protective equipment (PPE) China forced Italy to buy were actually the same PPE Italy donated to China before coronavirus rushed its own shores and killed nearly 16,000 people.  Reported by FOXNews.com 18 hours ago.

BERLIN (AP) — Austria and the Czech Republic said Monday they plan to relax some restrictions imposed because of the coronavirus starting after Easter, getting ahead of their European counterparts as they announced proposals that would begin a slow return to normal life.

The Austrian government said it aims to allow shops shuttered because of the pandemic to reopen in phases beginning in just over a week. But Chancellor Sebastian Kurz cautioned that authorities could activate the “emergency brake” if infections accelerate once more.

Kurz said the upcoming days “will be decisive in whether the resurrection after Easter that we all want can take place.” He said the government also is extending its three-week-old restrictions on public movement until the end of April.

Speaking in Vienna, Kurz said the government's plan is to reopen small shops of less than 400 square meters (4,305 square feet) on April 14 along with DIY stores and garden centers. The number of people permitted inside will be limited, and all will have to wear face masks, as they already must do at Austria's supermarkets, he said. People also will have to start wearing masks on public transport.

Authorities hope to let the rest of the retail stores open on May 1, including shopping malls and hair salons. The government doesn't plan to reopen restaurants and hotels until at least mid-May, and the decision will be made at the end of April.

After small shops are reopened next week, “we will watch things closely,” Kurz said. “If the (infection) figures continue to develop in the right direction, then the next step will take place on May 1. If we are not successful, then we must pull the emergency brake.”

Much of Europe was effectively shut down after clusters of COVID-19 cases first emerged in Italy in late February and other parts of the... Reported by SeattlePI.com 18 hours ago.

Read more on https://www.fxstreet.com Reported by FXstreet.com 18 hours ago.

MADRID (AP) — A week ago, emergency rooms and intensive care wards in Spain and Italy were overflowing with woozy, coughing coronavirus patients and literally buzzing with breathing machines. So many died that Barcelona crematories have a waiting list of up to two years, forcing some people to bury loved ones temporarily in cemeteries with […] Reported by Seattle Times 17 hours ago.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — The virus outbreak is exposing cracks in the foundation of Europe's 21-year-old shared currency and festering animosities among its members, even as governments struggle to come up with a unified response where success or failure could mark the continent's politics for years to come.

Divisions between north and south, unhealed wounds from the 2010-2015 debt crisis and enforced budget austerity, as well as the lack of a powerful central treasury are haunting governments as they try to find a way to keep the economy afloat without blowing up national coffers.

Finance ministers from the 19 countries that use the euro will debate the issue in a teleconference Tuesday, following up on a conference two weeks ago that broke up without a strong signal of solidarity. A key point of dispute was the proposal by Italy, France, Spain and six other countries for a one-time plan to borrow together to ensure favorable terms and avoid trouble down the road for individual member countries. The so-called frugal four to the north however - Germany, Finland, Austria and the Netherlands - balked.

The idea for shared borrowing came up but was rejected during the 2010-2015 crisis over high public debt that saw Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Cyprus bailed out by the other members. The appeal of the proposal is that countries can borrow more cheaply together, as the likelihood that the money will not be repaid is low.

The bonds could also be repaid over long periods of time, such as 10, 20, or 30 years. That reduces the chance of a financial crunch for any one country later on. Some proposals envisage raising money that would be lent to countries and have to be paid back; others would more fully share the burden, perhaps with a caveat that some of the spending would go to projects benefiting all nations.

The... Reported by SeattlePI.com 17 hours ago.

The U.S. trails only Italy (16,523 dead) and Spain (13,055 dead) in the number of people lost to the pandemic. Reported by NPR 16 hours ago.

Vatican City, Apr 6, 2020 / 12:10 pm (CNA).- Monday, April 6 marks the 500th anniversary of the death of Raphael, the Renaissance painter responsible for “The School of Athens” and “The Transfiguration.”

While the Vatican Museums was due to unveil the last phase of restoration of its Raphael Rooms this week, the restored frescoes remain hidden from the public after coronavirus restrictions closed the museums a month ago. However, the Vatican is encouraging people to make virtual museum visits to “admire, even from a distance, the splendor of Raphael's art.”

