The Near-Sighted Obsession With the Cure
They're trying cannabis... The near-sighted obsession with the cure... A year (or two) until a vaccine... 'We all need N95 masks'... Dave Lashmet details the science... That might be a bra cup on your face...
In the race for a COVID-19 cure...
Maybe this bit of news has been the most unexpected. As Stansberry NewsWire analyst Daniel Smoot noted last Thursday...
Scientists believe they've uncovered strains of cannabis that could combat the coronavirus.
No, this is not an article from the satirical humor site, The Onion. The details...
Researchers at Canada's University of Lethbridge, who have been studying cannabis for about four years to determine its possible therapeutic uses, recently decided to test its effects on the human body's potential response to COVID-19.
Based on what appears to be a very preliminary study, Olga and Igor Kovalchuk – the married pair of scientists who hatched this idea – recently told a few Canadian media outlets that they were "totally stunned" then "really happy" with the outcome.
A gift from the Earth? Hold on...
The couple said strains of cannabis with high cannabidiol ("CBD") concentrations (the ones that don't get you " high," but have been used medically) can possibly limit COVID-19's ability to attach to the key "ACE-2" protein receptors in the lungs of humans.
This behavior has been shown to be a gateway for this coronavirus. And Igor Kovalchuk told a Canadian TV outlet that he thinks CBD might help create some useful traffic to block the path of the virus into the body...
Imagine a cell being a large building. Cannabinoids decrease the number of doors in the building by, say, 70%, so it means the level of entry will be restricted. So, therefore, you have more chance to fight it.
More from Daniel on our NewsWire team...
It could even "become a useful and safe addition to the treatment of COVID-19 as an adjunct therapy," they told the Calgary Herald. They then listed mouthwash and throat-gargle products as two examples.
CBD mouthwash sounds fascinating. But please note... this CBD-for-coronavirus idea hatched by the Canadian Kovalchuks is nowhere close to a clinical-trial stage.
And we're certainly not recommending that smoking weed will make you immune to COVID-19.
However, the fact that this is even a news story just speaks to the huge demand for something... anything... that will bring life around the world back to "normal" sometime soon.
We've heard folks ranging from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates say...
The world's resting state – and economy – will only return to "normal" once a vaccine is available.
To that, I (Corey McLaughlin) might add that they're probably talking about a vaccine that is proven to be safe, effective, without any crazy side effects, and made widely available... as in, the whole wide world.
To that point, Big (and small) Pharma companies are working on it...
Scientists are downright and rightfully obsessed with a cure, as cases of COVID-19 continue to pile up – Brazil is the latest country being hit hard – and the virus appears to be just as freakishly contagious and invisible as it has been.
Over the past month alone...
We've seen these major headlines involving pharmaceutical players Gilead Sciences (GILD), Merck (MRK), Novavax (NVAX), Inovio Pharmaceuticals (INO), and biotech company Moderna (MRNA)...
- The [U.S. Food & Drug Administration] Approves Gilead Sciences' COVID-19 Treatment for Emergency Use
No doubt... good work has been done already. But it's still early in this race...
Clinical trials take a while – even in "hyper speed," as they're said to be in these days – if done correctly. Even the most promising possible vaccines are still in their early stages.
In other words, it's unlikely that millions of Americans will be able to stop by their local Walgreens or CVS pharmacy and get a free COVID-19 shot tomorrow, next month, or maybe even next year.
Many government officials who have spoken on this topic said a vaccine might not be available until sometime in 2021...
And according to folks like our Stansberry Venture Technology editor Dave Lashmet, national distribution may start in the first quarter of 2021. But it might not finish until sometime in 2022.
That's why, as Dave recently told his subscribers, he's focused on another piece of the treatment puzzle right now. He told us earlier this week that the treatment puzzle includes "only three ways to confront it: social distance in the open air, masks indoors, or a vaccine."
The latter option remains in-progress... The first option is up to the individual (and good luck getting everyone to do the same thing all the time)... And while the second idea might not be "normal," it's an item that the world already knows how to make...
So as Dave says, 'We all need N95 masks'...
In his latest issue of Venture Technology, Dave detailed exactly why the high-grade N95 masks (The "95" means 95% of small particles are filtered out) are so important to slowing the spread of the virus. As he wrote...
