Look at the performance this year of stock markets in the United States and you would never know the country has suffered almost 300,000 deaths during a global pandemic that affected it more than any other place on earth.
The S&P 500, the most broad-based US stock index, is up 13.7% so far this year, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average is up by 5.4%.
The Nasdaq, meanwhile, is up by an astounding 41.58%. Image: The performance of US stock markets seems at odds with the toll inflicted by the pandemic
There is a good deal of exuberance among US investors now and this has led to what the Wall Street Journal has described as euphoria in the Initial Public Offering (IPO) market.