Art historian Elizabeth Lev shared with CNA her advice for Catholics who wish to spend some time contemplating Raphael’s works of art during the coronavirus quarantine.

“From his early Oddi altarpiece painted when was about 19 or 20 to the fresco of the School of Athens, to his dazzling tapestries and his architectural feat of a portico decorated with scenes from the Bible, it's easy to understand why Raphael was hailed as an exemplar of ‘Catholic excellence,’” Lev said April 6. 

“Raphael produced some very powerful altarpieces and, in some cases, even created new types of iconography, especially in the Madonna of Foligno and his St Cecilia panel in Bologna. He reinvented the ‘sacred conversation,’ which are paintings where saints dialogue with Mary and Jesus, welcoming viewers into greater prayer and contemplation,” she said.

The Vatican Museums offer a virtual tour of the Raphael Rooms with a 360 degree view of each room. Raphael was commissioned by Pope Julius II to paint the four rooms in the Apostolic Palace which formed part of the papal apartments. 

The School of Athens fresco placing Plato alongside Aristotle can be viewed in the Room of the Segnatura, along with illustrations of the cardinal and theological virtues. 

The Room of Constantine was the last of the Raphael Rooms to undergo restoration, a project which began in the 1980s. The virtual tour of the Room of Constantine displays paintings of Constantine’s baptism, vision of the cross, and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge before the restoration. 

One room in the Vatican Museums’ Pinacoteca, or painting gallery, displays Raphael’s Crowning of the Virgin, Madonna of Foligno, and The Transfiguration. 

“In this very unique week, I would propose reflecting on Raphael's Transfiguration painted just before he died and placed upon his tomb during his funeral,” Lev said. “In this work, Raphael paints two distinct areas, the lower section where the apostles attempt to heal a boy possessed by demons (Mark 9:17-29) and then the upper section where Jesus reveals himself to Peter, James and John and God the Father announces ‘This is my dearly loved Son. Listen to him.’”

“People are afraid and confused, trying to control things they cannot and struggling pointlessly in the shadows. But lifting one's gaze, one sees Jesus. Everything is subordinate to Him, and he appears as transfigured, a dynamic, powerful light that can repel the encroaching darkness. What an inspiring way for us to envision Jesus during these dark days,” she said.

Lev also recommends Raphael’s Madonna and Child paintings, such as The Alba Madonna in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.

“These were small devotional works, meant for contemplation in the home, appropriate for all of us who are housebound,” she said. “He did endless variations on them, so there is something for everyone -- versions where Joseph hovers protectively, others where young John and Jesus cavort.”

Born Raffaello Sanzio in 1483 in Urbino, Italy, Raphael went on to work in Rome from 1508 to 1520, serving Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X.

Raphael died at the age of 37 on Good Friday, April 6, 1520. He is buried in the Pantheon, which had already been consecrated as the Basilica of St. Mary and the Martyrs, where the artist’s tomb remains on display.  

“He was brilliant and tremendously successful. When he died at the age of 37 he was already running the equivalent of a Fortune 500 company: the largest studio of the Renaissance,” Lev said.

Earlier this year, the Vatican Museums displayed 10 of Raphael’s tapestries in their original place in Sistine Chapel for one week. The tapestries, commissioned by Pope Leo X in 1515, depict the lives of St. Peter and St. Paul in the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles.

Raphael painted the Apostolic Palace at the same time as Michaeangelo was working on the Sistine Chapel

“Michelangelo was eight years his senior and was already working in the Sistine chapel when Raphael arrived to paint the apartments of Pope Julius. The two had completely different perspectives on painting. Raphael’s was more similar to Leonardo’s, with careful backgrounds and elegant compositions, while Michelangelo's figures were sculptural and monumental,” Lev explained.

“As these two Titans clashed stylistically, the world's greatest works of art were born,” she said.

The Sistine Chapel, the Pio Clementino Museum, the Chiaramonti Museum, the New Wing, the Niccoline Chapel, and the Room of the Chiaroscuri can also be viewed via virtual tour on the Vatican Museums website.

