Financial Freedom SG

The big news today has been the outbreak of swine flu from Mexico which has killed 81 people as of today has till date could have spread to the United States, France, New Zealand, Spain and Israel.

According to the news, it has made health authorities all over the world sit up and take action. With the local authorities here in Singapore setting up and putting the thermal monitors and cameras to use.

This is likely to spark a run down of markets all over the world as the concerns over the spread of this swine flu throughout the world will hit the tourism industry hard as well as trade between countries.

Expect traders to short tourism dependent industries like the aviation and hotel which are already suffering from the financial meltdown throughout the world. They are likely to be hit with a drop in demand equivalent to that experienced by the Asian carriers during the SARS crisis.

Over the next few days, these industries will be sold down heavily. Patient investors with a longer term view will do well to wait on the sidelines and look to invest into these industries when they have been battered down over the coming weeks.

The beneficiaries over this outbreak are likely to be mask suppliers, medical suppliers and the pharmaceutical companies like Roche USA who are the makers of Tamiflu which is stocked by countries to combat avian flu and swine flu such as this current outbreak.

Companies like Baxter are also likely to benefit from an increase in demand for its medical supplies as countries worldwide will be ordering more of its products during this time to stock up in case of an influx of patients to the hospitals.

BBC news has a good FAQ about what Swine flu is all about.

May those who are afflicted with the virus recover quickly. Meanwhile, let's hope that wearing face mask when you are down with fever or flu becomes popular and please excuse your employees if they call in sick.