Wearing masks is not just about protecting the most critically ill or severely at-risk patients. It's about protecting the general adult population until there's a COVID-19 vaccine.
For the uninitiated, Dave spent 10 years teaching and writing about medicine and technology at major research universities. And he has done follow-up research at some of the most important facilities in North America...
We don't think you'll find a more comprehensive and insightful explanation of the science behind COVID-19, the fight against it, and the companies that may stand to profit than in Dave's past several issues of Venture Technology.
In the May issue, sent to subscribers yesterday, Dave laid out the latest data and explained why the information indicates to him that people should be more concerned with what they're putting on their faces today than obsessing over a vaccine that might come a year from now.
Dave cites successful "mask behavior" in places like Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, and China. He told us in a private e-mail today...
Successful means, they don't have any cases – they beat the COVID-19 virus, without a vaccine.
Nationally, when you are down to a handful of cases per day, you can track down everywhere that someone infected visited – because it's only one or two people. Then, you can get their closest contacts to self-isolate.
This sounds elaborate, but we do this in the state of Hawaii, which cut off air travel from foreigners and mainlanders, unless you follow a 14-day self-quarantine on arrival. Or they arrest you.
OK, this sounds draconian, but it worked. Most of the islands are down to zero cases a day, so they can start limited reopening efforts. But besides social distancing and contact tracings, Hawaii enforces one more step to restore its tourist economy...
Using masks.
And in his latest issue, Dave cited a recent study from the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases that shows how easy it is for people to spread the virus (SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19) in the air.
It essentially showed...
You could get COVID-19 just from talking to someone with it...
The study showed that, in a closed space, people emitted 350 "droplets" of airborne particles from the mouth when they spoke just one word, much less coughed or sneezed. And these particles hung in the air for eight minutes.
Coughing or sneezing has long been considered the primary way for spreading respiratory viruses like the one that leads to COVID-19.
But according to this study, you can get this coronavirus from simply talking to an infected person (who, of course, may or may not know he or she has the virus) indoors. As Dave wrote in Venture Technology...
SARS-2 can easily exist in an airborne state. It's not just transmitted from the direct splash of a cough... There's a lighter mist that lingers.
We've seen plenty of mass COVID-19 infections that prove it's airborne – including a singing group in Washington, a call center in Taiwan, and a bus trip in China.
SARS-2 has also been found floating in hospital wards. That's why tens of thousands of nurses and doctors in Europe and the U.S. have gotten infected with COVID-19, despite wearing gloves and surgical masks.
As a result of all of this research, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ("CDC") has downgraded the risk of getting SARS-2 from infected surfaces... while upgrading the risk of infection from breathing in SARS-2.
Until there is a vaccine – which as we've said, is way down the road, if ever – Dave says the N95 mask is the single-most-critical item in the fight against the coronavirus. (That reminds us... Remember those ballyhooed antibody tests? They haven't exactly panned out yet, either.)
In his latest issue of Venture Technology, in addition to detailing why this contagious virus isn't simply "going away" anytime soon, Dave identified one maker of N95s in particular that investors should know about.
On the surface, the company may appear to be a modest industrial apparel manufacturer, but it holds several government approvals that have already brought in waves of new orders for masks... and it's retraining its workers on production.
In a world where it sounds like the Federal Reserve's digital printing press is getting warmed up to create another few trillion dollars to prop up the economy, it's important to note that this company had typically sold N95 masks for about $1 each.
It's also important to note the simple fact that we're having these sorts of discussions today. It shows that, even if not clearly defined or agreed upon, there is a path forward... something we didn't know much at all about two months ago.
That's good for our collective health and wealth.
Just know, that might be a bra cup on your face...
Our Dr. David "Doc" Eifrig, who is also bearish on a vaccine coming to market anytime soon, also wrote about N95 masks in his latest issue of Income Intelligence, out last Thursday.
In part, Doc shared the origin story of the mask itself.
The tale begins in a large conglomerate's giftwrap division. It involves a forward-thinking, innovative woman – the late Sara Little Turnbull. In fairness to Doc's subscribers, we won't mention the company by name here, but the story is interesting nonetheless...
In the late 1950s, Turnbull – a product designer who for five decades consulted with companies like 3M, Coca-Cola, and Corning – took a process designed to make stiff ribbons for giftwrap and presented more than 100 product ideas based on the technology to management.