Rome’s Scuderie del Quirinale museum had also opened a major exhibition on Raphael this year, which brings together 200 works of art from Louvre, the Uffizi and elsewhere. This exhibition was forced to close 72 hours after its March 5 opening due to the Italian government’s closure of all museums in response to the coronavirus outbreak. 

A video posted on YouTube by the museum allows quarantined Italians and art lovers around the world to catch a glimpse of the paintings displayed in this exhibition originally scheduled to end June 2. 

“Most of us lead very busy lives that were abruptly halted by the quarantines. As we are all required to exercise the virtue of patience these days, we can also rediscover the skill of looking carefully at things, appreciating details and the value of serenity. And nowhere are those qualities better expressed than in the art of Raphael,” Lev said. Reported by CNA 15 hours ago.

A 104-year-old woman has recovered after being sickened by the coronavirus, according to a report out of Italy. Reported by FOXNews.com 15 hours ago.

The steep rise in coronavirus deaths in New York seems to be leveling off in a possible sign that social distancing is working in the most lethal hot spot in the U.S., the governor said Monday -- a trend that appears to have taken hold more convincingly in hard-hit Italy and Spain. Reported by Denver Post 16 hours ago.

*PORDENONE, ITALY / ACCESSWIRE / April 6, 2020 /* The NFT is the special category of LKSCOIN tokens (https://www.lkschain.io/) to protect the copyright of digital conten.

Among the objectives of the LKS Foundation there is to *develop LKSCOIN by creating a Non-Fungible Token or NFT to counter fake news and protect the copyright of digital content.*

*LKSCOIN project: how does NFT work?*

The LKSCOIN project to create the Non-Fungible Token envisages *a procedure designed to exploit the Blockchain potential* and adapting it to the fight against fake news and encouraging the propagation of only certain information, guaranteed by a protected copyright.

How? The LKS Foundation intends to create a real process whereby *digital content, content ownership and source identity* are connected to each other and *recorded according to the fundamental principles of the Blockchain*, through a unique and irreversible transaction.

In essence, *through a LKSCOIN NFT*, it will be possible to combine in a transaction:

· The Know Your Customer or *KYC of the transaction* that determines the identity of the person who is carrying out the information deposit transaction;
· The temporal *proof of the existence* of a content;
· The *digital content through the link of the content within the social network* where it was deposited (such as Cam.TV);

Thanks to this process, given that the *Blockchain guarantees not the truth but the existence of information*, it becomes clear and certain who the real user-author of the work is in reference to the digital content published and the place and date of publication.

The registration on blockchain allows, in fact, to *unambiguously and irreversibly trace back to the initial transaction* of creation of the digital content and therefore, thanks to the KYC, to its creator.

What we are talking about is a real blockchain-based model that *solves the delicate problem of copyright of digital content* shared and dispersed in social networks.

Thanks to the already effective integration of LKSCOIN in the social network Cam.TV and the activation of the IEO ( https://crowd.eidoo.io/app/project/lkscoin ) - Initial Exchange Offering - of LKS on the hybrid crypto-exchange of Eidoo, the LKS Foundation plans to create the NFT with the funds recovered from the Token Sale.

*LKSCOIN against web hoaxes thanks to NFT*

To date, the importance of information has been sacked by the *continuous viral hoaxes that dominate the web* without, in most cases, having adequate tools to deal with it.

In this regard, the development of Non-Fungible Tokens allows the LKS Foundation to create *additional objectives to the LKS Core*, which make the new digital content market increasingly responsible.

LKSCOIN's NFTs would allow information manipulators to take responsibility for what is published.

And here is a first additional objective: *the disincentive to lie*. Thanks to the use of the blockchain, each hoax can be traced and therefore, the one who lied can be identified.

Not only that, the process developed by LKSCOIN would also become an incentive for all those *categories such as journalists or bloggers *who publish news taken from other sources.

A second objective, in fact, is that over time these subjects feel more and more *encouraged to look for news that is filed through an NFT* because that NFT will give that person who deposited it the responsibility for what has been said.

