Dichotomy Between Soaring Stock Market and Reality

Apartment rent collections nationwide which were in the 90+% range the past few months appears to have sunk to the 82% level. Retail rent collections reported in the 25% range. At some point this will impact the banking and financial sectors when landlords cannot pay their mortgages without sufficient rents coming in. Will this lead to an avalanche of foreclosures in the commercial real estate arena? Meanwhile we have a sustained roughly 20,000 new COVID-19 cases a day, 1,000 dead per day, and surges expected due to Memorial Day gatherings, the hundreds of thousands who protested (most with masks but watching television, too many without) and retail and businesses reopening nationwide. In my bike rides around town I am amazed at the large groups of mostly younger people crowded in front of restaurants, many without masks. We have business sectors which will take years to recover. Want to go on a cruise? How about a packed football stadium? How about a vacation to one of the many countries with 14 day mandatory quarantines when you arrive?  20-25,000 retail stores are expected to close permanently this year, PPP and unemployment insurance will eventually run out, and think of all the festivals, music concerts, county and state fairs and amusement parks that may either not happen at all or best case occur on a much-reduced attendance. How does all of this support the robust economy we had in January 2020 that would hold up the high level of stock values? 40% of Americans say they won’t fly until there is a viable vaccine, and 23% of Americans say they won’t take the vaccine even when it is ready. We may be in for a multi-year recovery that will test our Nation’s fortitude and stamina not seen since WWII!