They assigned her to make a molded bra.
She eventually changed direction on the product. Inspired by the many hours she spent in hospitals caring for several ill family members, Turnbull began working on a design that turned the bra cups into disposable, gauze-like masks.
[The mask was] first marketed as a dust mask in the 1970s. The maze of electrostatically charged fibers prevented particles from getting through.
In the 1990s, the health standards for masks were updated, and eventually, the N95 mask was born. It's the standard way for health care providers to prevent spreading germs from coughs or sneezes and helps stop some germs from getting in.
And they, of course, are vital and are the desired personal protective equipment ("PPE") in the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.
For more on the remarkable history on the N95 mask and why you may want to consider buying shares of another company that makes them today, be sure to read Doc's latest issue of Income Intelligence. Current subscribers can access the issue right here.
And if you're not already a subscriber, there has never been a better time to join. But you don't have to take our word for it...
We encourage you to see for yourself with a trial subscription. Take the next 30 days to try Income Intelligence out... read through Doc's full archive of monthly issues and special reports... and decide if it's right for you. Get started right here.
America: Reopened
Now that all 50 states have released some plan to reopen their economies, Matt Weinschenk – the senior analyst on Doc's team – digs deeper into what the data show already from states further along in the reopening process... and what that indicates about the potential economic recovery.
Click here to watch this video right now. And be sure to subscribe to Stansberry Research's YouTube page to get all of our latest free video content as soon as it's posted every day.
New 52-week highs (as of 5/26/20): BlackLine (BL), Cognex (CGNX), Lonza (LZAGY), Flutter Entertainment (PDYPY), and Sea Limited (SE).
In today's mailbag, more Great Depression reading recommendations and feedback on Dan Ferris' latest Friday Digest. Do you have a comment or question? As usual, send your notes to feedback@stansberryresearch.com.
"Gentlemen, I thoroughly enjoyed reading your May 22[Digest] and I strongly agree with and congratulate you for reminding your readers of the importance of studying financial history, especially the 1930s.
"My father, Benjamin F. Roth, maintained a daily financial diary starting in June 1931 and continuing throughout the 1930s. Shortly after the failure of Lehman Brothers in 2008, [writer and editor] James Ledbetter and I began the process of editing all of his diary entries, and in 2009, we published The Great Depression, A Diary.
"I think that you can gain even more insight into that decade by reading my father's day by day notes, impressions and analyses as he attempted to understand the causes and effects of such a financial crisis, and how he slowly formulated his opinions on how a prudent investor can financially survive such a crisis.
"The book is unique in that the entries were written in real time as they were taking place rather than by authors who are writing about events years after they occurred, thereby having the benefit of hindsight." – Paid-up subscriber Daniel R.
"Dan, like you, I am a big believer in studying history to understand the present and I read a lot of well-documented non-fiction. If you aren't familiar with the late Studs Terkel, you should check him out.
"His methodology is to conduct and compile interviews of a broad cross-section of people – from all economic levels: 'working men,' small business owners, corporate executives, entrepreneurs, government officials, educators, housewives, career military, draftees, etc. – who lived through the era and have them reflect on the things that they remember most and how the trajectory of their lives was influenced by those events.
"They are easy to read and very informative. Terkel was an excellent interviewer and writer and it was surprising to see how honest many of his subjects were. [A couple of titles]: Hard Times, an Oral History of the Great Depression and The Good War, an Oral History of World War II.
"I appreciate your (and the Stansberry team's as a whole) candid and straightforward desire to tell us what you 'see' from your perspective." – Paid-up subscriber Jim H.
"Murray Rothbard's America's Great Depression." – Paid-up subscriber Glenn W.
"The Prize: The epic quest for oil, money, and power. The book was written by Daniel Yergin. It is the best book I have ever read on how oil was discovered and how the Middle East fiefdoms developed the way they did and the world's reaction to them." – Paid-up subscriber Dan S.
Corey McLaughlin comment: Dan, excellent suggestion... I can tell you from walking around the Stansberry Research offices (when the coronavirus didn't have us working from home) that you'll find countless copies of this book on desks and bookshelves.
"Brilliant article!!! As a student of history, I appreciate it greatly!!!" – Paid-up subscriber Bill Z.
All the best,
Corey McLaughlin
Baltimore, Maryland
May 27, 2020