*Media Details
Name:* Federico Olivo
*Company: *LKS Foundation
*Email: *admin@lksfoundation.org
*Website:* https://www.lkschain.io/

*SOURCE:* LKS Foundation
View source version on accesswire.com:
https://www.accesswire.com/584007/LKS-Foundation-No-Fungible-Token-NFT-Against-Fake-News Reported by Accesswire 15 hours ago.

Proposing to a significant other, planning a wedding, or getting married in the middle of a pandemic is far from ideal. But steadfast romantics around the world are proving that love in the time of coronavirus, though not easy, is still possible.

Over the past several months, strict precautions have taken effect around the world to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. Some countries like [INS: Italy are on full lockdown :INS], while others like the United States have shut down non-essential businesses. With more than 67,000 global coronavirus-related deaths, the practice of social distancing (avoiding crowds and keeping at least three feet of space between yourself and others) has also become essential to help "flatten the curve." But in addition to increasing loneliness and making dating much harder, social distancing has ruined many wedding plans. Read more...

More about Lifestyle, Relationships, Weddings, Proposals, and Coronavirus Reported by Mashable 15 hours ago.

· *All three major US indexes skyrocketed on Monday after countries reported declines in new coronavirus deaths over the weekend, offering investors new hope for near-term containment.*
· *The Dow Jones industrial average rallied in the final hour of trading and closed near intraday highs. All 30 stocks in the index climbed on the day.*
· *Spain and Italy announced the fewest deaths in more than two weeks, while New York posted its first single-day decline in new virus deaths on Saturday.*
· *Oil pared overnight losses after Russia's sovereign wealth fund's chief signaled that the country was nearing a deal with Saudi Arabia to cut production and cushion the sliding commodity market.*
· *Watch major indexes update live here.*

--------------------

US stocks soared on Monday after countries reported declines in new coronavirus deaths over the weekend.

European markets led the charge, gaining after Spain and Italy announced the fewest deaths in more than two weeks. France and Germany reported their fewest deaths in days, signaling that the outbreak may be reaching its peak overseas.

New York posted its first single-day decline in new coronavirus deaths on Saturday, offering new hope for the virus outbreak's US epicenter after weeks of social-distancing measures and business closures. The White House also offered a slightly more hopeful tone during a Saturday press conference, highlighting signs of slowed contagion in highly affected areas.

*Here's where major US indexes stood at the 4 p.m. ET market close on Monday:*

· *S&P 500:* 2,663.68, up 7%
· *Dow Jones industrial average:* 22,679.99, up 7.7% (1,627 points)
· *Nasdaq composite:* 7,913.24, up 7.3%

*Read more:* A stock chief at $7.4 trillion BlackRock shared with us his coronavirus-investing playbook: How to keep money safe, what he's avoiding, and some surprising contrarian bets

Monday's stock-market rebound followed a negative week to kick off April. Major indexes slipped roughly 2% during the period as labor-market data trounced even the most bearish forecasts. Thursday's jobless-claims report notched a record and brought the two-week total of Americans filing for unemployment to 10 million.

Data released by the Labor Department on Friday revealed that the US had lost 701,000 jobs in the month ended March 14. Economists had anticipated a decline of roughly 100,000, as the report didn't include jobs lost after the strictest containment measures went into effect.

The end-of-week reports offered investors some of the first details about how hard the outbreak slammed the US and how deep the economy would slide into an all-but-certain recession.

*Read more:* 'I was a single mother with 2 small kids': How Ashley Hamilton flipped a $20,000 waitressing salary into real-estate-investing success and a 10-unit portfolio

Elsewhere on Monday, the much-beleaguered oil market slid 7% after declining as much as 11% overnight on news that a meeting between Saudi Arabia and Russia had been postponed. The resource pared losses after Russia's sovereign wealth fund's chief said the two nations were nearing a deal to cut production.

The commodity soared last week after President Donald Trump said he expected both nations to deescalate their efforts to flood the market with cheap oil.

Despite the market leap, several major market players warned of harsh economic troubles to come. Janet Yellen, the former Federal Reserve chief, said in an interview with CNBC that US gross domestic product could slip 30% this quarter, adding that the unemployment rate is likely near 13% already. A V-shaped rebound is still possible, she said, but a worse outcome worries her.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon chimed in with a similarly bleak forecast. The chief executive said in an annual letter to the bank's shareholders on Monday that he expected "a bad recession combined with some kind of financial stress similar to the global financial crisis of 2008." The firm's board may even consider suspending JPMorgan's dividend, Dimon said, but only in an "extremely adverse scenario."

"If the Board suspended the dividend, it would be out of extreme prudence and based upon continued uncertainty over what the next few years will bring," Dimon wrote in the letter.

*Now read more markets coverage from Markets Insider and Business Insider:*

*Billionaire Bill Ackman says he's 'beginning to get optimistic' about a coronavirus recovery, weeks after saying 'hell is coming'*

*Economists think coronavirus could push unemployment above Great Depression levels. Here's why the pain won't be as prolonged this time.*

*The new CEO of IBM just sent a welcome letter to employees, calling for a 'maniacal focus' on AI and hybrid cloud and a pragmatic approach: 'This is about aiming for speed over elegance'*

Join the conversation about this story »

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Improvements in Italy, Spain shaped projections Reported by Daily Caller 9 hours ago.

Europe's hardest-hit nations saw some tentative signs of hope in the fight against Coronavirus on Monday but the US braced for its "Pearl Harbour moment" as the country's death toll raced towards 10,000.

There was cause for cheer in some European hotspots, with Italy reporting its lowest death toll in two weeks, Spanish fatalities dropping for the third straight day and France seeing its fewest dead in a week. But while the curve was bending in Europe, there was little sign of let-up in the US. US Surgeon General Jerome Adams told Fox News that the pandemic rivals some of the darkest moments in the US history, including: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the September 11 terrorist attacks. "The next week is going to be our Pearl Harbor, 9/11 moments."*Tiger Nadia has tested positive after seemingly contracting Coroavirus from an asymptomatic caretaker at New York’s Bronx Zoo. France. Pics/AFP*

The death toll in hardest-hit New York state rose to 4,159, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, up from 3,565 a day prior. Members of the White House Task Force on COVID-19 have predicted between 100,000 to 200,000 lakh deaths in the next several weeks. But President Donald Trump later suggested the hard weeks ahead could foretell the turning of a corner.

*Boris 'went for routine tests'*
On Sunday, Britain assumed the unwelcome mantle of deadliest Coronavirus hotspot in Europe after a record 24-hour jump in deaths that surpassed even hard-hit Italy's. The UK government on Monday said PM Boris Johnson is "doing well" after staying overnight in hospital for some "routine tests" related to his COVID-19 diagnosis. UK housing and communities secretary Robert Jenrick said Johnson remains in charge of the UK's response to the pandemic and is expected back at No.10 Downing Street soon.

*China fears second wave*
China has reported 39 new cases, including 38 imported ones, as the number of asymptomatic cases also surged, raising concern of a second wave of the COVID-19 infections mainly from Chinese returning home despite drastic containment efforts, health officials said on Monday. A health official of Beijing has warned that the Chinese capital will probably remain under long-term Coronavirus epidemic control. Meanwhile, in Singapore, authorities have placed nearly 20,000 foreign workers under quarantine in their dormitories after an increasing number in the community were found to be infected with COVID-19.

**In 40 mins, 6 suffer cardiac arrest, 4 die**

At the emergency room of University Hospital of Brooklyn, New York, six people suffered cardiac arrest within 40 minutes. Medics rushed to resuscitate them, but only two survived, reports CNN. "They're so sick you lose them in a heartbeat," said respiratory therapist Julie Eason. "They're talking to you and then a few minutes later you're putting a tube down their throat hoping you can set the ventilator in such a way that it actually helps them."

**Glimmer of hope for Hong Kong farmers**

After a wave of panic-buying briefly left Hong Kong's supermarket shelves bare, residents are turning to local producers for fresh food in a city that imports a 98 per cent of its vegetables. The twice-weekly market at Mapopo Community Farm in suburban northeast Hong Kong has doubled takings since February. The pandemic has prompted more people to rethink what can be produced here, said Mandy Tang, who supports local farmers.

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This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever Reported by Mid-Day 6 hours ago.